Karl Anthony Towns back tonight!

[Jadoogar]

KAT has missed 51 games this season and is returning with just 9 games left in the regular season. The timberwolves are 1 game under 0.500 and currently tied for the 9th/10th seed (just 0.5 games ahead of the Lakers). KAT is a big piece to reintegrate into the lineup AND still try to win games because they could easily fall out of the play-ins.

Looks to be a very interesting stretch run for the Wolves.

[whatisacenter]

Stay healthy KAT. Got tickets to the Warriors vs Wolves game this Sunday. Should be fun!

[granger05]

I know everybody is down on the Gobert trade and long term it's still dicey, but there was always going to be a period of integrating two bigs. Over the last three years, the Wolves were 15-44 when KAT was out. This year, they're 26-26 and keeping pace with where they need to be for the playoffs. They certainly raised their floor. I hope they figure it out enough to make the playoffs hard on somebody besides themselves.

[Karate Diop]

My dude SWAT KAT gonna send a msg to the h8ters 2day.

[Bum Adebayo]

My dude SWAT KAT gonna send a msg to the h8ters 2day.

STFU lol you hate like 80% of the players in the league...

[Jadoogar]

I know everybody is down on the Gobert trade and long term it's still dicey, but there was always going to be a period of integrating two bigs. Over the last three years, the Wolves were 15-44 when KAT was out. This year, they're 26-26 and keeping pace with where they need to be for the playoffs. They certainly raised their floor. I hope they figure it out enough to make the playoffs hard on somebody besides themselves.

I hate the trade but i agree they haven't had much time to gel.
However, how much of the without KAT record is simply due to Edwards getting better and secondary playmaking of Anderson rather than just Gobert alone.

i still don't like the fit of the 2 bigs, Edwards played a lot worse when both were on the court. They are going to have to work through a lot in this final 9 games. Is this season just a write-off at this point?

[granger05]

I know everybody is down on the Gobert trade and long term it's still dicey, but there was always going to be a period of integrating two bigs. Over the last three years, the Wolves were 15-44 when KAT was out. This year, they're 26-26 and keeping pace with where they need to be for the playoffs. They certainly raised their floor. I hope they figure it out enough to make the playoffs hard on somebody besides themselves.

I hate the trade but i agree they haven't had much time to gel.
However, how much of the without KAT record is simply due to Edwards getting better and secondary playmaking of Anderson rather than just Gobert alone.

i still don't like the fit of the 2 bigs, Edwards played a lot worse when both were on the court. They are going to have to work through a lot in this final 9 games. Is this season just a write-off at this point?

I think the bolded is a fair point and had it in mind even as I was posting originally. Edwards has certainly made a leap. I'm not a Wolves fan so I can't speak intelligently on the ingredients in their stew. I thought Chris Finch had a good reputation and would be able to sort of figure this stuff out, but that may take more court time.

What qualifies as a write-off for the Timberwolves? They've only made the playoffs twice in the last 20 years and haven't made it out of the first round over that time. I'm sure that contributes to a franchise doing crazy trades. I think, as an outsider, if they get it together enough to avoid or survive the play-in morass and get to play a full series where they at least make it interesting then it would feel like a successful first season. Super teams have tended to come together pretty quickly, but if you're building up with more all-star rather than all-nba types then I think a season to gel is reasonable.

[cupcakesnake]

It will be interesting to see what the plan of integration is.
There's going to be a minutes restriction and there's been talk of bringing him off the bench.

He represents a massive offensive boost with his shooting, paint pressure, and playmaking. But SloMo has become so integral to everything we do, and we can't really play 3 slow player in KAT/Gobert/SloMo. If Towns can immediately murder some bench units, that would be huge for our playoff push.

The play-in race is still ridiculously fluid with 2.5 games separating the 5 seed from the 12th-ranked team (and only 3.5 games from 4 to 12). In no ways should the Pelicans or Lakers feel out, and in no way should the Warriors or Clippers feel safe. No one should be surprised if the standings 4-12 are in a completely new random order next week.

Basically every team is still fighting for the 4th seed while also fighting to not fall out of the play-in altogether.

[Lockdown504090]

gobert and towns are a terrible fit defensively and offensively and the worst part about this injury is that the front office can now delude themselves into thinking it can work. Just trade gobert again for jerami grant and some picks and cut your losses before they embarass themselves further. Rudy is only declining, and putting him in a worse situation only hurts his value to other teams.

Mark my words, they WILL trade one of centers by next offseason, depending how stupid the wolves are will determine which one it is. them trading for rudy in the first place doesnt give me much hope. amazing players both top 20, but they cant be on the same lineup making 80 million a year

[Jadoogar]

I know everybody is down on the Gobert trade and long term it's still dicey, but there was always going to be a period of integrating two bigs. Over the last three years, the Wolves were 15-44 when KAT was out. This year, they're 26-26 and keeping pace with where they need to be for the playoffs. They certainly raised their floor. I hope they figure it out enough to make the playoffs hard on somebody besides themselves.

