Why Not JMac?

[AbeVigodaLive]

With JMac's triumphant return to the court last night and also the uncertainly surrounding what the Wolves are going to do before the deadline, it's a good time to revisit this thread. I maintain that JMac is ideally suited next to many of the high scorers on this team (the starters plus Naz and Jaylen) and is ready to take over the reins if TC finds a suitable deal for DLo. My only concern is durability, because calf issues can be tricky.

If Russell stays and JMac remains healthy, he will make the bench much stronger because of his chemistry with Naz and Nowell. But I also would be comfortable with him starting if there is a move this week.

It was fun to see the energy level pick up at both ends of the court when JMac checked in last night (I didn't watch the entire game, but did check out the end of the first quarter). And as Dane Moore points out, the Wolves were a +16 in the six minutes he was on the court in the first half, and only +4 in the other 18. I also found it telling what quiet Jaden McDaniels said about him post-game:

Jaden McDaniels on how Jordan McLaughlin helps the other four players around him:

"He just talks everyone through it. He's a great PG, real PG. Yeah, I feel like I play better when he's on the court, for sure."

Isn't that exactly what we need from our starting PG, and especially if KAT eventually returns? It's a good time to ask the question Lip teed up this thread with: Why not JMac?

No.

The Wolves already are limited at the center position. To have a Brevin Knight-esque PG would be a pretty tough slog for the Wolves offense, and despite his hustle, McLaughlin would pose challenges on defense, too.

He's a solid backup. Now granted, that's even probably higher than what most expected from the guy only three years ago.

He'd have to improve his three point shooting IMMENSELY to be a viable starting PG. Remember, he's a mediocre to BAD three point shooter on only wide open attempts. So, that leaves two defenders sagging off their man to help double or clog the middle vs. Edwards. Even if McLaughlin starts hitting more of those wide open threes... eventually, he'd have to prove he can drive by defenders and create consistently for himself and others.

He's become a very solid backup caretaker PG. But no team with legitimate playoff aspirations would pin their hopes on him as a 30+ mpg starter.

Hes a 9 point, 8 assist guy per 36 minutes. That's just not good (dynamic) enough.

[Q-is-here]

Let's also remember that when this thread started, DLO was in a horrible shooting slump.

Well, it's safe to say that DLO broke out of his shooting slump in a big way and there is simply no way to replace that firepower with Ant already pushing the limits on what he's capable of doing and no other player on the healthy roster capable of carrying a high usage rate other than Nowell.

I like J-Mac in the role we have him in and I really am interested in seeing the impact it has on Nowell's effectiveness. Our second unit could really be a weapon if he gets his shit together: Naz, Prince, McLaughlin, Nowell + another starter.

[FNG]

There will be many others here who share your view, Abe, and still others who will argue you don't know if a PG will thrive in a starting role until he gets a chance. I agree that JMac has not been a good 3-point shooter at the pro level (although he is over 40% for his career on corner threes), but any player will tell you they need consistent minutes to get their rythem. JMac made over 40% of his threes his final three years at USC, so I don't know that leaving him wide open beyond the arc would be an advisable defensive strategy in the long run. And I don't know if anyone here could make a stat-supported or eye test cogent argument that our defense isn't much better when JMac is on the court.

All that said, I agree that he is a terrific backup and makes our second team much better. And if DLo isn't moved this week, I'm not at all uncomfortable with our two PGs staying in their current roles...provided Russell continues to play close to the level he has played the past couple months...not at all a given. But my sense is TC is going to find a deal for DLo this week, and I will be more than pleased with a JMac/SloMo PG combo if the deal doesn't include a PG coming back.

[AbeVigodaLive]

There will be many others here who share your view, Abe, and still others who will argue you don't know if a PG will thrive in a starting role until he gets a chance. I agree that JMac has not been a good 3-point shooter at the pro level (although he is over 40% for his career on corner threes), but any player will tell you they need consistent minutes to get their rythem. JMac made over 40% of his threes his final three years at USC, so I don't know that leaving him wide open beyond the arc would be an advisable defensive strategy in the long run. And I don't know if anyone here could make a stat-supported or eye test cogent argument that our defense isn't much better when JMac is on the court.

All that said, I agree that he is a terrific backup and makes our second team much better. And if DLo isn't moved this week, I'm not at all uncomfortable with our two PGs staying in their current roles...provided Russell continues to play close to the level he has played the past couple months...not at all a given. But my sense is TC is going to find a deal for DLo this week, and I will be more than pleased with a JMac/SloMo PG combo if the deal doesn't include a PG coming back.

He's taken 288 three pointers in the NBA. Almost all of them were wide open.

- That's not a lot... and it's in part because it's obvious that he's not entirely comfortable shooting them.
- He's gotten worse on the shot in each of his four NBA seasons.
- The college three point line (when he was playing) was 3 feet shorter
- I'd have to see some shot charts to confirm... but I'm guessing PGs shoot fewer shots from the corners than wings.

---------

Beyond that though, there are only 26 games left. Going from Russell to McLaughlin would change how the team plays so damn much. It would impact every single player on the roster in small and very big ways.

The team has been playing pretty well (sans some occasional stinkers) with Russell shooting lights out. It would seem pretty damn risky to make a change of this magnitude with so wiggle room for abject failure. Remember, the Wolves are only 1.5 games out of missing the play-in game which would make this the most disappointing season in franchise history.*

Let the next Russell contract swell... then do a sign-and-trade this summer. (if that's possible)


* Arguably. The 2005 season was a real boner killer. And the 2019 season with the Butler antics sucked. And even the 2014 season where the Wolves were actually analytic darlings who finished under .500 was disappointing.

[Carlos Danger]

I seem to recall the pairing of DLO/JMac actually did good things last year. I don't have any data on that - just going by the few times I saw them play together. As others are stating - I think we need both unless they do a couple moves to bring in scoring to replace DLO. KAT will help in that regard. I'm just anxious to find out what happens (if anything) at the trade deadline. I'm ready to root for whatever we have - including DLO if that's the way things work out. It's crunch time and this team cannot miss the playoffs or Connelly will look like the worst hire ever.

[Coolbreeze44]

The team simply plays better with JMac on the floor than DLO. Nowell is a totally different player playing next to JMac. However, whatever we do with DLO, we need to get someone back who can give us minutes at the one.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Nobody loves backup point guards more than Timberwolves fans.

[Q-is-here]

I seem to recall the pairing of DLO/JMac actually did good things last year. I don't have any data on that - just going by the few times I saw them play together. As others are stating - I think we need both unless they do a couple moves to bring in scoring to replace DLO. KAT will help in that regard. I'm just anxious to find out what happens (if anything) at the trade deadline. I'm ready to root for whatever we have - including DLO if that's the way things work out. It's crunch time and this team cannot miss the playoffs or Connelly will look like the worst hire ever.

They had a negative net rating when paired together last year, but it wasn't terrible.

This year is a different story. When you look at McLaughlin's lineup data, he is comically good, meaning it's SO good that it goads people into suggesting what others see as outlandish, i.e. "He could be our full time starter from now on!"

If you look at his top 10 player pairings this season in terms of minutes played together, literally none of them are negative, including when he plays with DLO.