Rotation thread 2024/2025

[Sealab2024]

I was listening to Dane talk about Jingles and how he may be saving his energy for the regular season. I hope so, because Jingles has been unplayable so far. If he cannot defend he also cannot play with RD or Garza and that can be tricky to accommodate.

I don't think it matters with how Minott has been playing. The bench at this point is

Naz
DDV
NAW
Minott

Dillingham depending on how this all acts out.

I don't think there's time for Joe. Honestly if there is time for an extra big I'd rather it go to Luka who will always be a below average defender in space but has improved, from what I've seen, on his interior work. Meanwhile he's never not put points up when in a game.

Do you mean Ingles? Also I agree, Minott is the better and more valuable player over Ingles because Minott has a higher defensive upside while shooting well enough to force defenders to respect him. Could that change, absolutely, but for now that is where I am at.

Yeah, Joe Ingles. I'm sure there will be times he goes out there situationally, but you're right. He's looked unplayable.

[winforlose]

I don't think it matters with how Minott has been playing. The bench at this point is

Naz
DDV
NAW
Minott

Dillingham depending on how this all acts out.

I don't think there's time for Joe. Honestly if there is time for an extra big I'd rather it go to Luka who will always be a below average defender in space but has improved, from what I've seen, on his interior work. Meanwhile he's never not put points up when in a game.

Do you mean Ingles? Also I agree, Minott is the better and more valuable player over Ingles because Minott has a higher defensive upside while shooting well enough to force defenders to respect him. Could that change, absolutely, but for now that is where I am at.

Yeah, Joe Ingles. I'm sure there will be times he goes out there situationally, but you're right. He's looked unplayable.

My bad, I misread your original post. You said with how Minott is playing I thought you meant with how Ingles is playing. While I am not the cancer sufferer in my family, I am on very strong meds for a different issue and they mess with my head. I apologize.

[Klomp]

If you had to ask me an over/under on how many games Rob will play for Iowa, I'd set the line at 1.5....and I think I'd lean the under.

All season or in the month of October?

Season

[Sealab2024]

Do you mean Ingles? Also I agree, Minott is the better and more valuable player over Ingles because Minott has a higher defensive upside while shooting well enough to force defenders to respect him. Could that change, absolutely, but for now that is where I am at.

Yeah, Joe Ingles. I'm sure there will be times he goes out there situationally, but you're right. He's looked unplayable.

My bad, I misread your original post. You said with how Minott is playing I thought you meant with how Ingles is playing. While I am not the cancer sufferer in my family, I am on very strong meds for a different issue and they mess with my head. I apologize.

No problem. I'm on my own battery of meds. The other day at work I got off the elevator at the wrong floor like 3 times. The last time I walked on going "don't get off on 4, don't get off on 4". By the time we got to 4 I'd forgotten and got right off. I know how it goes.

[winforlose]

Yeah, Joe Ingles. I'm sure there will be times he goes out there situationally, but you're right. He's looked unplayable.

My bad, I misread your original post. You said with how Minott is playing I thought you meant with how Ingles is playing. While I am not the cancer sufferer in my family, I am on very strong meds for a different issue and they mess with my head. I apologize.

No problem. I'm on my own battery of meds. The other day at work I got off the elevator at the wrong floor like 3 times. The last time I walked on going "don't get off on 4, don't get off on 4". By the time we got to 4 I'd forgotten and got right off. I know how it goes.

Sorry to hear that. It’s a club that is no fun to be a member of.

[Norseman79]

Hopefully they are aggressively watching who gets released and start looking for a legit 2nd big. Jesse Edwards is ass

[shrink]

My bad, I misread your original post. You said with how Minott is playing I thought you meant with how Ingles is playing. While I am not the cancer sufferer in my family, I am on very strong meds for a different issue and they mess with my head. I apologize.

No problem. I'm on my own battery of meds. The other day at work I got off the elevator at the wrong floor like 3 times. The last time I walked on going "don't get off on 4, don't get off on 4". By the time we got to 4 I'd forgotten and got right off. I know how it goes.

I read it the same way initially. And if it makes you feel better, yesterday I got in the car, turned on a Wolves podcast, and didn’t realize I was driving to the wrong place for ten minutes.

[Klomp]

Hopefully they are aggressively watching who gets released and start looking for a legit 2nd big. Jesse Edwards is ass

So they need to look for a legit second big because the seventh big on the depth chart is ass? That makes no sense.

