General Wolves News

[dalton749]

for your guys sake, I really hope you suck this year
A lot of good power forwards next draft to fill in a really nice front court of the future

I actually think the optimal situation is the Wolves barely keeping their pick. Playing well proves our young talent is as good as we hope and it improves our chances of getting an impact free agent.

I don't think anyone is questioning wiggins/towns, I just think 1 more top pick and you've got a real okc thing going.

[Worm Guts]

Whether they question them or not, FA will be more willing to come if they think winning is imminent rather than a couple years away.

[Mattya]

for your guys sake, I really hope you suck this year
A lot of good power forwards next draft to fill in a really nice front court of the future

I actually think the optimal situation is the Wolves barely keeping their pick. Playing well proves our young talent is as good as we hope and it improves our chances of getting an impact free agent.

I don't think anyone is questioning wiggins/towns, I just think 1 more top pick and you've got a real okc thing going.

If our young guys can get us close to the playoff this year, then we already have a real OKC thing going on.

[Klomp]

If our young guys can get us close to the playoff this year, then we already have a real OKC thing going on.

I'm not so sure. You could argue that our best lineup so far this year is with 39-year old Kevin Garnett and 38-year old Tayshaun Prince. They won't be around forever.

I don't think Minnesota will ever be a free agent destination. Being a borderline playoff team this year wouldn't change that.

[Mattya]

If our young guys can get us close to the playoff this year, then we already have a real OKC thing going on.

I'm not so sure. You could argue that our best lineup so far this year is with 39-year old Kevin Garnett and 38-year old Tayshaun Prince. They won't be around forever.

I don't think Minnesota will ever be a free agent destination. Being a borderline playoff team this year wouldn't change that.

That is two positions from guys playing limited minutes. In every game so far since Rubio has been back, including preseason, the main 3 guys are Rubio, Wiggins, Towns. If those 3 can get us close to the playoffs at the ages of 25, 20, and 19. Yea, I'd be thrilled and wouldn't worry at all about our future. You can replace the actual on court production of Prince and Garnett without need to be a premier free agent destination. Especially with a significant amount of cap space. Not that I think it is likely.

[Worm Guts]

If our young guys can get us close to the playoff this year, then we already have a real OKC thing going on.

I'm not so sure. You could argue that our best lineup so far this year is with 39-year old Kevin Garnett and 38-year old Tayshaun Prince. They won't be around forever.

I don't think Minnesota will ever be a free agent destination. Being a borderline playoff team this year wouldn't change that.

I think free agents follow winning more than anything else besides money.
I also think winning is a better indicator that your young players are legit and not just paper tigers.
We also won't be winning based on KG's or Prince's 15 minutes a game

[Worm Guts]

There also may be a happy medium where our young players win some games and prove themselves but we're still in the range of reasonable lottery luck. Somewhere around 7-8.

[Klomp]

I think free agents follow winning more than anything else besides money.
I also think winning is a better indicator that your young players are legit and not just paper tigers.
We also won't be winning based on KG's or Prince's 15 minutes a game

Winning hasn't turned OKC into a destination team. Even pre-extension, that wasn't the case.

[Worm Guts]

I think free agents follow winning more than anything else besides money.
I also think winning is a better indicator that your young players are legit and not just paper tigers.
We also won't be winning based on KG's or Prince's 15 minutes a game

Winning hasn't turned OKC into a destination team. Even pre-extension, that wasn't the case.

I don't remember OKC aggressively pursuing any free agents. San Antonio has had some success.

Even without the FA thing, the main thing is that winning more games says better things about our core.

[Klomp]

I don't remember OKC aggressively pursuing any free agents. San Antonio has had some success.

How many years later though?

I just think its premature to think that one year on the playoff bubble after more than a decade of bad basketball will turn us into a top destination.

[Worm Guts]

I don't remember OKC aggressively pursuing any free agents. San Antonio has had some success.

How many years later though?

I just think its premature to think that one year on the playoff bubble after more than a decade of bad basketball will turn us into a top destination.

They stole Rasho more than 10 years ago

[Mattya]

There is a significant difference between being a top destination, and being able to attract players better than current Tayshaun Prince and Kevin Garnett.

Even Nic Batum, who was mentioned in another thread and was a significantly better player than Prince is now, was willing to sign an offer sheet here despite us only finishing 26-40 the previous season and having 5 straight years of sub 30 win seasons.

[Klomp]

There is a significant difference between being a top destination, and being able to attract players better than current Tayshaun Prince and Kevin Garnett.

Even Nic Batum, who was mentioned in another thread and was a significantly better player than Prince is now, was willing to sign an offer sheet here despite us only finishing 26-40 the previous season and having 5 straight years of sub 30 win seasons.

If it's as easy as you think, then we should not worry about winning games, get a top-5 pick AND sign a top free agent.

I just don't want to get to a point as a fan base where we are saying "we already have a real OKC thing going on" so we are set for the future. That cost us when we had KG. The mentality that you don't need that much around a star to compete for a title. While that may be true, it doesn't mean we should stop trying to collect assets. Wiggins and Towns are great, but I don't think we are where we could be in terms of roster development.

I'd rather go for high upside youth and a mid-tier FA than go after a higher tier FA and a mid tier rookie.

[Worm Guts]

I still have no doubt winning more games gives a better chance at a free agent. Doesn't mean we'll get one, but I think trying to win is good for multiple reasons.
As far as comparing it to the KG situation, we had our picks taken. It's not comparable.

[Mattya]

There is a significant difference between being a top destination, and being able to attract players better than current Tayshaun Prince and Kevin Garnett.

Even Nic Batum, who was mentioned in another thread and was a significantly better player than Prince is now, was willing to sign an offer sheet here despite us only finishing 26-40 the previous season and having 5 straight years of sub 30 win seasons.

If it's as easy as you think, then we should not worry about winning games, get a top-5 pick AND sign a top free agent.

I just don't want to get to a point as a fan base where we are saying "we already have a real OKC thing going on" so we are set for the future. That cost us when we had KG. The mentality that you don't need that much around a star to compete for a title. While that may be true, it doesn't mean we should stop trying to collect assets. Wiggins and Towns are great, but I don't think we are where we could be in terms of roster development.

I'd rather go for high upside youth and a mid-tier FA than go after a higher tier FA and a mid tier rookie.

As easy as I think? To attract free agents more productive than current Prince and Garnett? There is a pretty sizable gap between better than those two and top tier free agent. We signed Prince for a minimum deal at the end of FA.

The Garnett years comparison makes no sense to me at all. We tried desperately for years to add talent to those teams, there was never a mentality that we were good enough. That is why we pretty much had a revolving door of players.

Would I rather be in the playoffs (and what it would mean for how we got there) or having a top 5 pick. I'm choosing the playoffs ever time. There is no guarantees that your pick pans out. Being in the playoffs in Wiggins 2nd year and Towns 1st year would mean they are significantly better and more ready than most thought. Do I think we will be? No, but I think you are ignoring how good Wiggins, Towns and Rubio would have to be to get there. If they are that good, then no we don't have much to worry about.

[Saltine]

All 30 NBA teams ranked by fan base grammar
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/11/nba-fan-base-grammar-rankings-grammarly

The Western and Eastern Conferences were incredibly close overall, but Minnesota Timberwolves fans are the clear winners with an average of just 1.69 mistakes per 100 words.

[C.lupus]

We're number one!

[Mattya]

Us gud gramar,

[Gunny]

Is there any news on Jones? He's been in a suit for the first few games. Is he injured? Inactive reserve player?

[C.lupus]

I don't think he's injured, just on the inactive list.