Trade Talk (Part Six)

[SO_MONEY]

I do want to say this....I thought some of the comments Finch made last night postgame were screaming at Edwards. Lots of names could be filled in the blanks, but I think Edwards is a big one who might not be right for Finch.

This was the comment that really stuck out to me:

“We’re gonna tighten things up and we’re going to play the guys that can compete the hardest,” Finch said. “We’re going to have a whole new reality coming out of the break with the way we approach things. We’ve got to be more competitive on every single play down the floor. These performances only end when we decide they end.”

Combine that with this lowlight from the game:

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I don't necessarily think it's a foregone conclusion that his days are numbered, but I do think that he might be one of the guys affected by the tightening up.

I honestly don't know what the MASSIVE problem with that "lowlight" is?

Do you want him to crash the boards? or leave a long rebound and not be able to release?

It is kind of a petty gripe and personally I would want a guard to play the long rebound or release down court.

If anyone deserves criticism over that play it is Naz Reid!!!

The only thing Ant is thinking there is that he is right in position to get the ball as soon as they score.

I am not going to guess what he is thinking, but given he paused a bit I hope he was thinking that the ball might make its way to space. Either way he didn't really misplay it if you are going by what was proper. He should tried to make contact like Rubio did to slow him down a bit but he was out of position for that. Rubio himself needed to cover the rebound going to the opposite side. All in all hard to account for a wing crashing the glass like that and not getting back on defense. That rebound goes long it is a fast break and an easy bucket with only Rozier back in good position to defend. Like I said I think it is petty and it is more on Naz being a poor rebounder.

[Klomp]

I honestly don't know what the MASSIVE problem with that "lowlight" is?

Do you want him to crash the boards? or leave a long rebound and not be able to release?

It is kind of a petty gripe and personally I would want a guard to play the long rebound or release down court.

If anyone deserves criticism over that play it is Naz Reid!!!

Ever heard of boxing out? Hayward is HIS man

[Lucamilo23]

I honestly don't know what the MASSIVE problem with that "lowlight" is?

Do you want him to crash the boards? or leave a long rebound and not be able to release?

It is kind of a petty gripe and personally I would want a guard to play the long rebound or release down court.

If anyone deserves criticism over that play it is Naz Reid!!!

Ever heard of boxing out? Hayward is HIS man

Agreed. We as a team need to learn how to put a body on your player, or any surrounding player. It has been something that they do not do often and I have seen ant do it on multiple occasions.

[SO_MONEY]

I honestly don't know what the MASSIVE problem with that "lowlight" is?

Do you want him to crash the boards? or leave a long rebound and not be able to release?

It is kind of a petty gripe and personally I would want a guard to play the long rebound or release down court.

If anyone deserves criticism over that play it is Naz Reid!!!

Ever heard of boxing out? Hayward is HIS man

Not his responsibility to box out there (should have tried to slow him down though) and if you don't know that I am guessing and not trying to insult here, that your basketball experience is either not as a guard/wing or didn't extend much past middle-school. I would liken it to someone thinking you follow your shot. Watch Layman play the rebound to space as well, Reid should have boxed him out, but he had his hands in his pockets (ANT should have had his hands up too) and as a result we probably lost an opportunity to push tempo.

[jpatrick]

I honestly don't know what the MASSIVE problem with that "lowlight" is?

Do you want him to crash the boards? or leave a long rebound and not be able to release?

It is kind of a petty gripe and personally I would want a guard to play the long rebound or release down court.

If anyone deserves criticism over that play it is Naz Reid!!!

Ever heard of boxing out? Hayward is HIS man

Not his responsibility to box out there (should have tried to slow him down though) and if you don't know that I am guessing and not trying to insult here, that your basketball experience is either not as a guard/wing or didn't extend much past middle-school. I would liken it to someone thinking you follow your shot. Watch Layman play the rebound to space as well, Reid should have boxed him out, but he had his hands in his pockets (ANT should have had his hands up too) and as a result we probably lost an opportunity to push tempo.

If we’re talking about Hayward’s putback right before half (Ant came down and drew a foul on the other end), that is 100% on Ant. Anyone who says otherwise I question if you ever played on a team in your life. You can even see Rubio go to think about box out Hayward but he’s stuck with two guys because Ant didn’t move. Ball watching like that is the absolute thing you can do in that situation.

[Rookie-Mistake]

If I had to pick between John Collins and AG I pick Collins

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[Foye]

If I had to pick between John Collins and AG I pick Collins

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Yeah, Collins is a far better player than Gordon but even if you got him...you would have to pay him close to the max.

It's not happening with KAT and D-Lo already maxed.

