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Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 12:42 am
by SameOldNudityDrew
Interior scoring
Gobert (as a lob threat only, but very high volume and efficiency)
KAT
Naz
Ant (off the dribble or on cuts)
Nowell (off the dribble or on cuts)
Mac (actually not a bad finisher, especially in transition)
SloMo (not bad)
There are other guys who can obviously score inside as well. McDaniels wasn't bad, but this is an area for growth. Prince, sort of. Minott should be a dunk threat off of cuts, but he likely won't play much. Moore, maybe? The keys here will be Ant and Nowell putting pressure on the rim from the perimeter, which we know they can do at a high level.
Midrange scoring
KAT
DLO
Ant
Nowell
Prince and SloMo can kind of do this too, but it's not really something I want to see happening a lot necessarily. Maybe Moore too, but who knows?
Outside shooting
KAT! (catch and shoot and off the dribble, even with some stepbacks)
Forbes (mostly catch and shoot, but can do this off the dribble a bit)
Nowell (catch and shoot and off the dribble)
Prince (mostly catch and shoot, ideally)
Ant (any way he wants, but it would be nice to see that percentage increase)
DLO (a bit of a down season last year, but he's average to above average)
Naz (good for a center, but I don't want too much of it)
SloMo (maybe? percentages have been fluctuating a bit around average to just below average)
These days, almost everybody needs to be able to stretch the floor. Obviously, Gobert can't. Jaden shot less than 32% last year, but showed potential from the corner (please, please, please). JMac was also a bit disappointing. I have no idea what to expect from Moore, but I wouldn't hold my breath. I don't think Minott can shoot from outside, so that'll also keep him off the floor. We'll always want to have at least 3, ideally 4 outside shooters on the floor at all times, especially with Gobert. As I look at this, it makes getting Okogie a tougher proposition. Man, it's so key to find guys who can both defend really well on the perimeter and shoot from the perimeter.
. . . more later
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 12:48 am
by kekgeek
lipoli390 wrote:Here's a list of the free agents that might still be available who the Wolves should consider for their final two roster spots:
1. TJ Warren - Likely take the $4.1M BAE to sign him. His vet min. would be $2.6M. High risk/reward.
2. Caleb Martin - Next best SF available after Warren; much lower risk than TJ. Wolves apparently interested.
3. Moses Brown - Gobert's understudy. We're going big; he's very big and young. Otherwise it's just Naz
4. Greg Monroe - He's solid. Good center depth
5. Avery Bradley - Beverley light? Defense and 3-point shooting. Anything left in his tank?
6. Lou Williams - He wants back in the League. Worth a min contract?
7. Gorgui - He's long a slow. Should fit well. :) Actually a solid big for a deeper bench
8. Josh Okogie - We know him. Players love him. Defends. Never any effort issues. Still pretty young.
9. Jake Layman - I actually think he's a decent player to have deep on your bench
I think any of the above could probably be signed for the vet minimum except TJ Warren and possibly Caleb Martin. Obviously, with TJ I'd want a full medical review of his foot. Of course, even clearance from medical staff doesn't eliminate the risk of re-occurrence. It's the nature of foot injuries to return. But if we could get TJ for the vet minimum, I'd sign him in a heartbeat in spite of the risk. And I might take the risk of giving using the BAE if necessary to sign him. Not sure we could sign Caleb for the $1.8 vet minimum. Not sure I'd pay him the BAE, but maybe. The reason I'm interested in SFs is because I'm not convinced we can count on McDaniels at that position next season. And we're clearly in win-now mode.
I like the idea of signing Moses Brown. And maybe learning from the similarly sized Gobert. Brown is already proven to be a really good rebounder. And he has tremendous size. If we can sign him to the minimum, he's be worth it in my view. Otherwise, if Gobert misses games due to injury, we have to change our scheme. Brown would give us a Gobert size size big to step into the team's primary scheme.
Technically the wolves have 3 open roster spots because Knight and Minott are not signed to NBA deals yet.
Other guys I would consider.
Campazzo is a PG who played the nuggets with Connelly and he is just that annoying pest that is nice to have.
Markus Howard another PG from the nuggets that is undersized but he is a good 3 pt shooter
Belly, I doubt he comes back but he did like MN and I think he would be a great depth piece.
