Rank: What Direction is Most Important This Season?

[shrink]

All of these goals are important to the Wolves, and inter-related. How would you rank their importance?

1. Win this season! Winning is fun and changes culture. We owe pick’s to Utah!

2. Win in the future! The Gobert trade is a longterm investment. Experiment to see who fits.

3. Develop Ant! Develop a franchise player, even if it costs us team wins!

[Worm Guts]

The Gobert trade was a win now trade if there ever was one. We mortgaged our future, we need to win now.

[wolves_89]

I'm not sure that comparing the development of Ant to winning now or winning later makes sense. There are obviously some choices made by the coach/management that impact Ants development, but I think the vast majority of how he moves towards the next level comes down to his work habits, getting better at maintaining his focus, and experience (learning from his mistakes).

I think a question on how the team should allocate resources relative to winning now or later is a valid question and has trade deadline implications, I just think Ant's development is only loosely related.

[Danimals]

We develop Ant by winning now, which leads to winning in the future. We win now by addressing our weaknesses with our current assets, building consistency, and getting healthy.

[shrink]

There’s no right answer here, but I put “win now” last.

I don’t think the Gobert trade was win right now, like, say TOR trading for Kawhi for one season, knowing he was going to the Clippers the next year. We specifically went after Gobert because we had him locked up for years on his deal, and he was interested in coming here. Now, I see all the picks as sunk costs, so I don’t see the need to win immediately, as much as I see the need to win the most, over the lifespan of Rudy’s contract. And Ant, KAT and Jaden’s, all under longterm team control.

We all see this differently, and we don’t know how Connelly sees it, because he doesn’t talk to the media. But our beliefs here strongly affect how we feel about a DLo trade, like our willingness to lose him for nothing because we need him right now. It also impacts what we see as a good return in a trade.

[Klomp]

The Gobert trade was a win now trade if there ever was one. We mortgaged our future, we need to win now.

Does winning in 2022-23 affect the 2029 first round pick we owe Utah?
Does winning in 2022-23 affect the 2027 first round pick we owe Utah?
Does winning in 2022-23 affect the 2026 pick swap we owe Utah?
Does winning in 2022-23 affect the 2025 first round pick we owe Utah?

[Worm Guts]

The picks aren’t really a sunk cost, they’re something that is going impact our ability to build our team for the next 6+ years. The Gobert trade really puts our focus on the next 3 seasons including this one.

[minimus]

I don't care about picks. It is done deal. But I don't want any win now trades to save this season. It doesn't make any sense to me, we already invested long term in Gobert. Develop Edwards, MCD, Minott, Moore, Garza, get starting PG on long term contract, let Toens completely recover.

[Worm Guts]

It’s a done deal, but it still affects the way you build. Gobert is 30 years old, you realistically have to view the window as the next 3 seasons.

[Note30]

The Gobert trade was a win now trade if there ever was one. We mortgaged our future, we need to win now.

Does winning in 2022-23 affect the 2029 first round pick we owe Utah?
Does winning in 2022-23 affect the 2027 first round pick we owe Utah?
Does winning in 2022-23 affect the 2026 pick swap we owe Utah?
Does winning in 2022-23 affect the 2025 first round pick we owe Utah?

Of course it does. If we won more games and we're a first seed - third seed we wouldn't be contemplating how we'd do in the future.

Now we don't know as a result we may blow up the roster at any point and that would change the
what those picks mean. It may not happen immediately, but yes how we do this season affects the next four years.

[Colbinii]

Developing ANT and Winning aren't mutually exclusive

[younggunsmn]

I will vote develop Ant with the caveat that it is develop Ant AND Jaden, because I think Ant as primary ballhandler/facilitator gives us our highest celing, and Jaden has a lot of untapped potential offensively.
Developing those 2 players is more important than anything else.

The Gobert trade does not automatically mean win now. It was a horrible, horrible deal, but those picks and players are gone and never coming back, they are a sunk cost. Winning to decrease the value of the picks does nothing to help us, its just copium.

