NBA Rookie Watch - Edwards v. Others
Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:24 am
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.
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.