Keepers for Next Season

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

We've seen really good teams churn out starting position players that aren't key to their core. If Ant truly becomes the type of lead guard that carry a team, he won't need a high-priced PG playing next to him.

Needless to say, I don't think DLO is going anywhere for at least one more season and Ant definitely isn't ready to lead a team yet nor do we even know if can surpass DLO as an all-around player. He certainly has the upside though.

[FNG]

Monster- you have a terrific talent for presenting things in the most positive light...I don't know what you do for a living, but I would guess that people that work for you are pretty happy! (I mean that)

BUT- let's provide a little balance when we discuss our 2nd highest paid player. You point out some stats that are true and quite positive. He does score at a high rate...24.5 points per 36 minutes is damn good production. And he does get a lot of assists with his sometimes spectacular passing...7 per 36 minutes. And you didn't mention that he is making his 3-pointers at a high rate for him...almost 39%. That's the good part of Dlo.

But you conveniently left out several stats where he ranks either below average or far below average:

-his assists are fun to watch, but he takes too many chances. Hence, his A:To ratio is not very good compared to Rubio- 2.1 compared to 3.9, a significant difference. Dlo turns the ball over too much and turnovers hurt, because they mean both a lost offensive opportunity and often lead to an easy basket on the other end...they're often 4-point swings.

-while he is a volume scorer, he has never been an efficient scorer. His eFG% of 52.9% this year is better than his poor career average of 50%, but still ranks in the bottom half of the league.

-And then there's his defense. I've pointed out a couple times this year times when he actually looked like he was performing at an average level on defense. But I admit I had my rose-colored glasses on, because I know that turning into Dlo into a guy that doesn't give up points at an alarming rate is vital to this team's success. And the numbers don't lie. His DRPM of -1.97 ranks him 79th out of 91 point guards. That's terrible for a guy making $30 mil.

-And finally there's his consistently horrible on/off numbers. Dlo's -5 remains the worst of the 11 Wolves who have gotten consistent minutes this year. We rip on Jarrett Culver here and he has worked himself out of the rotation, but even a disastrous player like Culver is only 3 points worse than Dlo in on/off. Defense matters guys, and if you don't care about it like Dlo doesn't, you're always going to hurt your team.

So we know what we are going to get with Dlo. A productive but not efficient scorer who will get some assists while not protecting the ball well, but whose really bad defense is going to mean that the Wolves do much better when he is on the bench than when he is on the court. Any one of these four things (very poor defense, only average A:To ratio, below average efficiency in shooting, and consistently poor on/off numbers) might be a reason not to deserve a max contract, but Dlo has four damning stats. There's just no way to sugarcoat it...Rosas made a terrible deal, and I see our ceiling as a .500 ballclub if he can't find someone to take Dlo off our hands. I agree with Doper and others that it's not going to happen, but I would suggest it's not going to happen for the wrong reason...3 GMs jettisoned him before his 25th birthday, and to Cool's point, it's unlikely we will find another sucker.

Sorry to pile on Dlo, but this thread is about who we should keep, and keeping Dlo and paying him over 1/4 of our payroll is going to doom this team to mediocrity. I'm going to continue to cheer for Dlo to turn his career around and become a positive factor for this franchise, but I really hope Rosas can pull a rabbit out of his hat and find a way to move on.

[Porckchop]

If we're ready to move on from DLO all the more reason to go into tank mode in my eyes. I understand the chances wether we tank or not. I get all that but if DLO is not in the long term plans than positioning ourselves ( no matter how little difference it makes) to land Cunningham should be considered. Hopefully find a cornerstone on a rookie contract with money saved from DLO to get a PF.

[Coolbreeze44]

I always go back to whether it's realistic to move DLO. Sure we would like to, but you need to have someone dumber than Rosas on the other side to pull it off. Since Vlade is no longer a GM, and Chuck Schumer isn't likely to be one anytime soon, I think we're stuck.

[kekgeek]

Why is everyone bringing up all these negative stats about Dlo. But when Dlo and Kat play together they are 10-7. Why does that not matter. The most important stat in basketball is the W column and if I am not mistaken 10-7 is very solid and is a good enough for the 5 seed.

