Which would you prefer to keep?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I don't disagree. Mikkeman, that defensive and offensive ratings are flawed measurements. I frankly rely more on my own judgment in determining defensive success, but eye test isn't a very persuasive argument on an opinion board.

What are your thoughts on TS%, rebounding percentage and rebounds per 36 minutes as indicators of a player's value?

[MikkeMan]

BTW. I also think that Young has not performed as well as I expected but based on statistics his defense has been still better than average and actually before latest struggles that I assume are related to his injury, they were almost on elite level. Currently Thad's opponent counter part has been scoring 18.7pts per 48 minutes with 50.9 eFG%. That is still better than his last year's numbers (and Love's last year numbers) but worse than his earlier numbers when opponents eFg had been between 46.4 and 49.2%.

What I have been disappointed is that Young has been taking way too many jump shots. Especially long twos. This might be at least partially because Flip's offensive schemes but I would really like to see him getting more attempts at rim because that has been the area where he has been elite already several seasons. It seems that after hot start with jump shooting, he has been scoring more and more at rim. So maybe this will be improving while season progresses.

I also expected that Young would be getting a lot more assisted field goals but currently he is on his way to have almost lowest % of assisted FGs in his career. Two seasons ago he had 72% of FGs assisted and this season only 51.3% of them have been assisted. This stat suffers of course about Ricky's injury but surprisingly his assisted FG% was even lower while Ricky was playing. So I would like to see Thad to move more without the ball and try to be more finisher for the plays than to create for himself and others. Maybe he was not yet familiar enough with Ricky and this would have improved as season would have progressed but now real progress can start only after Ricky's return.

I also hoped that he would have concentrated more on rebounding since it seems that when asked to do so (12-13 season), his rebounding stats were not that bad (DRB% was 17.2) but now he is on his way to have his worst rebounding season with TRB% of 7.9%.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

There are other factors that need to be considered in evaluating Thad. Obviously his 2-week family grievance break has set him back...he has looked out of shape to me since his return. Also he reported a couple days ago that he is playing through a painful ankle injury. I think both of those factors contribute to the drop off in his defensive performance and the increase in jump shots. Thad puts the ball on the floor and gets to the rim well, and I think he may not be as comfortable driving to the basket with his sore ankle. Also, what I labeled as a lack of effort on defense 2 games ago also may be attributed to the ankle.

For a lot of reasons we need to take a long view in evaluating this deal.

[bleedspeed]

I voted for the trade for Young, but if i had to do it today I would keep the pick. I would move forward with AB and Adrien. Since we can't do that I would cut Hummel and look for a PG and give Hummel's minutes to Shabazz and GR3.

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

Thad is simply NOT going to look good as a primary player to any team. That is just not his game. He is a fantastic supporting cast type player in an already strong starting lineup. Or, he can anchor a second unit. Unfortunately, much more is expected on this ultra-inexperienced team. I still like him as a long-term player for the Wolves, but it needs to be at a reasonable deal as he is probably better off as your 6th man.

And I would still say that as far as TALENT goes, the simple historical odds of landing a player even close to Young's caliber with the Miami pick is probably 5%.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I'd like to see this starting lineup next year with Brewer, Pek, and Thad as the core of the 2nd unit (given nobody will take Pek off our hands)

Rubio, Lavine, Wiggy, AB, Dieng.

[Coolbreeze44]

I'd like to see this starting lineup next year with Brewer, Pek, and Thad as the core of the 2nd unit (given nobody will take Pek off our hands)

Rubio, Lavine, Wiggy, AB, Dieng.

I'd like to see that lineup as soon as Ricky comes back with Shabazz as the 6th man igniter off the bench.

[bleedspeed]

I'd like to see this starting lineup next year with Brewer, Pek, and Thad as the core of the 2nd unit (given nobody will take Pek off our hands)

Rubio, Lavine, Wiggy, AB, Dieng.

I'd like to see that lineup as soon as Ricky comes back with Shabazz as the 6th man igniter off the bench.

It is hard not to start Shabazz in that group with how is putting up numbers. I think he will be even better playing with Rubio. It is pretty incredible to think we have good enough young group of players that we are having trouble starting a second year player that is averaging 13.5 points a game with 4.4 rebounds in 21 minutes a game over the last 10 games and doing so making 50% of his shots.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

BTW. I also think that Young has not performed as well as I expected but based on statistics his defense has been still better than average and actually before latest struggles that I assume are related to his injury, they were almost on elite level. Currently Thad's opponent counter part has been scoring 18.7pts per 48 minutes with 50.9 eFG%. That is still better than his last year's numbers (and Love's last year numbers) but worse than his earlier numbers when opponents eFg had been between 46.4 and 49.2%.

What I have been disappointed is that Young has been taking way too many jump shots. Especially long twos. This might be at least partially because Flip's offensive schemes but I would really like to see him getting more attempts at rim because that has been the area where he has been elite already several seasons. It seems that after hot start with jump shooting, he has been scoring more and more at rim. So maybe this will be improving while season progresses.

I also expected that Young would be getting a lot more assisted field goals but currently he is on his way to have almost lowest % of assisted FGs in his career. Two seasons ago he had 72% of FGs assisted and this season only 51.3% of them have been assisted. This stat suffers of course about Ricky's injury but surprisingly his assisted FG% was even lower while Ricky was playing. So I would like to see Thad to move more without the ball and try to be more finisher for the plays than to create for himself and others. Maybe he was not yet familiar enough with Ricky and this would have improved as season would have progressed but now real progress can start only after Ricky's return.

I also hoped that he would have concentrated more on rebounding since it seems that when asked to do so (12-13 season), his rebounding stats were not that bad (DRB% was 17.2) but now he is on his way to have his worst rebounding season with TRB% of 7.9%.

Some excellent analysis here Mikkeman.

Evaluating defensive proficiency is such a tough thing to get a handle on since so much of it is hard to measure individually. It's a combination of various metrics + lots of observation. I might take some time to do a more detailed post comparing the defense of AB vs. Young since it seems to be a point of contention. I'm also just flat out curious to go back and watch some game tape and see exactly how our defense breaks down.

I also agree with Hicks that Young is being stretched right now beyond his natural limits. He's practically being used as a #1 option and is being asked to do way more than he is capable of doing. That combined with his Mom's death and ankle issues means he's having a career-worst year.

This always seems to happen with the Wolves by the way. We sign what appears to be a decent veteran, who then goes on to have his worst years with us. Barea, Webster, and Budinger come to mind as recent examples, in addition to Young.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

If Young is hurt, why is he playing? We aren't going to win with him gimping and not being able to hit a jump shot because of the ankle. Just use a 4 man rotation of Bennett/Dieng/Hummel/Adrien until Young is healthy. I don't see how it helps him or the team to have him play through something like an ankle injury when we have bodies behind him.