[Rookie-Mistake]

I'm in the blow it up group so that doesn't phase me.. Kats recent press conference sounds like he is already checked out.. as much as I love the guy, we can't build around him if it means DLO is here..

If I had to pick between John Collins and AG I pick Collins

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Yeah, Collins is a far better player than Gordon but even if you got him...you would have to pay him close to the max.

It's not happening with KAT and D-Lo already maxed.

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[NebWolvesFan]

For me, if Minnesota goes for Collins - I trade KAT. I'm not sure KAT is that much better than Collins. If Minnesota could trade KAT to the Knicks and get Mitchell Robinson and three firsts (plus 15mill+ in salary savings) and then use some of the picks to get Collins. I would be a fan of going forward with Russell, Beasley, McDaniels, Robinson and Collins. I think that is a better foundation than what we have now with KAT, especially if Minnesota still have either Dallas' or NY's first this year. MCDaniels/Robinson protect the paint and the rest handle scoring.

If Minnesota keeps KAT, I would prefer Gordon. My hope is that Minnesota can find a way to get him without losing Beasley. I think Russell/Beasley would play a lot better with a point forward. I think both could hit more than 200 3s in a year. With Russell, Towns, and Beasley providing the offense and McDaniels (SF)/Gordon at the forwards providing defense, Minnesota may be okay. Unlike Okogie/Culver or Vando (who are alright defenders) Gordon and McDaniels can hit threes and force people out of the paint.

To get Collins, Minnesota would have to give up Beasley and maybe even McDaniels, so the Collins/Towns lineup would be Collins/Towns/Edwards/Culver/Russell. That's horrific defensively. Towns would have to be moved for some defensive help like Robinson.

[shrink]

People forget. Towns is good.

If you set aside guys like DeAndre Jordan who are just dunkers who need to be set up, Towns has the second highest career TS% ... in NBA history.

Offensively, Curry is the only guy above him. He is well above guys like Harden, LeBron, Jordan, Kobe, etc etc.

Towns only needs to be average defensively to be a top five player in two years. He can easily be average - his problems have nothing to do with being lazy, or athleticism, or injuries. A good coach that gets him to buy into the defensive system will have a superstar to build around.

[NebWolvesFan]

People forget. Towns is good.

If you set aside guys like DeAndre Jordan who are just dunkers who need to be set up, Towns has the second highest career TS% ... in NBA history.

Offensively, Curry is the only guy above him. He is well above guys like Harden, LeBron, Jordan, Kobe, etc etc.

Towns only needs to be average defensively to be a top five player in two years. He can easily be average - his problems have nothing to do with being lazy, or athleticism, or injuries. A good coach that gets him to buy into the defensive system will have a superstar to build around.

I agree with 100 percent of what you said. I just wonder if the way this team is constructed if a strong defensive center would be a better option than Towns. Plus, I think Minnesota is only getting about 70 percent of Towns right now with everything that has happened recently and if that keeps going I'm afraid in a year or two, Towns won't bring a big return anymore.

[Heimdal]

Yes, Towns is a finesse PF. Pair him with a strong rim protector and see him flourish. This franchise has spent 6 years trying to make him what he isn't.

Many years ago I was clamoring to pair him with Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside ended up playing poorly, but Towns needs someone like him or Drummond. Someone who does the dirty job and frees KAT to do what he's best at.

Going after Aaron Gordon tells me everything I need to know. They've learned nothing.

[SO_MONEY]

Yes, Towns is a finesse PF. Pair him with a strong rim protector and see him flourish. This franchise has spent 6 years trying to make him what he isn't.

Many years ago I was clamoring to pair him with Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside ended up playing poorly, but Towns needs someone like him or Drummond. Someone who does the dirty job and frees KAT to do what he's best at.

Going for Aaron Gordon tells me everything I need to know. They've learned nothing.

Towns is strictly a center, if you want to pair him with another center that center needs to be able to defend PFs. It is really that simple. We need a player who can defend PFs.

[Wolf_Cry]

Yes, Towns is a finesse PF. Pair him with a strong rim protector and see him flourish. This franchise has spent 6 years trying to make him what he isn't.

Many years ago I was clamoring to pair him with Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside ended up playing poorly, but Towns needs someone like him or Drummond. Someone who does the dirty job and frees KAT to do what he's best at.

Going after Aaron Gordon tells me everything I need to know. They've learned nothing.

I agree, but Drummond is also straight trash. I would like to go this route just to see if it's effective. And yes I know we tried a Towns-Dieng line up and it didn't work. Give me someone with at least average lateral abilities please.

