Minnesota Sports Forum

Q12543 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

KG4Ever wrote:DLO has a lifetime 3 point shooting average of 35.6% and in the playoffs it drops to 32.4%. That is not great three point shooting at all. Zach Lavine has a life time shooting percentage of 37.5%. Zach is a better shooter than DLO. But neither DLO nor Zach contribute much in terms of positive on court presence as they both have horrid plus/minus stats.

DLO's plus/minus stat is troubling. I see DLO's talent, but he has a lot to prove - playing defense and having a net positive impact on both ends of the court. That's his challenge. Rosas obviously wanted him badly. Now that Rosas has his guy, it's up to Russell to reward Gersson's faith in him.

It is troubling. We all hear about how defense isn't as important for a PG versus a big, but there is a big difference between mediocre defense and complete matador. DLO has been more on the matador extreme of the spectrum and it basically cancels out all the good things he does on the offensive end. Great players don't consistently post those kind of net negative On/Off numbers.

It's worth considering that Russell led the Nets in games and Minutes the year they went to the playoffs with a winning record and they were right in the middle of the league in terms of defense. That's SOMETHING.

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

KG4Ever wrote:DLO has a lifetime 3 point shooting average of 35.6% and in the playoffs it drops to 32.4%. That is not great three point shooting at all. Zach Lavine has a life time shooting percentage of 37.5%. Zach is a better shooter than DLO. But neither DLO nor Zach contribute much in terms of positive on court presence as they both have horrid plus/minus stats.

DLO's plus/minus stat is troubling. I see DLO's talent, but he has a lot to prove - playing defense and having a net positive impact on both ends of the court. That's his challenge. Rosas obviously wanted him badly. Now that Rosas has his guy, it's up to Russell to reward Gersson's faith in him.

It is troubling. We all hear about how defense isn't as important for a PG versus a big, but there is a big difference between mediocre defense and complete matador. DLO has been more on the matador extreme of the spectrum and it basically cancels out all the good things he does on the offensive end. Great players don't consistently post those kind of net negative On/Off numbers.

It's worth considering that Russell led the Nets in games and Minutes the year they went to the playoffs with a winning record and they were right in the middle of the league in terms of defense. That's SOMETHING.

Agreed, I'm kind of hanging my hat on that one season. He had a barely positive net rating and a little better net on/off rating. But otherwise, he's pretty much always been a negative in terms of +/- and On/Off.

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

KG4Ever wrote:DLO has a lifetime 3 point shooting average of 35.6% and in the playoffs it drops to 32.4%. That is not great three point shooting at all. Zach Lavine has a life time shooting percentage of 37.5%. Zach is a better shooter than DLO. But neither DLO nor Zach contribute much in terms of positive on court presence as they both have horrid plus/minus stats.

DLO's plus/minus stat is troubling. I see DLO's talent, but he has a lot to prove - playing defense and having a net positive impact on both ends of the court. That's his challenge. Rosas obviously wanted him badly. Now that Rosas has his guy, it's up to Russell to reward Gersson's faith in him.

It is troubling. We all hear about how defense isn't as important for a PG versus a big, but there is a big difference between mediocre defense and complete matador. DLO has been more on the matador extreme of the spectrum and it basically cancels out all the good things he does on the offensive end. Great players don't consistently post those kind of net negative On/Off numbers.

It's worth considering that Russell led the Nets in games and Minutes the year they went to the playoffs with a winning record and they were right in the middle of the league in terms of defense. That's SOMETHING.

Agreed, I'm kind of hanging my hat on that one season. He had a barely positive net rating and a little better net on/off rating. But otherwise, he's pretty much always been a negative in terms of +/- and On/Off.

Agreed. I was looking back at some of his stats I would be curious what his numbers looked like his first season with the Nets in games that he started. He didn't even average 28mpg as a starter but the basic stats where pretty good except TO's. Overall that year even with injuries he certainly made a jump offensively. That's another thing I think that gives me a reason to have some hope for Russell at least offensively is that he has continued to make some legit improvements in his game at least statistically the past 3 years.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2916758-2020-nba-draft-buzz-is-a-new-no-1-pick-emerging

lipoli390 wrote:https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2916758-2020-nba-draft-buzz-is-a-new-no-1-pick-emerging

You gotta admit, all the pre-draft speculations are almost as exciting as the games themselves.

lipoli390 wrote:https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2916758-2020-nba-draft-buzz-is-a-new-no-1-pick-emerging

I won't take this as anything besides more draft smoke, but I hope there's some semblance of truth there. James Wiseman is the best talent in this draft. I've been hooked on that wagon for over a year now and didn't think it was a hot or even warm take considering he was the top ranked recruit and the Gatorade Player of the Year. I'm not tooting my own horn, but rather saying that this kid has been evaluated as the top guy for a while now. Things only changed because the NCAA showed poor judgement and gave him a ridiculous punishment. The result of that was less video to go off of, but Wiseman's talent and profile has not changed.

Even if the Wolves decide to go in another direction due to their own vision or they trade the pick entirely I would hope that they rightfully evaluate Wiseman as the top talent. This is not the draft to go full Cleveland selects Anthony Bennett in 2013 on us in order to show how "smart" they are.