Why does winning not matter. Wolves have only won this year when Dlo and Kat have played together. Why does that not matter. Why do we want to break up legit the only thing that has been successful this year. We are the worst team in the NBA when those 2 don't play together. So lets break it up. That seems really smart.

[thedoper]

Why is everyone bringing up all these negative stats about Dlo. But when Dlo and Kat play together they are 10-7. Why does that not matter. The most important stat in basketball is the W column and if I am not mistaken 10-7 is very solid and is a good enough for the 5 seed.

Why does winning not matter. Wolves have only won this year when Dlo and Kat have played together. Why does that not matter. Why do we want to break up legit the only thing that has been successful this year. We are the worst team in the NBA when those 2 don't play together. So lets break it up. That seems really smart.

I think it does matter to Rosas and Finch.

[kekgeek]

Monster- you have a terrific talent for presenting things in the most positive light...I don't know what you do for a living, but I would guess that people that work for you are pretty happy! (I mean that)

BUT- let's provide a little balance when we discuss our 2nd highest paid player. You point out some stats that are true and quite positive. He does score at a high rate...24.5 points per 36 minutes is damn good production. And he does get a lot of assists with his sometimes spectacular passing...7 per 36 minutes. And you didn't mention that he is making his 3-pointers at a high rate for him...almost 39%. That's the good part of Dlo.

But you conveniently left out several stats where he ranks either below average or far below average:

-his assists are fun to watch, but he takes too many chances. Hence, his A:To ratio is not very good compared to Rubio- 2.1 compared to 3.9, a significant difference. Dlo turns the ball over too much and turnovers hurt, because they mean both a lost offensive opportunity and often lead to an easy basket on the other end...they're often 4-point swings.

-while he is a volume scorer, he has never been an efficient scorer. His eFG% of 52.9% this year is better than his poor career average of 50%, but still ranks in the bottom half of the league.

-And then there's his defense. I've pointed out a couple times this year times when he actually looked like he was performing at an average level on defense. But I admit I had my rose-colored glasses on, because I know that turning into Dlo into a guy that doesn't give up points at an alarming rate is vital to this team's success. And the numbers don't lie. His DRPM of -1.97 ranks him 79th out of 91 point guards. That's terrible for a guy making $30 mil.

-And finally there's his consistently horrible on/off numbers. Dlo's -5 remains the worst of the 11 Wolves who have gotten consistent minutes this year. We rip on Jarrett Culver here and he has worked himself out of the rotation, but even a disastrous player like Culver is only 3 points worse than Dlo in on/off. Defense matters guys, and if you don't care about it like Dlo doesn't, you're always going to hurt your team.

So we know what we are going to get with Dlo. A productive but not efficient scorer who will get some assists while not protecting the ball well, but whose really bad defense is going to mean that the Wolves do much better when he is on the bench than when he is on the court. Any one of these four things (very poor defense, only average A:To ratio, below average efficiency in shooting, and consistently poor on/off numbers) might be a reason not to deserve a max contract, but Dlo has four damning stats. There's just no way to sugarcoat it...Rosas made a terrible deal, and I see our ceiling as a .500 ballclub if he can't find someone to take Dlo off our hands. I agree with Doper and others that it's not going to happen, but I would suggest it's not going to happen for the wrong reason...3 GMs jettisoned him before his 25th birthday, and to Cool's point, it's unlikely we will find another sucker.

Sorry to pile on Dlo, but this thread is about who we should keep, and keeping Dlo and paying him over 1/4 of our payroll is going to doom this team to mediocrity. I'm going to continue to cheer for Dlo to turn his career around and become a positive factor for this franchise, but I really hope Rosas can pull a rabbit out of his hat and find a way to move on.

How much does Rubio's ON/OFF numbers are positive because he has played 64.4% of his possessions are played next to Kat. While Dlo has played next to Kat only 31.9% of possessions that he has played. Then our third PG Jmac has only played 32.5% of his possessions with Kat. So no shit Rubio has a positive On/Off he is playing with our best player 2/3rds of all of his possessions. Then our other PGs come in and don't play with our All NBA player. I would hope Rubio would have positive ON/OFF numbers if he didn't we would have a huge problem.

