Minnesota Sports Forum

Jalen Brunson will be a prize free agent target this summer. Credit the Mavs for picking him in the 2nd round and then sticking with him as he averaged only 9 and 8 points respectively his first two seasons in the League after three years of college ball. A lesson for the Wolves is to stick with Jaylen Nowell as he continues to progress after two years of college experience. And stick with McDaniels as well. I like our young guys. Meanwhile, we have three guys (KAT, Edwards and DLO) who can continue to carry the team as Nowell and McDaniels continue to develop.

I fully expect a trade request by Donovan Mitchell this off season even if they get past the Mavericks

lipoli390 wrote:The Dallas-Utah game tonight is a lot of fun to watch.

Just looked at the scores so far today...Jalen Brunson wowzers.

BloopOracle wrote:I fully expect a trade request by Donovan Mitchell this off season even if they get past the Mavericks

Utah reminds me a bit of that Grizzlies team last decade with Gasol-Conley-Randolph. Consistently good every year with a great defensive identity, but just could never quite get over the hump and make it into the Finals.

(btw, credit to the Grizzlies and Jazz franchises for being able to field multiple iterations of successful squads over the past couple decades. These aren't big markets on the coasts. It can be done and it can be repeated with a different set of players!)

lipoli390 wrote:Jalen Brunson will be a prize free agent target this summer. Credit the Mavs for picking him in the 2nd round and then sticking with him as he averaged only 9 and 8 points respectively his first two seasons in the League after three years of college ball. A lesson for the Wolves is to stick with Jaylen Nowell as he continues to progress after two years of college experience. And stick with McDaniels as well. I like our young guys. Meanwhile, we have three guys (KAT, Edwards and DLO) who can continue to carry the team as Nowell and McDaniels continue to develop.

FWIW I'm not sure it was that hard for Dallas to stick with Brunson. He has shot well over 50% on his 2 point shots and even his first 2 years a decent enough percentage from 3 and those scoring numbers were as a bench player. He was a 2nd rounder so he was dirt cheap. I suppose someone could say the Wolves have stuck with Nowell I guess...well not really he has always seemed reasonably talented. But your point still stands though I knew Brunson had been improving but I didn't realize the season he had this year which he put up starter level stats and had his 2nd year in a row as a combo guard that shot over 50% on FGs that's pretty unique.

There are also guys that end up never making it too. It feels like the Wolves for the first time in a while (maybe ever) have a legit pipeline going where they may actually have some young guys coming up that can help the team now and in the future. I remember being jealous of the Nets when they had a bunch of guards even if some of them weren't healthy. The Wolves are in a pretty good place now too. Nowell struggles to get minutes and Bolmaro a first round pick doesn't get any minutes (which is fine). Okogie barely plays. Beasley is a bench player and looking quite valuable right now. The Wolves need more frontcourt help this offseason and possibly in the draft as well. Can you imagine if the Wolves had a lengthy defensive big they could deploy? It would be amazing. It's not unrealistic to think the Wolves could get a guy like that in their development pipeline this draft at some point. I do think the Nathan Knight signing to a 2-way contract last season was a pretty solid move.

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Jalen Brunson will be a prize free agent target this summer. Credit the Mavs for picking him in the 2nd round and then sticking with him as he averaged only 9 and 8 points respectively his first two seasons in the League after three years of college ball. A lesson for the Wolves is to stick with Jaylen Nowell as he continues to progress after two years of college experience. And stick with McDaniels as well. I like our young guys. Meanwhile, we have three guys (KAT, Edwards and DLO) who can continue to carry the team as Nowell and McDaniels continue to develop.

FWIW I'm not sure it was that hard for Dallas to stick with Brunson. He has shot well over 50% on his 2 point shots and even his first 2 years a decent enough percentage from 3 and those scoring numbers were as a bench player. He was a 2nd rounder so he was dirt cheap. I suppose someone could say the Wolves have stuck with Nowell I guess...well not really he has always seemed reasonably talented. But your point still stands though I knew Brunson had been improving but I didn't realize the season he had this year which he put up starter level stats and had his 2nd year in a row as a combo guard that shot over 50% on FGs that's pretty unique.

There are also guys that end up never making it too. It feels like the Wolves for the first time in a while (maybe ever) have a legit pipeline going where they may actually have some young guys coming up that can help the team now and in the future. I remember being jealous of the Nets when they had a bunch of guards even if some of them weren't healthy. The Wolves are in a pretty good place now too. Nowell struggles to get minutes and Bolmaro a first round pick doesn't get any minutes (which is fine). Okogie barely plays. Beasley is a bench player and looking quite valuable right now. The Wolves need more frontcourt help this offseason and possibly in the draft as well. Can you imagine if the Wolves had a lengthy defensive big they could deploy? It would be amazing. It's not unrealistic to think the Wolves could get a guy like that in their development pipeline this draft at some point. I do think the Nathan Knight signing to a 2-way contract last season was a pretty solid move.

Excellent observations about the Wolves, Monster. We're pretty loaded at the guard positions with DLO, Edwards, Beverley, Beasley, Nowell, and Jordan McLaughlin all getting meaningful playing time this season. Okogie didn't get much playing time as the season wore on and Bolmaro never broke into the rotation. I think it's clear that Okogie never going to be more than he's been - a good, disruptive defender who becomes a liability on the offensive end. I'm still intrigued, however, by Bolmaro's talent. You can never have too much young talent in the NBA. Getting a defensive big with size has to be the Wolves top off-season priority. They'll have the 18th pick in the first round and three second round picks to package in a deal for a big and, assuming they relinquish their rights to Okogie, Layman and Prince, they'll have ample room under the luxury tax threshold to use their full MLE and BAE.

