Minnesota Sports Forum

A couple comments to add to what others have said about this game.

I thought Nowell sucked first half and then they showed he had 16 points and he was 10-21 for the game. He did play better as the game went on but he wasn't as good as his stats scoring the ball but he did do other things though.

McDaniels has had some really good passing and that should not be taken lightly.

One positive about Knight is he has the ability to pass and is able to make some quick decisions. At this level he sometimes does too much. If he settles into a role at the NBA level he could be a pretty nice player partly because he does have a legit skill set base and plays hard. Q is right he gets a little to handsy/aggressive at times.

Brownridge has been a nice bench guard as a guy that's brought shooting off the bench while not being a massive drop off on D.

Wright played a really nice overall game.

Not only were the Wolves getting up into guys they seemed to know exactly what rotations to make. Guys would pressure on the wing get beat and someone would make the rotation to help. It was wonderful to watch.

FWIW I watched this Bucks team before and...while I don't want to take away from the Wolves defensive performance I don't think this Bucks team is particularly impressive or talented. That may not be the case as some SL teams that don't have talent still end up being pretty good. I'm not sure who the best team the Wolves have faced so far maybe the Spurs? I hope they keep it up.

I think of a younger version of a guy like Pascal Siakam when I think about how Jaden Mcdaniels may fill out. I think he's already on his level with his 3 and D and just needs to work on getting stronger and more consistent night to night.

The fun thing with Mcdaniels is that we don't need much offensively from him so he gets to use a lot more energy on defense. Same with Vanderbilt

Finished game 3.

I see why Dane mentioned McDaniels as the best player in summer league. The reason the Wolves are 3-0 is because if it's defense of culture, lead by McDaniels. I think McDaniels is the best defender in SL and his offense is solid. Can hit open 3, attack in transition, attack close outs. He still has a really loose handle so his iso game at this point of his career is before average. What is fine, i like that the Wolves are pushing him.

Knight- didn't to much but like his skill set, I disagree with Q, in summer league keep shooting 3s. I want to see if he can get that confidence up.

Nowell- is what he is. A guy who can score, who is inconsistent. Solid player but he didn't do enough in SL so far to make me comfortable with him taking the Beasley role if he was traded.

Wright and Miller- putting them in the same post. They are both legit defenders. If you want to watch any of this game watch the last 2 minutes of the 1st half. What Wright, Miller and McDaniels did to those bucks players were criminal. Don't think I've ever seen a defensive stretch like that in my Wolves life. Topped off by that Miller dunk was amazing. Wright has a really nice floater game also and Miller is a freak athlete. Don't know how it could happen but wouldn't hate Miller on a 2-way. Either way they both have the same limitations when it comes to shooting but boy did they change the game with their defense.

Wolves are not a fun team to play in summer league they are pests and it isn't the prettiest of basketball but I'm happy once again with Rosas and his abilities to find finge NBA talent

Good summary Kek. It is amazing how if you have just two elite defenders (Wright and McDaniels in this case) in a 5-man lineup, they sort of bring everyone else up with them.

On Knight shooting 3's, I wouldn't have a problem with it if he were still a young prospect trying to expand his game. But he's 24 and he's been trying to expand his range out to the 3-point line for multiple years now with zero success. It just isn't in the cards for him and it's now become a wasted possession every time he jacks one up.

Kek - I also like your summary and generally agree with you. A couple of quibbles.

First, I think Wright is a much better shooter than Miller. That's more a reflection of how bad Miller's shot is than how good Wright is. But Wright isn't terrible. He has a really good floater and a pretty good mid-range shot. He can also hit an occasional three. Miller has absolutely no shot other than a dunk and perhaps a layup. Nevertheless, I've become a huge Miller fan. His athleticism and quickness are obviously off the charts. And his defensive tenacity, like Wright's, is elite. He also looks like a good playmaker who understands the game and sees the floor well. Like you, I was thinking about how the Wolves might give him a two-way contract. To do that, they'd have to sign Wright or Knight to a regular contract.

