Are we going small?!?

[60WinTim]

And they didn't tell us?!?

If you look at our actions, it screams "we are going small". I scoffed at the notion of starting Jaden at PF. But if the direction of the team is to play quick on both ends of the court, then the moves we have seen thus far make a lot of sense: draft Evans, add LaMelo, choose Josh Green over Grant Williams, sign Bones first in free agency...

I think we are going small. Rudy and Joan can anchor the paint, except when Finch goes in 5-out mode. Ball movement, drive and kick, great shooting, scrambling defense -- I am intrigued!

How about you?

[Lipoli390]

And they didn't tell us?!?

If you look at our actions, it screams "we are going small". I scoffed at the notion of starting Jaden at PF. But if the direction of the team is to play quick on both ends of the court, then the moves we have seen thus far make a lot of sense: draft Evans, add LaMelo, choose Josh Green over Grant Williams, sign Bones first in free agency...

I think we are going small. Rudy and Joan can anchor the paint, except when Finch goes in 5-out mode. Ball movement, drive and kick, great shooting, scrambling defense -- I am intrigued!

How about you?

It sure looks that way, Tim. An important question is whether the Wolves could have received Williams rather than Green in the Ball deal. If so, then you are absolutely right and we should expect that any big acquired by the Wolves at this point will be a shooter rather than a big body, rebounder or interior defender.

[Phenom]

If Rudy, Joan or Jaden misses time that's a serious problem. They will certainly get a couple big guys and having Freeman on a 2 way is a good fallback for possible injuries.

As for Green, I'm guessing he will be more highly valued at the deadline when teams get serious about shedding future money so that one might have to wait awhile. There's still time before the trade goes through though.

[Q-is-here]

Listed height of our top 9 guys as of today vs. the Knicks top 9 guys:

Rudy 7'1" > KAT 7'0"
Jaden 6'9" > OG 6'7" (Jaden is probably more like 6'10" or 6'11" since he kept growing after entering the league)
Ant 6'4" < Mikal Bridges 6'6" (I think Ant has closed this gap since entering the league at age 19...he grew a bit more)
Ayo 6'4" < Josh Hart 6'5"
Ball 6'7" > Brunson 6'2"
Shannon 6'6" > Shamet 6'5"
Beringer 6'11" < Mitchell Robinson 7'0"
Clark 6'4" > McBride 6'2"
Bones 6'2" > Alvarado 6'0"

We are taller than the Knicks in 6 out of 9 positions. It's a similar story if you compare us to the Thunder and Spurs top 9 guys.

I do think we lack some bulk/strength, but even there I feel like we have some really physical, strong players on the wing in Ant, Shannon, and Clark. All indications are that Beringer is on a rapid development curve both physically and skill-wise.

The REAL issue to me is how much we're counting on strides forward by guys that were fringe rotation players last season: Beringer, Shannon, and Clark. They need to show tangible improvement.

[Lipoli390]

Listed height of our top 9 guys as of today vs. the Knicks top 9 guys:

Rudy 7'1" > KAT 7'0"
Jaden 6'9" > OG 6'7" (Jaden is probably more like 6'10" or 6'11" since he kept growing after entering the league)
Ant 6'4" < Mikal Bridges 6'6" (I think Ant has closed this gap since entering the league at age 19...he grew a bit more)
Ayo 6'4" < Josh Hart 6'5"
Ball 6'7" > Brunson 6'2"
Shannon 6'6" > Shamet 6'5"
Beringer 6'11" < Mitchell Robinson 7'0"
Clark 6'4" > McBride 6'2"
Bones 6'2" > Alvarado 6'0"

We are taller than the Knicks in 6 out of 9 positions. It's a similar story if you compare us to the Thunder and Spurs top 9 guys.

I do think we lack some bulk/strength, but even there I feel like we have some really physical, strong players on the wing in Ant, Shannon, and Clark. All indications are that Beringer is on a rapid development curve both physically and skill-wise.

The REAL issue to me is how much we're counting on strides forward by guys that were fringe rotation players last season: Beringer, Shannon, and Clark. They need to show tangible improvement.

That’s great information and a really good analysis, Q. We have two roster spots left. I think we can get a decent physical, big rebounder and a decent stretch big using our taxpayer MLE and vet minimum so long as we’re not counting on either one to be a starter or critical rotational piece. Then we have to hope at least one or two of the three you mentioned show tangible improvement. The messaging coming from Wolves organization suggests huge improvement from Beringer. The fact that the Wolves re-signed Clark at $3.1M tells me they like what they’ve been seeing this offseason. And we’ve already seen what Shannon can do at the highest level against top competition.

