Some green shoots rising up from the ashes

[Q-is-here]

While the season is far from over, it certainly has not gone according to plan. We aren't even threatening the Vegas line at this point.....

But, there are some positive trends to take note of:

- Jaden McDaniels continues his slow, but steady, climb. His advanced stats are up ACROSS THE BOARD. PER, WS/48, TS%, BPM, VORP, Net Rating....you name it, it's better than last year. And last year was better than the year before. So we are talking about linear improvement here. Not in a "shot out of a cannon" way, but slow and steady. That means it's not due to just some hot run of play. This is hugely important to our future!

- Naz Reid is a legit starting NBA Center. Like Jaden, except with one more year of experience, he has slowly and steadily improved his body and his game. I don't think he is a great fit as a starting Center for all teams, as he is still a bit undersized, but teams that already have decent size and strength at other positions could easily slot him in as a starter if they needed a Center. Do we hold his bird rights? He gives us options in the event we decide to do a massive pivot away from either Gobert or KAT.

- Austin Rivers was a great free agent signing. Under a scenario where we actually regain health and form and make a playoff push in the 2nd half of this season, he could end up being extremely valuable. He is easily our best defensive guard on the roster and he seems to be embracing that role. And now that his 3-ball is falling with consistency, he could be an ideal complimentary piece off the bench for us.

- DLO has turned around his season after a miserable start. Whether you believe we ultimately need to get rid of him or not, the reality is he's on the roster and we need him to play well in order to make a playoff push. While he still gets torched on defense and makes careless turnovers, his shot making has improved considerably of late. And more than anything, we need him to make his shots.

Did I miss anyone or anything? These were the ones that stuck out the most to me.

[Carlos Danger]

I'd just add this:

First - as bad as many feel we have been this year....we are exactly where we were last year:
2021-2022: 16-19
2022-2023: 16-19

Second - for those who are jumping to reply "but we gave up the farm for Gobert - so we should be better than last year", I don't disagree. But we've also been without our best player for 14 games now. So - yes, we added a good player, but also lost a good player for closing in on half of the games already played. Towns is far and away our best player based on VORP. It should get better when he returns.

[FNG]

Anthony, thx for pointing out that our record is the same as last year despite not having our best player for much of the season. That is encouraging.

I would add to Q's list Ant's ability to get to and finish around the rim.

[FNG]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYeVQzTVyLk

[Monster]

While the season is far from over, it certainly has not gone according to plan. We aren't even threatening the Vegas line at this point.....

But, there are some positive trends to take note of:

- Jaden McDaniels continues his slow, but steady, climb. His advanced stats are up ACROSS THE BOARD. PER, WS/48, TS%, BPM, VORP, Net Rating....you name it, it's better than last year. And last year was better than the year before. So we are talking about linear improvement here. Not in a "shot out of a cannon" way, but slow and steady. That means it's not due to just some hot run of play. This is hugely important to our future!

- Naz Reid is a legit starting NBA Center. Like Jaden, except with one more year of experience, he has slowly and steadily improved his body and his game. I don't think he is a great fit as a starting Center for all teams, as he is still a bit undersized, but teams that already have decent size and strength at other positions could easily slot him in as a starter if they needed a Center. Do we hold his bird rights? He gives us options in the event we decide to do a massive pivot away from either Gobert or KAT.

- Austin Rivers was a great free agent signing. Under a scenario where we actually regain health and form and make a playoff push in the 2nd half of this season, he could end up being extremely valuable. He is easily our best defensive guard on the roster and he seems to be embracing that role. And now that his 3-ball is falling with consistency, he could be an ideal complimentary piece off the bench for us.

- DLO has turned around his season after a miserable start. Whether you believe we ultimately need to get rid of him or not, the reality is he's on the roster and we need him to play well in order to make a playoff push. While he still gets torched on defense and makes careless turnovers, his shot making has improved considerably of late. And more than anything, we need him to make his shots.

Did I miss anyone or anything? These were the ones that stuck out the most to me.

Good stuff Q.

As for Naz Reid the Wolves have his Bird Rights they could in theory sign him to a massive deal if they wanted to and he would have a small cap hold as an FA until they officially did it. Same with Nowell who isn't on your list which is certainly disappointing. Ultimately if Nowell continues to struggle with consistency this year and the Wolves are able to resign him back and he makes the progression some of us hope/expect...it could be a good thing he didn't put it together this season. Unfortunately the timing of these guys being unrestricted FA this offseason isn't too great for the Wolves. Unless something has changed significantly the last few months there will be a lot of teams with loads of money to spend this offseason. That doesn't guarantee Naz or Nowell will get great offers (relatively speaking) and/or better roles on another team but it's VERY different than last offseason when only a couple teams had more than the mid-level to offer.

[Carlos Danger]

Good stuff Q.

