Constructing the Timberwolves rotation

[Jedzz]

I'm not afraid of you. I do believe you try to intimidate by the nasty way you talk to others. When I said stalking it is that I'm watching what you do and I'm going to call you out on bad behavior and bad logic.

sigh

[Jedzz]

That will last forever.

[KGdaBom]

I'm not afraid of you. I do believe you try to intimidate by the nasty way you talk to others. When I said stalking it is that I'm watching what you do and I'm going to call you out on bad behavior and bad logic.

sigh

Sorry. When I feel people are being attacked it is in my nature to defend them.

[KGdaBom]

That will last forever.

I'm not going to say you're wrong when IMO you're right. It's not going to happen.

[Jedzz]

I'm not afraid of you. I do believe you try to intimidate by the nasty way you talk to others. When I said stalking it is that I'm watching what you do and I'm going to call you out on bad behavior and bad logic.

sigh

Sorry. When I feel people are being attacked it is in my nature to defend them.

[minimus]

I wonder how much can Juancho improve, he is 6'9", 220lb with 7-foot wingspan. Should he add 10-15lbs? He has similar to Layman physical profile, but if he bulks up to 230-235lbs, he might be better at defense against PFs.

Watch on YouTube

[minimus]

Under-the-radar PF option: Bruno Caboclo

Young, long, defense-focused but yet mobile big who has shown glimpses of 3-point shooting

My under-the-radar PF option is our old friend KBD. I was sad to see him traded. If DEN waives him, I'd love to sign him for 1+3 deal. Although, he might have better career in Europe, but I kind of believe that our lack of playmaking and passing from PG spot hurt his play more than other young players. Always like his versatility, high IQ, off ball cuts. He has developed that effective eurostep and corner 3s. Really like him as a player. Fits perfectly as backup wing in 1-3-1 system.

When he got 20-29 minutes in 10 games, he was averaging 10 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.7 apg in 23.6 mpg on 51% FG, 48.5% from 3PT. Ortg 122, Drtg 107.

Watch on YouTube

[Klomp]

Here is the current breakdown of ages for our players when the new season begins in December.

Russell (24) / McLaughlin (24)
Beasley (24) / Layman (26) / Nowell (21)
Okogie (22) / Culver (21) / Martin (25) / Evans (23)
Hernangomez (25) / Johnson (33) / Vanderbilt (21)
Towns (25) / Reid (21) / Spellman (23)

A lot of people are in a rush to speed up the development of the roster by adding more vets but I'm not sure that's wise. Maybe a vet or two to help with mentorship, but I don't think a massive step forward by the end of next season is mandatory. I don't think there's any clock for Towns, especially after the team brought in Russell. Maybe a greater sense of urgency for the team, but no mandate from Towns to improve if they don't want to trade him.

This is a super young core. I'm not in a hurry to break it up.

[minimus]

Here is the current breakdown of ages for our players when the new season begins in December.

Russell (24) / McLaughlin (24)
Beasley (24) / Layman (26) / Nowell (21)
Okogie (22) / Culver (21) / Martin (25) / Evans (23)
Hernangomez (25) / Johnson (33) / Vanderbilt (21)
Towns (25) / Reid (21) / Spellman (23)

A lot of people are in a rush to speed up the development of the roster by adding more vets but I'm not sure that's wise. Maybe a vet or two to help with mentorship, but I don't think a massive step forward by the end of next season is mandatory. I don't think there's any clock for Towns, especially after the team brought in Russell. Maybe a greater sense of urgency for the team, but no mandate from Towns to improve if they don't want to trade him.

This is a super young core. I'm not in a hurry to break it up.

After Thibs regime we have that bad feeling about veterans. But I believe that was more about Thibs coaching and vision. I would be happy to add guys like Crowder, Rubio, Joe Harris who are around 30yo, with plenty of experience, competitiveness, positive presence in locker room, who know their role and still 2-3 years of productive basketball left.