I hate the trade but i agree they haven't had much time to gel.
However, how much of the without KAT record is simply due to Edwards getting better and secondary playmaking of Anderson rather than just Gobert alone.

i still don't like the fit of the 2 bigs, Edwards played a lot worse when both were on the court. They are going to have to work through a lot in this final 9 games. Is this season just a write-off at this point?

I think the bolded is a fair point and had it in mind even as I was posting originally. Edwards has certainly made a leap. I'm not a Wolves fan so I can't speak intelligently on the ingredients in their stew. I thought Chris Finch had a good reputation and would be able to sort of figure this stuff out, but that may take more court time.

What qualifies as a write-off for the Timberwolves? They've only made the playoffs twice in the last 20 years and haven't made it out of the first round over that time. I'm sure that contributes to a franchise doing crazy trades. I think, as an outsider, if they get it together enough to avoid or survive the play-in morass and get to play a full series where they at least make it interesting then it would feel like a successful first season. Super teams have tended to come together pretty quickly, but if you're building up with more all-star rather than all-nba types then I think a season to gel is reasonable.

I think when you make such a big investment trade, you're at least hoping for a playoff series win. What you're describing is essentially what they did last year, they probably could have achieved the same thing without a trade. I don't think their playoff ceiling is much higher than the second round, and that's only if everything goes well.

[Kineto]

gobert and towns are a terrible fit defensively and offensively

Defensively, i agree it will be a big challenge for Chriss Finch to make it work.

Offensively, i don't see where is the problem.
KAT is a 40% 3pts shooter, and was the only one who was able to make good pass to Gobert early in the season.
I don't see how the wolve's attack could be worse switching anderson by KAT.

[WillyJakkz]

Can't wait to see him! Good luck Wolves fans!

[Tony Parker]

gobert and towns are a terrible fit defensively and offensively

Defensively, i agree it will be a big challenge for Chriss Finch to make it work.

Offensively, i don't see where is the problem.
KAT is a 40% 3pts shooter, and was the only one who was able to make good pass to Gobert early in the season.
I don't see how the wolve's attack could be worse switching anderson by KAT.

I would not be overly worried defensively. Not sure if they will figure it out in time for it to pay of this season, but McDaniels becoming All-Defense level does relief a lot of pressure. If a team has a great 4 he will have to guard the weaker wing and will surely get burned a lot, but there is only so much you can ride a random good matchup and forcing him to leave the paint does not hurt that much with Gobert behind. Not saying its ideal, but they have 3 really strong defenders on court during key moments, assuming Edwards cares, and there is a weakest link on every lineup and that not being their Center is valuable.

[cupcakesnake]

gobert and towns are a terrible fit defensively and offensively

Defensively, i agree it will be a big challenge for Chriss Finch to make it work.

Offensively, i don't see where is the problem.
KAT is a 40% 3pts shooter, and was the only one who was able to make good pass to Gobert early in the season.
I don't see how the wolve's attack could be worse switching anderson by KAT.

I would not be overly worried defensively. Not sure if they will figure it out in time for it to pay of this season, but McDaniels becoming All-Defense level does relief a lot of pressure. If a team has a great 4 he will have to guard the weaker wing and will surely get burned a lot, but there is only so much you can ride a random good matchup and forcing him to leave the paint does not hurt that much with Gobert behind. Not saying its ideal, but they have 3 really strong defenders on court during key moments, assuming Edwards cares, and there is a weakest link on every lineup and that not being their Center is valuable.

Our problem at the beginning of the year wasn't having bad individual defender, it was being collectively too slow on rotations. All our frontcourt players are kind of slow. Jaden is more of our point of attack defender. That's still going to be a concern bringing KAT back. Not that he's so damaging on his own, but it's adding another slower player to the mix.

[Tony Parker]

Defensively, i agree it will be a big challenge for Chriss Finch to make it work.

Offensively, i don't see where is the problem.
KAT is a 40% 3pts shooter, and was the only one who was able to make good pass to Gobert early in the season.
I don't see how the wolve's attack could be worse switching anderson by KAT.

I would not be overly worried defensively. Not sure if they will figure it out in time for it to pay of this season, but McDaniels becoming All-Defense level does relief a lot of pressure. If a team has a great 4 he will have to guard the weaker wing and will surely get burned a lot, but there is only so much you can ride a random good matchup and forcing him to leave the paint does not hurt that much with Gobert behind. Not saying its ideal, but they have 3 really strong defenders on court during key moments, assuming Edwards cares, and there is a weakest link on every lineup and that not being their Center is valuable.

Our problem at the beginning of the year wasn't having bad individual defender, it was being collectively too slow on rotations. All our frontcourt players are kind of slow. Jaden is more of our point of attack defender. That's still going to be a concern bringing KAT back. Not that he's so damaging on his own, but it's adding another slower player to the mix.