Austin Rivers, another guy from the nuggets who is a good defender and he can score a little bit
Jeremy Lamb, just a solid wing vet
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 1:11 am
by Lipoli390
kekgeek1 wrote:lipoli390 wrote:Here's a list of the free agents that might still be available who the Wolves should consider for their final two roster spots:
1. TJ Warren - Likely take the $4.1M BAE to sign him. His vet min. would be $2.6M. High risk/reward.
2. Caleb Martin - Next best SF available after Warren; much lower risk than TJ. Wolves apparently interested.
3. Moses Brown - Gobert's understudy. We're going big; he's very big and young. Otherwise it's just Naz
4. Greg Monroe - He's solid. Good center depth
5. Avery Bradley - Beverley light? Defense and 3-point shooting. Anything left in his tank?
6. Lou Williams - He wants back in the League. Worth a min contract?
7. Gorgui - He's long a slow. Should fit well. :) Actually a solid big for a deeper bench
8. Josh Okogie - We know him. Players love him. Defends. Never any effort issues. Still pretty young.
9. Jake Layman - I actually think he's a decent player to have deep on your bench
I think any of the above could probably be signed for the vet minimum except TJ Warren and possibly Caleb Martin. Obviously, with TJ I'd want a full medical review of his foot. Of course, even clearance from medical staff doesn't eliminate the risk of re-occurrence. It's the nature of foot injuries to return. But if we could get TJ for the vet minimum, I'd sign him in a heartbeat in spite of the risk. And I might take the risk of giving using the BAE if necessary to sign him. Not sure we could sign Caleb for the $1.8 vet minimum. Not sure I'd pay him the BAE, but maybe. The reason I'm interested in SFs is because I'm not convinced we can count on McDaniels at that position next season. And we're clearly in win-now mode.
I like the idea of signing Moses Brown. And maybe learning from the similarly sized Gobert. Brown is already proven to be a really good rebounder. And he has tremendous size. If we can sign him to the minimum, he's be worth it in my view. Otherwise, if Gobert misses games due to injury, we have to change our scheme. Brown would give us a Gobert size size big to step into the team's primary scheme.
Technically the wolves have 3 open roster spots because Knight and Minott are not signed to NBA deals yet.
Other guys I would consider.
Campazzo is a PG who played the nuggets with Connelly and he is just that annoying pest that is nice to have.
Markus Howard another PG from the nuggets that is undersized but he is a good 3 pt shooter
Belly, I doubt he comes back but he did like MN and I think he would be a great depth piece.
Austin Rivers, another guy from the nuggets who is a good defender and he can score a little bit
Jeremy Lamb, just a solid wing vet
Kek - Those are all decent players to consider adding as minimum salary guys. I was assuming we would give Minott one of the regular roster spots. That's what I would do. I'd reserve the other 2-way slot for a Kevon Harris or Phillip Wheeler.
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 1:16 am
by SameOldNudityDrew
Shot creation for themselves off the dribble
Ant! (at the rim and into jumpers)
Nowell (at the rim and into jumpers)
DLO (mostly jumpers)
KAT (not a traditional break-you-down guy, but he does score a lot off the dribble)
Other guys like Prince, SloMo, and JMac can kind of do this. Naz and Jaden can score off of one or two dribbles, but I don't think more than that is a good idea. Moore could be decent at this, but who knows? This is a key skill. You don't want guys doing it too much, and last year we slipped into iso ball more often than I would have liked. But it's good we have guys that can do this. I'm really hoping Moore can leapfrog Prince, SloMo, and JMac here so we can have a 5th guy who we can really turn to for this.
Shot creation for others off the dribble
DLO (clearly the best on our team at this, which is why losing him could really hurt)
JMac
Ant (showed some improvement last year, but this can definitely improve)
Nowell (definitely capable, but can he be a more willing passer?)
SloMo (better passer from a stationary position, but he can playmake off the dribble a bit too)
KAT (needs to learn to just make the smart pass, but he's definitely capable)
Prince (a bit)
Moore (did this in college, so I suspect this is something he'll be able to do here given minutes)
We're actually not bad here, despite not having a traditional third PG. The key is going to be guys getting used to playing with Gobert in this regard. DLO, JMac, Ant, and Nowell should all be practicing pick and rolls with him constantly so they can utilize him as a lob threat and make it easier for themselves to get to the rim off his picks. Man, the Ant-Gobert pick and roll could really be promising.