[BlacJacMac]

Hopefully they are aggressively watching who gets released and start looking for a legit 2nd big. Jesse Edwards is ass

So they need to look for a legit second big because the seventh big on the depth chart is ass? That makes no sense.

I think its more that we don't have a back-up center. I think we can get by for stretches in games going small with Naz or Randle playing there. But if Rudy misses any time, who do we go to? Are you comfortable going 48 minutes with Randle/Naz/Garza?

Naz is 6'9 and supposedly down to around 230 and plays like a wing. Garza has shredded his way to like 235 and he doesn't really defend in the post or in space. So your best bet might be 6'8 Julius Randle, who looks slimmer than last year when he was 250.

I'd try to get a better 2-way big than Edwards, but I'd also look to try to turn Dozier and KBD's roster spots into a physical big that can play right now if needed. We could do a lot worse than Biyombo, who would give us size and can still rebound and defend.

[Norseman79]

Hopefully they are aggressively watching who gets released and start looking for a legit 2nd big. Jesse Edwards is ass

So they need to look for a legit second big because the seventh big on the depth chart is ass? That makes no sense.

Who else is big besides Rudy?

[Colbinii]

Hopefully they are aggressively watching who gets released and start looking for a legit 2nd big. Jesse Edwards is ass

So they need to look for a legit second big because the seventh big on the depth chart is ass? That makes no sense.

Who else is big besides Rudy?

Can you explain why we need another player as big as Rudy?

OKC has only Hartenstein.
Memphis has only Edey.
Denver has only Jokic.
Sacramento has only Sabonis.
Lakers have only AD.
Phoenix has only Nurcik.

Why is Minnesota the team that needs to add size when they have Randle and Reid?

[Norseman79]

So they need to look for a legit second big because the seventh big on the depth chart is ass? That makes no sense.

Who else is big besides Rudy?

Can you explain why we need another player as big as Rudy?

OKC has only Hartenstein.
Memphis has only Edey.
Denver has only Jokic.
Sacramento has only Sabonis.
Lakers have only AD.
Phoenix has only Nurcik.

Why is Minnesota the team that needs to add size when they have Randle and Reid?

Because a big reason we beat all those teams last year was we had two 7' players to handle size and create mismatches. Why did we destroy Denver? They had no one to give Jokic a break. We exploited the Suns by attacking the paint and shutting it down on the other end. Notice the team that destroyed us had two, athletic aggressive 7's and a third off the bench.

Also,

OKC has Holmgren and Jalen Williams both 6'10+ in addition to Hartenstein

Memphis has JJ Jr and Santi Aldema in addition to Edey

Sac has Alex Len and Orlando Robinson

Lakers have Jaxon Hayes and Koloko

Suns now have Plumlee and Bol Bol

Nuggets have Nnaji and Jordan...

[Klomp]

Who else is big besides Rudy?

Can you explain why we need another player as big as Rudy?

OKC has only Hartenstein.
Memphis has only Edey.
Denver has only Jokic.
Sacramento has only Sabonis.
Lakers have only AD.
Phoenix has only Nurcik.

Why is Minnesota the team that needs to add size when they have Randle and Reid?

Because a big reason we beat all those teams last year was we had two 7' players to handle size and create mismatches. Why did we destroy Denver? They had no one to give Jokic a break. We exploited the Suns by attacking the paint and shutting it down on the other end. Notice the team that destroyed us had two, athletic aggressive 7's and a third off the bench.

Also,

OKC has Holmgren and Jalen Williams both 6'10+ in addition to Hartenstein

Memphis has JJ Jr and Santi Aldema in addition to Edey

Sac has Alex Len and Orlando Robinson

Lakers have Jaxon Hayes and Koloko

Suns now have Plumlee and Bol Bol

Nuggets have Nnaji and Jordan...

Your big thing is weight, right?! That Garza isn't big enough?!

Chet Holmgren is like 210 lbs.
Jalen is not close to 6'10"....he's more like 6'5".
Jackson is a soft twig.
Len and Robinson are Garza-level bigs.
Hayes is like 230 lbs. Koloko is a G Leaguer.
Plumlee is solid, Bol is not good.
Denver never went to those two for a reason....

[frankenwolf]

Who else is big besides Rudy?

Can you explain why we need another player as big as Rudy?

OKC has only Hartenstein.
Memphis has only Edey.
Denver has only Jokic.
Sacramento has only Sabonis.
Lakers have only AD.
Phoenix has only Nurcik.

Why is Minnesota the team that needs to add size when they have Randle and Reid?

