Rate the Wolves Off-Season So Far

[AussieWolf3]

Ok first off, you don't the luxury of qualifiers on your grade! Stake your claim on a grade and stand your ground, no result based retroactive changes

Personally I have hard time wrapping my head around anything less than a B.

The total of sum of LaMelo Ball and Green minus Randle and Naz is a positive one in my opinion, even just on a surface level. Dropping the long term financial commitments to both of them to only take on Ball's contract after this year is another plus, because it's roughly an extra 10M in savings next year, no?

Ultimately Charlotte negotiated well and it wasn't a heist by any means and it truly hurts to lose Naz who is a perfect fit for the spot he vacated.

Regardless the force multiple that Ball will be for our offense and Edwards specifically, simply cannot be overstated. If they can't make this heaven made match work than it is a massive indictment on them as players and Finch as a coach, much less than TC imo.

I have problem being critical of Connley, but pulling the proverbial rabbit out of the hat in getting an actual starting PG was so important for this team that it's is 100% losing the non load bearing pillar of Naz Reid. Getting Randle out of the building was a massive plus as well.

I don't think I can get to an A grade because ultimately they gave up a lot to make this happen, even if the product they got is more valuable than the price paid.... It's still a heavy price.

When I look at the bandwidth of possibilities, it's very hard to see this team not staying at least equal to what they've been, while their ceiling is so much higher than the last two years.

[Monster]

It's way too early too rate the offseason because there is more uncertainty with this Wolves iteration than I can remember. But Aldridge did it, so I'll weigh in. Right now I would agree with his 19th best (11th worst) and give the offseason a C-. Sure they brought in a borderline superstar (and he was more than borderline at the end of last season) in Ball, but 3 key rotation players are gone or hurt...plus Conley. It's odd that I give TC a C-, because I'm about as excited for this season to begin as any...it's easy to get excited about an Ant/Ball backcourt. But then there's the uncertainty:

-Can Ball stay healthy?
-Is Joan really ready to play good meaningful minutes...what happens if Rudy misses games?
-Do we have a real PF? If Jaden is forced to play PF and one of our many guards is forced to play SF, are we going to have to suffer through games where opponents get 15-20 offensive rebound?

But all teams have question marks. It's more fun to talk about how my C- grade would become an A+:

-the Wolves add one more big and Finchy is able to play Jaden primarily at the 3
-Ball plays 70 plus games and helps Ant become a 30+ scorer.
-Joan plays close to the way he played in his one summer league game. He proves that he can block out on defensive rebounds, defend without fouling or leaving his feet too often, and show that the offensive flash we saw in SL was real.

Tall order, but if all three of these things happen, I rate the offseason a huge success and we challenge for a chip, especially if two gifted athletes (Ball and Ant) realize there are two ends of the court. But right now? C-.(which is a passing grade you know, as I often told my parents ).

If we’re rating TC’s performance this offseason, we can’t count losing Donte before the season to an injury because it was obviously beyond TC’s control. That means, when rating TC’s off-season we can honestly say he gave up two rotation players - Naz and Randle - while adding two - Ball and Green. So the assessment really boils down to a simple one. Are we better with Ball and Green than we would be with Randle and Naz? I think the answer is yes, mainly because of (1) the synergies we get from adding Ball; (2) the addition by subtraction we get from subtracting Randle; and (3) the value of Green either on the court as a very good 3 & D guy or his alternative value as a mid-level expiring contract. That dual value associated with acquiring Josh Green in the Ball deal is a significant positive factor that’s being grossly overlooked.

The draft swaps in the Ball deal are pretty meaningless given where we’re likely to finish relative to Charlotte in those seasons as well as the new anti-tanking rules. Moreover, at this point, giving up one more 1st round pick 7 years down the road, while not ideal, isn’t much of a factor since if things aren’t going well then, we will have likely already traded Edwards and others for a boat load of 1st round picks.

I agree that the it’s premature to grade the Wolves off-season at this point, especially knowing how TC operates, but that’s what David teed up for us. . So preliminarily, I’m giving the Wolves a B. Getting Ball and Green for Randle and maybe TSJ would have been an A+. Giving up Naz was an understandable necessity to get LaMello, but it means I can’t give the Wolves more than a B or maybe a B+.

This is a good breakdown but it's incomplete. What about all the other moves? That trade wasn't the only thing Connelly and the Wolves did this off-season. What about the Lyles signing or the resigning of FAs?

[WildWolf2813]

the critics who hated what the Wolves did this summer think LaMelo is just D'Lo with an annoying dad. The ones who think LaMelo can be a part of a winning situation love the offseason.

I'm trying not to give the Wolves a C- but I think that's the grade.

Trading Randle for basically cap space and moving down is a home run move. Some people still think Randle had more value than that, but I've also never heard anyone outside of the local media discuss why Randle's value fell so hard down the stretch.

