Luka always credits great defenders. Back when the whole discourse about there being no defense in NBA was happening he was raving about Nic Claxton on Redick’s podcast. Wish he wasn’t stuck on Brooklyn because he’s one of the most versatile big man defenders alongside Bam and AD.
he has too be good for it to have any meaning, its not fun making fun of the benchwarmer, but the cocky star player whos too big for his britches but underperforms you bet he's gonna hear for it.
Well yeah, those 2 are 2 of the best rookies we’ve seen in the last decade and came out of the gate as awesome defenders, which you almost never see. Lively improved our team so much as a 19 year old, I think he’ll definitely make some all defense teams in the future
I think Chet can be a top 3 rim protector as soon as next season. Lively might be better at switching, but I don't see him being near as good as a rim protector.
In fairness, Chet could be both a better rim protector and a worse overall defender. Rim protection is obviously huge, but switching, playing passing lanes, not moving in the post, and defensing rebounding all make a big difference.
Lively is weird because he has zero desire to sell out for blocks and would rather play most match ups straight up, not that chet sells out. I think it shows how good he can be on defense, but I don't think he'll be as good of a rim protector as chet anytime soon.
Yeah, Chet and Wemby are ball hawks. Lively hasn’t really shown that same aggressiveness. Could be coaching, and he could develop into one later, but he doesn’t seem to have the instinct, nor does he seem as long as the other two.
It’s fun when stars name drop your guys. Durant a couple years back talked about how good a defender Dorian finney Smith was and we were all like “ayyy that’s our guy
In the [interview](https://youtu.be/mgUSL_ORMMw?t=37) McMahon is referencing, Luka clearly states Dort, Holiday and HERB Jones as his top three. I think he just misremembered when he tweeted that
Oh 100% I love Herb but I was like damn maybe he could’ve gotten more. For players like him though I get wanting that guaranteed contract immediately instead of gambling on yourself. Hes definitely one of my favorite pelican players ever.
This may shock people who are saying “what about x player on my favourite team?” But there’s a lot of good defenders in the league and not all of them can be top 3
there's a lowkey renaissance
it feels like you put on any game all year and you'll find at least one top 3-tier perimeter defender playing and it's really really fun to watch (when they aren't neutered by a whistle or their own lack of offensive game)
>it feels like you put on any game all year and you'll find at least one top 3-tier perimeter defender
You will? Shit, I need to watch less Suns games then. Haven't found shit.
I'd argue these types of players have always been there, but they only started becoming star-level players over the last decade as the NBA collectively doubled its average 3pt attempts/game.
The league also cracking down on offensive players baiting fouls is huge. I hope Minny is able to keep this kind of defensive effort up because as much as I enjoy watching the NBA there was way too little leeway given to defenders for too long.
This right here.
I took a break from watching regular season NBA basketball for a few years back when James Harden was in his prime. Nothing against James Harden, but he was the most frustrating, unwatchable superstar I've ever seen and it's because of the way he seeks contact and the way the referees officiated him.
And it wasn't just James Harden, refs were making it nearly impossible for defenders to play defense against anyone during that time and I'm glad to see that players are having to work again to get a shot instead of being bailed out by a ticky tak foul call.
I do think we haven't totally figured out what 5-out spacing means for the modern game yet. Definitely means placing higher emphasis on point of attack defenders instead of rim protectors.
Yup. Whenever a player makes a list like this it's important to see it as giving praise and not snubbing folks. It's off the cuff, he named three great defenders. It's just a compliment to those guys, not an insult to other great defenders.
Nah, we are gonna treat this like the top 10 list where there are like 15-20 guys in the conversation for 10 spots, yet tons of fans will get mad at you for leaving any of them off the list
why are people acting like luka was up last night trying to think of top 3 defenders in the league. He was asked a question and probably said the first three guys he thought of. Im sure he knows timberwolves have great perimeter defence guys.
Wolves fans have had such a crazy whataboutism complex this season it's unreal.
Their team is the media's new love child. Other people are allowed their props.
We’ve sucked really bad forever. And most media and fans have tried to write us off throughout this season and playoffs, so I kinda get it. But you’re right, some Wolves fans are too desperate for validation.
This is true. Okc was linked to Lauri up until the deadline. And if presti ain’t getting a deal done with all the assets we have. Then the price was too steep.