Because a big reason we beat all those teams last year was we had two 7' players to handle size and create mismatches. Why did we destroy Denver? They had no one to give Jokic a break. We exploited the Suns by attacking the paint and shutting it down on the other end. Notice the team that destroyed us had two, athletic aggressive 7's and a third off the bench.

Also,

OKC has Holmgren and Jalen Williams both 6'10+ in addition to Hartenstein

Memphis has JJ Jr and Santi Aldema in addition to Edey

Sac has Alex Len and Orlando Robinson

Lakers have Jaxon Hayes and Koloko

Suns now have Plumlee and Bol Bol

Nuggets have Nnaji and Jordan...

Or maybe, Finch is a step ahead and just made the league think that two bigs were a good thing. Now he's going to destroy them with a bunch of 6-6 to 6-10 fast guys that shoot threes and layups.

[Norseman79]

Can you explain why we need another player as big as Rudy?

OKC has only Hartenstein.
Memphis has only Edey.
Denver has only Jokic.
Sacramento has only Sabonis.
Lakers have only AD.
Phoenix has only Nurcik.

Why is Minnesota the team that needs to add size when they have Randle and Reid?

Because a big reason we beat all those teams last year was we had two 7' players to handle size and create mismatches. Why did we destroy Denver? They had no one to give Jokic a break. We exploited the Suns by attacking the paint and shutting it down on the other end. Notice the team that destroyed us had two, athletic aggressive 7's and a third off the bench.

Also,

OKC has Holmgren and Jalen Williams both 6'10+ in addition to Hartenstein

Memphis has JJ Jr and Santi Aldema in addition to Edey

Sac has Alex Len and Orlando Robinson

Lakers have Jaxon Hayes and Koloko

Suns now have Plumlee and Bol Bol

Nuggets have Nnaji and Jordan...

Your big thing is weight, right?! That Garza isn't big enough?!

Chet Holmgren is like 210 lbs.
Jalen is not close to 6'10"....he's more like 6'5".
Jackson is a soft twig.
Len and Robinson are Garza-level bigs.
Hayes is like 230 lbs. Koloko is a G Leaguer.
Plumlee is solid, Bol is not good.
Denver never went to those two for a reason....

It doesn't have to be weight it's just general size. Height, length, wait, wingspan, all of it matters.

He might only be 210 lb but he's over 7 ft tall with a gargantuous wingspan. So is wemby. We haven't even mentioned him.
You're thinking of the wrong Jalen there are two Jalen Williams, perhaps I spelled the name wrong, on OKC's team.

They might be Garza level bigs, But they're at larger and more athletic than Garza.

Jackson is a soft twig yet was up for defensive player of the year? Okay that makes sense.

Hayes might be 230 lb, but again 7 ft with huge wingspan and can jump out the roof. They're planning on koloko being on the active roster as of the other day when they were hoping he'd be ready for the season opener against the wolves. By the way, Garza was a g Leaguer too.

Malone's management of jokic was likely a massive error on his end. I would also be surprised if they don't have that situation addressed sooner rather than later.

The other players you all mention, regardless of how talented or not they are, have been active NBA players. And they are larger. I'm simply pointing it out.

My opinion could absolutely be wrong, but it could be right. Only time will tell.

[Norseman79]

Can you explain why we need another player as big as Rudy?

OKC has only Hartenstein.
Memphis has only Edey.
Denver has only Jokic.
Sacramento has only Sabonis.
Lakers have only AD.
Phoenix has only Nurcik.

Why is Minnesota the team that needs to add size when they have Randle and Reid?

Because a big reason we beat all those teams last year was we had two 7' players to handle size and create mismatches. Why did we destroy Denver? They had no one to give Jokic a break. We exploited the Suns by attacking the paint and shutting it down on the other end. Notice the team that destroyed us had two, athletic aggressive 7's and a third off the bench.

Also,

OKC has Holmgren and Jalen Williams both 6'10+ in addition to Hartenstein

Memphis has JJ Jr and Santi Aldema in addition to Edey

Sac has Alex Len and Orlando Robinson

Lakers have Jaxon Hayes and Koloko

Suns now have Plumlee and Bol Bol

Nuggets have Nnaji and Jordan...

Or maybe, Finch is a step ahead and just made the league think that two bigs were a good thing. Now he's going to destroy them with a bunch of 6-6 to 6-10 fast guys that shoot threes and layups.

Maybe... But why stop there, maybe he's going to roll out a lineup of a bunch of 6'2 - 6'3 guys and just press all over the floor and not even let them get it across half court wouldn't that be neat?

