Minnesota Sports Forum

monsterpile wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:Interesting read of role players around the league.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18843801/zach-lowe-2017-luke-walton-all-stars-nba

4 Former Wolves make that list.

Beasley, Ellington, Mbah a Moute, and Anthony Tolliver

Maybe those guys didn't suck so bad, but just asked to do to much here.

All those guys have ability to one extent or another. I thought letting Luc go was the biggest mistake. He would have been a nice player to have around on this team for a number of reasons.

Beasley - Always has been a competent scorer. Still is, just more efficient this year. It's everything else that has been an issue with him. Even in Milwuakee this year, his +/- numbers are pretty much a wash.

Ellington - Hasn't really made an impact anywhere until this year. I think a lot of it has to do with increased volume of 3's he's taking. It's the one thing he's always been pretty good at.

Mbah a Moute - He was part of the trade that brought us AB and Wiggins. He's sort of an older version of Andre Roberson. He specializes in wing defense, but can't do much else. He really hasn't done anything to move the needle for LA, as they continue to be stuck in that 2nd tier of good teams below Golden State, San Antonio, and Cleveland.

Anthony Tolliver - I don't see much difference. He's an enthusiastic guy that plays hard and smart, but mostly off the bench for losing teams.

Ellington would certainly look nice right now off the bench since we could really use a legit 2-guard shooter with LaVine hurt, but look at the journey of mediocrity he's been on for literally years up until this point.

By the way....speaking of Mbah Moute, he's another one of these big, strong defenders that gives Wiggins a miserable time. We'll see how Wig does tonight, but I'm not counting on him having a very efficient night.

Q12543 wrote:By the way....speaking of Mbah Moute, he's another one of these big, strong defenders that gives Wiggins a miserable time. We'll see how Wig does tonight, but I'm not counting on him having a very efficient night.

Yeah, that's a tough matchup for Wig. But on the other hand, if the Clippers elect to guard our SG with their SF, perhaps we can exploit the other half of the wing match up. Not with Rush so much, but Muhammad should be able to score easily with Redick guarding him. I'd like to see more minutes from Shabazz tonight.

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:Interesting read of role players around the league.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18843801/zach-lowe-2017-luke-walton-all-stars-nba

4 Former Wolves make that list.

Beasley, Ellington, Mbah a Moute, and Anthony Tolliver

Maybe those guys didn't suck so bad, but just asked to do to much here.

All those guys have ability to one extent or another. I thought letting Luc go was the biggest mistake. He would have been a nice player to have around on this team for a number of reasons.

Beasley - Always has been a competent scorer. Still is, just more efficient this year. It's everything else that has been an issue with him. Even in Milwuakee this year, his +/- numbers are pretty much a wash.

Ellington - Hasn't really made an impact anywhere until this year. I think a lot of it has to do with increased volume of 3's he's taking. It's the one thing he's always been pretty good at.

Mbah a Moute - He was part of the trade that brought us AB and Wiggins. He's sort of an older version of Andre Roberson. He specializes in wing defense, but can't do much else. He really hasn't done anything to move the needle for LA, as they continue to be stuck in that 2nd tier of good teams below Golden State, San Antonio, and Cleveland.

Anthony Tolliver - I don't see much difference. He's an enthusiastic guy that plays hard and smart, but mostly off the bench for losing teams.

Ellington would certainly look nice right now off the bench since we could really use a legit 2-guard shooter with LaVine hurt, but look at the journey of mediocrity he's been on for literally years up until this point.

You know Luc hits corner 3's now right?

Personally I've said for years Tolliver is a guy the Wolves should have held onto all these years too. He isn't a big difference maker but he seems like the type that would play hard can do some good things and be a solid dude in the locker room. Notice he hasn't had a problem finding a job and getting decent money as well.

Ellington has pretty much been what he is now for a few years. Doesn't hurt you and hits 3's. His first few years of his career his 3 point percentage looked good but he would go through prolonged streaks so he wasn't exactly reliable in that regard.

Finding solid vet players that you can count on knowing what they can do is something that shouldn't be overlooked. I think Aldrich is a guy that fits into this category although I expected more out of him when they signed him.

True Monster, but I have felt all along that we have the "solid vet types". Brandon Rush, Cole Aldrich, and even Shabazz can all play decent rotation minutes. Their value goes up in proportion to the greatness of your top players.

For example, last year Brandon Rush was able to start numerous games for Golden State and they didn't miss a beat and he played well. Why? Because he had guys like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green around.

What makes these guys valuable is that they stay in their lane and tend to minimize mistakes. That works great when you already have superstars doing most of the heavy lifting. It's when you don't have the stars (or they are still in their formative years like KAT and Wiggins) and you need to rely on these guys to do more than they are capable of that they end up being kind of disappointing.

Cameron Payne was assigned to the D-League. So the Bulls dumped Taj and McDermott and a second round pick for a D-League player. What a trade.

khans2k5 wrote:Cameron Payne was assigned to the D-League. So the Bulls dumped Taj and McDermott and a second round pick for a D-League player. What a trade.

The Bulls front office is simply flailing at this point. Things are looking very bleak.

Still legs to the Butler/Boston talks? Especially if Boston ends up #1 or #2 in the draft? The Celtics will be facing some cap issues soon and Butler's contract is a relative bargain. And Ball or Fultz gives the Bulls a legit prospect to sell to a frustrated fanbase.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Cameron Payne was assigned to the D-League. So the Bulls dumped Taj and McDermott and a second round pick for a D-League player. What a trade.

The Bulls front office is simply flailing at this point. Things are looking very bleak.

Still legs to the Butler/Boston talks? Especially if Boston ends up #1 or #2 in the draft? The Celtics will be facing some cap issues soon and Butler's contract is a relative bargain. And Ball or Fultz gives the Bulls a legit prospect to sell to a frustrated fanbase.

That's an interesting thought Abe. At some point you would think the Celtics make a move. It's nice to be a pretty good playoff team while having a ton of assets to work with.

Apparently Payne has also had some soreness in that foot that's been operated on twice and so that partly why he hasn't been playing and partly why they are sending him down to help get him in game shape and get some playing time. I'd be a little worried about that foot right now if I was a Bulls fan. As for whether Payne sucks or the trade sucks...I'll give it some more time and Inwould say that to some extent even if I didn't believe in Payne.

Who will have a better NBA career Dunn, Grant, or Payne?

Here is a good read on the 3 as tier 2 PG prospects for the 2015 NBA draft. (Tuy was tier 3)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2436481-nba-draft-notebook-breaking-down-the-different-tiers-of-the-2015-class

bleedspeed177 wrote:Who will have a better NBA career Dunn, Grant, or Payne?

Here is a good read on the 3 as tier 2 PG prospects for the 2015 NBA draft. (Tuy was tier 3)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2436481-nba-draft-notebook-breaking-down-the-different-tiers-of-the-2015-class

Of those 3 guys I'd take Dunn because I feel really confident that he is going to be a terrific defender. I liked Grant in college and it looks like he has been better this year but I'd take Tyus over him at this point without much hesitation. Payne has t even played 90 NBA games yet so...idk we will see.