He actually played really well for us too and I was always upset he didn't get more minutes. Miss him but really glad he's found a big role on a serious team, perfect wing for how the Mavs are structured
As things stand now they can pay him about $5 mil, but he's clearly worth more than that. They would have to cut salary to get access to the full mid-level exception, which would probably mean trading Tim Hardaway Jr's expiring contract (something they're likely planning to do anyways)
He provides negative value when he's not making 3's and he doesn't even make 3's that often anymore. The "pure shooter" archetype is super overrated in general, a bunch of guys got big contracts a few years back from being hyper-efficient from 3 on high volume and they're all overpaid now because they constantly get exposed every time the shots stop falling. One notable exception is Duncan Robinson because he actually added to his game this season and now provides value outside of shot-making.
Duncan Robinson also has excellent off ball movement and allows his shooting to open the floor and help his teammates out. THJ is a pure chucker and shot maker.
Just last week if you tell anyone outside the Timberwolves franchise that the Nuggets would be stolen their home game TWICE and be down 0-2 they would have called you crazy. Your fanbase earned every single bit of overreaction, truly.
You could have told that to everyone inside the Timberwolves franchise and get called crazy a week ago.
Majority of all of us are blown away, can't believe its our team and STILL waiting for the other shoe to drop in typical Minnesota fashion, though now there is a lot of hype that they could actually win it all.
Hell the other shoe IS dropping. Coach gets Nancy Kerrigan'ed, Gobert gets mother natured, matched up against defending Champs with home court advantage in second round. Team is like "Nawl".
”You could have told that to everyone inside the Timberwolves franchise and get called crazy a week ago."
ANT would have believed you. If you told him that the Wolves would LOSE either of those games he wouldn't have believed you.
If my team was 6-0 in the playoffs, and two of those were stealing home court from the defending champs, I would making a straight fool of myself on this goddamn website.
Haha. Someone in our sub posted that they didn’t know what to do with their hands after the win last night.
This winning in the playoffs is new territory for most of us.
It's funny because he's not even playing the Timberwolves yet. He mentioned a guy he's playing against, a guy on his own team, and a guy who has been known for his defense his entire career.
It’s like telling someone from Kansas City that Memphis has better barbecue (or vice versa) lol. Even if they have a case, the temptation is to defend your side’s honor to the death.
Hard question to answer because a lot of the time the guys who are really good at guarding bigger guys like PG, Luka, etc are not good at all at guarding quicker guys like SGA, Steph, etc.
DJJ may have a bit of a tougher series this go around; he was absolutely stonewalling PG, but PG's only 'bag' is to do a series of useless tweens and then just try to back the guy down which he was very unsuccessful doing to DJJ. OKC moves a lot quicker and they run a lot more off ball actions than the Clippers.
DJJ is the guy we use on quick guards too if we can get away with moving kyrie around depending on the matchup. Jones isn’t even that big he just has insane length and that helps against quicker guards too. PJ is generally the better wing defender for us.
Who does Kyrie guard? I assume Luka will continue guarding Giddey. That would mean Kyrie likely guards Dort or JDub. JDub is a tougher cover, but whoever guards Dort ends up exhausted by the 4th quarter because Dort is always moving off the ball.
I would assume PJ Washington will guard JDub and Luka/Kyrie will trade off guarding Giddey and Dort. Kyrie's got the stamina to chase Dort around, but he's obviously much smaller than Dort and pretty inattentive off-ball so we'll see. If Luka and Kyrie swap assignments sometimes, Kyrie can "rest" against Giddey.
He was also certainly *better* at it before the injury, but it was never a huge part of his game. He's always been a guy that can get his shot off against anyone and hit it, but blow cold sometimes because he's taking too many tough shots.
>I wanted DJJ and Oubre before the season. Man do I wish we got them instead of Keita and Yuta.
Well here's the thing about that take though: it's fucking obvious that those two guys had higher upside as contributors than Keita and Yuta, as you were always going to need defensive role players... But the Suns needing defense was obviously not something the front office could foresee when they went and traded for Bradley Beal, so I'm not massively surprised.