Would I rush to add veterans such as JC, Rose, Gibson, AT? No/

[Klomp]

Here is the current breakdown of ages for our players when the new season begins in December.

Russell (24) / McLaughlin (24)
Beasley (24) / Layman (26) / Nowell (21)
Okogie (22) / Culver (21) / Martin (25) / Evans (23)
Hernangomez (25) / Johnson (33) / Vanderbilt (21)
Towns (25) / Reid (21) / Spellman (23)

A lot of people are in a rush to speed up the development of the roster by adding more vets but I'm not sure that's wise. Maybe a vet or two to help with mentorship, but I don't think a massive step forward by the end of next season is mandatory. I don't think there's any clock for Towns, especially after the team brought in Russell. Maybe a greater sense of urgency for the team, but no mandate from Towns to improve if they don't want to trade him.

This is a super young core. I'm not in a hurry to break it up.

After Thibs regime we have that bad feeling about veterans. But I believe that was more about Thibs coaching and vision. I would be happy to add guys like Crowder, Rubio, Joe Harris who are around 30yo, with plenty of experience, competitiveness, positive presence in locker room, who know their role and still 2-3 years of productive basketball left.

Would I rush to add veterans such as JC, Rose, Gibson, AT? No/

I feel like the focus will be on guys coming off their first contracts -- like Layman was and Beasley and Hernangomez are -- more than older vets like Johnson. Maybe one vet in the range you mentioned, but I don't think there will be many more.

[minimus]

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I wish we had a savage veteran who has the same competitive fire and high IQ as CP3. I hate him when we play against him, but he is one of my favorite players in NBA. Nowadays, when there are no rivalries when everyone wants to be a likable person, we kind of lack such personalities in MIN.

[Domejandro]

For the record, I got called crazy by a lot of people for being in favour of Chris Paul for Andrew Wiggins + whatever. Dude ended up comfortably being a top twenty player this season.

Me being whiny aside, it is a shame that we are time-locked on trading for Robert Covington again. I would happily trade (if Houston implodes in the Playoffs, which I do not expect at all)....

James Johnson, Jacob Evans, a miscellaneous player, and our pick (depending on where it lands)

for

Robert Covington, P.J. Tucker, and Danuel House

P.J. Tucker would be on his final year of his contract, while Robert Covington and Danuel House have two more years. Instantly our team wouldn't suck defensively.

D'Angelo Russell / Jordan McLaughlin
Malik Beasley (RFA) / Jarrett Culver
Robert Covington / Josh Okogie / Jake Layman
P.J. Tucker / Juancho Hernangomez (RFA) / Danuel House
Karl-Anthony Towns / Naz Reid

Realistically, you would likely let Juancho go, but just lazily throwing up a depth-chart.

[packforfreedom]

Sign D'Antoni while we're at it

[shangrila]

For the record, I got called crazy by a lot of people for being in favour of Chris Paul for Andrew Wiggins + whatever. Dude ended up comfortably being a top twenty player this season.

Me being whiny aside, it is a shame that we are time-locked on trading for Robert Covington again. I would happily trade (if Houston implodes in the Playoffs, which I do not expect at all)....

James Johnson, Jacob Evans, a miscellaneous player, and our pick (depending on where it lands)

for

Robert Covington, P.J. Tucker, and Danuel House

P.J. Tucker would be on his final year of his contract, while Robert Covington and Danuel House have two more years. Instantly our team wouldn't suck defensively.

D'Angelo Russell / Jordan McLaughlin
Malik Beasley (RFA) / Jarrett Culver
Robert Covington / Josh Okogie / Jake Layman
P.J. Tucker / Juancho Hernangomez (RFA) / Danuel House
Karl-Anthony Towns / Naz Reid

Realistically, you would likely let Juancho go, but just lazily throwing up a depth-chart.

