Camden wrote:Mac McClung would probably label himself as a combo-guard because he does have the ability to facilitate the basketball, but he typically looks to score first, which is fine as a bench option. As for his three-point shot, I think you're not telling the whole story by only looking at career averages. There's a tangible pattern of growth or improvement from his freshman season at Georgetown to now. He shot 27.7-percent in 2018, 32.3-percent in 2019, 34.3-percent in 2020, and then 37.7-percent in 2021 in the G-League. Player development is real, and considering his shot mechanics look clean it might have just been a strength issue, which is correctable. Shooting is also perhaps the one NBA skill that has shown to be developable. Why do we care about what McClung shot in 2018?
Do I think McClung is going to turn into some standout, starting-caliber player? Not really, but I do see a pathway to him becoming a solid rotation player in the NBA and he's more-deserving of the opportunity than some of the guys currently signed to their deals.
Also, since when is 6'2" undersized for the point guard position? That's been the recorded average for decades. You know who's actually undersized? Jordan McLaughlin. Facundo Campazzo. Markus Howard. D.J. Augustin. Kennedy Chandler.
If we are gonna dump Reid (it was one preseason game) for a true center why not get Gobert's previous backup Hassan Whiteside? You want rebounding and defense and a guy that can do stuff resembling Gobert he is your guy and has a relationship with Gobert already. My guess is Whiteside hasn't gotten much interest (he has flaws) and is also kinda waiting for an injury better opportunity than fighting for a roster spot in a training camp. He is just another example of if the Wolves end up needing a true big if they have injuries there will likely be some decent maybe even pretty good (relatively speaking) options.
Camden wrote:The Warriors waived Mac McClung on Monday to pick up Ty Jerome. The reason given by Steve Kerr is that they felt Jerome was a pass-first guard and ultimately fit their roster better, but that the decision to waive McClung was difficult. I know I'm just repeating my thoughts from months ago, but he needs to be signed. Waive Eric Paschall and get McClung in here. He's [pretty clearly] an NBA-caliber player, still just 23-years old, and we actually do have a need for a third point guard on the roster.
Thanks, Cam. I hadn't seen that news. As you know, I've been right there with you on the Mac McClung bandwagon. I join you in wanting the Wolves to waive Paschal and sign McClung. I don't think it will happen, but I'd love it if it did.
Lip, I know McClung had a terrific summer league and I enjoyed watching his highlights, but I can't put much stock in how a player plays in Vegas in July. He's a 6'2" guard (and I think he's a shooting guard based on his assist history and Kerr's comments) who made only 31% of his threes during his 3 years in college. Steve Kerr said some nice things about Mac yesterday (Kerr is always brilliant with the press IMO) but I also think he was being kind. I don't see much of an NBA future for an undersized guard with a history of being a poor distributor and 3-point shooter. Maybe his nice summer league performance was the real Mac McClung, but the fact that Kerr preferred Ty Jerome to McClung speaks volumes.
Cam already covered this, but I'll just underscore the fact that McClung is coming off a break-out G-League season in which he shot over 37% from behind the arc. He was actually the G-League rookie of the year last season, averaging 21.7 points, 7.6 assists, 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals. Those are tremendous numbers. McClung's summer league play was just frosting for me. The cake was how he performed in the G-League last season combined with his overall skill-set and athleticism. I know better than to become infatuated with a player based solely on his summer league performance.
As Cam pointed out, he's not really undersized by PG standard. Moreover, as Monster pointed out, McClung is a tremendous athlete with a huge vertical. Is he a starting caliber NBA PG. No, he's not. But Cam and I are just talking about signing him to a 2-way contract, which is a quasi G-League contract with NBA opportunity. I see far more potential in McClung than I do in Paschal. I also see more potential in Garza than I do in Paschal. I don't think Paschal's heart is in basketball anymore. That's evident in the fact he almost retired from the NBA this past summer and his lackluster play in the Wolves first preseason game.
monsterpile wrote:If we are gonna dump Reid (it was one preseason game) for a true center why not get Gobert's previous backup Hassan Whiteside? You want rebounding and defense and a guy that can do stuff resembling Gobert he is your guy and has a relationship with Gobert already. My guess is Whiteside hasn't gotten much interest (he has flaws) and is also kinda waiting for an injury better opportunity than fighting for a roster spot in a training camp. He is just another example of if the Wolves end up needing a true big if they have injuries there will likely be some decent maybe even pretty good (relatively speaking) options.