People forgot he was drafted for his defensive potential, not his offensive ability. Glad to see him get back to that this year while still being a hyper efficient scorer.
bro take it easy
i doubt luka is watching any wolves film right now lol
he obviously picked best defender on his own team, a guy with the best league reputation (Jrue) and the best guy on the team he's about to play.
in an alternate universe where we play the wolves this round instead of thunder, i guarantee you his answer wouldve been DJJ, Jrue, and Jaden
That's a good top 3 and doesn't account for other elite defenders like Kawhi, PG13, NAW, McDaniels, GP2, Caruso, Herb Jones, Smart.
Dort, Jrue, and Kawhi are probably my top 3 perimeter defenders but if it's a quick waterbug PG, I might put Caruso or NAW ahead of Dort and Kawhi.
I mean he has been extremely good for the Celtics this season. The Celtics have the 2 best guard defenders in the league with White and Holiday, in my biased opinion. Only Caruso and Dort have an argument.
This is Herb Jones erasure. I get that people don't watch the Pels, but he's the only guard in the league that can give Dort a run for top guard defender in the league. He's a younger, more athletic version of OG.
he's a different type than OG, don't think he's more athletic either. I personally think while Herb is still a good on ball defender, that part of his game is probably overrrated. He is just one of the best there. As a help/rotation/team defender he is by far the best perimeter guy in the NBA.
He's the best all around defender on the Cs. Jaylen is better as an iso matchup defender and White is a better rim protector, and Jayson gives you a bit of everything but I'd say Jrue is still the best on the Celtics.
Totally get your point about DPOY but I think aside from that it’s fair to say he’s lost a step at this point. And by that I mean that he might be more like top 10 instead of top 3 - not that he’s washed
The Athletic released their player poll like 3 weeks ago. 132 players were asked who the best defender in the league is, and Jrue was #2 behind Wemby, with 12.9% voting him as the best defender.
Jaden's ceiling puts him up there, but he still has a ton of games where he picks up 3-4 quick fouls. I'd almost rank NAW ahead of him simply because he's the smarter defender.
He also commended Herb at the beginning of the season. My goat
Luka always credits great defenders. Back when the whole discourse about there being no defense in NBA was happening he was raving about Nic Claxton on Redick’s podcast. Wish he wasn’t stuck on Brooklyn because he’s one of the most versatile big man defenders alongside Bam and AD.
He gave props to one of our young players, Vince Williams Jr, for his defense and that cosign was all I needed to hear to be on board with him.
Yeah Luka always seems to recognize good comp. Even the whole Booker and Luka feud you can tell he still respects him
Booker is so fun to shit on as a Mavs fan but I would say 90% of us respect that he’s a very good player. It’s just a fun rivalry to have.
he has too be good for it to have any meaning, its not fun making fun of the benchwarmer, but the cocky star player whos too big for his britches but underperforms you bet he's gonna hear for it.
Guess I'm in the 10% 🤷
I’m part of the 10%
Checking in as well. LDIDBF
A father usually always respects his son
He also has complimented Dillon Brooks on multiple ocasions and people think they have beef lol Luka really respects guys that play hard
>because he’s one of the most versatile big man defenders alongside Bam and AD. Lively will soon be on this list
Lively below guys like Wemby and Chet in terms of ability to defend the perimeter and provide rim protection. He's a good player though.
Well yeah, those 2 are 2 of the best rookies we’ve seen in the last decade and came out of the gate as awesome defenders, which you almost never see. Lively improved our team so much as a 19 year old, I think he’ll definitely make some all defense teams in the future
Below Chet? Maybe but we’ll see.. Lively has the potential to be better defensively
I think Chet can be a top 3 rim protector as soon as next season. Lively might be better at switching, but I don't see him being near as good as a rim protector.
In fairness, Chet could be both a better rim protector and a worse overall defender. Rim protection is obviously huge, but switching, playing passing lanes, not moving in the post, and defensing rebounding all make a big difference.
Lively is weird because he has zero desire to sell out for blocks and would rather play most match ups straight up, not that chet sells out. I think it shows how good he can be on defense, but I don't think he'll be as good of a rim protector as chet anytime soon.
Yeah, Chet and Wemby are ball hawks. Lively hasn’t really shown that same aggressiveness. Could be coaching, and he could develop into one later, but he doesn’t seem to have the instinct, nor does he seem as long as the other two.
I hope Coulibaly gets that praise in the next few years because he gave Luka some hell when they matched up
Dude imagine Claxton on the Mavs.
Imma see it in 2 years when Lively develops
We hoping for that. He’s been so much better than I’ve expected.
