How good would Minnesota be with Wizards MJ replacing Anthony Edwards?

[rk2023]

What the thread is titled / poll is asking essentially. They both play the same possession, and are statistically similar when using advanced measures such as PER & BPM - same with their per game slashlines.

I’d reckon there isn’t much tail-off if you replaced Ant with MJ?

[eminence]

I don’t think they’d be as good, probably somewhere in the play-in. But he does fit the role reasonably well. I’m not sure there’s much difference in option 4-5 vs 6-10. Voted 6-10.

[penbeast0]

Wizards MJ average of both years or one particular year?

Wizards MJ with the stats he actually had (adjusted for teammates) or the stats he put up relative to the league?

Wizards MJ playing Edwards's role as a combo guard or more small forward as he did in Washington and if he's more limited to defending SFs in the modern league, who picks up the opposing guard (Kyle Anderson and Jaden McDaniel would have to guard more 2's)?

MJ was always a bit of a jerk to his teammates, particularly as he got older and more entitled. Would Gobert (who got into it with Donovan Mitchell as well as Kyle Anderson), KAT (who had issues with Jimmy Butler), or other T-Wolves have locker room conflicts with Jordan's abrasive style?

[picko]

The best case scenario is just making the play-in. But I'm pretty sure the team would have severe chemistry issues given the disconnect between how Jordan viewed himself and what he was still capable of.

Assuming in this scenario Jordan is coming back from retirement, he'd be dealing with knee issues and he'd struggle with the pace. He'd no doubt play fewer minutes than Edwards. And he might need to be heavily managed.

The league itself is also considerably better than when Jordan was with the Wizards. So a 38 / 39 year old Jordan is unlikely to be as effective now as he was then and he wasn't particularly effective then.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Twolves supporting cast is about as Good as MJ’s supporting cast in 1996-1998
Gobert and Rodman do not bring much offense.

Current Celtics may be a bit better for this era than sonics were for 1996. Current Celtics time traveling shoot 3s much better than Sonics did. Nuggets are also a threat to beat Jordan Twolves. Thats it; 1996 Jordan or 1993 Jordan elevates the Twolves to the level of the Nuggets and Celtics. One of those 3 teams wins the championship. Western conference finals and finals go 6 or 7 games and Jordan might win the chamionship.

Wizards MJ is not good enough to win the championship replacing Edwards. Wizards MJ is not much of an upgrade over Edwards.

[Colbinii]

Twolves supporting cast is about as Good as MJ’s supporting cast in 1996-1998
Gobert and Rodman do not bring much offense.

I would say Gobert brings quite a bit offensively.

His Screen and Roll game is one of the best in the NBA. When you watch him, he collapses the defense which allows for the corner 3's where players like McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker thrive. They wouldn't get the same looks if it was a pedestrian roller or someone like Towns who doesn't roll often.

It's really fun to watch, actually. What tends to happen in the Conley/Gobert P&R is Conley keeps the ball and is extremely patient while he and Gobert sort of slow-walk to the rim, catching the weak-side corner defender in no mans land where he either needs to commit to help Gobert or stay near the 3P line to prevent the baseline pass to the corner man AND defend the weakside wing.

Edwards is getting better at it, but and some of his skip-passes are excellent but he doesn't have the same patience on a consistent basis yet.

Wizards MJ is not good enough to win the championship replacing Edwards. Wizards MJ is not much of an upgrade over Edwards.

Is he an upgrade?

There is a sizeable defensive gap here.

[Cavsfansince84]

I think the best role for Wizards MJ on a contender is as a 26-28mpg 6th man. I know what he was able to do there but you couldn't count on him to be a 35mpg guy and your team's #1 scorer if you want to actually contend. His ceiling was no longer that high. Wolves go down quite a bit having MJ there and thinking he can still be the man on a contender.

[tsherkin]

Considerably worse. Jordan was playing inefficient ball by his in-era standards and was only good for the team in the loosest of senses because the Wizards were that crap to begin with.

In today's game? It'd be a massacre; as a Wizard, he was so much worse than Ant is now due to his reduced mobility and total lack of ability to score efficiently. Ant isn't hot to begin with but a sub-50% TS scorer? Even if you make allowances for era boosts, Washington MJ would be a BRUTAL anchor on a contemporary offense.

[Tim Lehrbach]

Yeah, this crashes the team, especially if you consider KAT's injuries. I don't think that overrates Ant or underrates Wizards MJ.

[Redmoon]

I voted 4-5. I can see play-in team as well but I'm being optimistic. I think his value as a tough shot maker and his experience/leadership will really shine through on this team especially in the playoffs. Criticism of him being a jerk to his teammates aren't very convincing to me tbh, he has real leadership skills (albeit his own particular style) and can get the best out of his teammates. Gonna assume MJ doesn't get injured as well cause he really was balling out before his knee took a hit. Prob the biggest issue is the defensive gap. He def can be a great lockdown defender when he picks and chooses his spots.

