Minnesota Sports Forum

Teague is a solid NBA starting PG, but his synergy with the other starting 4 doesn't seem to add up to much. Whenever Tyus was plugged into his place, the team did better. Tyus is not the better individual PG, but it's clear that he gives our best offensive pieces (KAT and Butler) more touches. Over a longer sustained stretch, I'm not sure how Tyus would do compared to the veteran Teague, but I'd be willing to roll the dice if it meant we created salary relief to upgrade the roster elsewhere with shooting and defense.

Q12543 wrote:Teague is a solid NBA starting PG, but his synergy with the other starting 4 doesn't seem to add up to much. Whenever Tyus was plugged into his place, the team did better. Tyus is not the better individual PG, but it's clear that he gives our best offensive pieces (KAT and Butler) more touches. Over a longer sustained stretch, I'm not sure how Tyus would do compared to the veteran Teague, but I'd be willing to roll the dice if it meant we created salary relief to upgrade the roster elsewhere with shooting and defense.

I agree with this logic but there are definitely some risks involved. A lot more pressure and teams would start game planing defense for Tyus. But if we needed to shed salary Teague seems the most logical place to start. It was really gravy last year when Teague would have a great game, but it didn't seem to have the same impact in terms of winning as with the rest of the starters.

I would see if PHX would take Teague for Tyson Chandler and a second round pick. They need a PG and just drafted Ayton. Chandler is an expiring contract who can protect the rim. It saves 6 million this year and guarantees we don't get Teague opting in at 19 which I think he would in the new PG flooded market. Give Tyus the keys.

Then I would see what we can get this summer and see what happens with DJ in LAC. If he leaves or is traded to the Mavs I would offer LAC Wiggins and Patton for Tobias Harris, Lou Williams and Patrick Beverly. They can rebuild their new young team around Wiggins and whatever they get back from the Mavs along with their young guards they just started.

Tyus/Beverly/Rose
Butler/Lou/Okogi
Harris/KBD
Towns/Hopefully Belly
Chandler/G

Little light in the frontcourt, but I would expect a lot of small ball with that team. Butler and Harris would be playing up a spot frequently I imagine.

thedoper wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Teague is a solid NBA starting PG, but his synergy with the other starting 4 doesn't seem to add up to much. Whenever Tyus was plugged into his place, the team did better. Tyus is not the better individual PG, but it's clear that he gives our best offensive pieces (KAT and Butler) more touches. Over a longer sustained stretch, I'm not sure how Tyus would do compared to the veteran Teague, but I'd be willing to roll the dice if it meant we created salary relief to upgrade the roster elsewhere with shooting and defense.

I agree with this logic but there are definitely some risks involved. A lot more pressure and teams would start game planing defense for Tyus. But if we needed to shed salary Teague seems the most logical place to start. It was really gravy last year when Teague would have a great game, but it didn't seem to have the same impact in terms of winning as with the rest of the starters.

I'm not sure how much one game plans for Tyus other than playing off him more in order to clog up the paint. We'd just have to hope he continues improving his 3-point stroke. The potential is certainly there.

But yeah, Teague just seemed like a neutral presence on our squad. I think if he was less reluctant to just let it fly and became a higher volume 3-point shooter, it would have helped a ton. But so often he would end up just dribbling into a wall of bodies and then having to back out again, only to leave very little time on the shot clock. Defensively he had an on and off button. He was good when the button was on, but pretty poor to average when it was off.

Amazingly, Doogie had a fantastic interview with David Thorpe. Lots of talk about Thibs (all negative), FA wings and Belly. Well worth a listen.

http://www.1500espn.com/the-scoop-2/2018/06/david-thorpe-wolves-nba-free-agency-draft-fallout-ep-156/

60WinTim wrote:Amazingly, Doogie had a fantastic interview with David Thorpe. Lots of talk about Thibs (all negative), FA wings and Belly. Well worth a listen.

http://www.1500espn.com/the-scoop-2/2018/06/david-thorpe-wolves-nba-free-agency-draft-fallout-ep-156/

I'm actually becoming a Doogie fan...nobody in town worked harder during the pre-draft period.


Man, just listen to what Thorpe has to say about Minnesota and Thibs. On the positive side, he says Minneapolis has always been a popular destinatoin for NBA players...he's never heard anyone say a negative comment about the city or the climate. As for our beloved coach, this is about as damning a description as I have heard. He talks about the NBA being a small, intimate club with some very defined opinions, and NOBODY wants to play for Thibs. Doogie tried to make a case for Thibs having changed since his Bulls days, but Thorpe would have none of it...he says free agents aren't going to compare current Thibs to Bulls' Thibs, but rather Thibs to other situations, and nobody is going to choose Thibs.


