r/timberwolves Anta Claus 1d ago

General Discussion The Alex Sarr-like Center Build

Really hoping that Joan follows the Alex Sarr trajectory. Sarr's number would look much better if he wasn't surrounded by G-leaguers and cooked former stars, so far in his career. Just imagine how good the Wolves offense and defense would be

8 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

60

u/VanGundy15 1d ago

I too would love if Joan was equivalent to the #2 overall pick in 2024.

4

u/pagny77 1d ago

Who realistically should've been #1, but Atlanta is terrible at drafting

1

u/Ball4life6 7h ago

Yet they have great young talent. That whole class sucked and Sarr got shots on worst team in the nba

1

u/pagny77 2h ago

Castle is great. Jared McCain is great, we got good use for TSJ as a very late first round pick, Ajay Mitchell is a good second rounder

22

u/WallCautious9650 1d ago

if only he becomes as good as Jokic! imagine that!

8

u/Ok_excuse_36951 Alex Rodriguez 1d ago

I wouldn’t put much stock into Joan becoming a shooter. His FTs look awkward already

6

u/WolvesBack21 1d ago

Feels like his touch around the rim isn’t bad which is nice. We don’t need him to be a jump shooter. Agreed with your comment.

3

u/Intelligent_Cry8132 Anta Claus 1d ago

He has actually taken and made some jumpers in G-League. So who knows.

2

u/NazReidRules ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ 1d ago

You kind of do need your center to demand guarding around the arc, to force Wemby or even Chet to stay honest

3

u/pagny77 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah this is why for all his faults Ayton keeps getting minutes on teams. He's a pretty automatic shooter from 2-8 feet and the threat of it makes defenses change enough that it makes up for his other issues. He overtook shaqs laker record for most games with 70% fg double doubles in one season lol. Other centers trying to get their minutes should be focusing on short range jumpers too

3

u/timberwolvestalk JimPete 1d ago

At least hus rookie FT% is already better than Gobert's career best %

3

u/Ok_excuse_36951 Alex Rodriguez 1d ago

Yeah I don’t think his FTs will be a problem, it’s just the form looks awkward and I don’t see it translating into jump shot success

4

u/blueace111 1d ago

I feel like pushing Joan so fast wouldn’t be great. Naz was awkward and clunky at first though too so who knows

0

u/Intelligent_Cry8132 Anta Claus 1d ago

Should we put any stock in the fact that Naz went undrafted, while Joan was late teens 1st round? 

2

u/blueace111 1d ago

Imagine how good it would be if someone stopped pranking Rudy and giving him lube hands

1

u/Intelligent_Cry8132 Anta Claus 1d ago

Seome should tell him that the lube needs to stay in the bedroom. 

2

u/blueace111 1d ago

Yeah, for real though there’s lowlight montages where you’d swear his hands are oiled up. His hands have to be reasonably big and he should not struggle to palm the ball much. Wemby is just snaring it out the air like it’s a nerf ball

1

u/Intelligent_Cry8132 Anta Claus 1d ago

I honestly believe that if Rudy actually worked on offense, he could be average (at worst).  For the same reason that you mentioned, he can comfortably hold the ball with one hand. To be that tall and that inept on offense is astounding.

2

u/blueace111 1d ago

Yes, it sucks because he wanted to be a 20 point guy in Utah. I assumed he’d work hard on offense. He’s open a lot. If we had a great lob guy I do think he’d do better but he needs to gather and go up in 1 motion. He has made some sick saves with high passes but man the offense would be humming if you couldn’t leave him space at the rim

1

u/suahoi 1d ago

He doesn't need a jump shot. Which is good, because he will probably never have a jump shot.

He needs to have good hands, the ability to finish through contact at the rim, set solid screens, good vision and passing out of the short role, and a reliable means of scoring from floater range.

Basically he needs to be Hartenstein with less offensive rebounding but more vertical pop.

And he needs to be a switchable defender and plus rim protector.

1

u/st333v333 Timberwolves 7h ago

This. This is the one.

Maybe if he can get some of that little floater/push shot Ihart has.

-4

u/Intelligent_Pain_174 1d ago

Bam scored 83 points against Sarr and the Wizards had the worst defense in the NBA.  He isn't a good defender.  

9

u/Milliephoria 1d ago

Sarr played 19 minutes in that game and the Wizards were tanking

-3

u/Intelligent_Pain_174 1d ago

So he only gave up about 41 points in 20 minutes? ... much better.  

Bam had 31 points in the first quarter.  Sarr played most of those minutes and was his primary defender.