GDT: PS2 Mavs in the Desert-Game 2

[Monster]

Matt Ryan is 0-3 and 0-6 in two games. Give his two way contract to someone else.

He's paid to do one thing really well and that's shoot. Not good. And we could use a pure sniper like that, but he just doesn't have it.

He's not that great a shooter and he does nothing else. I have more confidence in Garza, NAW, Shake and Troy Brown as outside shooters and they all have diverse skill sets. We don't need a sub-40% three point specialist. I'd prefer Michael Devoe as a specialist as he is younger and can do a bit more and shoots 3s just as well.

I’m not saying Ryan has to stay but there are other things he does as a smart basketball player. He does need to hit shots if he sticks around. He does have somewhat of a track record of doing that. I would take that over 2 preseason games.

[Monster]

Miller has a chance to be a good player. It might not happen right away, but he has some tools. Minott? Sorry guys it isn't happening.

Minott at this point is an energy guy. There is some other talent there but he has a ways to go. Miller has passed him up significantly in terms of guys I am excited about.

[Monster]

I watched the second half of Game 2 again, focus mainly on the young guys and 2-way players. As a threshold matter, the Wolves should waive Matt Ryan and give his 2-way slot to one of the other younger players in camp or some other young prospect. Matt Ryan looked terrible in both games and at age 26 what you see is all you’ll get. I also don’t see any reason to spend more time evaluating Trevor Keels. I don’t see much of a game or potential in him. Here are my thoughts on the others:

1. Luka Garza — I love this guy. Glad we were able to hold onto him. He’s easily worthy of one of our 2-way deals and I would give him our 15th roster spot if necessary.

2. Leonard Miller — He’s oozing with great potential and has developed his shot impressively since a year ago before his G-League season. But he’s very raw in many respects. He doesn’t defend well, but clearly has potential to be a very good defender. His biggest deficiency is his footwork on the offensive end. I comment on it after watching him in the Summer League this year. He got called for a number of travels in Summer League and could have (should have) been called for more and likely would have been if in the regularly season. He has a lot of really basic work to do to get this part of his game up to an NBA level. But I’m not worried given his age, lack of high-level experience and reputed worth ethic. I’m still really high on him.

3. Josh Minott — After watching him play in game 2 a second time, I don’t get Q’s negativity. Unlike Summer League, Josh looked like his was playing under control. He had several really nice put-backs, one of them on an excellent box out. He generally made good decisions and made some really nice passes. I don’t think his upside is a high as Miller’s, but it’s still high and he’s defensively closer to being NBA rotation ready than Miller. One more season of primarily G-League play will likely make him rotation worthy next season in my view.

4. Wendell Moore — He remains a disappointment, but I saw some nice things from him in these two preseason games.

5. Tyrese Martin — I really liked the little we saw from him in the second game. He looks quick, athletic and skilled with a really nice handle.

6. Vit Krejci — He really impressed me. I was surprised by how athletic and fluid he looked. Now I understand why TC brought him to camp. It will be interesting to see how he performs the rest of the preseason. I could see Vit or Tyrese replacing Matt Ryan as our 3rd 2-way contract player.

7. Daishen Nix — He sure looks pudgy. But he also looks pretty quick and he has a really nice handle. His shot looked terrible, but it’s a very limited sample size. I want to see more.

Vit honestly looked pretty good. I liked his defense he stayed in front of a variety of players.

Speaking of defense that’s one thing I saw from Moore. He can be stout and sticky. His offense isn’t wowing anyone but that’s not too surprising.

In a previous post you said you had seen enough of Keels. I get that he has been pretty meh. I do think he doesn’t suck on D and as a big combo guard there could be something there but he needs more time playing ball…in the G-league.

Martin did some good things out there.

I think others have mentioned it but Garza does look a little quicker more fluid.