[Klomp]

Or maybe, Finch is a step ahead and just made the league think that two bigs were a good thing. Now he's going to destroy them with a bunch of 6-6 to 6-10 fast guys that shoot threes and layups.

I'll be honest, I kind of thought about this too.

To be far, Finch's thing has always been about SKILLED bigs. I think skilled size always beats skilled without size. I think we've done a pretty good job of building a roster of skilled size. Maybe not perfect, but I don't think other teams put the same priority on the skill as the Wolves have done. Naz and Jaden especially are two cheat codes in this regard.

[shrink]

You guys have gotten me to re-examine how I look at roster building. For a couple decades, I’ve always thought that every team wants a third PG for emergencies, like a Jordan MacLaughlin, or a third center if they need to bang against another team with that size, like carrying a Greg Monroe. In the beginning of the season, I was even expressing that need at PG.

However, times are changing. Teams don’t need PG’s to do the play-making, because we are seeing it from stars at all positions. Suddenly, the passing of tiny PG’s doesn’t make up for their inability to defend switches on bigger players. I have always conceived of the traditional PG like Conley, but now you see the ball in the hands of a Luka or even Jokic, and that need for a third string PG may not be so great any more. After Conley, maybe we can get enough playmaking from Ant, DDV, Randle, NAW and a developing Dillingham to make it not worth a roster spot?

The same may be becoming true for traditional centers. In the modern NBA, the more a rim-protecting center can also be mobile and shoot three’s, the greater additional value he has. That said, last year we have been able to use our size to batter opponents because their roster construction didn’t have enough bigs for 48 minutes, when they had to go against multiple good 6-9 and bigger players (Gobert, Towns, SloMo, Jaden, Naz). I like having size as an advantage, and replacing Towns and Kyle Anderson with just Randle feels like, while they might not win, the 2023 Wolves could beat up the 2024 team with size.

Maybe I’m still old-fashion, but I’d like us to have one other really big guy available. I would hope with 18 roster spots, we could find the space.

[Norseman79]

Or maybe, Finch is a step ahead and just made the league think that two bigs were a good thing. Now he's going to destroy them with a bunch of 6-6 to 6-10 fast guys that shoot threes and layups.

I'll be honest, I kind of thought about this too.

To be far, Finch's thing has always been about SKILLED bigs. I think skilled size always beats skilled without size. I think we've done a pretty good job of building a roster of skilled size. Maybe not perfect, but I don't think other teams put the same priority on the skill as the Wolves have done. Naz and Jaden especially are two cheat codes in this regard.

This I agree with.

Though Naz is really not that big for a 4, he is above average.

[Norseman79]

You guys have gotten me to re-examine how I look at roster building. For a couple decades, I’ve always thought that every team wants a third PG for emergencies, like a Jordan MacLaughlin, or a third center if they need to bang against another team with that size, like carrying a Greg Monroe. In the beginning of the season, I was even expressing that need at PG.

However, times are changing. Teams don’t need PG’s to do the play-making, because we are seeing it from stars at all positions. Suddenly, the passing of tiny PG’s doesn’t make up for their inability to defend switches on bigger players. I have always conceived of the traditional PG like Conley, but now you see the ball in the hands of a Luka or even Jokic, and that need for a third string PG may not be so great any more. After Conley, maybe we can get enough playmaking from Ant, DDV, Randle, NAW and a developing Dillingham to make it not worth a roster spot?

The same may be becoming true for traditional centers. In the modern NBA, the more a rim-protecting center can also be mobile and shoot three’s, the greater additional value he has. That said, last year we have been able to use our size to batter opponents because their roster construction didn’t have enough bigs for 48 minutes, when they had to go against multiple good 6-9 and bigger players (Gobert, Towns, SloMo, Jaden, Naz). I like having size as an advantage, and replacing Towns and Kyle Anderson with just Randle feels like, while they might not win, the 2023 Wolves could beat up the 2024 team with size.

Maybe I’m still old-fashion, but I’d like us to have one other really big guy available. I would hope with 18 roster spots, we could find the space.

Yes. This. Again, I like Garza, just need another to compliment him.

PG - Conley 6'1 178, DD 6'5 205
SG - Ant 6'5 225, NAW 6'5 193
SF - McDaniels 6'9 201, Minott 6'8 202( he has to be ahead of Ingles)
PF - Randle 6'9 250, Naz 6'9 247
C. - Rudy 7'1 257, Garza 6'10 230 (looked the same height as Gordon though).

This is just height and weight though, if it's even accurate. I'm not going to go through and list wingspans.