Second, I don't think Nowell is getting his due on this board. His shooting has been a bit inconsistent, but overall it's been good. He's actually only had one bad game shooting - against the Bulls. But he shot 50% from the field against the Bucks and 45% against the Spurs. His 3-point percentage was a respectable 33% against the Bucks and 37.5% against the Spurs. One more 3-point make against the Bucks and his 3-point percentage would have been 37.5% in that game as well. In addition, Nowell has done a nice job running the offense when called upon. Most importantly, he's been really solid defensively. Has he impressed enough to feel comfortable trading Beasley? No. On that we agree. But that's in large part a function of just how elite Beasley is as a 3-point shooter and the fact that Beasley is also a terrific rebounder with high level athleticism and remaining upside. Nevertheless, I'd say that Nowell is a significantly better defender than Beasley and I still see him improving over the next couple of seasons overall on both sides of the ball. He was a really consistent shooter in college and the G-League. He's not flashy or uber-athletic. But he's fundamentally should and solid. He's a good athlete and seems to be really strong.

lipoli390 wrote:Kek - I also like your summary and generally agree with you. A couple of quibbles.

First, I think Wright is a much better shooter than Miller. That's more a reflection of how bad Miller's shot is than how good Wright is. But Wright isn't terrible. He has a really good floater and a pretty good mid-range shot. He can also hit an occasional three. Miller has absolutely no shot other than a dunk and perhaps a layup. Nevertheless, I've become a huge Miller fan. His athleticism and quickness are obviously off the charts. And his defensive tenacity, like Wright's, is elite. He also looks like a good playmaker who understands the game and sees the floor well. Like you, I was thinking about how the Wolves might give him a two-way contract. To do that, they'd have to sign Wright or Knight to a regular contract.

Second, I don't think Nowell is getting his due on this board. His shooting has been a bit inconsistent, but overall it's been good. He's actually only had one bad game shooting - against the Bulls. But he shot 50% from the field against the Bucks and 45% against the Spurs. His 3-point percentage was a respectable 33% against the Bucks and 37.5% against the Spurs. One more 3-point make against the Bucks and his 3-point percentage would have been 37.5% in that game as well. In addition, Nowell has done a nice job running the offense when called upon. Most importantly, he's been really solid defensively. Has he impressed enough to feel comfortable trading Beasley? No. On that we agree. But that's in large part a function of just how elite Beasley is as a 3-point shooter and the fact that Beasley is also a terrific rebounder with high level athleticism and remaining upside. Nevertheless, I'd say that Nowell is a significantly better defender than Beasley and I still see him improving over the next couple of seasons overall on both sides of the ball. He was a really consistent shooter in college and the G-League. He's not flashy or uber-athletic. But he's fundamentally should and solid. He's a good athlete and seems to be really strong.

Lip, My issue with Nowell is the competition he's going up against and his relative experience compared to his opponents in Summer League. He's got two years of D-1 ball and two years of G-League/NBA mix with some nice stints in the NBA team rotation. I feel like he should have the skill, moxie, and touch at this point to pretty much get what he wants out there, but he turned the ball over a lot with careless passing and didn't shoot the 3 as well as I think he should for someone that was so accurate in college and the G-League. I guess I expected more from him.

Q - I just think you're expecting too much. Nowell averaged 9 points in only 18 minutes per game last season. He hit 42.4% of his FG attempts and 33.3% of his threes. He had an eFG of 50%. Jimmy Butler averaged 12 points in 26 minutes in his second season and he had 4 years of D-1 experience. Paul George averaged 12 points in 29 minutes in his second season with an eFG of 51%. Tracy McGrady averaged 9.3 points in 22.6 minutes in his second season. All of those players had a full rookie season in the NBA - not in the minor leagues where Nowell spent most of his 1st season. And all of them had substantially more minutes than Nowell in their second seasons. Yet none of them had 2nd season stats that meaningfully distinguished them from Nowell.

