Gorgui Dieng

[Demitri98]

A core of Knight-Wiggins-Giannis-Henson-Dieng would be NASTY. Extremely long, athletic team. Elite perimeter defense with Giannis and Wiggins, and elite paint protection with Henson and Dieng. Giannis has legit point guard instincts and vision, so Knight's lack of a traditional point guard game won't hurt us that badly, the two of them could play off each other.

I agree with everything but the bold.

[wally_world]

He should be NBA-ready, i think he's starting to get a little overrated. He has a pretty low ceiling.

[russwest0]

He should be NBA-ready, i think he's starting to get a little overrated. He has a pretty low ceiling.

This x1000.

If you ask me if I'd prefer 20 year old Steven Adams or 24 year old Gorgui Dieng, it's Steven Adams without a single doubt.

[steve]

adelman is my guy but hes never been good at playing younger talented players.

look at gerald wallace and hedo turkoglu

I'm not sure this is entirely fair when given the circumstance. Turkoglu got significant playing time in his second season, averaging nearly 25 minutes a game and playing behind Peja and Christie. In his third season, he lost playing time to Jim Jackson before being traded the next season (which netted the Kings Brad Miller, so that worked out okay for them at the time).

The thing you have to factor in with Adelman in these stints is the exact situation he's in. With Sacramento, this was a team that everyone expected to contend for a title and giving a player like Turkoglu, who while talented and productive, did prove he wasn't quite ready for that role on the Kings. I'm not going to bring up Wallace because he didn't even look like a legitimate NBA player at the time. It's hard for a coach to give certain young players playing time when the team has fairly lofty goals because while it might benefit them in the long run, they'll make enough mistakes that it might detract from actually getting to that goal. Also keep in mind with the Kings that Adelman had no trouble putting the ball in Bibby and Peja's hands who weren't exactly much older than Turkoglu at least.

And this factors into Adelman with the Wolves. He clearly has no issue with playing a 23 year old Rubio, so the idea that he won't play young players seems like an argument that only fits when applied to certain players and not others. Truth is Dieng might have just improved as the season went on because in the limited time he got earlier in the season, he really didn't look very good (one of the keys to his increased playing time is that he stopped fouling every five seconds). Again, considering the Wolves ultimate goal this season was to make the playoffs it's hard to gives someone like that playing time when their actions on the court usually result in negative outcomes. This also goes for a player like Muhammad, who has talent but also is maddeningly inconsistent.

I'm not saying Adelman shouldn't be take part in the blame for the Wolves falling short of the postseason again, but I think there more legitimate reasons than "he doesn't play young players," which again has some faulty application attributed to it.

[steve]

I agree with everything but the bold.

I don't think he's saying Giannis is going to be a "point forward" (mostly because his handle is good enough to take on the bulk of the ball handling) but he has shown signs of pretty elite passing ability and can easily take some of the burden when it comes to creation and playmaking for a team (which is especially useful if the Bucks see a future with a relative non-point guard in Brandon Knight). A good correlation would be how the Blazers use Batum, who's turned into an exceedingly excellent secondary ball handler for the Blazers and allows a player like Lillard to focus less on aspects he's not particularly good at (traditional point guard play making) and rely more on his strengths. That's the kind of role Giannis could easily have going forward for the Bucks, and what most people see him becoming (at the very least).

[oarabbus]

From what I heard Dieng sounds like the type of guy who MIGHT make the all star team one year if all goes well and besides that will be a great fringe allstar level player.

Is that accurate? Is he better than Pekovic?

[Lebron23]

I hope the wolves fire Rick Adelman. They deserve a much better coach. Somebody needs to call Lionel Hollins.

[Smook A.]

My god why in the world wasn't this dude a top 5 pick?

He's such a good rookie and it seems like he gets a double-double every night. Truly the biggest steal of the draft

[Lebron23]

He's averaging 22 ppg on 53.8 FG%, 11.7 rpg, 1.7 spg, 1.7 bpg, and 1.7 apg in the 2014 FIBA World Championship.

[DMAVS41]

He's averaging 22 ppg on 53.8 FG%, 11.7 rpg, 1.7 spg, 1.7 bpg, and 1.7 apg in the 2014 FIBA World Championship.

Still can't believe the Wolves were able to keep him and get back Wiggins, Bennett, and Young....just absurd the Cavs didn't insist on getting Dieng back.

[robert de niro]

Still can't believe the Wolves were able to keep him and get back Wiggins, Bennett, and Young....just absurd the Cavs didn't insist on getting Dieng back.

oh I'm sure the cavs asked for Dieng, and this was probably the answer they got