60WinTim wrote:I do believe Naz's contract became guaranteed on July 20th...
I stand corrected. Good catch, Doug. Spotrac shows that his option for this year was exercised on June 29th and his salary becomes fully-guaranteed on January 10th of next year. That's incorrect.
If I'm correct, that would leave Jaylen Nowell, Nathan Knight, and Austin Rivers as the remaining partial guarantees left on the roster.
Ok barring a surprise move it looks like we have our roster for the Wolves. Let's compare it to last year's roster and see how it's been upgraded at each player or downgraded. In this instance I am only going to compare players that have come in to players that left. These are going to be subjective comparisons and I am not really going to consider what type of roster spot they are in or were in last season. Another post or someone else could break down further how players stepping into different roles are possible upgrades or downgrades.
Players that are still on the roster.
Russell
McLaughlin
Nowell
McDaniels
Prince
Towns
Naz
Knight
Outgoing->incoming players compared
Beasley Forbes
Beasley is likely the better player but I think Forbes is a better fit for the roster as it's constructed with the role he will be playing as a guy that can come in and just play when called upon. I think this is pretty even.
Beverly Rivers
Clearly losing Beverly is a big loss here even if I think Rivers could bring value.
Okogie Minott
This one is all about potential and Okogie at this point seems to be a good dude that can defend play with energy but not much else. Minott could become a guy that has the impact of Vanderbilt...or even more. This one is a big win in terms of potential.
Layman Paschall
Layman was a solid player who if he could have done something reasonably well especially even hitting 3's at a decent percentage would be on a roster somewhere. He wasn't known as a good defender with the Blazers and I think he was decent in that regard as a Wolf. He wasn't a good player but he also didn't suck. Paschall has a chance to be an upgrade here espcially if he improves his defense like Layman did. Paschall also brings some physical attributes the Wolves haven't had much of the last couple years and he can score and has been a contributor in the NBA.
Bolmaro Moore
I like both of these guys but I like Moore
more :) I think his skill set is more diverse than Bolmaro and could help in more ways if called upon this season.
Vanderbilt/roster space and Monroe/ Gobert and Anderson
Maybe this seems unfair to basically have 2 players for 1 guy but I think it's the best way to do this. Gobert is clearly a massive upgrade over Vanderbilt and Anderson gives the Wolves a guy that can give similar impact that Vanderbilt did. This is a huge win especially since the Wolves had a roster spot open for much of last season.
Wright Lawson
Idk we will see. I can't give a winner here as neither guy has really made any impact at the NBA level which is why they are compared here. If potential matters Wright turns 24 in October and Lawson turned 22 a few days ago.
Had no idea where do put this video. But Jaden Mcdaniels just put Chet Holmgren on skates in the pro am. He dropped 52 pts and 11 reb on Chet. Obviously it is just a pro am but his handle looking better
