Hornets Can’t Miss

[Monster]

Just wait until the Wolves trade the house for Devin Booker. That'll be exciting.

Probably not a bad move. Hopefully Culver will still be an asset at that point.

I honestly thought we'd pull off the move to get D'Angelo Russell this summer, but with that falling through, trading for Booker is the home run swing I hope the Wolves brass have in mind. This should be the last season he's in Phoenix as far as I'm concerned.

Rosas preaches building through the draft, but he's also mentioned being aggressive in pursuing star players. So, tough to know which way he really leans toward, but I'd go get Towns an All-Star on the perimeter that fits his game and his developmental window. It's just icing on the cake that Booker is one of his best friends.

Jarrett Culver, Josh Okogie, and Gorgui Dieng for Booker works financially. Throw in a lottery pick next summer around draft time -- or a protected first-round pick in a couple months before the deadline -- and it's a solid offer that Phoenix probably has to mull over.

Ideally, the Wolves hold on to Covington in that scenario, but he wouldn't stop me from getting Booker either.

Secure the duo and then build around them.

Cam - Yes, the Wolves need a second star to combine with KAT. Dallas has Doncic and Porzingis, Denver has Jokic and Murray. Portland has Lillard and McCollum. The list goes on in the West. You need at least two allstars. I'm not totally sold on Booker as a second star. He's a poor defender and I'm not convinced his offense is good enough to make him the second star we need. His 3-point percentage dipped to 32.6% last season. I noticed he really struggled tonight with only 18 points in 41 minutes, hitting only 28.6% of his FG attempts and missing 7 of his 8 three-point attempts.

I wouldn't give up Okogie, Culver and our 2020 lottery pick for him. I'd consider swappping Culver, Dieng and our 2020 lottery pick, depending on where the pick is and who's available to take with that pick. Perhaps we can deal for D. Russell next summer. Maybe the Cavs will eventually swap Darius Garland for Culver - the deal they refused last June. Or perhaps we'll have a top 4 pick next June and the chance to get our second allstar with that pick. And I still see Okogie as a potential second allstar. He reminds me of Oladipo, who took several years to develop.

Lip, On Booker keep in mind that his 3-point makes have increasingly been unassisted meaning that he has been taking more 3s off the dribble versus catch and shoot 3's. I'd look at his career body of work versus just last season. He would not have to shoulder nearly the load offensively in Minnesota with KAT in the mix. Plus his overall efficiency last season was very good.

While I like what I've seen from Okogie so far versus his underwhelming summer league and pre-season, he's not going to turn into the next Victor Oladipo. That is a wildly optimistic scenario.

Honestly I don't think the package Cam suggested would be enough to get Booker. If it was I'd do it right now on the spot. Okogie is doing nice things as a supporting player...Wiggins could learn from him but that might be what Okogie ends up being a complementary player (which isn't a bad thing) plus we get to dump Dieng and open up some other roster spots for other opportunities to add players.

[Wolvesfan21]

Devan Bookers defense is bad, career 115 DRTG per 100 possessions, worse then Wiggins at 114 and LaVine at 114 (yeah LaVine is gone just thought I'd throw it out there for comparison). Versus say others too like Batum and Gay both at 108. Both much better.

[Monster]

Devan Bookers defense is bad, career 115 DRTG per 100 possessions, worse then Wiggins at 114 and LaVine at 114 (yeah LaVine is gone just thought I'd throw it out there for comparison). Versus say others too like Batum and Gay both at 108. Both much better.

Like those other guys...who was Booker playing with? Booker has flaws but I think the positives outweigh the negatives...depending on the cost of having him on your roster.

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

I have noticed that the starters and the primary rotation player have really all looked like they are all on the same page, playing as a unit with great ball movement.

Besides Towns looking like he actually has taken his game to another level, I really love Okogies play - his defense is so good and I think he needs to supplant Graham in the starting rotation and be the first sub out.

I also think Wiggins game is actually transforming before our eyes...yes early in both games he looks a lot like the old crappy Wiggins - but something happens as the game goes on and he starts playing the new style - and its kind of working. His handle actually looks tighter, not sure how but it does. He is looking to drive or dish after his first couple obligatory step back long 2s to start the game. Maybe we need to send a highlight reel around the league now and move him before he goes back to normal Wiggins.


I like the Culver pick a lot - but he really looked slow out there, on offense when the scrubs were in playing streetball he looked like he had no clue what to do (but they all kind of just ran around lost - lol), but his slow reaction on defense was evident as well. I suspect he is still thinking and not playing. This is so much different than how he looked in pre-season.


Again - I really like how Okogie looked, If Culver develops quickly I would love to see him and Okogie with the starting unit and Teague and Graham on the bench. They just need to play good defense like Covington and then exploit the double teams that Towns may have figured out how to beat - he is not flailing like last year.


Question for everyone - is short sample size showing dramatic team play from having great assistant coaches running the offense and defense or is this individual development?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

1. Okogie's been awesome to start the season, and a big part of that is how comfortable he looks in his current role. He knows his job is to come in and provide energy on defense, run hard in transition, cut hard on offense -- which he's thriving at, and take the open threes when he's passed the ball. Occasionally he's gotten a bit wild in trying to make a play, but for the most part he's been more controlled than last year. Moving him out of this role would be a mistake right now.

