Medcalf: Free Dillingham
- Thread starter akaukswoosh
- Start date
I will never understand the handling of Dillingham and Shepherd. What a strange usage of high lottery draft picks.
Dilly was made for the NBA. There's probably some gambling going on around what draft picks play vs. who doesn't, which likely influences the GMs because, let's face it, they're all Vegas gambling on games now that it's nearly impossible to be caught.
He's went for 12 and 15 in his last two games.
His minutes should increase with Dante D. out.
His minutes should increase with Dante D. out.
Very weird stuff going on in Minnesota. Conley is clearly washed and they should be preparing Dillingham to replace him.
Conley averaging 7.9ppg, 4.1apg, 36% FG, and is 37 years old.
Conley averaging 7.9ppg, 4.1apg, 36% FG, and is 37 years old.
Damn, didn’t realize that. That makes Greg Oden seem young.
I’ll never understand going back to a post offense and weave thru 2 bigs after scoring 100 all year with the 3 highest scoring guards in the country on the team.
Because the Oakland coach dared him to do it.
Ask CCC I'm sure he could explain it to you. Then again.....maybe he couldn't.
In the NBA, or at UK?
At UK Sheppard was 2nd on the team in minutes. Dillingham was 5th, and yeah I would have liked him higher, but he limited his own minutes by fouling so much. I seem to recall that in like 50-60% of his games he was in foul trouble (4+). He led the team in fouls, which is rare for a guard (the last one to do that was Andrew H in 2014).
The Dillingham thing is perplexing w/ the Wolves, because he does produce when on the floor. Just doesn't see the floor much. And I agree, and was saying this last spring, that Rob D's game was "made for the NBA". I predicted he will become an all-star, a mesh of Iverson & Trae Young.
Sheppard on the other hand, has struggled a lot. Not earned more PT. As I predicted. I think I was spot-on when I said he should return for 1 more year, because his goal shouldn't be to make it to the NBA or to get drafted as high as possible; his goal should have been to do whatever he needs to do to maximize his NBA 2nd contract and to be in the NBA as long as possible. He needed to return to get physically stronger, to see if he could get a little quicker and to improve his defense some, and to show he can be "the lead guy" and "go get a basket when you need one" to get one when the other team is focused on him. Why wait? Because if you aren't ready to contribute as a rookie, then you aren't likely to progress rapidly enough during the 1st contract to get that Max-Deal (or close to it) in the 2nd contract. I do think he can become a good NBA player, a starter for a playoff team. But it may take time, costing him $.
I agree Reed should have come back but hindsight is 20/20. I have no doubts Pope would have utilized him 1000x better than CCC, which would have made him even more attractive to NBA teams. It is kind of surprising that he did go as high as he did but the NBA isn't near the quality of product that it was 30 years ago.
If you aren't contributing as a rookie it likely means you are buried behind much more talented players or you are struggling with the pro game.
Both of these apply to Reed.
Reed in reality is not a max contract player and never was.
Extra year of college wouldn't have changed that especially since he was already 20.
In reality, Reed being over drafted at 3rd was essentially his "second contract" financially speaking.
Valid point. But in that case maybe instead of shooting for the 2nd contract being a max-deal, we are talking about shooting for their being a 2nd contract or maximizing whatever that contract is.
His current projected progression is something like:
Yr 1: <10mpg, 2-4ppg
Yr 2: 10-15mpg, 4-7ppg
Yr 3: 15-20mpg, 7-10ppg
rather than:
Yr 1: 10-15mpg, 4-7ppg
Yr 2: 15-20mpg, 7-10ppg
Yr 3: 20-25mpg, 10-15ppg
The 2nd one gets you a deal, a much better deal.
Dillingham produced a career-high 15 points, three rebounds and two assists in a 108-106 loss against the Memphis Grizzlies. He went 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, in 17 minutes off the bench in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee on the road.
The eighth pick had a productive game on both ends, from running the offense and making plays for his teammates to locking up on defense. He was a team-high plus-16 on the court.
"Rob played great," Finch said. "He played outstanding."
Reed will have to find a niche with Houston or he will be traded.
I wouldn't be surprised if Houston drafted another PG in the '25 draft.
The fact that the Udoka is going with Aaron Holiday, who really not producing much, over Reed is troubling.
Despite his offensive outburst in the G-league he hasn't been able to shoot the ball consistently at the NBA level either.
If Reed can't figure out this "tweener" thing, he'll have a short NBA career and have to head overseas like Jimmer Fredette.
It appears he is learning to play in the League, especially on defense. Nice to see such an excellent game, as it was in follow-up to a 12-point performance the previous game against the Cavaliers, +3 overall, although he fouled out with six (6) fouls in eighteen (18) minutes. Consistently effective defensive play will earn him minutes, as everyone knows, because he already has the offensive skills.
Dillingham produced a career-high 15 points, three rebounds and two assists in a 108-106 loss against the Memphis Grizzlies. He went 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, in 17 minutes off the bench in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee on the road.
The eighth pick had a productive game on both ends, from running the offense and making plays for his teammates to locking up on defense. He was a team-high plus-16 on the court.
"Rob played great," Finch said. "He played outstanding."
It's pretty obvious and maybe it gets to the surface but its all about gambling with the nba.
Thanks for this post ! In last night's game, Dilly went for this stat line, in 17 minutes !
15 points; 6 - 8 FG; 3 - 4 3ptFG; 3 rebounds; 2 assists; 0 turnovers.
How can they keep that kind of production on the bench ? Not a band of "Wolves"; a band of fools ! ! !
simple..........they were not the "favorites"
I’d wager it’s pretty rare a top 3 pick doesn’t get a second contract. Not saying it doesn’t happen but his odds of getting there are still pretty high.
For a team to spend a top 3 pick on you means they’ve invested in you long term. It’s also means a lot of teams likely saw enough potential to take a shot on you down the road if you don’t work out with the first club.
Someone else mentioned this but the Rockets are good this year and are largely built on defense. Reed was a bad defender in college and just isn’t a fit for what they’re doing right now. Not sure why they drafted him at 3rd if that was the plan(to build on defense). Maybe it wasn’t the plan and it’s just played out that way.
I don’t think another year of college helps him. His numbers likely don’t improve much playing less minutes with less touches under Pope.
I don’t think Popes system is going to be inducive to producing nba stars like Cal’s was either. not nearly as much putting the ball in one or two players hands and just letting them create. And honestly that’s better for us.
And so far, i don’t think ANYONE on our team has improved on defense. On the contrary the guys that were good on defense seem to be getting worse. So expecting Reed to come in and improve on that end doesn’t seem as likely. Hopefully Pope is reevaluating his defensive philosophies. I suspect he is because he’s not like the last guy.