As for Naz Reid the Wolves have his Bird Rights they could in theory sign him to a massive deal if they wanted to and he would have a small cap hold as an FA until they officially did it. Same with Nowell who isn't on your list which is certainly disappointing. Ultimately if Nowell continues to struggle with consistency this year and the Wolves are able to resign him back and he makes the progression some of us hope/expect...it could be a good thing he didn't put it together this season. Unfortunately the timing of these guys being unrestricted FA this offseason isn't too great for the Wolves. Unless something has changed significantly the last few months there will be a lot of teams with loads of money to spend this offseason. That doesn't guarantee Naz or Nowell will get great offers (relatively speaking) and/or better roles on another team but it's VERY different than last offseason when only a couple teams had more than the mid-level to offer.

Would it be beneficial to try and trade Naz/DLO/Nowell at the deadline since they all on expiring deals? Shouldn't the front office already know if they want these guys back or not? How likely would it be to sign these guys at this point if they haven't committed to them already? I guess I never really pay attention to that stuff. Maybe this is normal. But I was thinking they would already have deals by now if they had any of those guys as part of the future here. I'm not saying dump them for garbage back. All three of those guys are useful pieces. But if they don't want to sign here or we can't afford them, then maybe flip them for something else (assuming we get value back)?

[AbeVigodaLive]

Good stuff Q.

As for Naz Reid the Wolves have his Bird Rights they could in theory sign him to a massive deal if they wanted to and he would have a small cap hold as an FA until they officially did it. Same with Nowell who isn't on your list which is certainly disappointing. Ultimately if Nowell continues to struggle with consistency this year and the Wolves are able to resign him back and he makes the progression some of us hope/expect...it could be a good thing he didn't put it together this season. Unfortunately the timing of these guys being unrestricted FA this offseason isn't too great for the Wolves. Unless something has changed significantly the last few months there will be a lot of teams with loads of money to spend this offseason. That doesn't guarantee Naz or Nowell will get great offers (relatively speaking) and/or better roles on another team but it's VERY different than last offseason when only a couple teams had more than the mid-level to offer.

Would it be beneficial to try and trade Naz/DLO/Nowell at the deadline since they all on expiring deals? Shouldn't the front office already know if they want these guys back or not? How likely would it be to sign these guys at this point if they haven't committed to them already? I guess I never really pay attention to that stuff. Maybe this is normal. But I was thinking they would already have deals by now if they had any of those guys as part of the future here. I'm not saying dump them for garbage back. All three of those guys are useful pieces. But if they don't want to sign here or we can't afford them, then maybe flip them for something else (assuming we get value back)?

There's no reason to hold on to Reid for any legit salary with the two guys ahead of him.

And even if things fall apart and they have to dump Towns... there's still no reason to pay Reid to be the backup. The Two-Big lineup will already have proven to be a failure.




[Note: So if things get worse... and the team is 17 - 25 or 18 - 28 or something... it only makes sense to try to recoup asset(s) by dumping Reid.]

[thedoper]

Since Kat went down Edwards is 24.9ppg 47%fg 40.7 3pt% 6.3rb 5.5ast 2.5stl .9blk

He is really the magic mushroom on this turd pile.

[Q-is-here]

Since Kat went down Edwards is 24.9ppg 47%fg 40.7 3pt% 6.3rb 5.5ast 2.5stl .9blk

He is really the magic mushroom on this turd pile.

Yes, very good, although I see you left out the turnovers! Still, the other stuff shows excellent progress after a slow start. What's amazing though is that even if these were his season numbers, he'd probably still be outside the top 20-25 players in the NBA statistically. The league this year is THAT good.

We need to re-calibrate what is considered greatness, because the sheer number of players putting up "great" numbers is unprecedented.

I'd argue that one of the issues we have as a team this season is that we rarely play a team where Ant or Gobert are the best player on the floor. The opposing team almost always has a player (or two) better than either of them. Ant and Gobert are very good players, but neither are among the top 25 in the league this year.

So for Ant to be in the top 25, he actually needs to do even better than the numbers you quote above. Lucky for us, he's only 21.

[thedoper]

Since Kat went down Edwards is 24.9ppg 47%fg 40.7 3pt% 6.3rb 5.5ast 2.5stl .9blk

He is really the magic mushroom on this turd pile.

Yes, very good, although I see you left out the turnovers! Still, the other stuff shows excellent progress after a slow start. What's amazing though is that even if these were his season numbers, he'd probably still be outside the top 20-25 players in the NBA statistically. The league this year is THAT good.

We need to re-calibrate what is considered greatness, because the sheer number of players putting up "great" numbers is unprecedented.

I'd argue that one of the issues we have as a team this season is that we rarely play a team where Ant or Gobert are the best player on the floor. The opposing team almost always has a player (or two) better than either of them. Ant and Gobert are very good players, but neither are among the top 25 in the league this year.

So for Ant to be in the top 25, he actually needs to do even better than the numbers you quote above. Lucky for us, he's only 21.

Leaving his turnovers out wasnt intentional, I had intended on it but forgot somehow. Yeah, he can still get better at 21. I think there has been real development there but hes had quite a few wasted good games with there being no one else with it going on the team. Beyond Kat, losing Prince has been significant for this team. We need more shooters for him to have an outlet and to give him just a little bit more space. Forbes and Nowell do nothing to support Ant on the offensive end.