[LesGrossman]

https://www.nbaanalysis.net/2021/03/05/nba-scout-says-t-wolves-should-trade-dangelo-russell-at-deadline/

[Baseline81]

https://www.nbaanalysis.net/2021/03/05/nba-scout-says-t-wolves-should-trade-dangelo-russell-at-deadline/

Not sure the scout in the article understands just how little his value is at the moment. The Wolves would certainly have to attach pick(s).

“This Timberwolves team isn’t going anywhere and it’s time to re-tool. Trade D’Angelo Russell for the most value you can get. He isn’t a player to build around, but his value is still decent.” – NBA scout on Timberwolves trading D’Angelo Russell."

[Jedzz]

I'm in the blow it up group so that doesn't phase me.. Kats recent press conference sounds like he is already checked out.. as much as I love the guy, we can't build around him if it means DLO is here..

Can you please tell me why they can't build a team around Kat/Dlo if they get real about who the other three need to be. You don't even have 10 games of them playing together to go off of. People making these kinds of statements are just wastes of time, hate filled spite leveled in the wrong direction at the wrong people.

To make that work you just can't keep drafting as if they aren't there. You can't make trades for players that will conflict with that. That's all that has to happen to make that work. Rosas just failed this offseason. Plain and simple failure to handle his moves with Dlo/Towns in mind. That's why things haven't looked better even when individually one or the other has played games here. Many pointed it out before the season started that this roster was effed up from these offseason moves. Besides the offseason moves obviously Covid destroyed our star Kat player this year. What can you do? Just try to get passed it without losing your damned heads.

[thinktank]

To make that work you just can't keep drafting as if they aren't there.

Yes you can.

We would have Ball and that would be awesome.

You draft BPA unless you're one move away.

or unless you're thrillkill on froobchat. Maybe you are.

[Jedzz]

To make that work you just can't keep drafting as if they aren't there.

Yes you can.

We would have Ball and that would be awesome.

You draft BPA unless you're one move away.

or unless you're thrillkill on froobchat. Maybe you are.

I was just listening to NBA radio and they were talking about a few other teams as options for a few of the players becoming available. Only one person talking in the group was a former player/coach and he brought up a strong opinion to shut down a few of the others' ideas. You can't just slam anyone together and expect it to be a positive move. If you double up a position with two stars of the same position you just made both of them worse then they are alone. That's different then say putting three stars together where each have to expect a drop in their usual numbers to allow the team to perform well together. It's different because usually that path doesn't include doubling up stars in one position. Most of the time teams are smarter than this. So why would someone add say Bradley Beal and Booker together for example? You just shouldn't.

The Nets added Harden to a team with Kyrie and Durant and many asked how this could ever work given who these players have been. But Harden has adjusted his game enough, I guess. Kyrie is allowing it, I guess. But that team was still losing games it shouldn't having those three star players of that level on it. But they just aren't as great together as they would be if each were fit with two other stars on different teams where none of their best roles overlap. They have to add more peices now to try and make that as strong of a team as it should be. Watch them do so this deadline.

So why is it any different when you look at the draft when your team has already decided to put two 30 million players together? It shouldn't be. You need to keep that in mind or you are betraying all the money you are dumping into those two.

If we had Ball right now it would be the Ball and Towns show with Beas. Dlo and his 30 million would be put out. Rubio and his 17 would be put out. Basically the same as it is with Edwards(+Culver and how they played the two early this season). Moreover, Beasely would still be punished/out right now. Dlo would be injured/out. Towns would have missed the games he did. So it would be the Ball and nobody show. You might enjoy how Ball plays more this season, but that doesn't mean the team will really be much better. It would still be a two to three man team view and nothing else that fits together. This would just have you feeling better about the future if the new Rookie is playing better. But that's if Ball actually ended up playing as well while here. There is no guarantee it would look the same here in this enviornment because they created a bad team environment here.

There is no short or quick way to discuss this with any validity. Just claiming you should always draft bpa because you don't think your team has enough doesn't fit here because the team already roped 60+ into two players longterm. It's a different situation that this team had never been in before. They already had a starting PG, starting SG, starting C. They were missing forwards to make this work and they gaffed it all this offseason. Period.

So many of you would prefer I guess at least being able to start a new rebuild centered on Ball's type of play. I get it. But in the mean time they still would have created a horrible roster situation of waste that would have took time to fix. They still would have had to move Dlo's deal out if they weren't going to use him. That still would have impacted Towns, your only proven star level player, and you would have to likely settle for a full rebuild on Ball. If that's what you want, fine. But that is a different conversation than the one about building something that can win this year and the next two years while Towns is here.

[IceManBK1]

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3rd in line behind Gordon and Collins?