Minnesota Sports Forum

I actually watched most of this one. The defense was atrocious in the first half, but got better in the second. Miami didn't play with as much purpose as one would think, so I didn't find the win all that impressive. And KAT was absolutely atrocious with his carelessness on offense and usual whininess with the refs.

The key for Dieng is he is finally hitting that mid-range shot again, which eluded him for much of the season. Unfortunately, it's a horrible shot in general, doesn't stretch the defense much, and inevitably he'll go cold again. Unless he either develops into a standout paint defender or standout 3 point shooter, he's a liability to us given his contract $.

As usual, the Wolves are composed of ill-fitting pieces. KAT isn't a great defender and never will be, so he needs elite defenders around him to make up for it and shooters to space the floor. He has none of the above (at least that are healthy) right now.

The only guys we should be keeping are KAT, RoCo, anyone on a rookie deal, and anyone that is untradeable (like Dieng or Teague potentially). Everyone else should be allowed to walk or get traded.

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:A couple meaningless games in April don't make Gorgui Dieng a useful player, sorry to say.

Oh come on Cam. It's more than a couple games. And the games haven't been meaningless for the Wolves' opponents, which makes the productive, high-effort performances of Gorgui and some other Wolves' players even more impressive. Further, Gorgui was a decent player as a starter alongside KAT before Thibodeau arrived, so it's not just this last stretch of games I'm using to assess him. There's not reason Gorgui can't be, as you put it, a "useful" player. In the last 6 games he's been more than useful.

They are meaningless games but rather have him playing good than not. He is hitting his jump shots and not getting called for traveling on the pump fakes what I think is huge. In no way does that make him productive next year but this Gorgui is a productive player.

Also Lip stop saying that thibs ruined gorgui. Gorgui also had his best year under thibs

Q12543 wrote:I actually watched most of this one. The defense was atrocious in the first half, but got better in the second. Miami didn't play with as much purpose as one would think, so I didn't find the win all that impressive. And KAT was absolutely atrocious with his carelessness on offense and usual whininess with the refs.

The key for Dieng is he is finally hitting that mid-range shot again, which eluded him for much of the season. Unfortunately, it's a horrible shot in general, doesn't stretch the defense much, and inevitably he'll go cold again. Unless he either develops into a standout paint defender or standout 3 point shooter, he's a liability to us given his contract $.

As usual, the Wolves are composed of ill-fitting pieces. KAT isn't a great defender and never will be, so he needs elite defenders around him to make up for it and shooters to space the floor. He has none of the above (at least that are healthy) right now.

The only guys we should be keeping are KAT, RoCo, anyone on a rookie deal, and anyone that is untradeable (like Dieng or Teague potentially). Everyone else should be allowed to walk or get traded.

I agree with your small list of core keepers - KAT, RoCo, players on rookie deals (Okogie, KDB and upcoming draft picks), and anyone who is untradeable. My only amendment is that I consider Tyus a keeper. As a minor further amendment, I'd keep Reynolds. He's shown he can contribute a bit and has a very team-friendly largely non-guaranteed contract. In any event, we'll need to fill out our roster.

I'm not as down on Gorgui as you are and see him as fine coming off the bench. I'd rather keep him knowing how little we'd likely get in return. If we can trade Teague for value we absolutely should. Otherwise, we should encourage him to opt out by indicating that he won't be our starting PG and doesn't figure into our long term plans. It's still unlikely he'd opt out, but it's worth a try.

I noticed you didn't mention Wiggins specifically. Do you consider him among the Wolves' untradeable players? Obviously, we can't just let him walk.

If Okogie can continue to shoot the way he has the past month, then you can start him, Tyus and RoCo along with KAT. That would give you a very solid defensive team around KAT. The question would be PF. Would we want a more offensive-oriented PF with 3-point range like Saric or more of a rim-protector?

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:A couple meaningless games in April don't make Gorgui Dieng a useful player, sorry to say.

Oh come on Cam. It's more than a couple games. And the games haven't been meaningless for the Wolves' opponents, which makes the productive, high-effort performances of Gorgui and some other Wolves' players even more impressive. Further, Gorgui was a decent player as a starter alongside KAT before Thibodeau arrived, so it's not just this last stretch of games I'm using to assess him. There's not reason Gorgui can't be, as you put it, a "useful" player. In the last 6 games he's been more than useful.

They are meaningless games but rather have him playing good than not. He is hitting his jump shots and not getting called for traveling on the pump fakes what I think is huge. In no way does that make him productive next year but this Gorgui is a productive player.

Also Lip stop saying that thibs ruined gorgui. Gorgui also had his best year under thibs

I won't stop saying it because it's true. Gorgui's season under Sam Mitchell was on par with his first season under Thibodeau. Those were his two best seasons. But Gorgui's next season and a half under Thibodeau were terrible. Thibodeau signed Taj and then vaulted Taj over Gorgui into the starting lineup. Then, in typical Thibodeau fashion, Gorgui's minutes were erratic and uncertain. Moreover, as Jim Peterson said yesterday, Thibodeau stopped communicating with Gorgui. Jim Pete went on to take about hos Thibodeau hurt Gorgui's confidence and attitude. So I'm not the only one saying Thibodeau contributed mightily to Gorgui's struggles. Jim Peterson, someone who has played in the NBA and who is much closer to the situation said so as well.

These games might be meaningless to a bunch of disgrunted ornery Wolves fans, but they are NOT meaningless to the Wolves opponents who are fighting for playoff position. And they're not meaningless to the Wolves' players (or any other team's players like the Mavs) who are competing out there on the floor.