NBA Rookie Watch - Edwards v. Others

[Lipoli390]

I thought I'd start a threat that goes beyond simply comparing Edwards to Wiseman. My reason for this is two-fold. First, in a draft where all of the top three had a number of questions surrounding them, many of us thought the Wolves should have traded down from #1. Then they could have gotten another asset while still getting a player out of the draft who could easily end up better than any of the top three. Second, the Wolves had two other relatively high picks to use in a draft that had a lot of intriguing players who weren't considered top three or even lottery picks.

I know it's only one preseason game, so I'm not rendering anything close to a final verdict. But so far, so bad when you compare Edwards and McDaniels to a number of other rookies who the Wolves could have drafted via trade down or with one of their other two picks. I'd say that Edwards fairs worse than McDaniels in those comparisons based on the eye test because I think he looked even worse than his numbers. Again, he's very young and its only pre-season game with no meaningful training camp. But these other rookies are also young and didn't have training camps either. So here are some of the rookie stats from the pre-season opener yesterday:

LaMello Ball (#3): Didn't score any points and ended up 0-5 from the field. However, in only 16 minutes he pulled down 10 rebounds and had 4 assists. Interestingly, that's the sort of stat line we might have expected from Ball based on his performance in the Australian League - doing well on the boards and dishing assists, but shooting terribly.

Davin Vassell (#11); Had 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, while hitting 2 of his 4 three-point attempts and 4 of his 5 free-throw attempts. That's exactly the sort of stat line we would have expected from Vassell coming out of college. This guy was a target many of us had in mind in a trade-down scenario.

Okoro (#5): Had 18 points and 3 steals in 33 minutes, hitting 6 of his 9 field goal attempts 2 of his 4 three-point attempts and all four of his free-throw attempts. I liked him more and more the closer we got to the draft. The only question mark with him has been his long-range shooting. He's the sort of tough, high-motor player the Wolves really need on their roster.

Pokusevski (#17). Had 14 points and 8 rebounds in 23 minutes, hitting 2 of his 4 three-point attempts with no free-throw attempts. Interesting that he was taken with a pick the Wolves traded away.

Desmond Bane (#30): Had 12 points, 4 rebounds and 0 turnovers in 22 minutes against the Wolves last night. He hit 5 of his 8 field goal attempts and 2 of his 3 three-point attempts.

Flynn (#29): Flynn had 9 points, 4 assists and 1 steal in 20 minutes last night, while hitting 3 of his 6 three-point attempts. He was an incredible +35.

There were other rookies I liked in the draft who had bad games last night, including Tyrell Terry who hit only 1 of his 6 field goal attempts with only 1 assist in 15 minutes. But overall, Edwards' performance last night did not compare well to a number of rookies picked after him. Again, it's only one pre-season game. But what troubles me is that I didn't see anything in the way Edwards played last night to suggest he was worthy of the top pick in the draft, especially given the other prospects the Wolves could have selected in a trade down scenario that would have landed them another asset or two. I do like what I saw from McDaniels last night, but his stats didn't compare well to other prospects the Wolves would have selected instead, including Bane, Flynn and Pokusevski.

We'll see how things develop going forward. I'm more concerned about the way Edwards played last night than I am about his stats. He looked disinterested in defense and generally clueless overall. What I was was a lack of feel for the game (i.e., basketball IQ) and passing for the game (i.e, competitiveness). And honestly, I'm more concerned about the way DLO played than I am about our #1 pick. DLO showed no sign of improvement on his historically poor defense and he took too many bad, contested shots.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Personally, I'm keeping an eye on Haliburton. Yes... I wanted the Wolves to trade down for him. But also... because he's sort of the antithesis to all three of the Wolves 1st round picks.

He's not expected to be a dominant stats guy, just a guy who can blend in and "do stuff" immediately and has been heralded as the consummate teammate/glue guy.

20 min
2 - 4 fg (1 - 2 3fg)
5 points
3 reb
2 assists
2 stl
2 TOs

[Lipoli390]

Personally, I'm keeping an eye on Haliburton. Yes... I wanted the Wolves to trade down for him. But also... because he's sort of the antithesis to all three of the Wolves 1st round picks.

He's not expected to be a dominant stats guy, just a guy who can blend in and "do stuff" immediately and has been heralded as the consummate teammate/glue guy.

20 min
2 - 4 fg (1 - 2 3fg)
5 points
3 reb
2 assists
2 stl
2 TOs

I missed him in my perusal of box scores. I liked him also as a potential trade-down (or trade up) candidate. That's a nice stat line from him. It's also the sort of stat line you'd expect from him based on what he did in college. He does a lot of different things well. He's the sort of player who elevates the team. I'm a huge fan of his game and, like you, I'll be watching him this season.