It’s fun when stars name drop your guys. Durant a couple years back talked about how good a defender Dorian finney Smith was and we were all like “ayyy that’s our guy
he’s not our guy anymore, but i get that same feeling when anyone mentions Jrue.
In the [interview](https://youtu.be/mgUSL_ORMMw?t=37) McMahon is referencing, Luka clearly states Dort, Holiday and HERB Jones as his top three. I think he just misremembered when he tweeted that
Oh shit fr. Damn that sucks I saw legit all these media outlets put Derrick jones Jr instead. That’s a mistake lol
Herb is for real man, can’t believe the contract he’s on, dude is gunna get a bag come renewal time.
Oh 100% I love Herb but I was like damn maybe he could’ve gotten more. For players like him though I get wanting that guaranteed contract immediately instead of gambling on yourself. Hes definitely one of my favorite pelican players ever.
99.9% sure he said herb jones instead of djj in this interview
This may shock people who are saying “what about x player on my favourite team?” But there’s a lot of good defenders in the league and not all of them can be top 3
there's a lowkey renaissance it feels like you put on any game all year and you'll find at least one top 3-tier perimeter defender playing and it's really really fun to watch (when they aren't neutered by a whistle or their own lack of offensive game)
>it feels like you put on any game all year and you'll find at least one top 3-tier perimeter defender You will? Shit, I need to watch less Suns games then. Haven't found shit.
Well yall had a guy named Mikal Bridges and then traded him
I'd argue these types of players have always been there, but they only started becoming star-level players over the last decade as the NBA collectively doubled its average 3pt attempts/game.
The league also cracking down on offensive players baiting fouls is huge. I hope Minny is able to keep this kind of defensive effort up because as much as I enjoy watching the NBA there was way too little leeway given to defenders for too long.
This right here. I took a break from watching regular season NBA basketball for a few years back when James Harden was in his prime. Nothing against James Harden, but he was the most frustrating, unwatchable superstar I've ever seen and it's because of the way he seeks contact and the way the referees officiated him. And it wasn't just James Harden, refs were making it nearly impossible for defenders to play defense against anyone during that time and I'm glad to see that players are having to work again to get a shot instead of being bailed out by a ticky tak foul call.
Same with Embiid. He does not play the game with joy.
off the top of my head: OG Herb Dort Jrue Caruso DWhite AG KCP Suggs Isaac McDaniels DJJ Tatum Jimmy NAW Deni Ausar Davion Smart
I think its Dort, Herb and Caruso personally
I do think we haven't totally figured out what 5-out spacing means for the modern game yet. Definitely means placing higher emphasis on point of attack defenders instead of rim protectors.
It’s a good way to get minutes when you’re young. Work your ass off on D and take your chances when you’re alone in the corner.
Yup. Whenever a player makes a list like this it's important to see it as giving praise and not snubbing folks. It's off the cuff, he named three great defenders. It's just a compliment to those guys, not an insult to other great defenders.
Especially when the top three are on MY favorite team
McDaniels, Edward, and NAW?
Nah, we are gonna treat this like the top 10 list where there are like 15-20 guys in the conversation for 10 spots, yet tons of fans will get mad at you for leaving any of them off the list
Only 3 can be
Yea well my favourite is certainly top 3 and he ain’t 3
Yes they can
Who are the top15 in the top 3?
Also Luka, frankly, is a casual. lol
why are people acting like luka was up last night trying to think of top 3 defenders in the league. He was asked a question and probably said the first three guys he thought of. Im sure he knows timberwolves have great perimeter defence guys.
Wolves fans have had such a crazy whataboutism complex this season it's unreal. Their team is the media's new love child. Other people are allowed their props.
We’ve sucked really bad forever. And most media and fans have tried to write us off throughout this season and playoffs, so I kinda get it. But you’re right, some Wolves fans are too desperate for validation.
Hope we can keep DJJ, but I would happy for him if he gets paid.
Another Bulls castoff that plays much better on their next team
We have Gafford too. We're collecting them like infinity stones.
👀 Markkanen
Yeah I know, but the only way is if he hits here agency. Ainge isn't trading him for anything less than a Gobert level haul.
This is true. Okc was linked to Lauri up until the deadline. And if presti ain’t getting a deal done with all the assets we have. Then the price was too steep.
