Minnesota Sports Forum

monsterpile wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:To be fair....

Anderson had career highs in PER, VORP, BPM, Point, Reb, Assists, 3fg and fg attempts last season at 27. While I agree that his lack of any semblance of elite or even good athleticism tempers any great ceiling for him... why couldn't he keep improving?

He's been an average to positive player every season in his career. And it can be argued that last season was his best season as he added a decent enough three point shot (36.0%) to his arsenal (5.0 attempts per 36 min).


[Note: I'm not even advocating Anderson over Vanderbilt (although I think he's proven to be a better player)... they're very different types of players.]

Yes they are pretty different as Anderson is a guy that does something on offense and you might directly use him with the ball in his hands. Vanderbilt at best is basically a guy that just runs around and throws a nice pass. Meanwhile Vanderbilt is a good rebounder. Anderson less so although my guess is that he plays a lot of SF in lineups for Memphis so if he played PF he would be less of a liability there. He would be a massive upgrade if we would acquire in from some of the other guys we have run out there the past few years.

Vanderbilt does have some playmaking/passing potential but he wasn't essentially a full time PG in college on a very good team like Anderson was. Vanderbilt isn't even close to Aaron Gordon's playmaking level.

I'm kinda surprised Anderson would be seen as a replacement for Vanderbilt since the move to put undersized wings next to Towns last season was ripped so much. I always regarded Anderson as a SF... and assumed he moved up last season primarily because Jaren Jackson went down.

Memphis enters the season with Adams, Jackson, Clarke and Tillman as their bigger guys. And Brooks and Bane as their primary wings. I'd imagine Anderson is back into more of a backcourt/wing role again.

Anderson has always played some PF prior to last year, but yes, he moved primarily to PF just last season. Like other guys that entered the league as SFs, he's evolved into a modern day 4. Like you said, he's not the perfect fit next to KAT, but he has more strength than McDaniels and the two of them as hybrid forwards does give you a fair amount of length and defensive versatility up front.

Unless we make a move to get a true big man into the rotation, we're looking at a forward rotation of a bunch of hybrid types: McDaniels, Okogie, Layman, Prince. Anderson would fit into a similar mold, but be an upgrade over any of those guys.

I haven't read some of this thread, so I'm confused about the Kyle Anderson talk. Anderson played 28 minutes per game last season (4th on the team) and had the best on/off stats on the team. And despite his notorious lack of athleticism, he is a consistently elite defender...top 5 in DRPM among small forwards each of the past three seasons. He's a core piece for Memphis going forward and isn't going anywhere.

Anderson is a nice player who could help us. But we do need more of a banger and defensive presence to help KAT. I love Vando's toughness, just wish it was contained in an Okafor type body.

FNG wrote:I haven't read some of this thread, so I'm confused about the Kyle Anderson talk. Anderson played 28 minutes per game last season (4th on the team) and had the best on/off stats on the team. And despite his notorious lack of athleticism, he is a consistently elite defender...top 5 in DRPM among small forwards each of the past three seasons. He's a core piece for Memphis going forward and isn't going anywhere.

There are rumors that the Grizzlies are looking to trade Kyle Anderson and Dillon Brooks. Also based on some podcasts speculation the Grizzlies are trying to get worse because they are worried they are stuck in this middle ground with Morant and JJJ

kekgeek1 wrote:

FNG wrote:I haven't read some of this thread, so I'm confused about the Kyle Anderson talk. Anderson played 28 minutes per game last season (4th on the team) and had the best on/off stats on the team. And despite his notorious lack of athleticism, he is a consistently elite defender...top 5 in DRPM among small forwards each of the past three seasons. He's a core piece for Memphis going forward and isn't going anywhere.

There are rumors that the Grizzlies are looking to trade Kyle Anderson and Dillon Brooks. Also based on some podcasts speculation the Grizzlies are trying to get worse because they are worried they are stuck in this middle ground with Morant and JJJ

That's funny that their being "stuck" would be considered a wild success for us (e.g. Memphis' win % last year and 8th seed). Defense matters. Memphis has proved that for over a decade now and its why they have continually outperformed the Wolves franchise despite being in a smaller market and rarely having A-List talent.

kekgeek1 wrote:

FNG wrote:I haven't read some of this thread, so I'm confused about the Kyle Anderson talk. Anderson played 28 minutes per game last season (4th on the team) and had the best on/off stats on the team. And despite his notorious lack of athleticism, he is a consistently elite defender...top 5 in DRPM among small forwards each of the past three seasons. He's a core piece for Memphis going forward and isn't going anywhere.

There are rumors that the Grizzlies are looking to trade Kyle Anderson and Dillon Brooks. Also based on some podcasts speculation the Grizzlies are trying to get worse because they are worried they are stuck in this middle ground with Morant and JJJ

Ah, thanks for that, kek. Well, if they trade Anderson and Brooks, I think they will meet their goal of trying to get worse! They're both excellent defenders with positive on/off numbers, but I wouldn't expect that they would get back a suitable return.

So if Anderson is available, I'll join the chorus here and agree: he's a nice player, but doesn't really fit our needs right now.

kekgeek1 wrote:

FNG wrote:I haven't read some of this thread, so I'm confused about the Kyle Anderson talk. Anderson played 28 minutes per game last season (4th on the team) and had the best on/off stats on the team. And despite his notorious lack of athleticism, he is a consistently elite defender...top 5 in DRPM among small forwards each of the past three seasons. He's a core piece for Memphis going forward and isn't going anywhere.

