thedoper wrote:I dont look at Naz as a 3rd Center. I like what Dane Moore said in his last podcast, hes more like a scoring 6th man. When he has it, it gives us a huge lift off the bench. He played pretty damn good with Kat and Rudy last night too. He gives us huge versatility. Hes just a defensive liability, which is fine if there are defenders on the 2nd unit.
On Jmac im with Cam, the dude has got to shoot better if he wants a regular job in the NBA.
That's a good way to view Naz, Doper. We've seen Naz playing some minutes lately alongside Rudy. My take is that Naz is better defensively when he's guarding more on the perimeter than when playing center and guarding the paint. I like viewing him as a scoring 6th or 7th man. But I also see him as a PF more than a center. So he can pair with Rudy or KAT.
I had assumed for a long time that Naz would not be re-signed this offseason. But this is clearly changing every game where Naz is able to coexist with KAT and/or Rudy in addition to playing C solo when needed. I now think the Wolves will try to retain Naz this offseason, assuming he wants to return and they can agree on a contract extension.
On another note, Conley was quoted last night saying he could play until he is 40 in this type of situation where everybody is focused on contending, and that contending for championship seems within reach. I don't know about 40, but the Wolves may have more time to groom a new starting PG than we first thought!
thedoper wrote:I dont look at Naz as a 3rd Center. I like what Dane Moore said in his last podcast, hes more like a scoring 6th man. When he has it, it gives us a huge lift off the bench. He played pretty damn good with Kat and Rudy last night too. He gives us huge versatility. Hes just a defensive liability, which is fine if there are defenders on the 2nd unit.
On Jmac im with Cam, the dude has got to shoot better if he wants a regular job in the NBA.
That's a good way to view Naz, Doper. We've seen Naz playing some minutes lately alongside Rudy. My take is that Naz is better defensively when he's guarding more on the perimeter than when playing center and guarding the paint. I like viewing him as a scoring 6th or 7th man. But I also see him as a PF more than a center. So he can pair with Rudy or KAT.
I had assumed for a long time that Naz would not be re-signed this offseason. But this is clearly changing every game where Naz is able to coexist with KAT and/or Rudy in addition to playing C solo when needed. I now think the Wolves will try to retain Naz this offseason, assuming he wants to return and they can agree on a contract extension.
On another note, Conley was quoted last night saying he could play until he is 40 in this type of situation where everybody is focused on contending, and that contending for championship seems within reach. I don't know about 40, but the Wolves may have more time to groom a new starting PG than we first thought!
I saw that and liked it. Age is just a number, and 35-year-olds are not all the same. LeBron is 38, Chris Paul is 37 and Steph is 35, and all are still playing at a high level. Conley keeps himself in great shape, and anyone who watched him chasing Fox around on defense last night after playing 31 minutes the night before would swear he was 25, not 35...he looks quick out there. I'm hoping he is our starting PG for at least another 3 years. He wants a championship and also wants to raise his kids in a family-friendly town, and he has a reported net worth of $70 million, so I wouldn't be surprised if he re-signed on a team-friendly contract if things go well this year and next. I would love to roll with this starting five for a few more years!
I think our chances of retaining Naz though are slim unless new ownership wants to go deep into the lux tax. He has become an offensive dynamo (our leading scorer in 3 of the past 5 games!), and I think someone is going to offer him 20+. I love Naz and wish we could keep him, but I don't know that new ownership will be too keen on paying lux tax for a guy who regularly gets outscored when he's in the game.
CoolBreeze44 wrote:NAZ has become a very reliable and dynamic scorer. He gets buckets when he comes in. I'd hold on to him if at all possible.
I agree, Cool. I think they should pay whatever it takes to keep him even if it drives us into the luxury tax. If the tax proves to be too burdensome relative to the team's success, he'll be a valuable trade asset. He could be swapped for a comparably paid player who fits a need or for a comparable expiring contract and picks. The Gobert deals signals that the organization is all in on winning now. So I don't think luxury tax concerns should stand in the way of re-signing a valuable young player like Naz.
