Dangling #1

[Lipoli390]

Let's not forget that Karl-Anthony Towns was also showing great improvement defensively to start the season through the first 10 or so games and then the wheels fell off. That version of Towns can be the guy that makes this team a contender with some additional talent involved.

I wish I could be optimistic, but we've said the same about Wiggins time and again. I'd be happy to see him turn that corner permanently, but I guess I'm getting old because I can't be bothered to hope for it anymore.

Maybe the pressure on Karl-Anthony Towns to be the defensive anchor needs to be replaced by the pressure of just doing his part defensively. It's rare that anyone in the NBA is both their team's best offensive and defensive player. In fact, there's only two such players in basketball right now in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard with a possible argument for Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons. Perhaps we've been asking too much of Towns.

That just turns us back to James Wiseman or any another option that takes pressure off of Towns. Simplify his responsibilities and I'm confident the best version of his game will shine through.

I agree, Cam.

[Lipoli390]

I think LaVine is the better player at this point, but I like Beasleys intensity on defense more. Beasley has nice upside still, LaVine is basically what he is.

LaVine can distribute and drive better then Beasley, yeah offensively it would be really amazing to see DLO, KAT and LaVine. Then draft Ball top play the 3? Then you have all offense and no defense. Might be fun to watch.

The question is are DLO and KAT going to be liabilities on defense to the point that even adding a stud or two, does that make enough difference? Lets say we trade for Simmons. Teams can simply attack the weak points still on defense, pick and roll KAT and DLO, just ignore Simmons. But then I suppose you put Simmons on their best player and you can switch in some situations.

I guess I wonder what the best way to go is, have some balance or go all in on offense? Rosas seems to want to trend towards the latter. Though Culver is a defensive guy at this point. The other moves and style he is trending to go to is much more offensively orientated.

WolvesFan21 - I agree with all your points. Regarding your question, I think we can become a contender in spite of DLO's and KAT's defensive deficiencies, but it will require putting much better defenders around them. If we end up with Beasley or LaVine at the other guard spot, then our starting SF and other starting Big will have to be very good defenders. And we'll need defensive players coming off the bench as part of the rotation as well.

In any event, it sure looks like Rosas and his cohorts are focused primarily on being an up-tempo offensive-oriented team. What I like about trading for Simmons is that he would contribute to the dynamic offense that Rosas apparently wants, but also help improve our otherwise horrible defense. Simmons is the only player defensively. among the trade targets we've discussed (other than Oladiop, Capella and Turner) who would significantly improve the Wolves' defense. In my view, if we're going to trade our #1 pick, the player we get in return has to be both a star AND a good defender. That's why I'd be reluctant to trade for Booker or Beal, even though I listed them as possible trade targets.

Honestly, the only stars I'm really interested in getting in exchange for our #1 pick are Simmons and Oladipo, and I'm wary of Oladipo because of his injury issues. Otherwise, I'd be looking to swap our pick for a lower lottery selection and one of the following:

1. Capella from Atlanta;
2. Kevin Huerter from Atlanta;
3. Kennard from Detroit;
4. Garland from Cleveland; or
5. First round picks from the Knicks

I still have some hope that Beasley can be a worthwhile defender. He has enough physical ability and he plus hard. Lavine's issues on defense were being clueless...and very early on he gave up on plays. I haven't watched Beasley Enough to see How good or bad he is but it feels like there is a little bit of a chance he figures it out. We don't have a Ben Wallace and T. Prince to pair with guys but Billups and Rip Hamilton we're far from good defenders before they went to the Pistons. Is there ANY chance we could develop guys on that end? So far no but this group didn't even get a season of total failure or chance to succeed. They did have SOME success early on in the season.

Monster - I agree with you take on Beasley's defensive potential compared to LaVine. Like you, I think Beasley has a better chance than LaVine of becoming a decent defender. Hard to know how much, if at all, KAT and DLO can be expected to improve. KAT appears to have poor defensive instincts, but I think he generally gives good effort. Otherwise, I think KAT has all the physical tools to be a good defender against Cs and PFs. DLO's issues seem to be lack of effort, but more so his lack of lateral quickness. It seems harder to overcome that fundamental physical flaw in his defensive ability. But I really don't know. Beasley is an all-out effort guy and intense competitor. He seems quick and athletic as well. He might have the most defensive upside among core guys. As I recalled, the team was pretty good defensively when Covington and Towns were healthy and together on the court. So there's hope.