I'm not suggesting that Nowell is the next Jimmy Butler, Paul George or Tracy McGrady. I am just suggesting the need for some more perspective in assessing Jaylen Nowell at this point in his career - with two seasons of college, one G-League season and 45 NBA games last season at 18 minutes per game. Don't get me wrong. I'm not ready to turn the reins over to Nowell as our starting SG, our backup PG or even our 6th or 7th man. Nonetheless, he strikes me as a player who just needs consistent minutes and more time to develop. I see him becoming a solid, steady two-way player who scores in multiple ways and who can play both guard positions.

I hear where you are coming from Lip. The difference is that those three guys you cited had physical characteristics/upside that Nowell just doesn't have. If he's going to keep improving, it's going to be because of pure skill development and honestly he doesn't seem any different to me now versus his rookie year in the G-League. We'll see. I'm fine with him as our 3rd string SG. May be someday he can be more than that.

Q12543 wrote:I hear where you are coming from Lip. The difference is that those three guys you cited had physical characteristics/upside that Nowell just doesn't have. If he's going to keep improving, it's going to be because of pure skill development and honestly he doesn't seem any different to me now versus his rookie year in the G-League. We'll see. I'm fine with him as our 3rd string SG. May be someday he can be more than that.

I just look at the results. Nowell averaged 25.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and an eFG over 50% in 3 of his 4 Summer League games. I don't think there's another player in Summer League, including guys who've had more college and NBA experience than Nowell, who had better stats than Nowell in this year's Summer League. The only negative I see is his turnover stat, but that simply says to me he's not ready for PG duties and that doesn't surprise me. It was also clear to me that McDaniels' ballhandling skills are way short of what he needs to be more than a really good 3&D guys. Both Nowell and McDaniels have to up their skills and I believe they will. Regarding Nowell, I also think it's important not to put too much emphasis on Summer League. Nowell has an actual track record in the NBA. On a 36-minute equivalent basis, he averaged 18 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and only 1.7 turnovers per game last season. That matters more to me than his Summer League performance. And I don't put a lot of stock in experience at the G-League level. To me that's not significantly different from a 3rd year in college. I look at last season essentially as Nowell's rookie year.

I can see Nowell as a second-string SG. I just don't see him as a backup PG yet, if ever. The good news for the Wolves is that, assuming Edwards is our starting SG, Beasley would be our 2nd-string SG unless he's traded. And as much as I like Nowell, there's no doubt in my mind that Beasley is better. So that essentially makes Nowell our 3rd-string SG. I think where you and I differ is that I'd be comfortable with Nowell as our 2nd-string SG if Beasley ends up getting traded for an impact big.

lipoli390 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:I hear where you are coming from Lip. The difference is that those three guys you cited had physical characteristics/upside that Nowell just doesn't have. If he's going to keep improving, it's going to be because of pure skill development and honestly he doesn't seem any different to me now versus his rookie year in the G-League. We'll see. I'm fine with him as our 3rd string SG. May be someday he can be more than that.

I just look at the results. Nowell averaged 25.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and an eFG over 50% in 3 of his 4 Summer League games. I don't think there's another player in Summer League, including guys who've had more college and NBA experience than Nowell, who had better stats than Nowell in this year's Summer League.

Other notable performers:

Pritchard (Bos): 20.3 ppg / 5.7 reb / 8.7 apg / 51.4% fg / 57.7% 3fg
Tre Jones (SAS): 22.8 ppg / 4.8 reb / 6.2 apg/ 50.7% fg / 36.4% 3fg
Tryese Maxey: 26.0 ppg / 5.5 reb / 4.5 apg / 50.0% fg / 28.6% 3fg
Desmond Bane: 24.0 ppg / 3.5 reb / 4.0 apg / 48.4% fg / 68.2% 3fg
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Nowell: 22.5 ppg / 5.2 reb / 2.8 apg / 44.4% fg / 35.5% 3fg

There are others, including well-known guys like Obi Toppin + Jaylen Green + Paul Reed or unknowns like Bones Hyland + Omer Yurtseven who were comparable.