Minnesota Sports Forum

Brooklyn_Wolves wrote:

Duke13 wrote:There seems to be a naritive that now Dunn isnt qualified to play back up PG minutes, you guys think there is a back up PG available that is better than Dunn?!? So we are gonna sign some NBA journeyman who isn't as good now, and would get in the way of development of a highly rated NBA ready rookie, doesn't make sense to me. I do see Dunn getting minutes to back up Lavine. Man I wish Dinn would of played 6 SL games to drive the Rubiobos even more crazy.

The narrative came from some media members, not the fans, I believe. And Dunn playing off the ball in SL kind of strengthens this idea. But I also would have liked to see Dunn play more games in SL solely as PG to see how he fares with turnovers. I think if coaching stuff got some reservations about Dunn playing PG early on is because they think he takes poor care of the ball.

Duke, the question is whether you mean right now, or 3-4 years down the road. I think there are likely several veteran PG's who would be much better at PG than Dunn this season. And since I think Thibs is in win now mode, I don't see it as unlikely that he might pursue a vet game manager to back up Ricky.

As for me, I wouldn't do it. I think Tyus has progressed far enough that he can play some meaningful PG minutes this year, and if Ricky got hurt, Dunn or Zach would have to step up. I don't want us making any personnel moves based on "if Ricky gets hurt"...let the kids play.

I personally liked what I saw in him as a SG in SL. He would by far the best backup at SG available. If you think you can do better the Jones as a backup PG then we should find someone, but it was good to see him do well in SL.

Another point guard? Seriously? Point guard? (using my Jim Mora voice)

In last week's podcast Jon K said the Wolves were looking at a vet PG because if Rubio did go down you have 2 young guys to run the team. He said Tyus performance in SL has them backing off that to an extent saying something like maybe we should give this kid a shot he might be able to help us more than we thought he might. He said a wing now probably makes more sense.

Currently depth chart

Rubio / Dunn / Jones
LaVine / Rush
Wiggins / Muhammad
Dieng / Bjelica / KG / Payne
KAT / Aldrich / Hill / Pek


There is a glaring need for depth at the wing position. Yes I know Dunn and Wiggin can play at the two and Bjelica could cover at small forward etc etc, but all it takes is one or two injuries and guys will be forced to play out of position. We need a wing at the expense of one of Pek, KG or Payne.

They definitely could use another wing. Dunn and Wig can play minutes at the two behind Lavine leaving Bazz and Rush to back up the SF. I don't see Belly a reliable option at SF. Not many options out there. Alan Anderson would be an option but I wouldn't necessarily be looking for somehow to take minutes away from the above mention guys

This is where you need one of those Evan Tuner types that could play PG/SG/SF.

LST,

This isn't meant to be argumentative at all, but give me some names of backup PG's available who you think would be better than Dunn?

I think it comes down to how comfortable they are with Tyus then Dunn in the end. I also think we can find a better PG in FA at this point then a SG.

Duke13 wrote:LST,

This isn't meant to be argumentative at all, but give me some names of backup PG's available who you think would be better than Dunn?

We come at this one from different perspectives, Duke. I'm generally not a fan of rookie PGs, and think that position is the most difficult one to adjust to in the NBA. Take Mudiay for example. He's going to be a star someday probably, but he was terrible in his rookie year...the Nuggets were clearly better when he was injured and replaced by journeymen like Jameer Nelson and Randy Foye. Further, while Dunn played PG in college, he is far from a natural at that position and, like others here, I think he may be more suited to play SG. Time will tell on that one.

So having made those two points, if Thibs wants to win now, I would say that almost any of the available free agents out there would lead us to more victories in 2016-7 than Dunn. Just to name a few: Lawson, Chalmers, Larkin, Cole, Blake, Robinson, Hinrich, Price, Udrih, Farmar, Price and even Andre Miller.

The availability of so many PGs who have had at least some degree of success in the NBA convinces me that this is the wrong time to sign another PG. We have 4 guys (Rubio, Jones, Dunn and LaVine) who can play PG if necessary, so I don't see it as a position of great need. If Rubio or Jones incurred a serious injury that threatened to keep either of them out for a long time, one or more of the 12 guys I listed above would still be available.