[Lipoli390]

A couple other rookies who had some pretty good stat lines in their preseason debuts:

Obi Toppin (#8): Had 11 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block with only 1 turnover in 20 minutes. He was another trade--down target on my list in spite of my concerns about his defense. He was perhaps the most NBA ready prospect in the draft and an offensive force with a fierce competitive streak.

Patrick Williams (#4). Had 12 points and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes while hitting 5 of his 9 field goal attempts and both of his 2 free-throw attempts. He was my sleeper of the draft until he climbed up draft boards to the point where he couldn't be considered a sleeper. But I still had him very high on my draft board and I was one of the few who didn't think the Bulls were nuts to take him at #4. He was the youngest player in the draft and I think he has the potential to be a star.

Saddiq Bey (#19): Had 14 points in 19 minutes along with 3 rebounds .He hit only 4 of his 12 FG attempts and 3 of his 9 three-point attempts. On the positive side, he got to the line 4 times and hit 3 of his 4 fouls shots. He was a favorite at #17 for a number of us on this board.

By comparison, Edwards had 5 points, 1 assist and 3 turnovers in 26 minutes. He did pul down 4 boards in that time, which is OK, but nothing to write home about. His shooting percentages were characteristically terrible, hitting only 2 of 9 FG attempts and 1 of 5 three-point attempts. But the worst parts of his stat line were zero trips to the line and 5 PF. His 0 fouls shots speak to his lack of competitive drive or attack me actuality while his 5 personal fouls speak to his poor feel for the game. Of course, he's very young and it's only one preseason game with no training camp. I feel I'll need to keep saying that for a while so others don't overact to my criticism. I fully understand that this is an ongoing evaluation and that each game is only a snapshot. These early games, in particular, can be misleading as a basis for evaluating a rookie. But as we all know, we don't wait until the end of each season to post our thoughts. We observe and evaluate as we go along. What concerned me most about Edwards was that the way he played, as well as his stats, aligned with the concerns surround him coming out of college. Yet, what he did yesterday will all be forgotten if, by the end of the season, he's looking like Donovan Mitchell in Donovan's rookie season.

[FNG]

I don't know if you guys have had this thread in the past, but it's a good one. Fun to keep track of how the rookies are doing.

I don't think one rookie started a game the past two days, and Robson pointed out how poorly most of them did in plus/minus. A guy like Patrick Williams had great stats, but it's difficult to evaluate his performance because a lot of it was in garbage time of a blowout game.

Malachi Flynn had a big impact game for the Raptors with a ridiculous plus 35 in 20 minutes.

[Phenom]

Is there a website that tracks the first preseason game for every hall of fame player? That would be useful.

In all seriousness Edwards has some adjusting to do with not having the ball all the time.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Is there a website that tracks the first preseason game for every hall of fame player? That would be useful.

In all seriousness Edwards has some adjusting to do with not having the ball all the time.

I think that's going to be a challenge for multiple players.

Russell and Rubio have to figure it out, too. And we'll see how all of it affects Towns, who should see the ball the most... but doesn't at times just because of the nature of being a big in a mid-sized man's game.

[Monster]

Is there a website that tracks the first preseason game for every hall of fame player? That would be useful.

In all seriousness Edwards has some adjusting to do with not having the ball all the time.

I think that's going to be a challenge for multiple players.

Russell and Rubio have to figure it out, too. And we'll see how all of it affects Towns, who should see the ball the most... but doesn't at times just because of the nature of being a big in a mid-sized man's game.

There aren't many mid-sized men in the NBA. ;)

[kekgeek]

Game 2

Toppin: 4 pts (1-9), 4 rebs 1ast 2 TO

Hayes: 6 pts (2-11), 5 rebs, 4 asts 1 TO

P. Williams: 13 pts (3-12), 4 rebs, 0 asts 4 TO


D. Avija: 15 pts (6-6), 4 rebs, 2 asts 1 TO

Haliburton: 11 (5-11), 6 rebs, 7 asts 1 TO

Okongwu: DNP foot injury

C. Anthony (ROY): 16 pts (6-10), 4 rebs, 4 asts 1 TO


So a massive mixed bag. The guys drafted 4,7,8 shot 6-42 today (14.2%)

I think we all need to relax and not overreact to 1 preseason game.

[kekgeek]

I know Pokusevski played well and I'm intrigued by him. But he really had ups and downs

Here are the downs
https://twitter.com/AccountErstan/status/1338113104887095296?s=09