[WildWolf2813]

Listed height of our top 9 guys as of today vs. the Knicks top 9 guys:

Rudy 7'1" > KAT 7'0"
Jaden 6'9" > OG 6'7" (Jaden is probably more like 6'10" or 6'11" since he kept growing after entering the league)
Ant 6'4" < Mikal Bridges 6'6" (I think Ant has closed this gap since entering the league at age 19...he grew a bit more)
Ayo 6'4" < Josh Hart 6'5"
Ball 6'7" > Brunson 6'2"
Shannon 6'6" > Shamet 6'5"
Beringer 6'11" < Mitchell Robinson 7'0"
Clark 6'4" > McBride 6'2"
Bones 6'2" > Alvarado 6'0"

We are taller than the Knicks in 6 out of 9 positions. It's a similar story if you compare us to the Thunder and Spurs top 9 guys.

I do think we lack some bulk/strength, but even there I feel like we have some really physical, strong players on the wing in Ant, Shannon, and Clark. All indications are that Beringer is on a rapid development curve both physically and skill-wise.

The REAL issue to me is how much we're counting on strides forward by guys that were fringe rotation players last season: Beringer, Shannon, and Clark. They need to show tangible improvement.

So basically we're trying to build our team just like the Knicks and Spurs but not as good?

Even in terms of size, the fundamental differences are

1. The Spurs have Wemby and the Knicks have Towns. We have the total opposite in Gobert offensively, so as a result, both of those teams can go five out. We can't. The Thunder have iHart, but even they have a five out lineup with Chet at the 5.

Going this small especially when Jaden simply isn't a volume three point shooter is a huge vote of confidence in Ant and LaMelo becoming the new Splash Brothers and hoping Shannon and Ayo become higher three point volume shooters even though their strength is driving to the hoop.

[Monster]

I have started thinking about what if Jaden was a 4. A guy I started to think about was Kirilenko. If he was still in the league he would be playing the 4 (capable of at times playing small ball 5 and if healthy would be a highly sought after player. AK was a very good defender but part of what made him good was being able to be a help guy and shot blocker etc. Jaden has the ability to do basically anything on defense it's really impressive. So as good as he is on the ball (unbelievable in the Nuggets series) he is really good off the ball to and imagine playing a switching concept no guard is gonna be excited about Jaden switching onto him...oh fuck why did we do a screen to have this guy on me!?

I'll add to Q's breakdown of the Knicks size the Spurs don't have anyone at the 4 with Jaden's length. I get the have Wemby but it's not like Gobert is a small dude that's just ok on defense and Beringer is supposed to like really progressing etc.

At some point Jaden might lose just a little of his natural quickness etc as he ages and playing even more at the 4 will make even more sense. Maybe we just start it now. I think it would make more sense to me if I had seen Ayo play more in the regular season and I had a better sense of Josh Green's abilities there. Let's say those guys are somewhere near as good as NAW was while here (we all watched him quite a bit so that's a good reference) then while maybe not quite as good as Jaden with note as much size having all kids of wing defenders that can hit a 3 is very OKC like. I'm not all in on Jaden at the 4 but it happening at some point of his career will likely happen and we have talked about that possibly for years. It might also be good for his offense which I don't think has been talked about much at all.

[Q-is-here]

Listed height of our top 9 guys as of today vs. the Knicks top 9 guys:

Rudy 7'1" > KAT 7'0"
Jaden 6'9" > OG 6'7" (Jaden is probably more like 6'10" or 6'11" since he kept growing after entering the league)
Ant 6'4" < Mikal Bridges 6'6" (I think Ant has closed this gap since entering the league at age 19...he grew a bit more)
Ayo 6'4" < Josh Hart 6'5"
Ball 6'7" > Brunson 6'2"
Shannon 6'6" > Shamet 6'5"
Beringer 6'11" < Mitchell Robinson 7'0"
Clark 6'4" > McBride 6'2"
Bones 6'2" > Alvarado 6'0"

We are taller than the Knicks in 6 out of 9 positions. It's a similar story if you compare us to the Thunder and Spurs top 9 guys.

I do think we lack some bulk/strength, but even there I feel like we have some really physical, strong players on the wing in Ant, Shannon, and Clark. All indications are that Beringer is on a rapid development curve both physically and skill-wise.

The REAL issue to me is how much we're counting on strides forward by guys that were fringe rotation players last season: Beringer, Shannon, and Clark. They need to show tangible improvement.

So basically we're trying to build our team just like the Knicks and Spurs but not as good?

Even in terms of size, the fundamental differences are

1. The Spurs have Wemby and the Knicks have Towns. We have the total opposite in Gobert offensively, so as a result, both of those teams can go five out. We can't. The Thunder have iHart, but even they have a five out lineup with Chet at the 5.

Going this small especially when Jaden simply isn't a volume three point shooter is a huge vote of confidence in Ant and LaMelo becoming the new Splash Brothers and hoping Shannon and Ayo become higher three point volume shooters even though their strength is driving to the hoop.