I am a little more partial to wizards MJ than most, coming out of retirement after 3 years to be on a completely terrible team and being forced to take the most shots will of course tank his TS. He was playing on one leg the majority of his time in the wizards! Remember he was very inefficient coming back in 95 as well, it took him sometime to get back in a groove. There needs to be some context when you look at his inefficiency in those years. If you just look at his midrange shooting numbers, he compares favorably to all the contemporary stars of that era - kobe, tmac, paul pierce, AI. On higher volume to boot. Today he would have more room to work with and have actual shooting around him. His overall 'iq' for the game translates to better playmaking, shot selection and overall decision making compared to ant for me. IDK how to quantify that but those are pluses i see if you compare the two.

I don't view MJ's horrid 3 point shooting as big of a concern as his severe loss of athleticism. The lack of rim pressure would hinder his ability to create which is crucial as #1 guy. Maybe his shot profile might look like derozan today lol. Overall, I feel the team will be a little worse if you replace ant with him. I do agree with other posters that MJ would fit the role nicely on a strong timberwolves team.

[tsherkin]

I am a little more partial to wizards MJ than most, coming out of retirement after 3 years to be on a completely terrible team and being forced to take the most shots will of course tank his TS. He was playing on one leg the majority of his time in the wizards!

This is true, and his specific efficiency would obviously be better. But he only had the athleticism to get basically 20-footers all day long. Some of that was Doug Collins' system, but a lot of it was that he just didn't have it anymore, especially in the grinder pace of the time. He'd look a little better when he could run, they wouldn't ask him to play 38 mpg, Artest wouldn't have cracked his ribs, sure. Spacing would be better, but that actually didn't bother him all that much with the Wizards, as he was getting the looks he wanted most of the time.

If you just look at his midrange shooting numbers, he compares favorably to all the contemporary stars of that era - kobe, tmac, paul pierce, AI. On higher volume to boot.

Yes, he was a mesmerizingly effective mid-range shooter. Which was good in the 90s. And despite his dreadful inefficiency, he was still providing lift on O to that awful Washington squad. But he couldn't draw fouls, couldn't generate shots at the rim, wasn't creating any of the same north-south pressure he had done as a Bull. That wasn't in his bag of tricks anymore. He was too old, and he wasn't Lebron's size, etc, etc, etc. You can approach 3pt shooting a few ways, but he wasn't using the shot in Washington much, so it's hard to evaluate.

I don't view MJ's horrid 3 point shooting as big of a concern as his severe loss of athleticism. The lack of rim pressure would hinder his ability to create which is crucial as #1 guy. Maybe his shot profile might look like derozan today lol. Overall, I feel the team will be a little worse if you replace ant with him. I do agree with other posters that MJ would fit the role nicely on a strong timberwolves team.

Things to remember about Ant:

- competent volume 3pt shooter
- basically an entire career younger than Wizards Jordan
- actually capable of drawing fouls
- getting more than 20% of his shots inside the RA (Jordan didn't pass 13.8% as a Wizard)

Jordan had his value, particularly that first year back. The Wizards were like .500 until he went down with the knee, if memory serves. But yeah, definitely wouldn't be doing anything better than Ant for that team.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

Twolves supporting cast is about as Good as MJ’s supporting cast in 1996-1998
Gobert and Rodman do not bring much offense.

I would say Gobert brings quite a bit offensively.

His Screen and Roll game is one of the best in the NBA. When you watch him, he collapses the defense which allows for the corner 3's where players like McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker thrive. They wouldn't get the same looks if it was a pedestrian roller or someone like Towns who doesn't roll often.

It's really fun to watch, actually. What tends to happen in the Conley/Gobert P&R is Conley keeps the ball and is extremely patient while he and Gobert sort of slow-walk to the rim, catching the weak-side corner defender in no mans land where he either needs to commit to help Gobert or stay near the 3P line to prevent the baseline pass to the corner man AND defend the weakside wing.

Edwards is getting better at it, but and some of his skip-passes are excellent but he doesn't have the same patience on a consistent basis yet.

Wizards MJ is not good enough to win the championship replacing Edwards. Wizards MJ is not much of an upgrade over Edwards.

Is he an upgrade?

There is a sizeable defensive gap here.

I was out of the country and away from TV and internet for part of Jordan Wizards. I did not like watching the Jordan Wizards. I think Wizard’s Jordan was reduced to something about at the same level as current Anthony Edwards. Edwards may have gotten better and my impression of Edwards may not have caught up to what Edwards is now.

I can’t say if Wizards Jordan is an upgrade or downgrade on current Edwards.