Training Camp!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Moore and Jon K. are both convinced of the opposite - that Rubio will be coming off the bench, but probably helping to finish a lot of close games. I do wonder if Rubio can help get DLO some easier looks because he'll be playing off the ball a bit more, but I sometimes question how much a PG can help a fellow guard (and I know how well Rubio did with Booker and Mitchell, but it's hard to parse out how much of that was Rubio and how much was just natural growth from two young talents).

We do know that Rubio helped Pekovic and Love have career years, but bigs are different.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I could see Culver or Okogie starting at the 2 and bringing in Ricky first off the bench with Edwards then swapping for Russell a little later if Edwards isn't the starting 3.

[Monster]

I'm pretty confident that regardless of wether Rubio starts or comes off the bench he isn't going to be playing 30mpg with Russell. 15-20 sure but they are gonna have one of those guys on the floor at all times in games they are available to play. There might be some experimenting before they land on what is actually the best rotation etc.

I will say that I wouldn't want him being THE 3rd PG As the initial plan Culver is a guy I feel comfortable playing in that type of a role if needed in case of injuries.

In a more normal year I would even say Edwards might be able to do some of that If needed but I don't know what he will actually be ready for because of the unique offseason before his rookie year. I know some people are gonna say it will be an easy excuse if Edwards doesn't look ready early on but I think it's a worthwhile thing to actually consider. I don't put a ton of stock in summer league games but it's a chance for guys to actually play somewhat legit pro level basketball after not playing real 5 on 5 games at times for weeks. It's gonna be a long time for certain guys now without a sort of getting your feet week 5 or so summer league games Working with their franchise for a while etc.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, this is nothing against Edwards as a long term prospect, but I just can't see a scenario where he isn't a net minus in a pretty big way for us this season (and yes, I am referring to my beloved On/Off Net rating). He's young. He's undisciplined. He doesn't know how to defend in the NBA. Hopefully we see improvement, but this will likely be a rough year overall for him.

I just hope he and his agent don't get too bent out of shape when Culver or Okogie or Laymen are taking all his minutes in the 4th quarter.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think we'll know quickly whether the Wolves are serious about winning this season... using 30 mpg for Rubio as the barometer.

And the rotations (as noted) will be an evolving thing. The Wolves do have a lot of "serviceable" players to plug and play with.

Finally, that may help the Wolves. I expect Covid and "rest days" to wreak havoc on rosters this season. The Wolves simply won't be good enough against a lot of teams. But they can go to Plan B at PG or the wing and be pretty much the same. The one caveat is at C... no Towns is no bueno.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Yeah, this is nothing against Edwards as a long term prospect, but I just can't see a scenario where he isn't a net minus in a pretty big way for us this season (and yes, I am referring to my beloved On/Off Net rating). He's young. He's undisciplined. He doesn't know how to defend in the NBA. Hopefully we see improvement, but this will likely be a rough year overall for him.

I just hope he and his agent don't get too bent out of shape when Culver or Okogie or Laymen are taking all his minutes in the 4th quarter.

I'd be enthusiastic if Anthony Edwards just significantly improves his scoring efficiency from his single season at Georgia and shows consistent effort on defense. The bar is low for me, I'd say. I'd assume that more catch-and-shoot three-point attempts would boost his efficiency there as well as the bulk of his two-pointers coming in transition or broken offensive sets where he's able to attack a scrambling defense.

To what degree his efficiency improves to is another story, but I'd like to see some progression even in the smallest of forms. Edwards should be in a good position to just take what the game gives him in his rookie season. There's not really as much pressure on him as there would be on top picks in other years.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

If Ricky Rubio does start alongside D'Angelo Russell like I'm assuming he does, then I'll go on record of saying D-Lo flirts with shooting 40-percent from three next season.

D-Lo's somewhat quietly a knockdown catch-and-shoot player making 39.1-percent of those opportunities last year on 3.8 attempts per game. He shot 39.4-percent on catch-and-shoot threes the year before in Brooklyn.

Comparatively, Devin Booker shot 37.6-percent from three in catch-and-shoot opportunities on 2.7 attempts in 2018-19 -- the year prior to Rubio landing in Phoenix. Last year, that number improved to 39.3 on a similar number of attempts.

