KG4Ever wrote:I'm looking forward to the season more than any season since KAT's first and second year. Why? I look forward to seeing Ryan, Prigs and VP coach, KAT becoming a better all around player, Culver's development and seeing if Wiggs can shut up his critics. I want to see a healthy Cov. I want to see if Jordan Bell can develop from the promise he had shown as a rookie. I want to see if Okogie can become a plus overall player. I want to see if the Wolves are capable for once of developing free agent or overlooked talent. I don't care if we make playoffs as long as I see good player development and in fact, I kind of hope we miss the playoffs and have a lottery pick as we need to draft a point guard in 2020 (unless Culver can be the guy) and next year is supposed to be loaded with pgs.
I'm on board with pretty much everything you said here.
KG4Ever wrote:I'm looking forward to the season more than any season since KAT's first and second year. Why? I look forward to seeing Ryan, Prigs and VP coach, KAT becoming a better all around player, Culver's development and seeing if Wiggs can shut up his critics. I want to see a healthy Cov. I want to see if Jordan Bell can develop from the promise he had shown as a rookie. I want to see if Okogie can become a plus overall player. I want to see if the Wolves are capable for once of developing free agent or overlooked talent. I don't care if we make playoffs as long as I see good player development and in fact, I kind of hope we miss the playoffs and have a lottery pick as we need to draft a point guard in 2020 (unless Culver can be the guy) and next year is supposed to be loaded with pgs.
I'm on board with pretty much everything you said here.
I'm not excited about the Wolves season at this time.
I think Okogie and Wiggins have ceilings that are closer than others believe. I guess I'm excited to see the latest rookie, considering I don't know much about him other than his tourney run. But he doesn't seem to offer that explosive pop to lead this team to a breakthrough.
I think it's a season of spinning wheels until Rosas makes some moves in the next year or two.
The Sixers are going all in on Ben Simmons. Whoever has him on their roster should be doing that sink or swim. What will Josh Richardson look like actually playing with a legit passer instead of having to create his own shots a lot like he did much if last year? They did lose Redick as a shooter but there is still quite a bit of shooting around Simmons and it's a long group with a bunch of defensive minded guys. Simmons or another player has to take a leap when it comes playoff time but I think it's gonna be a fun team to keep tabs on.
monsterpile wrote:The Sixers are going all in on Ben Simmons. Whoever has him on their roster should be doing that sink or swim. What will Josh Richardson look like actually playing with a legit passer instead of having to create his own shots a lot like he did much if last year? They did lose Redick as a shooter but there is still quite a bit of shooting around Simmons and it's a long group with a bunch of defensive minded guys. Simmons or another player has to take a leap when it comes playoff time but I think it's gonna be a fun team to keep tabs on.
Yep. Defensively, that team was already causing havoc. Swap out Redick with Richardson... add that defensive wunderkid and Zhaire Smith... and yikes.
monsterpile wrote:The Sixers are going all in on Ben Simmons. Whoever has him on their roster should be doing that sink or swim. What will Josh Richardson look like actually playing with a legit passer instead of having to create his own shots a lot like he did much if last year? They did lose Redick as a shooter but there is still quite a bit of shooting around Simmons and it's a long group with a bunch of defensive minded guys. Simmons or another player has to take a leap when it comes playoff time but I think it's gonna be a fun team to keep tabs on.
Yep. Defensively, that team was already causing havoc. Swap out Redick with Richardson... add that defensive wunderkid and Zhaire Smith... and yikes.
They also added Horford but it's also worth remembering that they had Butler and Covington combine for over 60 games. Butler's D I think does get a bit overrated but he is obviously still very good last year so that's a significant loss on that end. Tobias Harris isn't known as a defensive guy and Redick was not a bad defender. Richardson May be their shortest starter. That's...um...big.
Does anyone in the wolves front office have shares in 538?
I assume that a lot of that is based on their CARMELO player projections. I'd guess based on seeing some of their player projections that they assume that overall their projections say they are gonna get more out of the guys they have now than last year. Note Bayless played a chunk of minutes and was Crawford bad according to them. They have Covington as a massive positive and they expect him to play a bunch. A number of guys that left the Wolves they didn't have as particularly valuable last season. They have some young guys taking steps forward. I saw the Vegas line for the Wolves was 35.5 wins. That sounds about right although if someone thinks that's optimistic I wouldn't argue with them at all. Can't wait for that win prediction thread!
Does anyone in the wolves front office have shares in 538?
I do think most posters here have been too down on our prospects this coming season. Of course, that shouldn't surprise anyone, coming from me. I don't put myself in the "high aspirations" category, but I am quite intrigued as to what this team will look like. If what we saw in summer league is any indicator, the change in style of play on both ends of the court could make a big difference in the upcoming season.
1. Okogie showed little if any offensive improvement in this year's summer league over last season. That's very troubling.
2. KBD initially showed some improvement over last season in summer league, but then seemed to fissile. At his age with multiple years of college and a full NBA season under his belt, he should have really shined against summer league competition.
3. There is no evidence to suggest that Wiggins will improve at all this season given his 5 year track record of stagnation as an inefficient shooter who's effort comes and goes.
4. Covington's health/durability remains remains questionable. He missed two months with a knee injury that eventually required surgery from which he's still rehabbing. He hasn't played a game since that extended absence. Moreover, he has a history of questionable durability.
5. The Wolves haven't added anyone this offseason whose presence on the team is likely to improve last season's poor 3-point shooting.
6. Teague is coming off ankle surgery and his recent track record suggests a serious lack of durability.
Against that background are some potential positives:'
1. The hope that rookie Jarrett Culver or Nowell ends up in the conversation for rookie of the year.
2. The hope that Okogie or KBD takes a big leap forward in spite of their relatively disappointing showing in summer league
3. The hope that Vonleh, has a break-out season the reflects his selection as a high lottery pick several years ago.
4. The hope that Bell has a break-out season as a defensive stand-out who puts up stats that reflect the kind of production he provided in college.
5. The hope that Layman has a breakout season and becomes our own version of Danilo Gallinari.
That's a lot of hope. My prediction is that this team will win around 30 games. I don't think Covington will stay healthy. I'm not encouraged by what I've seen from Okogie or KBD. And I'm not optimistic about Culver becoming anything more than a solid rotation player. Hope I'm wrong. But as I've said many times, I can accept the bad season I'm predicting if we see signs that (1) Culver or Nowell will become really good, ultimately all-star caliber players, (2) Vonleh or Layman takes a huge leap forward at least as good starting caliber player/possible borderline allstar caliber player, and (3) we make the most out of next June's draft.