This solidifies my opinion that there will be no significant free agent pickups for the Wolves this year, both because of the lux tax and because no free agent wants to play for Thibs, Don't think Glen doesn't hear pointedly negative comments about Thibs...he does. I'm convinced Thibs will be gone by the all-star game unless miraculously we are a top 3 West team. And with Thibs gone and Glen perhaps willing to pay the lux tax next year, I am very optimistic about our ability to bring in some very good free agents for a championship run with a new coach in 2019-20. And that's what keeps me interested.


(Closed circuit to Abe and others who think I am too one-sided about Thibs. I am, because he has done nothing to make me think players are going to play their best for him. But please listen to what Thorpe has to say about Thibs before you comment. It's not good...at all.)

But LST, what makes you think the Wolves will not be a top-3 team in the West next year?

Despite a significant roster turnover and a slow start to the season, the Wolves were a top-4 team in the West up until Butler's injury. This season will not require nearly as much chemistry building, and we may have much greater depth on the bench. Heck, a stronger bench may even reduce the minutes the starters play!

But, yeah, Thibs needs to look in the mirror and realize the changes HE needs to make. I am not holding my breath...

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Teague is a solid NBA starting PG, but his synergy with the other starting 4 doesn't seem to add up to much. Whenever Tyus was plugged into his place, the team did better. Tyus is not the better individual PG, but it's clear that he gives our best offensive pieces (KAT and Butler) more touches. Over a longer sustained stretch, I'm not sure how Tyus would do compared to the veteran Teague, but I'd be willing to roll the dice if it meant we created salary relief to upgrade the roster elsewhere with shooting and defense.

I agree with this logic but there are definitely some risks involved. A lot more pressure and teams would start game planing defense for Tyus. But if we needed to shed salary Teague seems the most logical place to start. It was really gravy last year when Teague would have a great game, but it didn't seem to have the same impact in terms of winning as with the rest of the starters.

I'm not sure how much one game plans for Tyus other than playing off him more in order to clog up the paint. We'd just have to hope he continues improving his 3-point stroke. The potential is certainly there.

But yeah, Teague just seemed like a neutral presence on our squad. I think if he was less reluctant to just let it fly and became a higher volume 3-point shooter, it would have helped a ton. But so often he would end up just dribbling into a wall of bodies and then having to back out again, only to leave very little time on the shot clock. Defensively he had an on and off button. He was good when the button was on, but pretty poor to average when it was off.

I agree with a lot of what Q said I've found his play frustrating also but it also seemed like there were a couple times Teague finally had found his place and then he got hurt or Jimmy got hurt. These things (synergy) often don't come together in a few months. I'd like to see this group play together another season before saying they don't really work all that well together. Teague is an underrated key to this team and so think some people just think he can't be more than what we saw alpt of games. I think there is more there and I'd bet he has a lot of respect among players on that team even if he does dribble too much etc. the expectations for him are kinda weird it's like people expect him to be a top 10 PG or something when he is just a good starter. Those types of players simply aren't good every single night.

60WinTim wrote:But LST, what makes you think the Wolves will not be a top-3 team in the West next year?

Despite a significant roster turnover and a slow start to the season, the Wolves were a top-4 team in the West up until Butler's injury. This season will not require nearly as much chemistry building, and we may have much greater depth on the bench. Heck, a stronger bench may even reduce the minutes the starters play!

But, yeah, Thibs needs to look in the mirror and realize the changes HE needs to make. I am not holding my breath...

They could be top 3, Tim, and I'm pulling for that...they certainly have the talent. And even a major Thibs-critic like Thorpe says the attitude of this team could be better if they started winning more. And if they are contending at the break, I'll be more than willing to give the coach some credit. But call me skeptical until it happens. Certainly Butler's injury last year was a major factor in the poor second half, but I also think exhaustion and bad morale were big factors. The body language on the court was remarkably different the last half of the year...they were clearly a worn-out team that wasn't having any fun. And I'm concerned that could carry over into this year. The talent differential team to team in the NBA isn't that dramatic, and often a team playing loose and hard for their coach can beat a more talented team. We saw that happen several times last year when we lost to teams not as talented as we were.


Anyway, everyone should listen to this podcast. Thorpe is definitely an NBA insider with his ears close to the tracks, and I find him a reliable source for what NBA players think of playing for Thibs. I hope he's wrong, but my sense is he is only too correct.

I found the way Thorpe broke down some possible FAs was pretty worthwhile. He was really down on KCP. He also said Corey Brewer would come back here in a heartbeat which isn't surprising because he said the same thing before the trade deadline last year.

Thorpe wasn't kind about management and ownership as well. It's also worth mentioning that he absolutely blasted Sam Mitchell a couple years ago. We may as well look for another franchise to follow I guess.