Minnesota Sports Forum

I am apparently watching a different game than most of you, because I have been encouraged by Hernangomez. While he has missed some bunnies, he is shooting pretty well overall, and I thought his D has been very good. He is a fundamentally sound BB player, which I can understand if that isn't something most are picking up on due to not having those type of players on the wolves in the past.

Juancho blocks out well on rebs and is always ready to help defensively, while also understanding when to help. He seems to play hard every minute he is on the floor (which I am sure the wolves can train out of him).

I find myself wishing the wolves had held off on the DLO trade, at least until the off season. There was big difference in ball movement from game one to games two and three. Not all on DLO, as more players were trying to play more iso in the last two which is letting the opponents D recover. I thought both DLO and forced several bad shots in the second half with plenty of time left on the shot clock.

Wiggins is scoring at an efficient TS% of 70 so far, although I think we all expect the shine to wear off after ten or so games. I did like that Kerr got right to the problem and told Andrew all he wanted to see was sprinting up and down the court.

sjm34 wrote:I am apparently watching a different game than most of you, because I have been encouraged by Hernangomez. While he has missed some bunnies, he is shooting pretty well overall, and I thought his D has been very good. He is a fundamentally sound BB player, which I can understand if that isn't something most are picking up on due to not having those type of players on the wolves in the past.

Juancho blocks out well on rebs and is always ready to help defensively, while also understanding when to help. He seems to play hard every minute he is on the floor (which I am sure the wolves can train out of him).

I find myself wishing the wolves had held off on the DLO trade, at least until the off season. There was big difference in ball movement from game one to games two and three. Not all on DLO, as more players were trying to play more iso in the last two which is letting the opponents D recover. I thought both DLO and forced several bad shots in the second half with plenty of time left on the shot clock.

Wiggins is scoring at an efficient TS% of 70 so far, although I think we all expect the shine to wear off after ten or so games. I did like that Kerr got right to the problem and told Andrew all he wanted to see was sprinting up and down the court.

Yeah, it's too early on Hernangomez to make any definitive declarations. He's simply struggled to finish so far... and he was abused by Biyombo... but is that because he was playing out of position?

I've seem him communicate on defense. We'll see... either way, I don't think he's much more than "a guy" who can be decent. Not much more. Hopefully, nothing less.

The guys that end up surrounding DLO and KAT should be elite at something. May be it's defense (Culver?), may be it's outside shooting (Beasley?), may be it's rebounding (Vanderbilt?). May be it's 2-way versatility (James Johnson?). But I just don't see anything Hernangomez has to offer along those lines. As Abe says, he's just "a guy" right now and it's hard to fathom him being here next season.

Q12543 wrote:The guys that end up surrounding DLO and KAT should be elite at something. May be it's defense (Culver?), may be it's outside shooting (Beasley?), may be it's rebounding (Vanderbilt?). May be it's 2-way versatility (James Johnson?). But I just don't see anything Hernangomez has to offer along those lines. As Abe says, he's just "a guy" right now and it's hard to fathom him being here next season.

I agree, Q.

I think we already have an elite defensive wing in Okogie, who has really improved his offensive game in relation to penetrating and finishing at the rim, ball-handling and passing. His perimeter shooting is still problematic, but not nearly as bad as Culver's. And again, he's really improved other aspects of his game on the offensive end of the floor. He also provides a high-energy intensity this team needs with a laid-back PG in DLO. My only question is whether Okogie pairs well with Beasley given that Beasley's size limits him to the SG position and Okogie, while long, isn't tall by SF standards. I tend to think that pairing can work in today's small-ball NBA, especially given Okogie's 7'0 wingspan. Beasley looks decent defensively and I see Okogie continuing to improve on both ends because he's that sort of player.

Our problem is on the interior. And unfortunately, having "a guy" who is not particularly tough defensively isn't the fit we need inside next to KAT. I say that while acknowledging that I like H-Gomez. I like his length, his shot, his IQ and his hustle. He'd be a great fit next to Embiid. But KAT's poor defense creates a hole that requires him to be paired with another big who is at least close to elite defensively. I don't think that is or will be H-Gomez. I like Johnson's defense, but he's not big or good enough in my view to play the required defensive stopper role next to KAT.

I'm not a big DLO fan and, like SJM, I wish the Wolves had held off on that deal and just done the other two. But I still consider DLO a significant upgrade over Wiggins considering their respective skill sets and the needs of this team. I don't think this team is far off from contending. I think we have the elite defensive wing we need in Okogie and Culver has that potential as an alternative. I see two glaring needs: (1) a defensive big next to KAT, and (2) a better head coach. Fill those two needs and I see a really good team in the making. I like Johnson as a solid veteran role player. And I see a number of talented young guys who can become really good rotation players around our core - including Naz, McLaughlin, Layman, H-Gomez, Martin and Nowell. Hopefully we can end up with some nice pieces with our two first round picks next June, including a likely top 10.