If we were an aging team of 30+ players (say Lakers) with little tread on the tires, or with star players in the last year of their deals, it would be a different story. We have KAT for 4 and Rudy for 3 more years after this one, and Ant and Jaden likely to sign long rookie extensions.
We don't have the short runway that would justify going all-in on winning now.
The west is weak at the top right now but very strong throughout, one key injury could be the difference from missing the play-in, let alone playoffs, for any of 8-10 teams. It looks to be that way for the forseeable future.

If you look at who has had the ball in his hands at the end of games, it's not hard to infer which option the powers that be feel is most important.

[minimus]

I guess TC answered this question with DLo trade: he wants more chemistry, veteran presence, leadership around Edwards and MCD. I have couple of questions though. We got some flexibility moving into off-season. But I just don't understand which scenario is realistic:

Can we resign Reid in off-season and trade him during next season?

Would you rather try to assess NAW than give Nowell all shot opportunities as bench scorer? I mean NAW is RFA, Nowell is UFA who believes in getting big contract.

Should MIN keep Rivers this summer?

Should MIN keep Knight?

Do we need to upgrade backup PG position? I like JMac a lot, but backup position might be critical for Moore, Minott and JMac development

[jpatrick]

As others have said, the Gobert trade was not a win this year at all costs trade. It created about a three year window, which you can argue was idiotic since we should be building for a window around Ant’s peak, not right now.

Because I see our only chance to really ascend to championship level is for Ant to become a top five player in the NBA, developing him is the most important thing. Winning helps that, but we need to be doing everything to maximize him (not Gobert or Towns).

[shrink]

We can look at the Trade Deadline transactions and try to determine what Connelly’s intent is.

Trade for Conley: Win Now: Conley is the only PG we could get that instantly knows how to maximize Gobert. Win Later: Conley has $24 mil in salary for a trade next year: Develop Ant: TC said he wants professionals whispering in Ant’s ear.

Connelly wanted extra value for making a DLo-Conley swap, and he took it all in Win Later assets. A prospect and 3 2nds.

Naz NOT traded: Win Now. KAT is out, but not forever.

Nowell NOT traded: Win Now. Sounds like Jaylen wants a payday and won’t be back. He didn’t open minutes for NAW

Russell Traded: Tough call. It’s possible he simply traded DLo because Conley (although maybe not as good a player or contracy) checks more boxes than DLo. But if he wanted DLo gone, his absence could tick boxes too. Are we more likely to win now if we get less from the PG spot, but more from the center? It’s Win Later by maintaining tradable salary next year. And I don’t know if DLo was a positive or negative affect on Ant’s growth,

[shrink]

I guess TC answered this question with DLo trade: he wants more chemistry, veteran presence, leadership around Edwards and MCD. I have couple of questions though. We got some flexibility moving into off-season. But I just don't understand which scenario is realistic:

Can we resign Reid in off-season and trade him during next season?

Would you rather try to assess NAW than give Nowell all shot opportunities as bench scorer? I mean NAW is RFA, Nowell is UFA who believes in getting big contract.

Should MIN keep Rivers this summer?

Should MIN keep Knight?

Do we need to upgrade backup PG position? I like JMac a lot, but backup position might be critical for Moore, Minott and JMac development

Great questions minimus. If I had to guess:

1. Now that we have $24 mil in matching salary next year, we extend Naz at close to the $10 mil a year he wants, four years, but year 4 is a team option. If we could get him to take a declining contract, that would be great. The key for us is to have him available for the rest of the season, but to be on a tradable contract this summer.

2. Connelly seems to acknowledge that Nowell’s drop in production might have been because he was forcing him to play PG. Now that MacLaughlin is back, I think they use Nowell to push for the playoffs as a SG. This will likely boost his value, so we will likely lose him in free agency, NAW will have to impress the Wolves in practice if he wants to stay. Sitting him reduces his contract this summer.

3. Rivers will be here next season if he helps Ant. I don’t think we can guess at his off court impact. Connelly knows.

4. I think Naz will be gone, so I think we have a place for Knight. As much as I enjoy Garza, Knight can be a traditional big and he can play the 4.

