Minnesota Sports Forum

Is Dieng part of the future or is it time to trade high? If so what do you need back to move him. I have not been a big fan of him and am concerned his stats don't translate into wins, but he could be the answer next to Towns for years to come.

Thoughts?

bleedspeed177 wrote:Is Dieng part of the future or is it time to trade high? If so what do you need back to move him. I have not been a big fan of him and am concerned his stats don't translate into wins, but he could be the answer next to Towns for years to come.

Thoughts?

If I can land a long-term starter for him and other pieces like Bazz I do it. I think he's gonna cost too much money from a team who's gonna want to give him a shot at starting and he's really just a good backup. His defense just isn't good enough to be a starter for us though given that he also isn't a number 1 or 2 option offensively.

But how high can we sell him? Nobody will give their top end starter for him even if you include Bazz. We are so bad in terms of PF/C depth that you basically have to make a big for a big trade if you ship out Dieng. Gorgui is interchangeable between PF & C and can play heavy minutes and is very durable with no injuries. He plays a big role for us. Such a player deserves a big contract in the NBA whether you like it or not. He's been making improvements through out his career. KAT and him seem to have good chemistry. If you have a good thing going with the team's franchise player you will be given a chance and Wolves organization seems to be high on Gorgui. With Pek being all but done Dieng is here to stay so haters and skeptics need to get used to it.

How do we know this is selling high? Dieng and Bazz are still on an upward trend. The best thing we can do is to try and replace our poor to mediocre vets with some quality players in their prime. Free agency looks like a better avenue to do that right now if Martin and Prince have no value around the league at the deadline.

The Dieng that is emerging this year is someone I think you want to hold on to. Whether he continues to start or becomes the top big off the bench, he is highly valuable. He works his butt off and he gets better every year. If you're going to trade him you better get one hell of a return. Pay the man.

I think he's one of the best backup bigs in the league, but I don't think you're a playoff contender with him as a starter. I'm still looking to pair him with something via trade as well. Dieng's value is as a scorer. Think we need a better defender or a 3P shooter next to KAT. Dieng isn't good at either.

Agreed, Cam, we need defense and 3 point shooting on this team, bad. If the right player were available to fit that bill, great. Everybody wants the next Draymond Green or Kawhi Leonard, or at least the poor man's version.

But until that kind of very good/great 3 and D player comes along, I think Dieng's definitely worth keeping.

One, I think Dieng is not that bad defensively. He picks up blocks and especially steals at pretty good rates, rebounds well, shows pretty well on pick-n-roll defense, runs the floor and makes hustle plays (think about all the loose balls and 50-50 rebounds he gets), and gives above average help defense when opposing guards get penetration (which is too often). He does get bumped off his spot too easily, and he does give up some rebounds by trying to block too many shots (though he's been better about that this year). But overall defensively, he's not bad. And if he's improved this much on offense, he can still get better defensively.

The other thing is trading him away does trade away a surprisingly good offensive talent that is getting better, and those guys are not easy to find among bigs. He's a very good efficient scoring big who can score inside and with range in a variety of ways. His efficiency is particularly surprising given how much he is asked to score with range, and how often he finds himself as a bailout option offensively with little time on the shot clock. His FT shooting is very good, and if we really want to shoot more threes, it's not crazy to think Gorgui could potentially be as good as, or even better than, one or two of Bazz, Wiggins, or LaVine in that regard. And he passes the ball surprisingly well. This passing would be missed on a team that needs to pass the ball better and more often.

Finally, guess what the following players have in common:

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Clint Capela, Ersan Ilyasova, Taj Gibson, Jared Sullinger and Amir Johnson, Luis Scola

They are all starting at the 4 or 5 for playoff teams if the season ended today. I'd argue Gorgui is as good as or better than those guys and he's getting better. Ideally down the line, there could be a better, bigger, more defensive starting C to put with Towns and Gorgui would be our big off the bench. I'd love to get a banger like Ezeli or Mahinmi, and I'd be willing to consider a bruiser like Steven Adams or a giant like Boban Marjanovic. With the cap rising even more in the summer of 16-17, any contract extension he signs this summer will likely still be a good deal for a backup big. And he's already one of the best backup bigs in the league. So we could keep him or move him if the right trade came along.

If we're going to make a trade for a good 3 and D guy, of course I'd consider Dieng if the guy's good enough, but I'd be thinking about moving Bazz or LaVine first. The wing is where we need more 3 point shooting and defense. Both are instant offense guys, and with Wiggins and whatever 3 point shooter/defender you could get for Bazz or LaVine, having just one of them would still give you wing offense off the bench. I'd prefer keeping LaVine at this point, because despite his bad decision-making, his potential is so high and he does show some signs of improvement at times. But it might take LaVine rather than Bazz to get a 3 and D guy good enough.

Side note: We always talk about trades and picks and stuff when we want to get better in certain areas, but I think one thing we're overlooking is development of the players we have. And when I look at our roster and wonder where we can get more defense and better 3 point shooting, I find myself thinking about Wiggins. I'd really like to see Wiggins focus the rest of the season on becoming a better defender, modeling his game more on Kawhi and Paul George defensively. It would also be great if he worked on his 3 point shot more, and got a little quicker about swinging the ball offensively if he's not going to break his guy down right away. I feel like we know Wiggins can score. We also have other guys who can score, some of them efficiently. So I'd like to see Wiggins get better in the areas where we really need to improve. If he can improve in those areas, then he'd be a true a two-way star like Leonard, Green, and George, and realistically, that's what we need.

Dieng is a keeper on a nice rookie contract and he is steadily working to improve his game on both sides of the ball. I think we'd be selling low and I think he fits in here whether its as a starter or a backup. Guys that aren't as good a fits are Bazz and LaVine. I want to keep LaVine at least another year under a new coaching staff to see if he can make strides. Bazz, I'd trade now if we can get something of value for him.

I'm very happy with dieng's improvement this year. He has really grown before our eyes as we see him add something new to his game each season. His ability to play well with towns is a big boost. Yes, he make bonehead plays here and there and he needs to hold ground better and learn to contests shots with his left hand. But he plays hard every game and along with rubio , bazz and towns, are the only players that can get the 50/50 balls on the team. Unless we can get a legit long term starter, I would like to hold onto to him.

He has definitely earned his minutes. I remember there was a big debate prior to the season as who among him and belly will finish games for us and be the 2nd big. He has definitely outplay poor belly who has lost his spot to rudez in the rotation.

Quick note while thinking about Dieng and loose balls. Does anybody know if there's a site that tracks offensive misses tapped back to teammates for rebounds on the perimeter?

Dieng seems to do that pretty well. He's a decent rebounder, but he also seems to be pretty good at recognizing when he can't get both hands on the rebound and instead tapping it away from a defender out to Rubio or another of our perimeter players.