I'd expect Russell to not only get more of those opportunities, but to also make more of them as well. Rubio tends to get shooters quality looks and I'd expect that trend to continue with Russell.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, this is nothing against Edwards as a long term prospect, but I just can't see a scenario where he isn't a net minus in a pretty big way for us this season (and yes, I am referring to my beloved On/Off Net rating). He's young. He's undisciplined. He doesn't know how to defend in the NBA. Hopefully we see improvement, but this will likely be a rough year overall for him.

I just hope he and his agent don't get too bent out of shape when Culver or Okogie or Laymen are taking all his minutes in the 4th quarter.

I'd be enthusiastic if Anthony Edwards just significantly improves his scoring efficiency from his single season at Georgia and shows consistent effort on defense. The bar is low for me, I'd say. I'd assume that more catch-and-shoot three-point attempts would boost his efficiency there as well as the bulk of his two-pointers coming in transition or broken offensive sets where he's able to attack a scrambling defense.

To what degree his efficiency improves to is another story, but I'd like to see some progression even in the smallest of forms. Edwards should be in a good position to just take what the game gives him in his rookie season. There's not really as much pressure on him as there would be on top picks in other years.

I agree and hopefully this helps. I still think he'll be a sinkhole while on the court. But that doesn't mean flashes of promise and improved decision making aren't happening. He's so damn young.

[FNG]

I agree with AbeVigoda that 30 MPG for Rubio is a good benchmark for whether this team is trying to win this year. That's about what he averaged last year when he put up win shares of 4.9, far above any T-Wolf except Towns and actually about even with Towns. You can't have a guy like that on the bench if you're serious about winning. Combine that with D-Lo's statement that he prefers to play SG, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if Ryan pairs them together often- but at least at the start and end of games.

I admit I'm in that euphoric pre-season frame of mind that always sets me up for disappointment, but there are a lot of things I'm excited about this year, and first and foremost is Rubio at PG. As Camden pointed out, prolific scorer D-Lo has never shown what he can do next to a gifted pass-first point guard- it's really easy to get excited about that, and I don't find Camden's prediction of a 40% 3-point rate for D-Lo out of the realm of possibility at all. And I'll go further. Edwards was forced to be the primary ballhandler last year at Georgia. Just how good might a superb athlete like him be offensively with a PG always looking to find him open looks.

Defense will be a challenge, of course, but I love the additions of Davis and RHJ- along with the long-shot defensive promise of Vanderbilt. KAT, D-Lo and Edwards certainly don't lack length and athleticism. Might they instantly become at least adequate defenders with the advantage of having defensive-minded vets like Davis, RHJ and Rubio as coaches on the court?

Yeah, likely unrealistic, irrational exuberance on my part. But I can't wait to see how all the new pieces look in the first pre-season game just 11 days from today!

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I agree with AbeVigoda that 30 MPG for Rubio is a good benchmark for whether this team is trying to win this year. That's about what he averaged last year when he put up win shares of 4.9, far above any T-Wolf except Towns and actually about even with Towns. You can't have a guy like that on the bench if you're serious about winning. Combine that with D-Lo's statement that he prefers to play SG, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if Ryan pairs them together often- but at least at the start and end of games.

I admit I'm in that euphoric pre-season frame of mind that always sets me up for disappointment, but there are a lot of things I'm excited about this year, and first and foremost is Rubio at PG. As Camden pointed out, prolific scorer D-Lo has never shown what he can do next to a gifted pass-first point guard- it's really easy to get excited about that, and I don't find Camden's prediction of a 40% 3-point rate for D-Lo out of the realm of possibility at all. And I'll go further. Edwards was forced to be the primary ballhandler last year at Georgia. Just how good might a superb athlete like him be offensively with a PG always looking to find him open looks.

Defense will be a challenge, of course, but I love the additions of Davis and RHJ- along with the long-shot defensive promise of Vanderbilt. KAT, D-Lo and Edwards certainly don't lack length and athleticism. Might they instantly become at least adequate defenders with the advantage of having defensive-minded vets like Davis, RHJ and Rubio as coaches on the court?

Yeah, likely unrealistic, irrational exuberance on my part. But I can't wait to see how all the new pieces look in the first pre-season game just 11 days from today!

FNG you're only our 2nd optimist on this board and we need that after this awful year. So let me ask you, if our Dynamic duo of besties KAT and Dlo along with Edwards and Beasley playing better than expected, what's your wins prediction?