Minnesota Sports Forum

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I think Ball is the only rookie I would trade Edwards for right now.

Agreed and in my opinion it's not by a large margin either (ball has been foresure better). I have liked what we have gotten out of Ant

Time will tell all. LaMelo Ball has put up some big games thus far, but to be fair so have the other top rookies in this class and they're not given nearly the opportunities Ball is getting this early in his career. I'm still not sure what to make of Ball as half of his games are very meh and the other half have been worthwhile or better. The only thing I can say for sure is that he'll sell tickets whenever all fans are allowed to come back to the games.

Camden wrote:Time will tell all. LaMelo Ball has put up some big games thus far, but to be fair so have the other top rookies in this class and they're not given nearly the opportunities Ball is getting this early in his career. I'm still not sure what to make of Ball as half of his games are very meh and the other half have been worthwhile or better. The only thing I can say for sure is that he'll sell tickets whenever all fans are allowed to come back to the games.

I was surprised to see Edwards with a higher usage rate than Lamelo Ball.

After Ball's 34/4/8 game yesterday...

13.6 ppg
5.8 reb
6.0 apg
43.7% fg
26.5 mpg

He's better than I thought he was. He's already a plus player (even with those poor games). The big question mark (shooting) doesn't seem to be a huge hindrance. Yet. We'll see if it sticks long term.

Another terrific night for LaMello Ball with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and only 1 turnover. He was also a plus 14 player tonight. Certainly looking like the real deal and the likely ROY.

In his first 17 games...

Edwards had 28 assists and 33 TOs. It was bad. His unwillingness to pass had only been seen around these parts by the likes of Shabazz Muhammad and a rare Yinka Dare sighting when he played for the Nets.

But after being put in the starting lineup... it seems like the "I gotta get mine" type of play has been much more tempered.

In 7 games... Edwards has 24 assists and only 4 TOs. That's a shocking (and impressive) turnaround. Edwards has to become a willing passer to get top value for that pick. This seems like a good sign.

Haliburton had 15 points on 6-9 shooting from the field and 3-4 from behind the arc. He also had 2 steals and 2 blocks. No doubt in my mind that, right now, he's runner up to LaMello for ROY. I still think Edwards is in the running based on his talent and some of his performances so far this season, but he's in 3rd place in my view right now, well behind LaMello.

He's not in the ROY discussion, but did anyone catch the game Saddiq Bey had tonight?

Ant had a nice game but Ball had a better one. Oh well.

WolvesFan21 wrote:Ant had a nice game but Ball had a better one. Oh well.

Debatable, WF21. Maybe we can say Ball was better if we look at the be-all-and-end-all +/- stat, but otherwise I give the nod to Ant last night. Both were terrific though. The difference for me was Ant's 3 assists with no TOs, compared to Ball's 4 assists and 4 TO's...clear advantage to Ant, despite Ball being so ball dominant. Ant also outscored him in 3 fewer minutes(albeit just by one point) and had a better three-point percentage. Ball was great on the boards with 11, but Ant had 6 himself. The eye test also favors Ant for me...man, he looked NBA-ready last night! But any difference between the two of them last night is overshadowed by the fact that these are two guys with a really promising future.

FNG wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:Ant had a nice game but Ball had a better one. Oh well.

Debatable, WF21. Maybe we can say Ball was better if we look at the be-all-and-end-all +/- stat, but otherwise I give the nod to Ant last night. Both were terrific though. The difference for me was Ant's 3 assists with no TOs, compared to Ball's 4 assists and 4 TO's...clear advantage to Ant, despite Ball being so ball dominant. Ant also outscored him in 3 fewer minutes(albeit just by one point) and had a better three-point percentage. Ball was great on the boards with 11, but Ant had 6 himself. The eye test also favors Ant for me...man, he looked NBA-ready last night! But any difference between the two of them last night is overshadowed by the fact that these are two guys with a really promising future.

I thought it was close for sure. I give the win to Ball because they won, but that could be a team stat. Doesn't it matter that Okogie and Rubio brick 80% of 3's while wide open?