Their defensive rating as a pair was 117. League average defensive team rating is about 110, so no, they weren't good together last year on that end of the floor.

Here's a quote from an article referring to the 22-game stretch in 2018 when Covington was healthy:

"During the 22 games that RoCo was fit and firing, the Timberwolves posted a defensive rating of 107.2. Had they been able to stretch that number out over a full 82 games, they would've posted the eighth-best mark in the NBA, a stark difference to the 24th (112.2) they ended up with. On top of that, when both Towns and Covington shared the floor, Minnesota was even more staunch, registering a 106.7 defensive rating in 568 minutes together.

It wasn't just Covington providing all of the defense, either. Towns himself held a 107.2 defensive rating in that 22-game stretch. It's not an elite number, but it's a clear improvement over the 111.3 rating he put up throughout the season."

So yes, there's reason to believe that pairing Towns with really good defenders at the PF and SF positions can substantially upgrade the Wolves defense. I also think that adding Russell and Beasley will help lighten KAT's offensive burden, which could leave him with more energy on the defensive side of the ball.

[Lipoli390]

Sixers GM, Elton Brand, just said the Sixers are not looking to trade any of their stars in the wake of Bret Brown's termination. When I heard the news about Brown, I thought it was a sign that the organization was intent on staying with their current core relying on a coaching change to take that core to the next level. Elton Brand's public statement today confirms that view. That's not to say their is absolutely no chance the Sixers will trade Simmons. But I think that any honest, realistic read of his comment and Brown's firing should tell us that trading for Simmons is a pipe dream at this point. The Suns' 9-0 bubble performance made an already remote chance of getting Booker even more remote and essentially a pipe dream as well.

So where does that leave the Wolves' chances of trade their #1 and other assets for a star? I'd say the only potentially realistic targets is Bradly Beal. I still see the Wizards deciding to blow things up and getting the top pick in this year's draft would be a good start for them. But I'm not sure I'd be willing to give the Wizards would they would expect in return for Beal. Yes, he's a great offensive player. But he's another poor defender. I just don't think it's advisable for the Wolves to have three poor defenders on max contracts.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Trade talk involving executives and the media is meaningless to me. They're going to make whatever moves they feel are necessary regardless of what they've told reporters.

Acquiring Ben Simmons or Devin Booker would be a best case scenario for Minnesota, but drafting James Wiseman is still a huge win in my book. The Wolves are working with house money as far as I'm concerned. The only thing they can realistically do to fuck this up is to draft the wrong player first overall or trade down and watch someone else draft the best player in the draft.

[Monster]

Sixers GM, Elton Brand, just said the Sixers are not looking to trade any of their stars in the wake of Bret Brown's termination. When I heard the news about Brown, I thought it was a sign that the organization was intent on staying with their current core relying on a coaching change to take that core to the next level. Elton Brand's public statement today confirms that view. That's not to say their is absolutely no chance the Sixers will trade Simmons. But I think that any honest, realistic read of his comment and Brown's firing should tell us that trading for Simmons is a pipe dream at this point. The Suns' 9-0 bubble performance made an already remote chance of getting Booker even more remote and essentially a pipe dream as well.

So where does that leave the Wolves' chances of trade their #1 and other assets for a star? I'd say the only potentially realistic targets is Bradly Beal. I still see the Wizards deciding to blow things up and getting the top pick in this year's draft would be a good start for them. But I'm not sure I'd be willing to give the Wizards would they would expect in return for Beal. Yes, he's a great offensive player. But he's another poor defender. I just don't think it's advisable for the Wolves to have three poor defenders on max contracts.

From what I have heard Beal is no longer a poor defender.

[Monster]

Trade talk involving executives and the media is meaningless to me. They're going to make whatever moves they feel are necessary regardless of what they've told reporters.

