Illini in the Pros (Basketball)

#426      
Username
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Not sure I understand this.

Donte D. will be out for the year.

We don't even know their starting 5 yet: Lamelo, Edwards, McDaniel, (hole at the 4), Gobert.

Both Ayo and TSJ are going to be in the top 6.
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Obviously, I'm not the Twolves' GM and lots I dont understand, but on it's face to me it seems like Ayo and TSJ have less minutes today compared to yesterday. I know we're all pseudo-Twolves fans now, but the reality is I only care about what is best for Ayo and TSJ.

I will also say as a pseudo-Twolves fan, I think they got Ball for not a crazy amount of capital, but they clearly are guard heavy and lost a solid front court piece. We'll see who else they add.
 
#434      
NarrowJ
Fly Illini Fly! said:
I mean he's in the top 6 of their rotation. Barring injury, he'll definitely play.
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They're definitely going to fill out their roster, but even right now you have Ball/Edwards/McDaniels and then Conley/Ayo probably taking whatever is left there even with their roster being short 3 or 4 players. Biggest swing for TSJ would be if they actually come through on the postseason commentary that they like him more with the ball in his hands out top, because then maybe he can supplant an aging Conley.
 
#435      
the juiceman cometh
Fly Illini Fly! said:
I mean he's in the top 6 of their rotation. Barring injury, he'll definitely play.
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By what metric is he in the top 6 of their rotation? He wasn't last year. Jaylen Clark and Bones Hyland both got more run than him. And nobody from the T-Wolves has said he's "top 6" in the rotation. It's all just conjecture at this point, and the fact that they're loading up on guards does not indicate comfort with TSJ as thier top guy off the bench.

He played significant minutes over 7 games in the playoffs due to injuries to Ant and Ayo, and did really well, but Ant and Ayo aren't injured anymore. We're reading way too much into that. There was a lot of noise last offseason about TSJ having earned more playing time this past season, and the end result was less playing time. Maybe it'll be true this time, but it is far from a guarantee. Like last season he's most likely going to be competing with Hyland and Clark, and now Isaiah Evans, all season for minutes. Minutes will probably fluctuate based on who is looking good at any given point in time.

Plus now there's also LaMelo in the mix. With Lamelo, I don't even think it's a lock that Ayo starts tbh.
 
#436      
Fly Illini Fly!
NarrowJ said:
They're definitely going to fill out their roster, but even right now you have Ball/Edwards/McDaniels and then Conley/Ayo probably taking whatever is left there even with their roster being short 3 or 4 players. Biggest swing for TSJ would be if they actually come through on the postseason commentary that they like him more with the ball in his hands out top, because then maybe he can supplant an aging Conley.
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I don't think they'll be super eager to add more guards. Frontcourt depth is the issue as it currently stands.

I think TSJ can supplant Conley.

Playoffs:

TSJ -- averaged 22.6mpg and 11.8pts.
Conley -- averaged 14.0mpg and 4.4pts

Now yes TSJ does have 3 less games played. He was in the doghouse for whatever reason, then they lost two starters, and his production (and minutes) took off.
 
#437      
Fly Illini Fly!
the juiceman cometh said:
By what metric is he in the top 6 of their rotation? He wasn't last year. Jaylen Clark and Bones Hyland both got more run than him. And nobody from the T-Wolves has said he's "top 6" in the rotation. It's all just conjecture at this point, and the fact that they're loading up on guards does not indicate comfort with TSJ as thier top guy off the bench.
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Hyland was really bad in the playoffs. Jaylen Clarke can't shoot, and wasn't even in the rotation. When they had injuries, they chose TSJ for those minutes over both of those guys.

What happened in the playoffs matters more because that's how the season ended.

As the roster currently stands, I think he's top 6 behind Ant / Ayo / Ball / McDaniels / Gobert (I do think they could add something to the frontcourt, but have limited resources to do so).
the juiceman cometh said:
He played significant minutes over 7 games in the playoffs due to injuries to Ant and Ayo, and did really well, but Ant and Ayo aren't injured anymore. We're reading way too much into that. There was a lot of noise last offseason about TSJ having earned more playing time this past season, and the end result was less playing time. Maybe it'll be true this time, but it is far from a guarantee. Like last season he's most likely going to be competing with Hyland and Clark, and now Isaiah Evans, all season for minutes. Minutes will probably fluctuate based on who is looking good at any given point in time.
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Donte D. was hurt. He'll miss next season with a torn Achilles.
 
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#438      
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr?
the juiceman cometh said:
By what metric is he in the top 6 of their rotation? He wasn't last year. Jaylen Clark and Bones Hyland both got more run than him. And nobody from the T-Wolves has said he's "top 6" in the rotation. It's all just conjecture at this point, and the fact that they're loading up on guards does not indicate comfort with TSJ as thier top guy off the bench.

He played significant minutes over 7 games in the playoffs due to injuries to Ant and Ayo, and did really well, but Ant and Ayo aren't injured anymore. We're reading way too much into that. There was a lot of noise last offseason about TSJ having earned more playing time this past season, and the end result was less playing time. Maybe it'll be true this time, but it is far from a guarantee. Like last season he's most likely going to be competing with Hyland and Clark, and now Isaiah Evans, all season for minutes. Minutes will probably fluctuate based on who is looking good at any given point in time.