I think that's right, Monster. If we part with Reid, we should have another big in mind to replace him on the roster. But I wouldn't "dump" Reid. Rather, I'd consider trading him if we could get decent value in return. My view doesn't stem from one game. You might recall I included Naz in a lot of my trade ideas over the summer. I like Naz, but I just don't think he provides what this team needs up front. We need defense and rebounding - two of Reid's weaknesses. Whiteside is the type of player who would fit well on the team based on what he brings. But I've never liked him because his effort level comes and goes. Maybe Cousins would be a good addition, but he has some attitude issues that seem to cause problems everywhere he goes. Honestly, I don't have any ideas for bigs to replace Naz on the roster. But I agree with you that there will likely be some decent options. Right now, I'd have Nathan Knight ahead of Naz Reid in the rotation.
monsterpile wrote:If we are gonna dump Reid (it was one preseason game) for a true center why not get Gobert's previous backup Hassan Whiteside? You want rebounding and defense and a guy that can do stuff resembling Gobert he is your guy and has a relationship with Gobert already. My guess is Whiteside hasn't gotten much interest (he has flaws) and is also kinda waiting for an injury better opportunity than fighting for a roster spot in a training camp. He is just another example of if the Wolves end up needing a true big if they have injuries there will likely be some decent maybe even pretty good (relatively speaking) options.
I think that's right, Monster. If we part with Reid, we should have another big in mind to replace him on the roster. But I wouldn't "dump" Reid. Rather, I'd consider trading him if we could get decent value in return. My view doesn't stem from one game. You might recall I included Naz in a lot of my trade ideas over the summer. I like Naz, but I just don't think he provides what this team needs up front. We need defense and rebounding - two of Reid's weaknesses. Whiteside is the type of player who would fit well on the team based on what he brings. But I've never liked him because his effort level comes and goes. Maybe Cousins would be a good addition, but he has some attitude issues that seem to cause problems everywhere he goes. Honestly, I don't have any ideas for bigs to replace Naz on the roster. But I agree with you that there will likely be some decent options. Right now, I'd have Nathan Knight ahead of Naz Reid in the rotation.
I would have been fine dealing Naz Reid this summer also for value. The problem is that I don't think he has all that much value. A team can just pick up some dude that Houston or OKC dumps and it might even be a young player. OKC got nothing for Isaiah Roby who was picked up on Waivers.
I think you are too down on Reid for this team too. Let's not forget this shotblocking and the fact that while streaky he is someone proven as a 3 point threat and can get a team buckets. Sure it doesn't seem like the team needs scoring but you can also ways use a bit more of that. Let's see how things play out I certainly don't have Knight ahead of Naz. If we were going off that preseason game (I know you aren't) Knight had issues finishing around the basket and if he ends up passing Naz in rotation minutes we can be THRILLED because despite Naz faults I think he is clearly an NBA player and a guy that could get legit rotation minutes depending on the team and their roster.
Camden wrote:The Warriors waived Mac McClung on Monday to pick up Ty Jerome. The reason given by Steve Kerr is that they felt Jerome was a pass-first guard and ultimately fit their roster better, but that the decision to waive McClung was difficult. I know I'm just repeating my thoughts from months ago, but he needs to be signed. Waive Eric Paschall and get McClung in here. He's [pretty clearly] an NBA-caliber player, still just 23-years old, and we actually do have a need for a third point guard on the roster.
Thanks, Cam. I hadn't seen that news. As you know, I've been right there with you on the Mac McClung bandwagon. I join you in wanting the Wolves to waive Paschal and sign McClung. I don't think it will happen, but I'd love it if it did.