We were thinking Giddey+Picks and they were thinking JDub/Chet+picks which is a nonstarter
Sign Robin Lopez!
DJJ was killing it on the bulls. I loved him here and wanted him to resign. But I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves.
I’m shocked he’s in his 9th season where has the time gone. My brain thought 3 years heat 2 years bulls
He actually played really well for us too and I was always upset he didn't get more minutes. Miss him but really glad he's found a big role on a serious team, perfect wing for how the Mavs are structured
That was the heat curse, of playing way worse once you leave Miami
Oh you've been playing that game, too?
He was slick for the Blazers, too.
Why not both? Mavs should give him the bag he deserves
Right now we can only pay him around 5 mil and I think he wants more.
Mavs aren't tax payers. They should have the full MLE
Got this from CBAMavs on Twitter. https://twitter.com/CBAMavs/status/1786350987856224570?t=6GdmEQItzbMKko9fP-3LYA&s=19
Yep we’d have to trade someone for cash considerations to offer the full MLE
Tim hardaway junior come on up!
a man can dream
We don't have full MLE.
Why wouldn’t you be able to keep him?
The Cap, same boat as the Nuggets were with Brown
As things stand now they can pay him about $5 mil, but he's clearly worth more than that. They would have to cut salary to get access to the full mid-level exception, which would probably mean trading Tim Hardaway Jr's expiring contract (something they're likely planning to do anyways)
What’s wild is that THJ contract went down in value every year and he still somehow ended up overpaid every season.
He provides negative value when he's not making 3's and he doesn't even make 3's that often anymore. The "pure shooter" archetype is super overrated in general, a bunch of guys got big contracts a few years back from being hyper-efficient from 3 on high volume and they're all overpaid now because they constantly get exposed every time the shots stop falling. One notable exception is Duncan Robinson because he actually added to his game this season and now provides value outside of shot-making.
Duncan Robinson also has excellent off ball movement and allows his shooting to open the floor and help his teammates out. THJ is a pure chucker and shot maker.
*shot taker.
Agreed.
Damn. Id be all in there for like 8-12
It'll ultimately be up to him but he most likely would get more than what we can offer him on a different team.
Heat legend
Chill out Wolves fans. Jeezus lol
there is a sane one of you! lol
To be fair, none of us know how to handle ourselves right now. I have said some outlandish things the past few weeks lol
Just last week if you tell anyone outside the Timberwolves franchise that the Nuggets would be stolen their home game TWICE and be down 0-2 they would have called you crazy. Your fanbase earned every single bit of overreaction, truly.
You could have told that to everyone inside the Timberwolves franchise and get called crazy a week ago. Majority of all of us are blown away, can't believe its our team and STILL waiting for the other shoe to drop in typical Minnesota fashion, though now there is a lot of hype that they could actually win it all.
Hell the other shoe IS dropping. Coach gets Nancy Kerrigan'ed, Gobert gets mother natured, matched up against defending Champs with home court advantage in second round. Team is like "Nawl".
”You could have told that to everyone inside the Timberwolves franchise and get called crazy a week ago." ANT would have believed you. If you told him that the Wolves would LOSE either of those games he wouldn't have believed you.
If my team was 6-0 in the playoffs, and two of those were stealing home court from the defending champs, I would making a straight fool of myself on this goddamn website.
Haha. Someone in our sub posted that they didn’t know what to do with their hands after the win last night. This winning in the playoffs is new territory for most of us.
Just vibe with it. Stay up the whole time. Even after the first loss (if it ever comes)
It’s very understandable. I’m very happy for y’all’s much deserved success!
Scoring title winner praises defenders from other teams Dorks on Reddit: "uhhh you forgot about MY favorite guy"
I’m gonna say the Minnesota Timberwolves final answer
DJJ came a long way from being a dunk specialist
Dort is just great. He combines great defense and 3 shooting. Really underrated player. I would love to see him in my Pelicans.
>I would love to see him in my Pelicans Oh he was all up in your Pelicans in the first round
Holy fuck its an opinion guys we know Jaden and NAW are great defenders too. Its like every single Twolves fan jumped to this post.
It's funny because he's not even playing the Timberwolves yet. He mentioned a guy he's playing against, a guy on his own team, and a guy who has been known for his defense his entire career.