Acquiring Ben Simmons or Devin Booker would be a best case scenario for Minnesota, but drafting James Wiseman is still a huge win in my book. The Wolves are working with house money as far as I'm concerned. The only thing they can realistically do to fuck this up is to draft the wrong player first overall or trade down and watch someone else draft the best player in the draft.

First thing that popped into my mind was Spielman sayin the wasn't trading Harvin or Diggs...then it happened weeks later. I think in both cases they knew they should move on but they also got the type of return they wanted. I tend to think unless there are issues with Simmons and Embiid (which there have been reports in the past) someone is gonna have to really blow Philly out of the water to make a deal. I think they think they can win now and that seems reasonable to me. I don't think they want to do a Semi-rebuild around Embiid if they don't have to.

Cam what kind of package would it take for you to trade down and what guys would you be ok selecting in that type of scenario?

[Lipoli390]

Trade talk involving executives and the media is meaningless to me. They're going to make whatever moves they feel are necessary regardless of what they've told reporters.

Acquiring Ben Simmons or Devin Booker would be a best case scenario for Minnesota, but drafting James Wiseman is still a huge win in my book. The Wolves are working with house money as far as I'm concerned. The only thing they can realistically do to fuck this up is to draft the wrong player first overall or trade down and watch someone else draft the best player in the draft.

I never thought there was any realistic change of acquiring Booker. And regardless of what Brand said, I get the sense that the Sixers aren't ready to blow apart their core. Instead, they're bringing in a new head coach to make what they have work better.

If you're assessment of Wiseman is correct, then no doubt in my mind the Wolves should keep the pick and take him at #1. If I'm right about Okongwu as the next Bam Adebayo, then the Wolves should take him at #1 unless they can trade down and be sure they can still get him while also getting another asset. I'm still tempted by Wiseman, but I'm not there yet.

Bottom line for me is that the Wolves front office shouldn't get cute here. If they think there's a future NBA star they can get at #1 (whether it's Wiseman, Edwards, Ball or Okongwu), they should draft and keep him unless they're certain they can get him a bit lower in the draft and pick up another valuable asset or two. As for trading down, we have to hope they learned from last year's experience that you don't move in the draft in pursuit of a particular prospect unless you're certain you'll get him. For example, if the Wolves believe that Okongwu is their guy and Detroit is willing to trade Kennard and #5 for Edwards, the Wolves can't do the deal unless they're certain Okongwu will be there at #5. I just don't know how the Wolves could be certain enough to do that deal. If the Wolves are too wary of Edwards, Ball or Wiseman, but have several players they want about equally, then trading down might make sense.

[TAFKASP]

Let's not forget that Karl-Anthony Towns was also showing great improvement defensively to start the season through the first 10 or so games and then the wheels fell off. That version of Towns can be the guy that makes this team a contender with some additional talent involved.

I wish I could be optimistic, but we've said the same about Wiggins time and again. I'd be happy to see him turn that corner permanently, but I guess I'm getting old because I can't be bothered to hope for it anymore.

Maybe the pressure on Karl-Anthony Towns to be the defensive anchor needs to be replaced by the pressure of just doing his part defensively. It's rare that anyone in the NBA is both their team's best offensive and defensive player. In fact, there's only two such players in basketball right now in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard with a possible argument for Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons. Perhaps we've been asking too much of Towns.

That just turns us back to James Wiseman or any another option that takes pressure off of Towns. Simplify his responsibilities and I'm confident the best version of his game will shine through.

That's a very reasonable take on the issue which makes it difficult for me to comprehend! :D If I go and get my hopes up and he never improves I'm going to blame you! LOL

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

We're not asking too much of KAT. We're asking him to be neutral to even a slight plus on defense. There is no getting around the fact he's been a massive disappointment on that end of the floor.

The only problem with Wiseman is that he will likely suck on defense as a rookie and there is no guarantee he becomes good after that either. One of the problems with some of these athletic bigs is they get jumpy and never learn about proper positioning.

[Coolbreeze44]

Just saw that Ben Simmons finished 4th in defensive player of the year voting.