Sure, but i don't see this as unsalvagable, moreso of an 'as is' problem. They have been less routined in playing a more traditional scheme, last year they were playing very aggressive, trying to break plays, although I should mention I rarely watched them prior to the Playoffs, so I'm not confident on how much they experimented with other stuff.
Adding a proven C means they at least don't start at square one, but rotation timing is quite a bit about routine as well, which needs to be build up. Being patient is not any fun, especially for a team that invested and had high aspirations, but it's needed.

[jazzfan1971]

They need to integrate him right away. Because it won't matter if they make the playoffs if they haven't

[Pointgod]

Yay!

[Lockdown504090]

Defensively, i agree it will be a big challenge for Chriss Finch to make it work.

Offensively, i don't see where is the problem.
KAT is a 40% 3pts shooter, and was the only one who was able to make good pass to Gobert early in the season.
I don't see how the wolve's attack could be worse switching anderson by KAT.

I would not be overly worried defensively. Not sure if they will figure it out in time for it to pay of this season, but McDaniels becoming All-Defense level does relief a lot of pressure. If a team has a great 4 he will have to guard the weaker wing and will surely get burned a lot, but there is only so much you can ride a random good matchup and forcing him to leave the paint does not hurt that much with Gobert behind. Not saying its ideal, but they have 3 really strong defenders on court during key moments, assuming Edwards cares, and there is a weakest link on every lineup and that not being their Center is valuable.

Our problem at the beginning of the year wasn't having bad individual defender, it was being collectively too slow on rotations. All our frontcourt players are kind of slow. Jaden is more of our point of attack defender. That's still going to be a concern bringing KAT back. Not that he's so damaging on his own, but it's adding another slower player to the mix.

there is no scheme that makes sense in 2023 defensively that i have seen that involves playing two centers. that are below average at perimiter rotation. teams are going to put towns in the screen and roll, and it has been absolutely shown through his career and playoffs that towns is incapable of playing drop coverage and making defending a 2v2 action. even when they had beverly mcdaniels and edwards as guys who are great at defending screens. that puts rudy into rotation, making it pointless having him on the floor defensively with kat becuase kyle anderson is better in that role. in addition to that, you can play a terrible defensive wing and have him check rudy because hes not a threat on the other end and guarding him with a guy like say, michael porter is totally viable.

to compound the issue, the only thing rudy does well is set screens and rim run for lobs or very easy passes. Edwards doesnt use ball screens often compared to other high usage perimiter players, and hes not good at passing in pnr anyway. he prefers off ball actions or iso. Rudy is in his way in iso, as opposed to having rudy off the floor and a wide open lane playing with just KAT. Kat will struggle to iso because of gobert, just like embiid did with ben simmons in games 5,6 and 7 against atl.

Watch on YouTube

it can work, but if it does, chris finch is a revolutionary and it is still a poor use of salary cap.

[Klomp]

I know everybody is down on the Gobert trade and long term it's still dicey, but there was always going to be a period of integrating two bigs. Over the last three years, the Wolves were 15-44 when KAT was out. This year, they're 26-26 and keeping pace with where they need to be for the playoffs. They certainly raised their floor. I hope they figure it out enough to make the playoffs hard on somebody besides themselves.

I hate the trade but i agree they haven't had much time to gel.
However, how much of the without KAT record is simply due to Edwards getting better and secondary playmaking of Anderson rather than just Gobert alone.

i still don't like the fit of the 2 bigs, Edwards played a lot worse when both were on the court. They are going to have to work through a lot in this final 9 games. Is this season just a write-off at this point?

Edwards could have gotten better just as much and not seen it result in wins. Has happened multiple times in Timberwolves history.

The Gobert arrival is significant.

[Klomp]

I hate the trade but i agree they haven't had much time to gel.
However, how much of the without KAT record is simply due to Edwards getting better and secondary playmaking of Anderson rather than just Gobert alone.

i still don't like the fit of the 2 bigs, Edwards played a lot worse when both were on the court. They are going to have to work through a lot in this final 9 games. Is this season just a write-off at this point?

I think the bolded is a fair point and had it in mind even as I was posting originally. Edwards has certainly made a leap. I'm not a Wolves fan so I can't speak intelligently on the ingredients in their stew. I thought Chris Finch had a good reputation and would be able to sort of figure this stuff out, but that may take more court time.

What qualifies as a write-off for the Timberwolves? They've only made the playoffs twice in the last 20 years and haven't made it out of the first round over that time. I'm sure that contributes to a franchise doing crazy trades. I think, as an outsider, if they get it together enough to avoid or survive the play-in morass and get to play a full series where they at least make it interesting then it would feel like a successful first season. Super teams have tended to come together pretty quickly, but if you're building up with more all-star rather than all-nba types then I think a season to gel is reasonable.

I think when you make such a big investment trade, you're at least hoping for a playoff series win. What you're describing is essentially what they did last year, they probably could have achieved the same thing without a trade. I don't think their playoff ceiling is much higher than the second round, and that's only if everything goes well.

If everyone was healthy all season long, hoping for a playoff series win is fine.

When your star player has missed 2/3rds of the season, you have to adjust expectations.