Sundog wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2024 3:15 pm
More offensive firepower, slight step back defensively, internal progress from Ant, Jaden, Naz. The Wolves will be better. But the West is better too.
Swapping out Slo Mo for Ingles can be fairly characterized as a wash, although I think the swap is a bit of a step back when you think of all the things Kyle does. But let’s call it a wash, especially given the Wolves need for shooting.
You can’t look at Dozier’s track record and conclude that he’s a step up over what we had last season. If anything, I’d say he’s a step down from Morris and JMac.
Other than the Slo Mo/Ingles swap and the Dozier signing, the only other roster changes are the additions of Dilly and TSJ. So whether we’re better, the same or worse as a result of off-season transactions turns on how these two picks perform. Given the risk inherent in having a 37 year old starting PG with a track record of missing lots of games even in his prime, our reliance on a 19 year old, 165 pound rookie as a backup is a troubling roster development.
I think TC knows all this. In his recent interview with Dan Barreiro, TC answered the question of improvement by quickly pivoting to improvement from within. If you listen to the interview you’ll know what I mean. He talked about Jaden needing to take a big step forward - especially when it comes to rebounding and finding other ways to score. He also mentioned improvement from Ant and Naz. Perhaps Minott, Miller and/or Clark will break through into the rotation and provide a source of net team improvement.
You’re right that several playoff teams in the West are better — OKC, Dallas, Sacramento, New Orleans. A couple others look like they’ve taken a step back - Denver, Clippers. Overall, it will be tough for the Wolves to get as far as they got last season, much less advance to the NBA finals. Note that we were remarkably healthy last season except for KAT’s absence down the stretch. Conley played far more games than he has in a long time. Edwards was an Iron man. NAW, Naz, Jaden and Rudy were largely injury free as well.
The good news is that the Wolves are one of 3 or 4 teams that should be considered favorites to come out of the West. TSJ is a rookie but he’s 23 with an NBA body to go with his considerable talent. He could have a rookie impact in line with what we saw a few years ago from a rookie named Desmond Bane. The bad or cautionary news is that just getting back to the Western Conference finals will probably require Dilly to perform at a level that’s rare for a 19 year old rookie. I would have thought differently if we could have retained Morris.
We’ll have to trust in TC and Finch. Finch talked about giving rookies a defined (by implication limited) role. One approach with Dilly, at least in the first half of the season, could be defining his role primary as an off-the-ball 3-point shooter with Ant as the lead guard a la MJ when the was paired with Paxon and later Kerr or when Kobe was paired with Derek Fisher. For that approach to work, we’ll need improved ball-handling and decision making from Ant. I thought Ant’s decision making had already improved late in the season and the playoffs until the Dallas series.
No matter what, the Wolves will be very good and even more fun to watch next season with Dilly, TSJ and Joe Ingles in the fold and our other guys back, presumably better in the case of Ant, Jaden and Naz, then last season.
Actually, it could be an 11 year old.