There are rumors that the Grizzlies are looking to trade Kyle Anderson and Dillon Brooks. Also based on some podcasts speculation the Grizzlies are trying to get worse because they are worried they are stuck in this middle ground with Morant and JJJ

From what I can tell... the rumor stems from somebody named Chris Fedor at cleveland.com discussing Cavalier-centric trades. Deep in the article, he writes this...

"A defensive-minded and unselfish big man, Nance would be an ideal fit for a playoff team. But he could also help fill an important leadership void for a rebuilding franchise. Keep an eye on Detroit and Memphis. Both teams have too many guaranteed contracts. They need to fix that. Sources say Grizzlies small forwards Dillon Brooks and Kyle Anderson are available for the right price."

Who are these sources? Are they legit? Who is Chris Fedor other than a reporter from Ohio who's been covering Ohio sports for 7 years? Is he more or less legit than Doogie? Charley Walters?

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

FNG wrote:I haven't read some of this thread, so I'm confused about the Kyle Anderson talk. Anderson played 28 minutes per game last season (4th on the team) and had the best on/off stats on the team. And despite his notorious lack of athleticism, he is a consistently elite defender...top 5 in DRPM among small forwards each of the past three seasons. He's a core piece for Memphis going forward and isn't going anywhere.

There are rumors that the Grizzlies are looking to trade Kyle Anderson and Dillon Brooks. Also based on some podcasts speculation the Grizzlies are trying to get worse because they are worried they are stuck in this middle ground with Morant and JJJ

From what I can tell... the rumor stems from somebody named Chris Fedor at cleveland.com discussing Cavalier-centric trades. Deep in the article, he writes this...

"A defensive-minded and unselfish big man, Nance would be an ideal fit for a playoff team. But he could also help fill an important leadership void for a rebuilding franchise. Keep an eye on Detroit and Memphis. Both teams have too many guaranteed contracts. They need to fix that. Sources say Grizzlies small forwards Dillon Brooks and Kyle Anderson are available for the right price."

Who are these sources? Are they legit? Who is Chris Fedor other than a reporter from Ohio who's been covering Ohio sports for 7 years? Is he more or less legit than Doogie? Charley Walters?

Let's say this Fedor guy is reasonably legit "Right price" could also mean they aren't exactly giving them away they want to get a solid return for them. If some team was willing to give up a first round pick for either them that might be plenty interesting for them. I'm not interested in doing that for the Wolves but Maybe some other team would give up something of that type of value. I think it's clear Memphis has been making some moves this offseason that looks more like a rebuilding team than one trying to get significantly better and take another step. The Wolves benefited from that already once and that Beverly trade added a guaranteed contract to Memphis roster.

monsterpile wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

FNG wrote:I haven't read some of this thread, so I'm confused about the Kyle Anderson talk. Anderson played 28 minutes per game last season (4th on the team) and had the best on/off stats on the team. And despite his notorious lack of athleticism, he is a consistently elite defender...top 5 in DRPM among small forwards each of the past three seasons. He's a core piece for Memphis going forward and isn't going anywhere.

There are rumors that the Grizzlies are looking to trade Kyle Anderson and Dillon Brooks. Also based on some podcasts speculation the Grizzlies are trying to get worse because they are worried they are stuck in this middle ground with Morant and JJJ

From what I can tell... the rumor stems from somebody named Chris Fedor at cleveland.com discussing Cavalier-centric trades. Deep in the article, he writes this...

"A defensive-minded and unselfish big man, Nance would be an ideal fit for a playoff team. But he could also help fill an important leadership void for a rebuilding franchise. Keep an eye on Detroit and Memphis. Both teams have too many guaranteed contracts. They need to fix that. Sources say Grizzlies small forwards Dillon Brooks and Kyle Anderson are available for the right price."

Who are these sources? Are they legit? Who is Chris Fedor other than a reporter from Ohio who's been covering Ohio sports for 7 years? Is he more or less legit than Doogie? Charley Walters?

Let's say this Fedor guy is reasonably legit "Right price" could also mean they aren't exactly giving them away they want to get a solid return for them. If some team was willing to give up a first round pick for either them that might be plenty interesting for them. I'm not interested in doing that for the Wolves but Maybe some other team would give up something of that type of value. I think it's clear Memphis has been making some moves this offseason that looks more like a rebuilding team than one trying to get significantly better and take another step. The Wolves benefited from that already once and that Beverly trade added a guaranteed contract to Memphis roster.

I'm not entirely sure Beverley would have played much for Memphis anyway. Would he have been happy as a deep bench guy in/out of the rotation? He's not playing ahead of Morant in crunch time. By all accounts, Melton is a solid player deserving of more minutes. And they're invested in Tyus Jones as Morant's backup. And Bane and Brooks are the incumbents on the wing.

Heck, Milton and Brooks are very Beverley-like on defense already... and much younger. Maybe they think Milton is actually already better than Brooks and simply need Brooks out to open up more minutes for the younger guy.

I just find the talk of Memphis rebuilding sort of silly considering the team improved from 22 - 60 to 33 - 49 to 34 - 39 to 38 - 34 (without Jackson)...

Now, they're suddenly going to stop that progression despite already having 7 of the top 10 players younger than 27?

Meh.




[Note: Meanwhile in Minnesota, the Wolves are coming off a 23 - 49 season and players like D. Russell, McDaniels, Vanderbilt and Reid are deemed untouchable.]