Minnesota Sports Forum

The Minnesota Timberwolves are signing ex-Lakers wing shooter Matt Ryan on a two-way NBA contract, sources tell me and @JonKrawczynski. Ryan had a solid stint for the Lakers, making 13 three-pointers over 12-game stretch.

Wolves are desperate for shooting

I'm curious who is getting cut.

Its realistically Knight (then Garza gets an NBA contract) or Lawson

AJ Lawson cut for the 2nd time

I saw when Shams tweeted that the almost 26-year old Matt Ryan got waived by Los Angeles, and I considered the idea of Minnesota signing him, but then I asked myself, "for what, exactly?" Ryan is 13-35 (37.1-percent) on three-pointers on the year, which is his only [valid] claim to an NBA skill, understandably.

However, his past shows only moderate reliability in that regard as he wasn't exactly a sniper in college (34.6% on 425 attempts in his junior and senior seasons combined), and he provides little to no production or skill elsewhere... I understand the idea behind this move, but I think two-way contracts should be used to find and develop younger, higher-ceiling talents. That's just how my mind works.

I think I would have preferred the organization to have kept A.J. Lawson in that slot, or signed any one of the following who remain available:

Guards:
- Sharife Cooper (22, 6'1, 176-lbs)
- Jared Butler (22, 6'3, 193-lbs)
- Mac McClung (24, 6'2, 185-lbs)

Wings:
- Jamorko Pickett (25, 6'9, 206-lbs)
- Joe Weiskemp (23, 6'6, 205-lbs)
- Drake Jefferies (24, 6'5, 186-lbs)

It's also worth mentioning that P.J. Dozier is not eligible for a two-way contract due to years of NBA service.

A head scratcher for sure. Ryan had an unimpressive college career playing for three different teams, and has been enormously bad in the pros (he's made only 2 of the 14 2-point shots he has taken!).

On the positive side, Matt has extensive experience as a door dash driver. Adding one more driver to the Minneapolis roster could improve delivery times.

Camden wrote:I saw when Shams tweeted that the almost 26-year old Matt Ryan got waived by Los Angeles, and I considered the idea of Minnesota signing him, but then I asked myself, "for what, exactly?" Ryan is 13-35 (37.1-percent) on three-pointers on the year, which is his only [valid] claim to an NBA skill, understandably.

However, his past shows only moderate reliability in that regard as he wasn't exactly a sniper in college (34.6% on 425 attempts in his junior and senior seasons combined), and he provides little to no production or skill elsewhere... I understand the idea behind this move, but I think two-way contracts should be used to find and develop younger, higher-ceiling talents. That's just how my mind works.

I think I would have preferred the organization to have kept A.J. Lawson in that slot, or signed any one of the following who remain available:

Guards:
- Sharife Cooper (22, 6'1, 176-lbs)
- Jared Butler (22, 6'3, 193-lbs)
- Mac McClung (24, 6'2, 185-lbs)

Wings:
- Jamorko Pickett (25, 6'9, 206-lbs)
- Joe Weiskemp (23, 6'6, 205-lbs)
- Drake Jefferies (24, 6'5, 186-lbs)

It's also worth mentioning that P.J. Dozier is not eligible for a two-way contract due to years of NBA service.

Good post but I'll add a couple things:

He is actually 25 years old.

He did shoot the heck out of the basketball in the G-league last year.

As much as I do actually like AJ Lawson I'm not sure I would call him a high upside play. If you are gonna bring college 3 point shooting to the table he shot under 35% in his whole college career from 3. That's in the neighborhood of what he has shot so far in the g-league.

Boston and the Lakers are both pretty good organizations in terms of either identifying talent or developing it or both.

I'll give the Wolves some credit for not just locking on on 2-way contracts and being like yep these are the guys we want and not trying to do better.

Do I think this is an awesome move? Idk I'd have to look into his game more but

He can deliver Ant his Popeyes

monsterpile wrote:

Camden wrote:I saw when Shams tweeted that the almost 26-year old Matt Ryan got waived by Los Angeles, and I considered the idea of Minnesota signing him, but then I asked myself, "for what, exactly?" Ryan is 13-35 (37.1-percent) on three-pointers on the year, which is his only [valid] claim to an NBA skill, understandably.

However, his past shows only moderate reliability in that regard as he wasn't exactly a sniper in college (34.6% on 425 attempts in his junior and senior seasons combined), and he provides little to no production or skill elsewhere... I understand the idea behind this move, but I think two-way contracts should be used to find and develop younger, higher-ceiling talents. That's just how my mind works.

I think I would have preferred the organization to have kept A.J. Lawson in that slot, or signed any one of the following who remain available:

Guards:
- Sharife Cooper (22, 6'1, 176-lbs)
- Jared Butler (22, 6'3, 193-lbs)
- Mac McClung (24, 6'2, 185-lbs)

Wings:
- Jamorko Pickett (25, 6'9, 206-lbs)
- Joe Weiskemp (23, 6'6, 205-lbs)
- Drake Jefferies (24, 6'5, 186-lbs)

It's also worth mentioning that P.J. Dozier is not eligible for a two-way contract due to years of NBA service.

Good post but I'll add a couple things:

He is actually 25 years old.

He did shoot the heck out of the basketball in the G-league last year.

As much as I do actually like AJ Lawson I'm not sure I would call him a high upside play. If you are gonna bring college 3 point shooting to the table he shot under 35% in his whole college career from 3. That's in the neighborhood of what he has shot so far in the g-league.

Boston and the Lakers are both pretty good organizations in terms of either identifying talent or developing it or both.

I'll give the Wolves some credit for not just locking on on 2-way contracts and being like yep these are the guys we want and not trying to do better.

Do I think this is an awesome move? Idk I'd have to look into his game more but

The Lakers are desperate for shooting. That's all I need to know here.

This is a head-scratcher. As Future noted, he couldn't even stick with the Lakers. Ask yourself if Matt Ryan is ever going to contribute anything significant minutes to the Wolves and the only honest answer is no. If Forbes isn't making a contribution, Matt Ryan won't either.

Cam's right about the proper use of 2-way contracts. This is a very poor use and a bad look for the franchise as they cut Lawson for a second time. The Wolves should have stuck with Lawson or signed one of the young guys Cam listed. The Wolves should be using their 2-way deals to sign young talent with upside, especially given the team's lack of future draft picks. And they should be focused on bringing in quick, athletic players like Lawson.

May be it's more of a positional consideration since Matt Ryan is more of forward than guard. Lawson is a SG and we have plenty of guys signed for that: Ant, Nowell, Rivers, and Moore Jr...

Still, you know damn well even if he does play for us, he'll likely struggle from the 3-point line, as that's just how we roll with guys like this.