2. Graham has proven to be a nice glue guy in the starting lineup as he does not command the ball to make an impact. In fact, it's better off that he doesn't get the ball. He's switchable at three positions on the court and holds his own defensively. He makes good rotations and he's definitely got some grittiness to him. And when guys do pass the ball to him he's either shooting, quickly moving the rock, or catch-and-rip to the basket. He has a simple game, but so far it appears to be a nice fit.

3. We're clearly watching two different games if you have much of anything positive to say about Wiggins thus far. His shot-selection is still poor. His shot-making is still poor. He fails to impact the game in other facets. Once again, he shows us that he can put the ball in the basket when he puts his head down and forces his way to the hole, but he does this too rarely for someone as naturally gifted as he is. He came through at the end of the Brooklyn game, but this was after an atrocious 3.5 quarters of basketball. Tough to be bullish on the guy right now.

4. I think right now we're seeing a collection of players that are coming from teams where fundamentally-sound basketball was coached exclusively and the Wolves are benefiting from it. Layman, Graham, and Napier are those that I'm referring to. Okogie has progressed individually. Covington is Covington. Towns has taken his game to what appears to be an MVP level. Kudos to the coaches for molding these guys into a gritty, entertaining team early on, but when Towns hits the bench the team as a whole plummets. God forbid anything happens to him this year or else Minnesota is trashed.

PS: The new-look Wolves are chucking threes aplenty through two games, but they aren't exactly making a lot of them. Again, this team doesn't have very many true shooters -- and by very many I mean that they may only have one and it's the center. In order to play this style of basketball and contend, management is going to have to find guys that can consistently make threes. Right now we're trying to force it out of guys that don't really have it in their bag.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Devan Bookers defense is bad, career 115 DRTG per 100 possessions, worse then Wiggins at 114 and LaVine at 114 (yeah LaVine is gone just thought I'd throw it out there for comparison). Versus say others too like Batum and Gay both at 108. Both much better.

He carries a massive 30%+ usage rate. It's very hard to be the main focus on offense AND be a great defender. That's not to say that it's not an area for improvement, but he has a pretty good excuse.

I do agree that if we had Russell and KAT or Booker and KAT, there would be a massive need to make sure the other three guys can really defend. I'm not bought into KAT as a good defender yet, and again, the need for him to avoid fouling and save himself for offense is real. The good news is offensively we'd almost automically be a top 5 or 6 team on just the backs of KAT and either of those two guys. We could afford to have some elite defenders with some warts on offense.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

The other thing the coaches have done scheme-wise is have KAT and Vonleh play drop coverage. I think that has helped defensively. It basically means we're willing to give up mid-range floaters and jumpers to ensure we don't get beat with easy 'oops and layups at the rim. The result has been a lot of deflections and steals as penetrating guards try to force the ball into the roll man.

[Wolvesfan21]

Devan Bookers defense is bad, career 115 DRTG per 100 possessions, worse then Wiggins at 114 and LaVine at 114 (yeah LaVine is gone just thought I'd throw it out there for comparison). Versus say others too like Batum and Gay both at 108. Both much better.

He carries a massive 30%+ usage rate. It's very hard to be the main focus on offense AND be a great defender. That's not to say that it's not an area for improvement, but he has a pretty good excuse.

I do agree that if we had Russell and KAT or Booker and KAT, there would be a massive need to make sure the other three guys can really defend. I'm not bought into KAT as a good defender yet, and again, the need for him to avoid fouling and save himself for offense is real. The good news is offensively we'd almost automically be a top 5 or 6 team on just the backs of KAT and either of those two guys. We could afford to have some elite defenders with some warts on offense.

I like Booker and agree with your points. My concern is would he be a team guy and willing to defend hard? He's a great shooter and ball handler and would love to have him despite his weaknesses on defense through his career "thus far". I may not give up as much as some others though (mortgaging the now and future). We would for sure need 3 other really solid defenders to align with that potential star 1-2 punch.

[Wolvesfan21]

The other thing the coaches have done scheme-wise is have KAT and Vonleh play drop coverage. I think that has helped defensively. It basically means we're willing to give up mid-range floaters and jumpers to ensure we don't get beat with easy 'oops and layups at the rim. The result has been a lot of deflections and steals as penetrating guards try to force the ball into the roll man.

One thing I noticed while browsing stats, KAT lead the league in fouls last season. I hope to see this new defensive style help to limit some of those fouls as well. He needs to be on the floor.

Defend vertical or back like you stated without fouling. Don't try and block everything, just make scoring difficult then rebound. When you go for the block you also take out your rebounding mostly. So it's a more gambling defense, like going for steals. I wouldn't eliminate blocks, but take less chances, which would also reduce fouls.

[Coolbreeze44]

Pump the breaks on Okogie guys. It's been two games against two lower echelon teams, one is actually a JV squad. He has a ton to prove in terms of being a legit rotation player in this league.