Plus now there's also LaMelo in the mix. With Lamelo, I don't even think it's a lock that Ayo starts tbh.
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TSJ got minutes ahead of those guys when the lights were brightest (Bones, Clarke, Conley).
 
#439      
the juiceman cometh
WhereDoWeStandWithStorr? said:
TSJ got minutes ahead of those guys when the lights were brightest (Bones, Clarke, Conley).
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Sure, becasue of a specific need the team had, particularly with Ant injured. Barring another injury to Ant, they don't have that need next season, so all bets are off.

Btw, TSJ also played a bigger role towards the end of his rookie season, and into the playoffs, and that resulted in the exact same assumption that his role would be expanded. In fact, Finch said that TSJ's role would be expanded. Instead, Hyland, who did not even play in the 2025 playoffs after being signed as a 2-way player, and Clark, who played half the minutes TSJ did in those playoffs, jumped him in the rotation.

I'm not saying TSJ won't have a bigger role. I'm just not understanding how we can be so sure about it. I hope it happens, but honestly I think there are better situations out that he could be traded into and that's still my hope for him.
 
#441      
Fly Illini Fly!
NarrowJ said:
McDaniels starting at the 4 in the NBA at 180lbs sure is interesting

Our fans have issues with Morillo playing the 4 in college at 210lbs
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McDaniel is 6"9 while Morillo is 6"7.

I do think the 4 is far and away the biggest problem on their team.
 
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#444      
ChiefGritty
NarrowJ said:
McDaniels starting at the 4 in the NBA at 180lbs sure is interesting

Our fans have issues with Morillo playing the 4 in college at 210lbs
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Yeah, even with Gobert back there as rim protector, I don't really see how that works.

There could be another move yet to come here, we will see. Could involve TSJ, who knows.

But as it pertains to TSJ's place on that roster as it stands, they have just had too many players in general the last couple of years, and that's no longer true as a ton of their fringe was on expiring deals, DiVincenzo is hurt, and now they've traded guys. There aren't a lot of bodies now, even if all the bodies are perimeter guys.
 
#445      
the juiceman cometh
Fly Illini Fly! said:
Donte D. was hurt. He'll miss next season with a torn Achilles.
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Donte D was hurt early in game 4 of the first round. TSJ played 7 minutes in that game (and Conley played 20, Hyland 19). When Ant also got injured and missed game 5, he played 13 minutes (Conley 16, Hyland 23).

His minutes significantly ticked up (and he got the start) in game 6 which was the first game that both Ayo and Ant were out. He got good minutes and the start again in game 1 vs the Spurs when Ayo was still out and Ant was eased back in (just 25 minutes). Got another start in game 2 when Ayo was eased back in and just played 10 minutes.

After that, when Ant and Ayo were fully healthy, you start to see his minutes tick back down (and actually, Conley's to tick back up to the point where by the last two games of the Spurs series they're playing similar minutes).

All this to say that Donte D's injury was not the driver of increased minutes for TSJ. It took Donte D getting injured, Ant getting injured, TSJ having a big impact in just 13 minutes after Ant's injury, AND Ayo subsequently getting injured, for TSJ to get the opportunity to play major minutes. That's quite a confluence of events and I think we're putting too much stock in the predictive value of that.
 
#446      
GForce
I don't get this move by the Twolves. They lost to the Spurs b/c of their front court... Randle's poor shooting and Goebert's inability to shoot beyond 2 feet, so Wemby could just park in the lane. If anything, the emergence of Ayo and TSJ kept them in it. So they reward our guys by going out and getting another lead guard (and injury-prone) and let a big man (Naz) with a decent jumper go. And now they have little room/assets to acquire any half-way decent big.
 
#447      
Fly Illini Fly!
ChiefGritty said:
Yeah, even with Gobert back there as rim protector, I don't really see how that works.

There could be another move yet to come here, we will see. Could involve TSJ, who knows.

But as it pertains to TSJ's place on that roster as it stands, they have just had too many players in general the last couple of years, and that's no longer true as a ton of their fringe was on expiring deals, DiVincenzo is hurt, and now they've traded guys. There aren't a lot of bodies now, even if all the bodies are perimeter guys.
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They need a decent/good PF who's capable of playing legitimate minutes. If they can get that done, I actually like their roster.

Right now the losses of Randle and Reid will loom large, as they really lack size besides Gobert.
 
#448      
ptgrd23
I don't like the Lamelo trade. It makes you wonder why they signed Ayo if they were planning to play 2 ball dominant players like Lamelo and Ant.

I also don't think Ayo signs with Timberwolves if he knows the Lamelo trade is coming. I am confident Ayo wants to be a starter.

The Timberwolves GM has gone trade crazy

2022-3 Trading for Gobbert
2024-5 Trading away KAT
2025-6 Traded for Ayo
2026-7 Trading away Randle
2026-7 Trading for Lamelo

Not sure whether to applaud or cry.

I will say he was smart enough to trade for Ayo and draft TSJ

Better GM than the Bulls
 
#450      
ChiIllini75
In a vacuum the Ball move makes sense. Ball should help alleviate the doubles that drove Ant crazy the last few years. He should also help them not need to rely on bigs finishing as many possessions. After an Ant double the release valve was often Randle which is less than ideal.

I think Ayo can fit in with Ball and Ant pretty smoothly. I am concerned TSJ struggles to fit again. Finch made the point that they finally figured out how to run TSJ with Ant by putting the ball in TSJ's hands. Not sure that works now except in small doses.
 
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