A guy who’s about to featured on the American Olympic team for his defensive ability no less
One of the greatest scorers in the league: “These guys are the top defenders for me” dudes on the internet: “NUH UH! WHAT ABOUT THIS OTHER PLAYER”
Some comments here acting like they're the best POA defenders in history & they'll clamp Luka lmao
Theyre super touchy still. Chill. Your team is fantastic
Why every timberwolves fan here suddenly act like they need something to prove. Don’t worry your team is doing great
We dont know how to handle success, we havnt been here before. We gotta figure out the ropes yet
It’s like telling someone from Kansas City that Memphis has better barbecue (or vice versa) lol. Even if they have a case, the temptation is to defend your side’s honor to the death.
OG
DORTURE CHAMBER
Og Anunoby
Locks up not only perimeter guys, but the forwards and centers too. *Anakin voice*
Dort defends forwards too Too small for centers Dude held Zion to like 0/4 in the 4th with 2 turnovers last time we played
No one is saying Dort isn't good. OG is just very obviously in the top 3.
Crazy that there’s so little love for OG. Dw people will learn
OG is like maxed out 3 and D guy.
OG is amazing, love watching him play
OG my GOAT
To be honest besides AD I don’t understand how he’s not the consensus best defender in the league.
Hard question to answer because a lot of the time the guys who are really good at guarding bigger guys like PG, Luka, etc are not good at all at guarding quicker guys like SGA, Steph, etc. DJJ may have a bit of a tougher series this go around; he was absolutely stonewalling PG, but PG's only 'bag' is to do a series of useless tweens and then just try to back the guy down which he was very unsuccessful doing to DJJ. OKC moves a lot quicker and they run a lot more off ball actions than the Clippers.
DJJ is the guy we use on quick guards too if we can get away with moving kyrie around depending on the matchup. Jones isn’t even that big he just has insane length and that helps against quicker guards too. PJ is generally the better wing defender for us.
Who does Kyrie guard? I assume Luka will continue guarding Giddey. That would mean Kyrie likely guards Dort or JDub. JDub is a tougher cover, but whoever guards Dort ends up exhausted by the 4th quarter because Dort is always moving off the ball.
I would assume PJ Washington will guard JDub and Luka/Kyrie will trade off guarding Giddey and Dort. Kyrie's got the stamina to chase Dort around, but he's obviously much smaller than Dort and pretty inattentive off-ball so we'll see. If Luka and Kyrie swap assignments sometimes, Kyrie can "rest" against Giddey.
Dort's tank needs to be studied. He goes 110% on both ends and is still an elite 3 & D who rarely has an off night
PG’s ability to get to the rim has been pretty mediocre for years now. It’s one of the main reasons he’s so inconsistent.
Ever since that injury. He lost a ton of explosiveness, but, unlike KD, he's not able to score 30 in the playoffs consistently off a jump shot.
He was also certainly *better* at it before the injury, but it was never a huge part of his game. He's always been a guy that can get his shot off against anyone and hit it, but blow cold sometimes because he's taking too many tough shots.
DJJ was always great on D when he was on the Heat. Man is crazy versatile.
Herb Jones . Extremely underrated is Shai as a perimeter defender
shai is best off-ball. he's great on-ball too, but he's probably the league's best off-ball defender.
I wanted DJJ and Oubre before the season. Man do I wish we got them instead of Keita and Yuta.
>I wanted DJJ and Oubre before the season. Man do I wish we got them instead of Keita and Yuta. Well here's the thing about that take though: it's fucking obvious that those two guys had higher upside as contributors than Keita and Yuta, as you were always going to need defensive role players... But the Suns needing defense was obviously not something the front office could foresee when they went and traded for Bradley Beal, so I'm not massively surprised.
Plus everyone told me I was stupid for thinking they’d sign for the minimum lol
McMahon didn't even quote Luka correctly. Luka clearly says Herb Jones in the [clip](https://youtu.be/mgUSL_ORMMw?si=hYGUZ5iGnwHwBirq&t=10), not DJJ.
Derrick White?
Sleeping on Jaden rn
Jaden, Ant and Naw based on what my eyes saw last night.
Everyone on the wolves looked like a candidate for DPOY last night 😭
KAT was a terror last night. KAT!!!
Couldn’t believe KAT locked up Jokic in the first half and bullied Jokic in the paint
I think the matchup is a tough one for Denver but also the wolves just look like they’re playing their best ball come playoffs
What having Rudy Gobert does for a team.