5. As for a PG upgrade, I think Connelly will keep his ear to the ground, since Conley may miss games for age and injury next season. JMac is kind of a third stringer that can play like a 2nd stringer in bursts. We also may be moving more towards Point Ant next year. Still, a steady #2 PG wouldn’t hurt, if he was cheap.

Last thing I should mention is that players at this level often get replaced at the end of their contracts. The grass is usually greener on new guys, as the GM thinks about how a different vet might fit with his stars, or how a prospect or rookie is about to pop. For a player to stay, they need to show specific value to this individual franchise (like JMac did). Fans may love specific bench guys (Craig Smith - the Rhino - was a favorite of mine), but the tendency always seems to move on from guys the level of Nowell, Knight and Rivers.

[Dewey]

I will vote develop Ant with the caveat that it is develop Ant AND Jaden, because I think Ant as primary ballhandler/facilitator gives us our highest celing, and Jaden has a lot of untapped potential offensively.
Developing those 2 players is more important than anything else.

The Gobert trade does not automatically mean win now. It was a horrible, horrible deal, but those picks and players are gone and never coming back, they are a sunk cost. Winning to decrease the value of the picks does nothing to help us, its just copium.

If we were an aging team of 30+ players (say Lakers) with little tread on the tires, or with star players in the last year of their deals, it would be a different story. We have KAT for 4 and Rudy for 3 more years after this one, and Ant and Jaden likely to sign long rookie extensions.
We don't have the short runway that would justify going all-in on winning now.
The west is weak at the top right now but very strong throughout, one key injury could be the difference from missing the play-in, let alone playoffs, for any of 8-10 teams. It looks to be that way for the forseeable future.

If you look at who has had the ball in his hands at the end of games, it's not hard to infer which option the powers that be feel is most important.

Nice opinion …

Mine is DLo not KAT have never shown any ability (or the willingness) to lead. Merely premium role players. They both need the alpha. Kat is much more of an NBA player than DLo, yet he has also lacked the maturity to take a position of accountability. Ya just don’t pay to win - you eventually need a player to step above the status quo… and the Wolves do not have that mindset.

[minimus]

With "rich get richer":

- Jackson, Bryant to DEN
- Westbrook, Hyland, Gordon, Plumlee to LAC
- KD, Ross to PHO
- Kyrie to DAL
- Richardson to NOP

etc

I wonder if TC was kind of expecting this type of betting war during trade deadline and FA market this offseason. I am 100% sure, that no one from players above would come without trade and huge overpay.

Now my next question, considering ALL factors above: how rational is to get Conley now, put everything on our young players development? Short-term wise I dont see us competing in playoffs this season, because too many teams have put all their assets to win now. But it is probably best time to fight and learn for our young players, because if this experiment survives this season + postseason, I see this West house of card collapse next season. But we don't have needed structure, chemistry and discipline to be a winning team. Partially because of injuries (Towns, JMac), partially because of bad, awkward fit (Towns + Gobert in defense), partially because of contract situation and following personnel issues (DLo conflict). Right now with Conley addition we kind of put leaven into our team: simply because:

1) Conley does not play for contract, only Nowell and Reid play for contract now. We dont have this DLo drama around his contract anymore. I expect this to be a very drastic change, because our lead guard will have different priorities starting from now

2) many have mentioned that Edwards and MCD should be main point of offense, Conley should organically slide into support role.

But it is obvious for me that we need time, to put this team together. I just hope we will show enough heart to survive in blood bath in Western conference.

[minimus]

Also I wonder if only few team are kind of wanting more of defensive minded identity:

- MEM JJJ and Brooks
- CLE with Allen and Mobley
- MIN with Gobert and MCD
- MIL with Giannis, Lopez and Holiday
- BOS with Timelord, Smart, White, and versatile wings

All other teams have added supreme offensive power:

- DAL added Kyrie
- PHO KD, although KD has been elite defensively, I think Bridges loss is significant
- GSW have problem in defense, but they want GP2

[minimus]

I hope we are going in this direction: multiple decision maker on the floor. Conley, Anderson, McLaughlin, Towns are all unselfish passers.

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