Also sure Dlo is coming off the bench, you might be right that Dlo is off the bench because Finch does not trust him because of his defense but why is it not that Rubio was so pathetic coming off the bench this season he averaged 5.6pts/3.8reb/5.9asts on 34/16/90 splits with a net rating of -7.9 per 100 possessions. Like he was so pathetic Rubio has been a massive negative off the bench. Think Dlo coming off the bench has just as much to do with Rubio being unplayable off the bench this season.

Why does winning not matter any more. Dlo is 25th in clutch scoring since he has came back, on 50/36/100 splits and don't give me we give up so many pts in those games we are 7-4 in clutch games since Dlo has came back.

I am not saying Dlo is fantastic but the constant bashing of Dlo is so unwarranted. If you told me we could trade Dlo and our top 3 pick for Ben Simmons if the 76ers flame out again sign me up. But if the goal is to just dump Dlo to have Ricky Fucking Rubio lead this team going forward I think people are crazy. Also don't give me its impossible to build a defense around Dlo also because when Dlo was on the court with the Nets his last year his lineups were in the 72nd percentile in defense. So its not impossible.

When does context start mattering and when does 10-7 with our 2 max players playing legit matter. You can have your 10-38 when our 2 max players don't play together because I bet Ill be happier with a 10-7 record.

[Coolbreeze44]

Why is everyone bringing up all these negative stats about Dlo. But when Dlo and Kat play together they are 10-7. Why does that not matter. The most important stat in basketball is the W column and if I am not mistaken 10-7 is very solid and is a good enough for the 5 seed.

Why does winning not matter. Wolves have only won this year when Dlo and Kat have played together. Why does that not matter. Why do we want to break up legit the only thing that has been successful this year. We are the worst team in the NBA when those 2 don't play together. So lets break it up. That seems really smart.

I think Ant and McDaniels have something to do with that 10-7 record. Without them we are not 10-7 over that stretch. And quite frankly, we've won some games in spite of DLO. He hasn't been good a lot of nights.

[kekgeek]

Why is everyone bringing up all these negative stats about Dlo. But when Dlo and Kat play together they are 10-7. Why does that not matter. The most important stat in basketball is the W column and if I am not mistaken 10-7 is very solid and is a good enough for the 5 seed.

Why does winning not matter. Wolves have only won this year when Dlo and Kat have played together. Why does that not matter. Why do we want to break up legit the only thing that has been successful this year. We are the worst team in the NBA when those 2 don't play together. So lets break it up. That seems really smart.

I think it does matter to Rosas and Finch.

I feel like Im going crazy again like I was with Thibs. In no way do I think Dlo is fantastic but we are winning games when him and Kat are playing together. I feel like Wolves fans just love losing and only like winning when perfectly aesthetically pleasing players are on the wolves team.

[kekgeek]

Why is everyone bringing up all these negative stats about Dlo. But when Dlo and Kat play together they are 10-7. Why does that not matter. The most important stat in basketball is the W column and if I am not mistaken 10-7 is very solid and is a good enough for the 5 seed.

Why does winning not matter. Wolves have only won this year when Dlo and Kat have played together. Why does that not matter. Why do we want to break up legit the only thing that has been successful this year. We are the worst team in the NBA when those 2 don't play together. So lets break it up. That seems really smart.

I think Ant and McDaniels have something to do with that 10-7 record. Without them we are not 10-7 over that stretch. And quite frankly, we've won some games in spite of DLO. He hasn't been good a lot of nights.

That is just not true. I know you do not like Dlo, I get it you don't think we can win with him. I get it I really do. We are 7-4 in clutch games since Dlo has been back. Dlo is leading our team in clutch scoring on 50/36/100 splits. Hey Ant is doing great when the game is on the line he is shooting a solid 25% and has more turnovers then asts. LETS GO!!!! ANT TIME. HE MIGHT BE THE GREATEST CLUTCH PLAYER EVER. HE IS CARRYING DLO. Also Dlo is 2nd on the Wolves in +/- in clutch time this season for players who have played in over 20 games with clutch situations only behind Rubio (rubio, Dlo, Kat, Ant, Mcdaniels and Beasley have played over 20 games in the clutch)

*I like Ant I really do but he has not been good down the stretch in games since players have came back. I think he will for sure get their but in those situations he has not been good. I like Mcdaniels also as you know but at the end he is one of the supporting pieces, I think he can be elite at that though.