. . . ok, that's about it for now. There are some other skills, like transition offense, that I'm not mentioning here. This is where I think guys like JMac and Minott (if he can earn playing time) could be really fun. But thinking about all these skills, it feels like we're fairly well covered, although I'd really love to get one more high-level perimeter defender--ideally a guy who can also shoot from outside. I know everybody wants those guys. In the meantime, Jaden should really be working on that outside shot! And Minott too.
I heard Connelly said that he wanted guys who were either really good at a particular skill we need or all-around generalists. We just had so many one-way guys in recent years. It seems like we've kind of gotten a bit better in that regard. Prince, SloMo, and Moore should all be some decent Swiss-Army knives like we've lacked in the past.
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 1:23 am
by Lipoli390
Drew - I think you're right about us being fine at PG. Two things I'd like to see us add. First and foremost, I'd like to add another big with size who can rebound. I really like the idea of signing Moses Brown. Second, I'd like to see us sign a high-level scoring wing like TJ Warren.
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 8:32 am
by Monster
A couple other guard names to throw out there.
We could probably do better but I've always liked Langston Galloway.
He has problems staying healthy but if he was Kris Dunn was be a very good pickup for the vet min. He is a an excellent defender and can play the point and guard 3 spots at times. Yeah he may not be able to shoot but if he stays healthy he brings enough other things for the role he would play on this roster. He is playing in the summer league for the Wizards.
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 8:40 am
by Lipoli390
Jarrett Culver is still available. :). Actually, maybe he's worth a minimum contract.
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 8:57 am
by Monster
lipoli390 wrote:Drew - I think you're right about us being fine at PG. Two things I'd like to see us add. First and foremost, I'd like to add another big with size who can rebound. I really like the idea of signing Moses Brown. Second, I'd like to see us sign a high-level scoring wing like TJ Warren.
The Moses Brown dream is alive!!! I would be on board with taking a chance on him. I was not sure about tying up a vet min contract offer because he was a RFA (joking) but apparently the Cavs didn't give him a qualifying offer so we can go get him! :)
In general I like the idea of getting a younger somewhat experienced big with one of these roster spots. Here are some ideas.
C
Thomas Bryant Coming off an injury and probably somewhat similar to Naz but I think he can play and having a Depth guy like that for the vet min would be pretty good IMO.
PF
Alize Johnson we had a lot of posts last year about bribing him in but I was one that said he was pretty similar to Vanderbilt and we needed someone with more size. We could use another true PF and we can assume Minott won't be ready to play this same role but I wouldn't be shocked if maybe he will. Looking forward to seeing what he does in SL. I remember watching Alize in SL and he looks like a big SF but he rebounds like crazy and is very athletic. Obviously one guy is more physically developed and I think Minott is taller and has a longer wingspan. Alize wingspan is under 6'9". It's pretty impressive how he rebounds at that size.
There are probably some other guys like Alize Johnson or Kris Dunn that aren't on the FA lists because they didn't finish the season with a team. Some of these guys will be playing in SL. Hey maybe we can bring back Michael Beasely!!! lol #skittles
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:26 am
by Lipoli390
Monster - So far this off season things haven't gone my way. So now I'm begging Connelly to do me a favor and sign Moses Brown. :).
Seriously, I think the Wolves should sign Brown to a minimum deal and sign TJ Warren to a minimum deal or, if necessary, a BAE deal. That would fill out two of our remaining roster spots - assuming we sign Minott. We already have Nathan Knight on one of our 2-way deals. We can add one of our Summer League players as our other two-way player. If the Knicks don't sign Jean Montero to a 2-way or regular roster deal, then I'd pursue him for our other 2-way contract.
Re: Going forward
Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:52 am
by Camden [enjin:6601484]
I'd have to check on this again, but I don't think Nathan Knight can be signed to another two-way deal. I think he's likely to receive a deal similar to the one Jordan McLaughlin signed last summer.