Camden0916 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2916758-2020-nba-draft-buzz-is-a-new-no-1-pick-emerging

I won't take this as anything besides more draft smoke, but I hope there's some semblance of truth there. James Wiseman is the best talent in this draft. I've been hooked on that wagon for over a year now and didn't think it was a hot or even warm take considering he was the top ranked recruit and the Gatorade Player of the Year. I'm not tooting my own horn, but rather saying that this kid has been evaluated as the top guy for a while now. Things only changed because the NCAA showed poor judgement and gave him a ridiculous punishment. The result of that was less video to go off of, but Wiseman's talent and profile has not changed.

Even if the Wolves decide to go in another direction due to their own vision or they trade the pick entirely I would hope that they rightfully evaluate Wiseman as the top talent. This is not the draft to go full Cleveland selects Anthony Bennett in 2013 on us in order to show how "smart" they are.

There might be something additional to consider when thinking about that draft and that selection. Just over a year later the Cavs traded for Kevin Love. I think it was well known Flip Loved Oladipo. I believe it was also reported he liked Cody Zeller too. What if they had drafted Dipo and then a year later They gave him up and fewer assets to get Love? Losing Andrew Wiggins didn't end up hurting them but that draft does make me think about how you simply want to get the best player possible because...you never know what will happen a week or a couple month or whatever amount of time.

monsterpile wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2916758-2020-nba-draft-buzz-is-a-new-no-1-pick-emerging

I won't take this as anything besides more draft smoke, but I hope there's some semblance of truth there. James Wiseman is the best talent in this draft. I've been hooked on that wagon for over a year now and didn't think it was a hot or even warm take considering he was the top ranked recruit and the Gatorade Player of the Year. I'm not tooting my own horn, but rather saying that this kid has been evaluated as the top guy for a while now. Things only changed because the NCAA showed poor judgement and gave him a ridiculous punishment. The result of that was less video to go off of, but Wiseman's talent and profile has not changed.

Even if the Wolves decide to go in another direction due to their own vision or they trade the pick entirely I would hope that they rightfully evaluate Wiseman as the top talent. This is not the draft to go full Cleveland selects Anthony Bennett in 2013 on us in order to show how "smart" they are.

There might be something additional to consider when thinking about that draft and that selection. Just over a year later the Cavs traded for Kevin Love. I think it was well known Flip Loved Oladipo. I believe it was also reported he liked Cody Zeller too. What if they had drafted Dipo and then a year later They gave him up and fewer assets to get Love? Losing Andrew Wiggins didn't end up hurting them but that draft does make me think about how you simply want to get the best player possible because...you never know what will happen a week or a couple month or whatever amount of time.

Anthony Bennett was mocked to go in that 7-12 range in 2013, if I remember correctly. There is no reason he should have gone number one. One team reportedly took him completely off their big board that year. If you have time, monster, you'd probably enjoy this read.

Link: https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/ex-cavs-gm-chris-grant-voted-drafting-anthony-bennett-article-1.3586348

Camden wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2916758-2020-nba-draft-buzz-is-a-new-no-1-pick-emerging

I won't take this as anything besides more draft smoke, but I hope there's some semblance of truth there. James Wiseman is the best talent in this draft. I've been hooked on that wagon for over a year now and didn't think it was a hot or even warm take considering he was the top ranked recruit and the Gatorade Player of the Year. I'm not tooting my own horn, but rather saying that this kid has been evaluated as the top guy for a while now. Things only changed because the NCAA showed poor judgement and gave him a ridiculous punishment. The result of that was less video to go off of, but Wiseman's talent and profile has not changed.

Even if the Wolves decide to go in another direction due to their own vision or they trade the pick entirely I would hope that they rightfully evaluate Wiseman as the top talent. This is not the draft to go full Cleveland selects Anthony Bennett in 2013 on us in order to show how "smart" they are.

Cam - You put your finger on my fear with Rosas and his cohorts. It's my fear that they're out to prove how smart they are. David Kahn was the worst in that regard - thinking he was smarter than everyone else. I love Okongwu and think highly of Deni as well as Halliburton. I can see the huge upside of Edwards. I can come up with a list of reasons for picking any of those guys. But it's possible to overthink this thing. Taking a step back and looking at things, it's hard to argue that Wiseman isn't the best talent in this draft - as in upside times probability of reaching his potential.

I listened to Don Showalter on NBA radio yesterday. He's a legendary youth basketball coach and is very familiar with a lot of the prospects in this year's draft.

He had a lot of positive things to say about Wiseman and it seemed clear to me that he believes he should be the top pick in the draft. He said the only negative on Wiseman is a history of nagging injuries. But they he paid Wiseman the ultimate compliment, saying that Wiseman would not only play but also practice with pain and injuries because he just loves to play the game. He said Wiseman's combination of wingspan and good lateral movement should enable him to switch and guard wings in the NBA.

Other than Wiseman, it was clear that his two favorite players in draft are Maxey and Okoro. He said he believes Maxey will be a better pro than college player. He said there's a difference between a player who works hard or has a good work ethic and a player who is ultra competitive. He said a lot of players work hard. I remember hearing that about Wiggins. However, he said it's the ultra-competitive players who succeed and become really good in the NBA. He said that's what Maxey is. He said you won't find a more competitive player in this draft. He said Okoro has great mental toughness and makes a team better when he's on the court. He believes it was a mistake to leave Okoro off the McDonalds All American Team and believes Okoro has a chip on his shoulder as a result.

After listening to Don, taking Wiseman at #1 seemed even more sensible. I've never been high on Maxey, but after listening to Don, I might consider him at #17.