Will he want to re-sign here? Hard to know. There might be some teams that promise him a starting role. But I'm sure Naz (and certainly his agent) understand that promises don't necessarily translate into reality. Moreover, the Wolves could promise him a 6th man role and I suspect there's already a level of trust between Naz and the Wolves organization, including Finch. And any injury to KAT or Gobert would instantly make him a starter. By all accounts he likes his teammates and they really like him. So I think it's' reasonable to assume he can be re-signed.
This season it's not just opportunities but he has shown more ability than he had previously. Earlier in the season it felt like his game was actually more well rounded he was playing with more force on both ends. His defense actually looked better. His rebounding is still better but his defense certainly isn't an asset although he is Mobile and can block shots. Like it's been said earlier Naz is basically a scoring 6th man that does some other stuff well. His 2 point percentage is the number that shows how well he is playing this year offensively. I really don't think any team views him as a starter. I don't think he is gonna get a ton of money or a significant role that will make him want to leave if the money is about the same. I'm prepared if he gets a great offer elsewhere but I could see the Wolves basically keeping him around for a decent chunk but nothing too crazy this offseason. Like Lip said he would in general become a trade asset.
thedoper wrote:I dont look at Naz as a 3rd Center. I like what Dane Moore said in his last podcast, hes more like a scoring 6th man. When he has it, it gives us a huge lift off the bench. He played pretty damn good with Kat and Rudy last night too. He gives us huge versatility. Hes just a defensive liability, which is fine if there are defenders on the 2nd unit.
On Jmac im with Cam, the dude has got to shoot better if he wants a regular job in the NBA.
That's a good way to view Naz, Doper. We've seen Naz playing some minutes lately alongside Rudy. My take is that Naz is better defensively when he's guarding more on the perimeter than when playing center and guarding the paint. I like viewing him as a scoring 6th or 7th man. But I also see him as a PF more than a center. So he can pair with Rudy or KAT.
I had assumed for a long time that Naz would not be re-signed this offseason. But this is clearly changing every game where Naz is able to coexist with KAT and/or Rudy in addition to playing C solo when needed. I now think the Wolves will try to retain Naz this offseason, assuming he wants to return and they can agree on a contract extension.
On another note, Conley was quoted last night saying he could play until he is 40 in this type of situation where everybody is focused on contending, and that contending for championship seems within reach. I don't know about 40, but the Wolves may have more time to groom a new starting PG than we first thought!
I saw that and liked it. Age is just a number, and 35-year-olds are not all the same. LeBron is 38, Chris Paul is 37 and Steph is 35, and all are still playing at a high level. Conley keeps himself in great shape, and anyone who watched him chasing Fox around on defense last night after playing 31 minutes the night before would swear he was 25, not 35...he looks quick out there. I'm hoping he is our starting PG for at least another 3 years. He wants a championship and also wants to raise his kids in a family-friendly town, and he has a reported net worth of $70 million, so I wouldn't be surprised if he re-signed on a team-friendly contract if things go well this year and next. I would love to roll with this starting five for a few more years!
I think our chances of retaining Naz though are slim unless new ownership wants to go deep into the lux tax. He has become an offensive dynamo (our leading scorer in 3 of the past 5 games!), and I think someone is going to offer him 20+. I love Naz and wish we could keep him, but I don't know that new ownership will be too keen on paying lux tax for a guy who regularly gets outscored when he's in the game.
It wasn't too long ago folks kinda had stuck a fork in Al Horford and then last year he was absolutely fantastic especially in the playoffs. I don't know what kind of extension I would feel comfortable giving Mike Conley but that's probably around a year from now before it should be too seriously considered. Let's remind ourselves that Pat Bev was a key player for the Wolves and then had a pretty big drop off playing for the Lakers. He has actually bounced back since then but I'm not sure he is worth more than 10 million bucks. Regardless everyone here agrees that the Wolves need more talent at that spot going forward. I'd love it if Conley was effective for a couple more years but I also have some skepticism about what he will be able to do although I agree I think he looks pretty good out there for a 35 year old smaller PG. I think saying he looks under 30 might be going too far. Hopefully he continues to play well this season and stays healthy as he has missed games over his career and isn't getting younger.
