T-Wolves 2016-17

[ozzie]

So we are now a week away from the draft and there is a lot of talk about the Wolves trading the #5 pick and a player such as Zach Lavine to the Bulls for Jimmy Butler.  I for one do not like the idea as I feel Zach is similar to Jimmy Butler but 6 years younger.  I am amazed that people on the radio are so for this and say Butler would be a great player needed on this team.  I disagree to a point.  I think Butler is a good player but I also think that at this age Lavine is more polished than Butler was at the same age and I feel Lavine has such an upside to him that it would be hard to watch him succeed on another team.  Also I think with the 5th pick any of the players that will be available will help our team tremendously.  My preferred choice in the draft would be Jamaal Murray out of Kentucky but Heild or Dunn would also be good choices.  I even think that Ellingson out of Marquette is an interesting player.  I love this time of the year waiting for draft night!!  What are your thoughts on this young T-Wolves squad?  

[nofishfisherman]

The Bulls say they want the #5 pick and Wiggins which is a deal breaker for me.  If it were #5 and Lavine I'd have to think about it.  I think Lavine will be the better scorer but Butler is a much better 2 way player.

I do really like that the wolves have 3 young guys that could play together the bulk of their careers if they can figure out the money.  That is preferable to keep 2 of the 3 and adding an older Butler to the mix.  I think that shortens your window of being able to win a title. 

Right now I think I'd keep the #5 unless you can steal Butler and keep Wiggins, Lavine, and Towns.

[JBMasterAngler]

I like the idea of getting Butler. Would be awesome if the wolves could get him for the #5 pick and Rubio, but that's wishful thinking. I'll take Butler over Lavine any day! Especially since he played for "tibs" for several years, and knows the system. Hopefully the wolves aren't even considering moving Wiggins, as I think "tibs'" toughness will make him a much better player.

[ozzie]

I just think if we give up Lavine and the #5 we are giving up too much for Butler.  I like Butler but I also think Lavine will be a really good player and I also think the #5 can provide us with more talent to become a deeper team.  Maybe I am overestimating Lavine's ability and underestimating Butler but Lavine just looks so smooth on the court and to know the kid lives in the gym to get himself better I feel he is going to become a very very good player.  only time will tell...

[Getanet]

I agree. If Wiggins needs to be part of the deal, than no way. I'm really reluctant to include Lavine too. It's easy to forget how young he is and how much he improved from year 1 to year 2. If he stays on a similar trajectory (which of course will level off at some point) he could be really good. His biggest weakness is his defense, but that's supposed to be Thibs specialty. Lavine has the speed and size to be a good defender, so I'm really interested to see what kind of player Thibs can turn him into.

Packaging Rubio and the #5 would be great, but then we would have a huge hole at the PG. Lavine is not a PG and should not be put in that role ever again. I'm really pulling for Tyus, would love to see the local guy make good, but he looked completely outmatched on the court last year. At times it seemed like he couldn't wait to get rid of the basketball and wasn't confident trying to score. Plus his defense is severely lacking too.

As much potential and excitement we have heading into next season would quickly go down the tubes if we have a suddenly find ourselves with a huge question mark at PG.

[DrJuice1980]

Tyus looked MUCH better towards the end of the year. Still way young.  I would not entertain a trade for Butler, yeah he is a good player and pretty much what you want in a guy but the nucleolus here is pretty promising and if we could add a shooter that would be great.  Im hoping we snag Buddy Buckets at #5.  Levine showed some major upside (when not playing point), I wouldnt want to dish him.

 

 

[nofishfisherman]

I think we can all forget about the Butler to the wolves rumors.  The Bulls just traded Rose to the Knicks and I don't see the Bulls trading Butler as well unless they can get a TON in return.  The price would be too high to pay. 

[JBMasterAngler]

I don't know anything about this Dunn guy, but from everything I've heard now, it's a good pick for the wolves. Sounds like he'll be a good fit in Thibs' system. Rubio's days numbered perhaps?

[ozzie]

I am not sold on Dunn as I was looking for them to draft Murray out of Kentucky...we shall see as you never know until 3-5 years after the draft if ya did good or missed a stud.  Go Wolves!!

[pikestabber]

On ‎6‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 10:10 AM, ozzie said:

I am not sold on Dunn as I was looking for them to draft Murray out of Kentucky...we shall see as you never know until 3-5 years after the draft if ya did good or missed a stud.  Go Wolves!!

Except for last year's first pick. We did good.

[ozzie]

I agree with you on that...KAT looks to be the real deal and the best player from that draft but who really knows.  KAT may get injured and take a Greg Oden route and another player from the draft may become the face of the NBA...only time will tell

[hoppe56307]

This team can score at will it seems like, they just need to learn to not give up big leads in the 3 and 4 quarters.  I thought Thibs was supposed to be a defence guy.

[ozzie]

They sure can score and they look great but they need to change the 3rd quarter issues!!  Love to see them knocking down the 3 pointers this year and Wiggins looks like he is coming around to being the face of this franchise!

[hoppe56307]

Well they made it through the 3rd quarter last but failed in the 4th miserably.  If they can get the defence figured out they can score with the best teams in the league.

