Am I jumping on the Timberwolves bandwagon?
Illini in the Pros (Basketball)
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true, but my hope is they mean to directly give him Conleys minutes at least (19min/game) and he could eat into others minutes too. and wouldn't surprise me at all if he becomes more productive/efficient playing on a functional/winning team
I just don’t understand the Bulls moving on from Ayo, but whatever.
Hope there is a way for him, TSJ and Ant to co exist on the Wolves together
I think Ayo might be TSJ replacement this year with how injured and inconsistent TSJ has been
Hope there is a way for him, TSJ and Ant to co exist on the Wolves together
I think Ayo might be TSJ replacement this year with how injured and inconsistent TSJ has been
I think you should set your sights higher than that. TSJ was averaging just under 13 mpg this season when healthy, and trending downwards, after averaging 10.6 mpg last season.
Ayo, on the other hand, while primarily coming off the bench was #3 in total minutes and #6 in average minutes for the Bulls. He should be a solid rotational piece getting at least double the playing time TSJ was when healthy. Anything less than that would be a major disappointment.
Illini2010-11
- Sugar Grove
1) They both are on expiring contracts, and this current Bulls squad is destined for play-in at best even if both are still on the team. I personally have no problem with either of them getting moved with that in mind. The Bulls did get returns that could be experimented with the remainder of the season. The Bulls also had so many players in the backcourt after the first set of trades, that it made sense to move both Coby and Ayo from a roster balance standpoint.
2) It is very hard to ever net a first rounder in a trade in the NBA, especially for players that become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The Bulls completely mismanaged the Coby situation because I believe they should have traded him before this season. Coby likely nets a 1st rounder before his injuries this year and contract expiring. Sure, Ayo was playing well before being traded, but he is widely seen as a 6th man, whose contract expires at the end of the season. He was never going to garner a first rounder. If anything, he gets a great opportunity to showcase his skills in Minnesota in the playoffs. It could very well net a win for Ayo.
3) In regards to your final bold, that would have required the Bulls to extend both Coby and Ayo before the end of the season to be doing early courting. Regardless, the Bulls could still in theory make a run at signing both Coby and Ayo in the offseason, since they will both be unrestricted free agents. I personally would love to see the Bulls make a run at Ayo again in the offseason, but I am slightly concerned about the durability of Coby to pay what he might demand.
It really is not as much a buffoonery of moving both Ayo and Coby as you mention. The buffoonery was the ongoing roster construction going into the season. This team was never in position to succeed. As I said in my initial post, there is a lot of blame to shift to the Bulls front office; however, it is hard to blame them for gutting the roster before the trade deadline. A change of direction is needed, but like many others, I doubt that the front office will be able to bring in the talent necessary to making a deep playoff run.
Oh absolutely on the Ayo end. I think the Wolves will use him way more than they used TSJ. I more so meant he is going to be what they hoped TSJ would be this year
I’m slightly bummed Ayo went to the Wolves because I want him to get a chance to start, he’s earned it
skyIdub
"I can't tell you. Secret."
Not to poo poo on your boycott, obviously f the Bulls.
Now imagine it's 1988 and the Bulls trade Jordan as he starts the peak of his career.
That's Dallas fans last year.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
The ayo deal for the t-wolves is actually designed so that the wolves can resign him over the cap next year instead of just having a low mid level exception to sign vets.
Who cares about the NBA? Hard to watch. Kinda like WWE these days.
The fact that your statements give credence to AKME's decision making tells me all I need to know. No disrespect, but AKME has not earned the benefit of the doubt and nothing they have done since initially getting DeMar and Lonzo when they all had that good half a season back in 2021 before Lonzo's injury gives me hope that they know what they're doing.
I do agree that if they were going to move Coby, it should've been in the offseason but I would've still been mad had they done that as it felt like he was continuing to ascend and had another step or two that he could take to maybe become a fringe All star caliber player. So, I had no problem with them keeping him under those premises that he was going to take another step.