It’s kinda funny that I was the one that brought up that McLaughlin wasn’t reliable as the Wolves PG due to injury and then I sort of defended his ability to play. We are now rolling into a legit playoff series and since we have had this discussion he has maybe had a couple solid McLaughlin style games some ones were he was meh/sort of off the street replacement level or off the street replacement level meaning not so good. Some people have suggested he is unplayable. They might not be wrong but at times I’m not sure there is a better option. Nowell is a wildcard and might not be healthy. I hope he can get some minutes at time because I think his bucket getting can be an asset. Rivers? Some people don’t want him to see the floor either but he might be a worthwhile defender in this Denver series.
The reality is that McLaughlin is a pure PG and at times the theory of playing that type of guy has value. He does also have some sort of legit track record of being a guy that either plays well or doesn’t play bad. Is the solid guy that doesn’t hurt you going to show up when he is called on this playoffs? I hope so but yes we absolutely need to add at least another upgrade at PG this offseason one way or another. I think there will be some legitimate solid backup options this offseason and some of them are guys that can probably play big enough to play SG also. Hopefully McLaughlin can get and stay healthy and play relatively well next year when called upon and be a real value guy again especially in terms of his contract but yes he shouldn’t be the guy in a rotation going into next year.
I’m not sure who I might want the Wolves to sign or get to take a swing for an actual future starting PG but there will be time to discuss that. They could add both a vet PG and a younger guy with some sort of potential. They will likely need guard depth.
Well, we all know Ant is a huge part of where this team tops out in the long run. When I step back and look at his entire body of work this season, I'd say I'm mildly to moderately concerned. His passing/decision making skills on offense hasn't come along quite as much as I hoped and now we see that we tend to do way better with Conley and SloMo running the offense. "Point Ant" just isn't a strength....
He still has plenty of runway in front of him and he did improve this year. It just wasn't a "best-case scenario" kind of 3rd year leap and by no means is future superstardom secured.
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 9:35 pm
Well, we all know Ant is a huge part of where this team tops out in the long run. When I step back and look at his entire body of work this season, I'd say I'm mildly to moderately concerned. His passing/decision making skills on offense hasn't come along quite as much as I hoped and now we see that we tend to do way better with Conley and SloMo running the offense. "Point Ant" just isn't a strength....
He still has plenty of runway in front of him and he did improve this year. It just wasn't a "best-case scenario" kind of 3rd year leap and by no means is future superstardom secured.
I think your expectations for Edwards as a PG/playmaker early in his career have always been too high. I think Edwards took a very nice leap this season as an all around player. His defense is even more legit and he increased his scoring while being about the same actually slightly more efficient as a 21 year old. All this was while playing most of the season without Towns on the floor next to him. Of course he did have Anderson with him which was helpful but last year he often started the game playing with 2 PG types. Towns is a really good offensive player and that’s important to consider as well as the fact that the team was less of a factor from the 3 point line than last season. They did shoot nearly 40% from 3 after the AS break but they actually shot slightly fewer 3’s over that period than the totality of games before the AS break.
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 9:35 pm
Well, we all know Ant is a huge part of where this team tops out in the long run. When I step back and look at his entire body of work this season, I'd say I'm mildly to moderately concerned. His passing/decision making skills on offense hasn't come along quite as much as I hoped and now we see that we tend to do way better with Conley and SloMo running the offense. "Point Ant" just isn't a strength....
He still has plenty of runway in front of him and he did improve this year. It just wasn't a "best-case scenario" kind of 3rd year leap and by no means is future superstardom secured.
I think your expectations for Edwards as a PG/playmaker early in his career have always been too high. I think Edwards took a very nice leap this season as an all around player. His defense is even more legit and he increased his scoring while being about the same actually slightly more efficient as a 21 year old. All this was while playing most of the season without Towns on the floor next to him. Of course he did have Anderson with him which was helpful but last year he often started the game playing with 2 PG types. Towns is a really good offensive player and that’s important to consider as well as the fact that the team was less of a factor from the 3 point line than last season. They did shoot nearly 40% from 3 after the AS break but they actually shot slightly fewer 3’s over that period than the totality of games before the AS break.
Agreed Monster. My hope that we could mold Ant into an elite scorer/playmaker was more aspirational than anything. I mean, he has no idea how to find Rudy Gobert on screen and roll unless it's just a super obvious play to make.
This season sort of convinced me that he needs a true PG next to him (or someone who is very much like a PG like Kyle Anderson) and it may always be that way.
