Yeah I don't think anyone will dispute the majority of the points made in the article. But it also reinforces my notion that you would be crazy to bail on the guy right now. It makes much more sense to try and fix what's wrong, than bury him at the age of 21.
I think there are other options than burying him.
Perhaps another team sees him as the very best player in the NBA in 3 years... and the Wolves only see him as a borderline Top 10 guy.
And they could get a ton back in return for him as a result...
Right. There is a difference between "dumping" a guy (like we did with Wes Johnson or Derrick Williams) and actually getting value back.
There is still a big part of me that feels like he's on a slow burn path to becoming an all-star, similar to Demar DeRozan. You'd hate to see him dropping 25+ efficient points per night for some other team. And his improved 3-point shot seems to be the real deal.
Sure. It's a possibility. And there are reasons for the DeRozan comparisons. That being said... is DeRozan a top 10 player?
Maybe?
And there are still redundancy issues with LaVine. I'm not advocating to trade Wiggins. I'm just pointing out reasons why the Wolves might consider it... eventually.
But you read the quotes from his teammates about how uber talented the guy is, and how he's just scratching the surface of his ability. I think it's a very dangerous game to entertain moving a guy like that who should be a senior in college.
The other thing to think about is that you can't look at LaVine's performance in a vacuum. Teams have to account for Wiggins, so he almost always draws the other team's top wing defender (Roberson, MKG, Mbah Moute, Leonard etc.). That leaves LaVine with a more favorable matchup.
But still....they both give it all away and then some on the other side of the court. It's a real dilemma because you'd think they would be further along in Year 3 than they are, yet they both are still very young.
Q12543 wrote:The other thing to think about is that you can't look at LaVine's performance in a vacuum. Teams have to account for Wiggins, so he almost always draws the other team's top wing defender (Roberson, MKG, Mbah Moute, Leonard etc.). That leaves LaVine with a more favorable matchup.
But still....they both give it all away and then some on the other side of the court. It's a real dilemma because you'd think they would be further along in Year 3 than they are, yet they both are still very young.
Back to my "signs of improvement" take.
I just want to see legit, tangible improvement without having to study stats to find one (while ignoring 8x as many that show little to no growth).
The three point improvement thus far is a significant one.
Yup, you have to find sub-categories to find improvement in Wiggins, because the all-around comprehensive stats aren't showing it. But 3 pt % is a big enough one where you hope it eventually translates to better things overall.....
As for LaVine, he has made steady improvement in PER, WS/48, and RPM every year. But even that is obfuscated by the fact he played PG the first 1.5 years. Would he have played better as a rookie and into the first part of last year if he was made a SG right off the bat?
Either way, unlike Wiggins, there aren't many stats that hate Zach right now....not many love him either.
I liked following the Wolves more when I thought Pooh Richardson was a legitimately great player.
I had so much youthful optimism. Watching 27 years of mostly terrible play mixed with a brief stretch of maddeningly slightly above average play seems to have driven me to be more of a cynic.
The young 3 being bad defenders is bad. The eye test and stats say so. It's hard to refute they aren't getting it done at that end. I think the biggest surprise at the futility is Towns. He is a 2nd year player and Wiggins was supposed to make a leap on that end with a Thibs and Lavine being a good defender was always a nice theory but generally speaking it wasn't something you banked on espcially when he was drafted. The other two? Yikes.
What is the good news here? Well Payne has looked like a decent deep bench player when he has gotten on the floor this year and NOBODY thought he was going to get minutes over a healthy Jordon Hill or even a leftover happy meal. So some guys have been able to figure out how to play or at least not suck big time playing for Thibs. The uber talents will probably figure it out eventually. I'm going to my happy place now...which means I will be watching that Larry Bird video again.
I hate to single one guy out, but I am going to with Towns. He's the guy that needs to step up defensively and become a wall at the rim. Defense in the NBA starts at the rim and Towns is garbage defending it. Perimeter defenders can only do so much in today's game before they need help behind them and right now Towns is providing 0 help. I just don't get how he's done nothing on that end in the pro's. Was it really all WCS and Towns playing janitor in college? It's looking more and more like it and that was one of my worries for him coming out of college. That's were he needs to get better because that's the one person and area that can improve the whole team defense if he just steps up on that end. I think everyone else jumps up a bunch of spots if Towns does so himself.