Getting back to Brunson and Nowell, it's interesting that they both shot over 50% from the field in college after their freshman seasons. Historically, guards who shoot 50% or better in college tend to do well in the NBA.

It's worth noting that Andrew Wiggins is having a heck of a series so far against the Nuggets. He had 16 highly efficient points and 9 rebounds in game 1. So far in the 3rd quarter of game 2, he has 13 points on 5-8 shooting and 8 rebounds.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Jalen Brunson will be a prize free agent target this summer. Credit the Mavs for picking him in the 2nd round and then sticking with him as he averaged only 9 and 8 points respectively his first two seasons in the League after three years of college ball. A lesson for the Wolves is to stick with Jaylen Nowell as he continues to progress after two years of college experience. And stick with McDaniels as well. I like our young guys. Meanwhile, we have three guys (KAT, Edwards and DLO) who can continue to carry the team as Nowell and McDaniels continue to develop.

FWIW I'm not sure it was that hard for Dallas to stick with Brunson. He has shot well over 50% on his 2 point shots and even his first 2 years a decent enough percentage from 3 and those scoring numbers were as a bench player. He was a 2nd rounder so he was dirt cheap. I suppose someone could say the Wolves have stuck with Nowell I guess...well not really he has always seemed reasonably talented. But your point still stands though I knew Brunson had been improving but I didn't realize the season he had this year which he put up starter level stats and had his 2nd year in a row as a combo guard that shot over 50% on FGs that's pretty unique.

There are also guys that end up never making it too. It feels like the Wolves for the first time in a while (maybe ever) have a legit pipeline going where they may actually have some young guys coming up that can help the team now and in the future. I remember being jealous of the Nets when they had a bunch of guards even if some of them weren't healthy. The Wolves are in a pretty good place now too. Nowell struggles to get minutes and Bolmaro a first round pick doesn't get any minutes (which is fine). Okogie barely plays. Beasley is a bench player and looking quite valuable right now. The Wolves need more frontcourt help this offseason and possibly in the draft as well. Can you imagine if the Wolves had a lengthy defensive big they could deploy? It would be amazing. It's not unrealistic to think the Wolves could get a guy like that in their development pipeline this draft at some point. I do think the Nathan Knight signing to a 2-way contract last season was a pretty solid move.

Excellent observations about the Wolves, Monster. We're pretty loaded at the guard positions with DLO, Edwards, Beverley, Beasley, Nowell, and Jordan McLaughlin all getting meaningful playing time this season. Okogie didn't get much playing time as the season wore on and Bolmaro never broke into the rotation. I think it's clear that Okogie never going to be more than he's been - a good, disruptive defender who becomes a liability on the offensive end. I'm still intrigued, however, by Bolmaro's talent. You can never have too much young talent in the NBA. Getting a defensive big with size has to be the Wolves top off-season priority. They'll have the 18th pick in the first round and three second round picks to package in a deal for a big and, assuming they relinquish their rights to Okogie, Layman and Prince, they'll have ample room under the luxury tax threshold to use their full MLE and BAE.

Getting back to Brunson and Nowell, it's interesting that they both shot over 50% from the field in college after their freshman seasons. Historically, guards who shoot 50% or better in college tend to do well in the NBA.

I hope they bring Prince back unless the costs goes beyond mid-Level money. If they don't bring him back they will need to replace him as they basically would have just McDaniels as a big wing player and they wouldn't even have Okogie (undersized for that role but plays bigger) or even Layman for depth in that regard. Bolmaro might be ready to help some there but I'd feel a lot better if they got someone more ready to contribute. I know this is how some teams get in trouble financially but I think I would be willing to pay Prince an extra couple million for 2 years to keep him around rather than have to replace him. Of course it's possible we could get another undervalued guy like him for much less. I just kinda doubt someone is gonna pay Prince more than I would be willing to pay but it only takes one team right? For a few years the Kings were one of those teams.

I think Okogie on the right team could still be useful as a lesser version of some other tough wing defenders. The problem for the Wolves is they already have Vanderbilt and they can't play those 2 guys at the same time. That could also be a problem with the defensive big if they can't do much on offense. Hopefully they would at least be better catching and finishing in the paint than Vanderbilt. Speaking of him he is another guy that the Wolves kinda "stuck with" and valued and are reaping rewards. Something I hadn't considered quite as much as I have now is the idea of him basically playing some as a wing defender. He could actually play some as a SF but you would need to have another "Big" that could shoot.

It's going to be an interesting offseason. I think the Wolves could really improve by just doing some simple adding to the roster but they could do some more significant moves to help improve the roster. I honestly don't know which would be better. They are in a good spot right now but they will also potentially be a year away from having to make decisions on players and whether to pay them or how much etc and that can almost make or break franchises. But that can wait we have a playoff run ahead of us!! =)

lipoli390 wrote:It's worth noting that Andrew Wiggins is having a heck of a series so far against the Nuggets. He had 16 highly efficient points and 9 rebounds in game 1. So far in the 3rd quarter of game 2, he has 13 points on 5-8 shooting and 8 rebounds.

Wiggins? Why is nobody talking about Jordan Poole?! I remember Cam and I both liked him in that draft as a guy that might have a lot in his bag and a pick towards the end of the first round would be a good gamble on him. Cam and I aren't batting .1000 on those Michigan guards lol but overall I think we have done well and Poole has been quite a find for the Warriors who hadn't exactly been doing all that well in the drafting dept for a couple years.

Man, the Nuggets don't have much other than Jokic right now, but the Warriors are looking really good these last couple games. If we get past Memphis, wouldn't we have to face them? Yeesh.