It's not a bad idea. I do wonder how the finances are going to shake out and how teams will respond. The Houston owner seems like a penny pincher at the best of times and as a restaurant guy he's probably really hurting, so if we went in there with a ton of savings as the selling point I'd wonder what he'd bite on?

Like if you said we'll trade you Johnson, Spellman, Evans and Layman for Covington and Gordon, would they take it without including a pick? Or maybe only the Brooklyn one? I know people would wince at Gordon and especially his contract (I'm not sure what Morey's doing the last few years, he went from not matching Parsons because he'd be untradeable to throwing money at older guys like Paul and Gordon) but when he's on form he's a decent guy off the bench to space the floor and get hot.

Just spitballing I guess.

[Domejandro]

It's not a bad idea. I do wonder how the finances are going to shake out and how teams will respond. The Houston owner seems like a penny pincher at the best of times and as a restaurant guy he's probably really hurting, so if we went in there with a ton of savings as the selling point I'd wonder what he'd bite on?

Like if you said we'll trade you Johnson, Spellman, Evans and Layman for Covington and Gordon, would they take it without including a pick? Or maybe only the Brooklyn one? I know people would wince at Gordon and especially his contract (I'm not sure what Morey's doing the last few years, he went from not matching Parsons because he'd be untradeable to throwing money at older guys like Paul and Gordon) but when he's on form he's a decent guy off the bench to space the floor and get hot.

Just spitballing I guess.

Minnesota honestly cannot afford to take on Eric Gordon, given his current insane salary. The idea is incredibly interesting, but Minnesota would likely have to package Gordon with our Lottery pick for an upgrade.

[Klomp]

For the record, I got called crazy by a lot of people for being in favour of Chris Paul for Andrew Wiggins + whatever. Dude ended up comfortably being a top twenty player this season.

The question was never about this year, but about years down the road

[Klomp]

Why is the 5-out floor-spacing model important?

This is what happens when you run two-big lineups.




No driving lanes, no passing lanes.

[KGdaBom]

Why is the 5-out floor-spacing model important?

This is what happens when you run two-big lineups.




No driving lanes, no passing lanes.

If it was KAT or OK Express driving do you think those guys would have stopped them? They'd have taken the defender to the hoop and dunked on them plus the and one. Also a stop and pop ten footer was available to Culver or anybody else.

[shrink]

Look how checked out Wiggins is at the three point line. It’s no wonder the guy “defending” him felt comfortable actually having one foot in the paint.

To me, this demonstrates the lesson of the first half of the season - you need credible shooters that at least need a defender in the same area code.

I think the five out maximizes KAT. His outside shooting as a star big man is unheard of, and if we have five shooters (especially at PF), his shooting allows the floor to be stretched so much it creates easy driving lanes. The first few weeks of the year with Wiggins driving were beautiful, until the league caught on that most of our players didn’t need to be guarded out to the three point line.

[gandlogo]

Why is the 5-out floor-spacing model important?

This is what happens when you run two-big lineups.




No driving lanes, no passing lanes.

If it was KAT or OK Express driving do you think those guys would have stopped them? They'd have taken the defender to the hoop and dunked on them plus the and one. Also a stop and pop ten footer was available to Culver or anybody else.

That’s assuming KAT or OK gained the same separation that Culver did in this situation. But they would then still face two defenders helping off Vonleh and Okogie because they’re not shooting threats. And even then the offense doesn’t want pull-up ten footers. It wants layups or threes. I think you and I have similar offensive philosophy - offense is played in the paint, not outside the three point line. In fact, I always say it’s an easy game from two feet away. But that’s not what the Wolves are currently looking for offensively. They want spacing, threats beyond the arc, cutters that take advantage of defensive lapses, ball movement until they get an uncontested three or a dunk. KAT is already a great post player, and they can run set plays to take advantage of that - when they want to. But nearly every touch in the post is contested - or worse - doubled. I’m a dinosaur. I loved McHale or Hakeem on the block with their incredible array of post moves, but that was long ago in a galaxy far, far away.