Well, what do you want them to do Wildwolf!? You seemingly pour cold water on everything the Wolves do! Tell us what big man that can defend the paint and shoot 3's is out there for the Wolves to go magically trade for or conjure up out of thin air.

[Monster]

Listed height of our top 9 guys as of today vs. the Knicks top 9 guys:

Rudy 7'1" > KAT 7'0"
Jaden 6'9" > OG 6'7" (Jaden is probably more like 6'10" or 6'11" since he kept growing after entering the league)
Ant 6'4" < Mikal Bridges 6'6" (I think Ant has closed this gap since entering the league at age 19...he grew a bit more)
Ayo 6'4" < Josh Hart 6'5"
Ball 6'7" > Brunson 6'2"
Shannon 6'6" > Shamet 6'5"
Beringer 6'11" < Mitchell Robinson 7'0"
Clark 6'4" > McBride 6'2"
Bones 6'2" > Alvarado 6'0"

We are taller than the Knicks in 6 out of 9 positions. It's a similar story if you compare us to the Thunder and Spurs top 9 guys.

I do think we lack some bulk/strength, but even there I feel like we have some really physical, strong players on the wing in Ant, Shannon, and Clark. All indications are that Beringer is on a rapid development curve both physically and skill-wise.

The REAL issue to me is how much we're counting on strides forward by guys that were fringe rotation players last season: Beringer, Shannon, and Clark. They need to show tangible improvement.

So basically we're trying to build our team just like the Knicks and Spurs but not as good?

Even in terms of size, the fundamental differences are

1. The Spurs have Wemby and the Knicks have Towns. We have the total opposite in Gobert offensively, so as a result, both of those teams can go five out. We can't. The Thunder have iHart, but even they have a five out lineup with Chet at the 5.

Going this small especially when Jaden simply isn't a volume three point shooter is a huge vote of confidence in Ant and LaMelo becoming the new Splash Brothers and hoping Shannon and Ayo become higher three point volume shooters even though their strength is driving to the hoop.

Well, what do you want them to do Wildwolf!? You seemingly pour cold water on everything the Wolves do! Tell us what big man that can defend the paint and shoot 3's is out there for the Wolves to go magically trade for or conjure up out of thin air.

Lebron

[Lipoli390]

Listed height of our top 9 guys as of today vs. the Knicks top 9 guys:

Rudy 7'1" > KAT 7'0"
Jaden 6'9" > OG 6'7" (Jaden is probably more like 6'10" or 6'11" since he kept growing after entering the league)
Ant 6'4" < Mikal Bridges 6'6" (I think Ant has closed this gap since entering the league at age 19...he grew a bit more)
Ayo 6'4" < Josh Hart 6'5"
Ball 6'7" > Brunson 6'2"
Shannon 6'6" > Shamet 6'5"
Beringer 6'11" < Mitchell Robinson 7'0"
Clark 6'4" > McBride 6'2"
Bones 6'2" > Alvarado 6'0"

We are taller than the Knicks in 6 out of 9 positions. It's a similar story if you compare us to the Thunder and Spurs top 9 guys.

I do think we lack some bulk/strength, but even there I feel like we have some really physical, strong players on the wing in Ant, Shannon, and Clark. All indications are that Beringer is on a rapid development curve both physically and skill-wise.

The REAL issue to me is how much we're counting on strides forward by guys that were fringe rotation players last season: Beringer, Shannon, and Clark. They need to show tangible improvement.

So basically we're trying to build our team just like the Knicks and Spurs but not as good?

Even in terms of size, the fundamental differences are

1. The Spurs have Wemby and the Knicks have Towns. We have the total opposite in Gobert offensively, so as a result, both of those teams can go five out. We can't. The Thunder have iHart, but even they have a five out lineup with Chet at the 5.

Going this small especially when Jaden simply isn't a volume three point shooter is a huge vote of confidence in Ant and LaMelo becoming the new Splash Brothers and hoping Shannon and Ayo become higher three point volume shooters even though their strength is driving to the hoop.

Yes, the Knicks have Towns and the Spurs have Wemby. But neither one has Ant. LaMelo will be replacing Donte as our starting PG and Melo averaged 2.5 more 3-point attempts than Donte last season. We’ve added Ayo who averaged over 4 three-point attempts last season at a high success rate. Given that backdrop, our three-point volume will likely increase even if Ayo, Jaden and Shannon don’t take more threes than they did last season and even if Isaiah Evans doesn’t play any meaningful minutes. It’s easy to have confidence in LaMelo and Ant as something akin to the new Splash brothers based on their three-point volume and Ant’s efficiency. You’re right that we can’t go five out like those two teams but that will always be the case as long as Rudy is our starting center regardless of who we start at the PF and SF positions. And some of the PF options out there would take us from a 4-out lineup with the current likely rotation to a 3-out lineup.