Yeah, the two biggest holes/question marks in my mind are the two forward positions. Okogie is currently starting at SF, but we could really use a bit more size there.

PG - DLO & JMac or some other cheap backup - CHECK
SG - Beasley, Okogie, Culver, Nowell. Feels like we're a bit overstocked here, but Beasley + the best of the rest seems good enough - CHECK
SF - Layman.....aaaaaand that's it for now unless we play one of our surplus SGs there...not ideal.
PF - Hernangomez, Johnson - Hernangomez isn't very good IMO and Johnson is at that stage in his career where he should be a backup. Our starting PF is the biggest hole on the roster heading into next year.
C - KAT, Reid - CHECK

Q12543 wrote:Yeah, the two biggest holes/question marks in my mind are the two forward positions. Okogie is currently starting at SF, but we could really use a bit more size there.

PG - DLO & JMac or some other cheap backup - CHECK
SG - Beasley, Okogie, Culver, Nowell. Feels like we're a bit overstocked here, but Beasley + the best of the rest seems good enough - CHECK
SF - Layman.....aaaaaand that's it for now unless we play one of our surplus SGs there...not ideal.
PF - Hernangomez, Johnson - Hernangomez isn't very good IMO and Johnson is at that stage in his career where he should be a backup. Our starting PF is the biggest hole on the roster heading into next year.
C - KAT, Reid - CHECK

Q, this is exactly why I question some of the views on Hernangomez. He and Layman are almost identical in size and athleticism, but career numbers lean toward JH, particularly from the 3pt line, yet he is singled out by you as not very good. I don't look at either Layman or JH as a starter on a good team, but
he is exactly the type of player I want on my roster. That's how you build a better culture.

SJM, I'm not a huge Jake Layman fan either, but the fact is he's already under contract. Jauncho on the other hand will be a restricted free agent and I just don't see him as someone we should commit $ to. I don't know, may be he grows on me in the next couple of months....assuming he doesn't have a career ending toe sprain like Jake.

I'm with SJM on liking Juancho despite sole obvious flaws. The positive about him is he might end up costing Jake Layman money...maybe less. Maybe he isn't a starter but like SJM said getting solid young players that can play help...and can be assets in a trade.

Lip I don't think there was any way we were going to get Graham back in a Wiggins deal. That's the type of guy teams don't want to move. Would you rather have done a Bantum plus like a 2nd round pick for Wiggins instead that supposedly the Hornets turned down? I think I would rather have the Russell deal.

I like Juancho. He's is decent player who at age 24 still has more untapped upside. But whether we keep him is beside the point in my view. We need a defensive, shot-blocking big next to KAT. That's not Juancho and it's not Naz either. The closest thing we have to a defensive big is Johnson. I like him, but he's not a shot-blocker and is at a point in his career where he should be coming off the bench as Q noted. I'd like to keep Juancho and Johnson and I definitely want Naz to stay with the team. But I don't know how we keep all three with KAT. This team has to upgrade it's interior defense and could also use some more rebounding. That will require bringing in a center or PF who isn't currently on the roster, which wouldn't leave room for Juancho, Reid and Naz.

lipoli390 wrote:I like Juancho. He's is decent player who at age 24 still has more untapped upside. But whether we keep him is beside the point in my view. We need a defensive, shot-blocking big next to KAT. That's not Juancho and it's not Naz either. The closest thing we have to a defensive big is Johnson. I like him, but he's not a shot-blocker and is at a point in his career where he should be coming off the bench as Q noted. I'd like to keep Juancho and Johnson and I definitely want Naz to stay with the team. But I don't know how we keep all three with KAT. This team has to upgrade it's interior defense and could also use some more rebounding. That will require bringing in a center or PF who isn't currently on the roster, which wouldn't leave room for Juancho, Reid and Naz.

Johnson isn't likely going to be here more than 1 year so I wouldn't worry about him taking up a spot. Yes he is going to stay in the rotation until he isn't on the roster but that's fine with me. Juancho and Naz might make a combined 6 million or so next year maybe less. There is still room for another guy even though I agree you want to have playing time available.

As for the defensive rebounding big next to Towns...let's be honest the guy we are looking for 20-25 teams are probably looking for that guy too. The reality is Towns himself has to become better on that end. If he never does it probably doesn't matter what else we do. I think this team needs to simply continue to upgrade the talent and accumulate assets. You never know what trade can be made or what player may emerge. Naz Reid is like found money right now but he looks like he has a chance to be something more than just a nice enough rotation player. We aren't in a place yet we're we can just pigeon hole ourselves into only looking for a player with certain skills. FWIW Vanderbilt might actually fit the profile you are considering and apparently the Wolves like him despite his lack of shooting. How many years in the league did it take James Johnson to become the versatile guy he became?