They cannot draft which is clear by having given up on Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips. They got lucky that Ayo fell to them(that's a no brainer to draft him where they got him) and Matas will be a nice piece in the long run but outside of that, who else have they actually drafted that has had any success? They are poor talent evaluators and I do not trust that they will do anything with the 14 2nd rounders that they have. If they hit on one of two of those, that'll be a success in my book b/c they seem to have a 95% whiff rate on their drafting since AK came to this organization in 2020.
Coby and Ayo are professionals, great character guys, and tremendous players who have not hit their ceilings. Coby's injury history is a valid point but these are great team guys. They shouldn't have been traded, period. They should've been able to get a 1st rounder for either Caruso, Coby, or Ayo. A stronger GM with more of a backbone would've gotten at least a late 1st rounder out of it. Instead, they just take fliers on these once highly drafted guys like Ivey or Dillingham hoping to strike lightning in a bottle. It's just buffoonery at its finest.
I do not trust this front office to get the ship righted again. They've lost the benefit of the doubt a while ago and trading a Chicago guy that people gravitate to, especially if they are also Illinois basketball fans is the final straw and it's certainly my final straw. I'm not going to be watching Jaden Ivey and Anfernee Simons play for 30 games. I'm also not going to give the organization any of my time/money until they prove they are serious about winning which starts with fixing their mistake by firing AKME
With that said, Go Illini! The Illini have been my #1 basketball team since 1999 when I discovered that I enjoyed college bball more than the NBA and then continued that love affair when I went to school at the U of I several years later, so I'm just thrilled we have a competent organization in the college ranks to cheer for which makes up for the Bulls ineptitude
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Yea, I know, Dallas fans certainly have had it rough the last year or so and it was validated by the Anthony Davis trade. Nico Harrison hands down is the worst GM of all time for making that deal but they were able to get Cooper Flagg, so the basketball gods were on their side. If only the Bulls could strike gold again just as they did all those years ago with D Rose
20-6-5 from Will Riley tonight as the Wiz upset the Pistons. 4th straight game in double figures for Will. He doesn’t turn 20 until next week.
I am a T-wolves fan. And we won’t win a title with Ant. I don’t think he’s a guy that’s ever going to win one. He’s a phenomenal player but he’s just not a team guy in the sense you have to be to win a title. Yeah he can take over the game but he’s doesn’t know when to cede to other players. And unfortunately I don’t think that helps Ayo or TSJ in their futures. I wanted that to be the case so bad when TSJ got drafted but I haven’t seen it. Didnt see it with dillingham either. Theres so much talent on the roster right now but it only goes as far as Ant wants it to go and he treats it like a one man show. Unfortunate for our beloved players and also unfortunate for the franchise. And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE watching antman, I just don’t think he’s the answer!
Reminds me of James Harden. Always a bridesmaid...never a bride. But, at least Antman is still early enough in his career to the point that I don't think his story is written just yet
Will has seen an increase in consistent minutes in three February games. Shooting 50% overall and 44.4 from 3 while averaging 18.3 ppg, 6 rpg, 4 apg, 1 spg and only 1.0 tpg.
Exactly what I was talking about. Finch is not a coach who will play TSJ over Ayo. Nor should he do that unless TSJ makes a giant step. Also, Timberwolves need a PG, who is Ayo, not TSJ.
If Bulls are cheap enough to not extend Ayo, what make you think they will seriously pursue him in the FA market unless his value tanks?
That's what everyone said about Jordan... until they didn't. Not saying Ant is MJ, just that sometimes it takes guys with a prodigious scoring talent awhile to figure out how to win big in the playoffs.
Ant is only 24, (He's 11 months younger than TSJ, and a year and a half younger than Ayo) and improving every year. He is still one of the better options to build a team around. There are only a handful of guys who would get picked before him if they re-drafted the league.
Ant needs a good ball distributor. Not sure if Ayo is that.
Because the Bulls are to cheap they didn’t want to pay Ayo it’s not to hard to understand with that administration but they did pay for useless Patrick Williams
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