The draft sucked. I'm not gonna rip them for the 59th pick. I will absolutely rip TC for Isaiah Evans. I hated the possibility of the pick at 28. Getting him at 33 still means we drafted a player who I think sucks. I don't see how he can prove me wrong during his rookie year and if Donte is part of the future plans, Evans will never be able to prove me wrong. Honestly, considering where we should have been (21st overall) and having to move down 12 spots to shed the salaries we had which coulda been avoided just makes it worse.

Keeping Ayo is a B+. I only dock it a bit for 2 reasons: 1. We were in this position because TC whiffed massively and 2. It was on the high end of what we thought we'd have to pay him. Happy he's still here though.

Ultimately I'm for the Ball trade because LaMelo is gonna be asked to be Ant's sidekick, which he was much more equipped to be than JMac or Naz. The swaps are whatever, the 2nds are even whatever, especially next year. The 2033 first and Naz Reid swap for Ball and Green I can live with. Had it been Grant Williams instead of Josh Green, our gaping hole at PF is addressed. If Ball is just D'Lo, I hope it's something that is addressed sooner than later. I'm hopeful he can stay healthy and that he's at least getting good advice from Lonzo about the situation he's in because Lonzo gets it.

Letting Kyle Anderson go I felt was worse than letting Conley go even though I expected both to return. I expect very little from Trey Lyles.

The re-signing of Clark from a value standpoint, I can't be angry at 3 for $10. Those are Jake Layman type contract numbers. However, I'm very down on Clark after last year. If he can't make an open three he can't be out there.

The reason why I say it's a C- is because inevitably it'll be January and we'll assess things and say "this needs to be fixed" and we have no way to fix it. That is the major concern entering the season, so regardless of whether we like the moves or not, they better work, because there's no pivot. That is the disadvantage we have compared to virtually every other contender, so the FOMO we feel when even the fringiest of guys signs somewhere for the minimum, we're gonna really feel it come deadline time. Clearly TC doesn't have much of a plan beyond his initial major move. If it falls apart, he gets to leave and go elsewhere. Ant, LaMelo and JMac eventually go elsewhere and we get a bunch of 17-27 first rounders. We're inheriting all the risk with payoff being maybe beating one of SA/OKC. The downside is testing the relegation zone in 2-3 years.

[Lipoli390]

“The reason why I say it's a C- is because inevitably it'll be January and we'll assess things and say "this needs to be fixed" and we have no way to fix it. That is the major concern entering the season, so regardless of whether we like the moves or not, they better work, because there's no pivot. That is the disadvantage we have compared to virtually every other contender,…”


Wildwolf - I quoted the last paragraph of your post because I think it’s spot on and telling. I gave TC a B for THIS offseason because I think he improved the team significantly with the Ball trade and moving on from Randle. I also liked signing Ayo and Lyles. But I’d give TC a C+/B- for his overall tenure here based on what he’s done with the wealth he inherited and the corner he’s put this franchise in with a depleted chest of tradable assets. I like the culture he’s developed here and the fact that he’s always fully engaged and active. But his drafting has been relatively poor, although the jury is still out on TSJ, Jaylen Clark and Joan Beringer. He’s made some nice moves like the acquisition of Conley and NAW, but both produced very short-lived benefits. Letting NAW rather than Randle go was a pretty big blunder. Ultimately, the main thing that pushes TC’s grade down to a C+ or B- stems from the Rudy deal, which ultimately led to losing KAT for a marginal return, struggling with huge financial constraints, and not having future tradable draft assets to take advantage of opportunities. Where we’re at is a stark contrast to the Spurs and OKC who are the teams to beat, still very young and awash in future draft assets. Those are the front offices that get an A+ The Knicks get an A.

I’d give TC a higher grade if he didn’t inherit so much wealth, which is something that’s too often overlooked when evaluating him. He inherited a 46-win team with what is now our untradeable core of Ant and Jaden, along with Naz and a nearly full plate of draft assets. In each of the four seasons since TC was hired, the Wolves have won 42, 56, 49 and 49 games. That’s an average of 49 wins - only three wins better than the season before TC came here. Our best season was the last season KAT was here after which our win total dropped by 7. I just can’t see giving TC more than a C+ and I’m probably too generous suggested a grade as high as a B-.

But TC’s not done yet. I like what he’s done this summer so far. If LaMello stays healthy and takes another step forward and if either Clark of TSJ takes a big step forward the Wolves could have a great season and my overall grade for TC would go up this time next year.

Right now, I want to see TC sign a contract extension. Apparently, the hold up isn’t Wolves ownership; it’s TC. I will be furious if TC bolts after next season, leaving his successor to carry on with the draft cupboards TC has depleted.