Some Spotlight for these guys!

This week we’re looking at two of the teams that are doing it tough on the season and are looking to the future for their franchises. The Kings and Wolves aren’t going to be making appearances in the playoffs this year, but they’ve been working hard to turn their franchises around and the results are starting o show as they emerge from dark places.

The Wolves:

The Wolves have struggled through to 4 wins this year without their veteran big man, Kevin Love. They’ve chosen to hold most of the season despite the losses, rolling with the kids and trying to get something going for the vets, but the struggle has been real. Love not playing has not helped at all, and they haven’t been too active in the market otherwise despite hoping to land a top pick in the next draft. I spose, why do they need to be when the results are flowing as expected and wanted? They are 2^nd bottom in the West with only the Kings below them, afterall!

The Kings:

The Kings have been subject to some horrible blow outs this year and have only 2 wins to show for their efforts but would you look at that roster compared to last year? They have a leader guiding them now and they’ve slowly clawed their way from the brink to where they are now. It’s obviously not resulting in much on the court, yet, but they have a roster made up of young names and guys who have shown some kind of potential to go places which is a massive step up from having a list of expiring veterans like they once had. They have shown spirit and will do so here too against their fellow bottom of the table squad.

The Match-Ups:

C: Jakob Poeltl  Vs  Tony Bradley

Poeltl may not be a household name, but he’s a big guy and he knows how to play and that’s why he was drafted into the league in the first place. He’s started every game this year and only played 26 minutes in those games, but is averaging 6/11/1/1/2 and achcoring the middle. He’s got Bradley to match up with this week who has never really landed in the league properly and it will be interesting where he lands in the NBA next year, if he lands. For the Kings sake, we hope he lands as he’s an RFA so will be retained, and he’s averaging 10/13/1/1/2 as a starter for them and will probably be too athletic for Jakob.

PF: Larry Nance Jnr.  Vs  Kevon Looney

Nance has missed a lot of time this year but he’s an athletic big who can step out or finish above the rim. He’s not translating great in this engine at 9/5 and 1.5 steals a game with not much else and poor shooting, so maybe he should be playing elsewhere off the bench, but Kevin Love has only decided to play the one week thus far himself. Nance sees Looney make his first start of the year against him for the Kings and he’s been only averaging 4/6 on 43% shooting off the bench so expanding out might not see him do too much more than Larry. The match up is going to be a bit of a wash.

SF: Jaden McDaniels  Vs  Al-Farouq Aminu

McDaniels has shown some flashes of being a nice pick for the Wolves but is he ever going to be a starter at SF, really? He has nice size but the positives end there as his only shot at starting at this position has yielded 8/5/2/1/1 in numbers on 25/44/75 shooting and he just cannot play the SF spot well enough yet. That makes the match up nice and easy for the Kings veteran Aminu who has missed a lot of time these past years but he’s playing currently and 6/3/2/1/1 is about all you can expect from this defensive specialist. He should lock up the rookie you’d imagine and while he won’t trouble the scorers much himself, that’s his impact.

SG: Duncan Robinson  Vs  Rodney Hood

Duncan has fared much better at SG than SF this year averaging 10/3/3 there but his shooting touch just doesn’t seem to be right for Minny. 39% from deep is well below his past seasons NBA self and it’s left GM Jon asking questions as to how to get him involved more. The saga is on going. Hood on the other hand has enjoyed being back from injury and enjoyed being considered one of the Kings better players with a bit of a green light. Averaging 11/2/2/1 in 25 minutes, all starts, but sharing some semi shooting woes himself along the way. He’s being showcased for trade and has been solid, so a contender should swoop.

PG: Patrick Mills  Vs  Nico Mannion

Mills is the perfect guard for this engine and it has shown since he was thrust into the starting role and exploded for 23 points a game as a starter. He was already averaging 14 in 20 minutes off the bench, so it’s not unexpected, but as a starter he’s a lock for 20 a night it seems. He’s matched up with the rookie 2way guy in Mannion who seems to grace the ROTW nominations every week now-a-days, which makes him a great selection by the Kings. Oddly enough, he averaged more points off the bench in 16 minutes than he does as a starter in 24 minutes, but he’s showing some nice instincts despite the poor shooting resulting in volume scoring issues.

Bench V Bench:

Chuma Okeke, Devonte Graham, Ed Davis, Malachi Flynn
Vs
Cory Joseph, Miye Oni, Jerome Robinson, Kelly Olynyk, Isaac Bonga

The benches here are laden with some young talent that has the potential for the future. The Wolves clearly have the total talent locked up with rookies Chuma and Flynn, but the breakout guy of last year in Graham leading them. The Kings are more subdued but they have their roles and will play them.

Head to Head Prediction:

The game would seem to be a pretty tight one! The Kings seem to have some advantages in positions but the Wolves would seem to have more offensive flare which has been a problem for the Kings all year.

Wolves by 8.

Defense. Defense could be considered the XFactor always no? Well in this case, it comes down to if the Kings can slow the Wolves enough. They don’t have the greatest offense, clearly, so they are putting up a side much more capable of locking up on defense and the Wolves rely heavily on the potency of Mills and Graham. If Mills can be stopped, it’s right on.