Lip, I know McClung had a terrific summer league and I enjoyed watching his highlights, but I can't put much stock in how a player plays in Vegas in July. He's a 6'2" guard (and I think he's a shooting guard based on his assist history and Kerr's comments) who made only 31% of his threes during his 3 years in college. Steve Kerr said some nice things about Mac yesterday (Kerr is always brilliant with the press IMO) but I also think he was being kind. I don't see much of an NBA future for an undersized guard with a history of being a poor distributor and 3-point shooter. Maybe his nice summer league performance was the real Mac McClung, but the fact that Kerr preferred Ty Jerome to McClung speaks volumes.
Cam already covered this, but I'll just underscore the fact that McClung is coming off a break-out G-League season in which he shot over 37% from behind the arc. He was actually the G-League rookie of the year last season, averaging 21.7 points, 7.6 assists, 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals. Those are tremendous numbers. McClung's summer league play was just frosting for me. The cake was how he performed in the G-League last season combined with his overall skill-set and athleticism. I know better than to become infatuated with a player based solely on his summer league performance.
As Cam pointed out, he's not really undersized by PG standard. Moreover, as Monster pointed out, McClung is a tremendous athlete with a huge vertical. Is he a starting caliber NBA PG. No, he's not. But Cam and I are just talking about signing him to a 2-way contract, which is a quasi G-League contract with NBA opportunity. I see far more potential in McClung than I do in Paschal. I also see more potential in Garza than I do in Paschal. I don't think Paschal's heart is in basketball anymore. That's evident in the fact he almost retired from the NBA this past summer and his lackluster play in the Wolves first preseason game.
I read the article about Paschall thinking about quiting the game. It wasn't that he lost his passion for the game it was because he was getting next to no interest as a FA although he thought he had played well enough to earn a spot. You could argue he had the best season of his career and did it for a good team and then nothing? Ouch. He was going through what a lot of guys do when they come to the end of their career. Eric Piatkowski said that he finally decided to hang it up when his agent was calling around to teams looking for playing opportunities and they kept saying "Is Eric interested in coaching?" When he thought he was certainly good enough to have gotten some solid FA interest and nothing happened...he probably questioned his view of reality. I don't have a problem with that.
Paschall is kind of a weird player. He wasn't signed for his "potential" as much as a guy that's done some good things already in his career and can probably play NBA games tomorrow and not suck if he was playing some decent minutes because there was injuries. He is basically another depth FA as a 2-way deal. He is about turn 26 but could still become a better version of himself which quite frankly could have some legit value longer term signed cheaply. It's worth noting his 3 point percentage has increased every year and he has done that while having his role/minutes reduced each season which I think is a real positive. He brings something the Wolves don't have much of and that's girth.
Now if you want to go with a guy with more potential in McClung that's cool. I kinda don't think the Wolves are gonna do that at this point unless I guess Paschall has actually looked like garbage in training camp etc. it's a business but I think most teams stick with a 2-way guy if they sign him. Eventually those deals are going to be even more competitive to get and there will be more teams letting guys go and picking them up but also we have seen guys that are like no I'm not taking that deal I can do better. Like I've said before I suspect McClung might be one of those guys.
I'm interested to see how Garza does in Iowa. I'd stick with Paschall over him at this point.
It's says a lot of negative things to me when Eric Paschall gets little to no interest as an almost 26-year old free agent, receives a lifeline for his career in the form of a two-way deal with the Timberwolves, and then shows up [likely] overweight and out of shape. I remember what Paschall looked like and moved like last year with Utah. What I saw in Minnesota's first pre-season game wasn't it.
You'd think if your career was on the verge of ending you'd be in the best shape of your life and busting your ass in every little minute of playing time you get. I didn't see that whatsoever.
60WinTim wrote:Getting back to Reid... I gotta think Knight is in the process of bumping Reid out of the rotation!
It looks that way so far, although Naz was better in the Wolves second preseason game than he was in the first. In Thursday's game against the Lakers, Jeff VanGundy went out of his way to praise Naz, calling him "a very good backup center." I agree with Jeff. But I don't think he adds much to the Wolves, especially given how well Knight has been playing and his potential. I think this would be a good time to cash in on Reid's value as a "very good backup center" who is still very young with upside and on a very team-friendly contract. I think we could get at least two future 2nd-round picks if not a top 20 protected 1st. I'm not opposed to keeping Naz. But it would be nice to replenish some of our draft capital.