[ozzie]

I have to agree but at the same time we can't have wiggins keep checking out of games...for our team to succeed we need wiggins to be effective.  5-18 shooting just can't happen!

[Jim Uran]

Terrible to admit but I haven't kept up with the wolves for a decade now. Over the last year or so I've been spending more time watching the Wolves play sub-par ball. We have the talent to build around as they grow, this team excites me like KG's top years with the Wolves and I'm not even sure why. I've never enjoyed watching a losing season when it came to basketball, but these guys are fun to watch and I see a future with them once they figure out how to play 4 quarters lol. Down 70-61 now, I wonder when they'll be able to dominate in the second half???

Thought I'd add that since moving to Cass Lake and working with the students at the middle school I can see that they are totally basketball oriented, and I see a lot of Warrior fans, Cav fans, Bulls fans... Maybe that's why I've been watching the wolves lol

[ozzie]

They are a fun team to watch and as frustrating  as they may be at times, I can see the talent they have and it makes it more bearable when they falter.  One thing I think is they need to keep giving Tyus playing time and am now in the boat that they should trade Ricky Rubio to create more playing time for Tyus.

[pikestabber]

Well, the team is starting to turn a corner, it seems. Far, far from championship caliber in any respect, but better than it was by a mile in the beginning of the season. 3 game win streak. Baby steps, but we haven't had many of those in recent years. Still a fair chance to crack the bottom of the West by year's end. That's not where we want (or as fans, deserve) to be, but to start to get these young guys some playoff experience would be a good thing.

 

And I know "playoffs" and "Wolves" seems like a stretch this year, but consider that we are just 2.5 games out of the 8th spot, and there is a ton of parity between the bottom 8 teams. One of them has to get it, and we are two games closer than we were a week or so ago. With 3 straight wins, we are the hottest team...of the bottom 8 teams, lol. Can you imagine it? Wolves playoff ball?

I'm still a fan. It's hard. But I'm still a fan.

[Jim Uran]

It's been a while... A long while since we've said playoff ball, right? I'm a terrible Wolves fan that has only watched them when they were doing good but I've been watching this team all year long wondering when they were going to turn it around. They are a fun team to watch and who doesn't love hearing the big horse Tibs yelling along the sidelines every game lol. 

[JBMasterAngler]

Nice to see them finally winning some games. Playoffs are definitely out of the question this year, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't make any moves before the trade deadline.

[pikestabber]

On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 6:14 PM, JBMasterAngler said:

Playoffs are definitely out of the question this year...

 

I'm not sure I agree they are "definitely out of the question" this year. 34 games left, starting to put wins together (7-3 in our last 10), and only 3 games out of the 8 spot. Nobody ahead of us is streaking away. In fact, most are stumbling away... Time will tell, but a lot can happen in 34 games (especially if we pick up a strong veteran presence via trade). I'm once bitten, twice shy with the Wolves and would not be surprised to see them drift out of any hope of contention, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them pass Denver before it's all said and done, either.

[ozzie]

The way they have been playing they just might squeak into the playoffs the way the West is this year...I guess as they say chip and a chair and you have a chance but the way they looked last night against the reigning NBA champs, without some of their top talent, makes me wonder if a taste of the playoffs would be better than getting into the lottery.

[JBMasterAngler]

Well, regardless of how how the final 2 games go, this season definitely has to be considered a failure. From the beginning, where they blew huge leads one right after the other, to the end, where they lost, TWICE!!! To the lakers, who are purposely tanking! Maybe I had too high of expectations? What should they be looking for in the offseason? I say get rid of LaVine. Unfortunately, since he's hurt we probably won't get much for him. I've never been sold on him, and the team has shown some flashes while he's been gone. At the beginning of the season I was all for getting rid of Rubio. But now, I'm not so sure about that. I'd rather get rid of Shabazz Muhammad. Can't count on the draft this year, so hopefully there's a good fit for us in free agency.

[pikestabber]

If I catch myself saying how next year is their year, and we will finally gel with all this new, young talent, I am going to slap myself.

 

(slaps self)

 

Next year, I think we put it all together...maybe.

We do have some light at the end of this tunnel: We will get a decent draft pick. We will pick up some veteran help. We will find a little more consistency on D in year two under Thibs. BUT...Is that going to be enough? Enough to crack the bottom of the West maybe, but there is no reason a team with Kat, Wiggins, and Rubio shouldn't have done that already this year. Even if we win tonight, that is only a 3 game improvement over last year, and that is not acceptable after improving 13 games from the year before. I just can't believe we are not at least a .500 team this year.

 

I am on the fence about LaVine. I think he is so athletic, still young, and has so much upside...but I can't disagree with the fact that we seemed to gel a bit better without him. Bazz is a spark plug off the bench and can help win games in that capacity, but he can be streaky and shoot happy at the wrong time, too. His value might be about as high as it's going to get, and he is not a key cog in our future, so if we can get some value from him, I'd pull the trigger.

Meh. So much "meh" this year (every year). My only silver lining is that for a guy that hates change, I immediately liked the new logo. I guess we have that going for us

[JBMasterAngler]

Maybe you like the new logo because it's similar to their original logo?