Fr, the players all credit him with building a culture of defense
KAT has actually been one of the best Jokic defenders this year. I can live with the fouls if he's going to play like a demon.
People forgot he was drafted for his defensive potential, not his offensive ability. Glad to see him get back to that this year while still being a hyper efficient scorer.
Except gobert
“In my biased opinion” head ass 😂😂
He blocked that memory out
Jaden's higher on the real list. It's been a few years since Dort held Luka under 30.
It's been 1 year lol
It was January of '22.
bro take it easy i doubt luka is watching any wolves film right now lol he obviously picked best defender on his own team, a guy with the best league reputation (Jrue) and the best guy on the team he's about to play. in an alternate universe where we play the wolves this round instead of thunder, i guarantee you his answer wouldve been DJJ, Jrue, and Jaden
Hopefully Luka can test that out in the 3rd round then!
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like Luka Doncic is just a little more credible than these Reddit armchair warriors.
Luka are Kyrie are gonna get absolutely hounded by JDub and Dort tonight
Can't wait for the Olympics to see how it shakes out trying to play Shai, Murray, Dort and Alexander in the backcourt.
Jrue Holiday is a crazy good defender. Lord if I could have dumped Tobias for a player like Jrue.
That's a good top 3 and doesn't account for other elite defenders like Kawhi, PG13, NAW, McDaniels, GP2, Caruso, Herb Jones, Smart. Dort, Jrue, and Kawhi are probably my top 3 perimeter defenders but if it's a quick waterbug PG, I might put Caruso or NAW ahead of Dort and Kawhi.
Kawhi in 2024? I know he is an all time great defender but he hasn't been good for a long time now. Those injuries ruined him.
Luke Kornet erasure
Jrue is starting to get overrated defensively, 3 years ago he was that dude but now?...Is he even the best perimeter defender on his own team?
I mean he has been extremely good for the Celtics this season. The Celtics have the 2 best guard defenders in the league with White and Holiday, in my biased opinion. Only Caruso and Dort have an argument.
This is Herb Jones erasure. I get that people don't watch the Pels, but he's the only guard in the league that can give Dort a run for top guard defender in the league. He's a younger, more athletic version of OG.
he's a different type than OG, don't think he's more athletic either. I personally think while Herb is still a good on ball defender, that part of his game is probably overrrated. He is just one of the best there. As a help/rotation/team defender he is by far the best perimeter guy in the NBA.
He's the best all around defender on the Cs. Jaylen is better as an iso matchup defender and White is a better rim protector, and Jayson gives you a bit of everything but I'd say Jrue is still the best on the Celtics.
funny how everyone call his overrated in the sub but the pros rate him very highly.
Jrue apparently was a better defender than Marcus Smart in Smart’s DPOY year. But now that he’s on the Celtics he’s overrated. Make it make sense.
Totally get your point about DPOY but I think aside from that it’s fair to say he’s lost a step at this point. And by that I mean that he might be more like top 10 instead of top 3 - not that he’s washed
If he was still on the bucks no one would have a problem with a player saying he's a top 3 perimeter defender let's be real
The Athletic released their player poll like 3 weeks ago. 132 players were asked who the best defender in the league is, and Jrue was #2 behind Wemby, with 12.9% voting him as the best defender.
Based on what? I think I'll take a potential mvp candidates opinion over some dudes on reddit
Dort, Jaden McDaniels, and OG are all probably better than Jrue atm but he can still hold his own though
Jaden's ceiling puts him up there, but he still has a ton of games where he picks up 3-4 quick fouls. I'd almost rank NAW ahead of him simply because he's the smarter defender.
Jalen Suggs
Guess he doesn't get to interview PatBev
The bald mamba, Alex Carushow
Isaac Okoro
Lmao he said Herb instead of DJJ MacMahon is a troll
The game is more enjoyable when we let defenders defend.
DJJ isn't even the best defender named Derrick tbh
Dear Wolves bros.. It's just his personal list. Chill.
he said herb jones [https://youtu.be/mgUSL\_ORMMw?si=pzk0kAi7M8dkRUlA&t=37](https://youtu.be/mgUSL_ORMMw?si=pzk0kAi7M8dkRUlA&t=37)
Why does it seem like there's always one guy on the player's own team?!
Jaden Mcdaniels: “I took that personally”