Updates on former Wolves

[younggunsmn]

I want us IN the playoffs every year like in the KG era.

So, in every year and, with the exception of one, exit after barely making a splash. Nope, I want to be competitive and have a chance to make the WCF & the NBA finals. That is what the Gobert trade was about - addressing the weaknesses on display in the Memphis series and getting to the finals.

KAT has not played in 52 games. Do you really think we would have this record if KAT had been available for even 1/2 of those games?? If so, you are far more negative than I give you credit for. I would guarantee that at this point in the season, the Timberwolves would be in the top four or five based on what else has happened this year with KAT playing 50 games instead of 21.

I don't want to be consistently bad more than I want to win a championship because I am a fan of the TImberwolves, the franchise with the worst winning percentage in all of pro sports, and not the Yankees, and let's be realistic this team winning a championship is a long ways off even if KAT had been healthy and gelled with Rudy.

I loved every one of those KG teams and enjoyed all those seasons, first round exit or not.
And they failed to advance in large part because we had no draft picks and had to go dumpster diving to add talent.

That is the fear of the Gobert trade, that down the line we are going to suck for an extended period again because we have no way to add talent. I have a toddler I would love to get interested in basketball down the line.
That is going to be really hard if this team sucks again.
I don't want one Jimmy Butler year and then 3 or 4 years of watching ping pong balls.

So yes, I would prefer a consistently above average team with a chance to go all the way if they can catch lightning in a bottle, as that '03-04 team almost did and would have if cassell had stayed healthy and refs hadnt jobbed us.

Kessler is already as good as Rudy, as effective statistically and at helping his team win.
1 to 1 with only those two players, the trade is already a loss.
How dangerous could our team have been 4 or 5 years down the line with Kessler with more development, when ANT and Jaden are hitting their prime, instead of a 34-35 year old Gobert? That was Connelly's mistake.
He was trying to maximize KATs window when he should have been looking at Ant and Jaden's.

[Klomp]

I loved every one of those KG teams and enjoyed all those seasons, first round exit or not.
And they failed to advance in large part because we had no draft picks and had to go dumpster diving to add talent.

That is the fear of the Gobert trade, that down the line we are going to suck for an extended period again because we have no way to add talent. I have a toddler I would love to get interested in basketball down the line.

1. Stepien rule. We didn't trade away ALL of our future picks. Stern took away all in the Smith ruling.
2. Also forgotten in the losing depth back then was losing a starter in Malik Sealy.
3. We have a front office that is good at finding talent deep in drafts.
4. The MLE is much different now than it was then. Other exceptions too.

[TimberKat]

Butler trade was bad if we didn't get commitment from him to stay as least two years. How he forced the trade didn't help either. We could have 4 All Stars on this team if we kept that core.

We do need to max Towns' timeline because it's a lot easier to work the cap to build a team with Ant and JMac on rookie contracts. I think we are almost there with Gobert. Kessler is not as good as the stat shows because other teams haven't take him seriously yet. He will regress once teams start to scheme around him.

You could trade Towns and use Gobert's cap space in the future if you look to make a run when Ant and JMac are in their prime which is like two to three years away.

[younggunsmn]

I loved every one of those KG teams and enjoyed all those seasons, first round exit or not.
And they failed to advance in large part because we had no draft picks and had to go dumpster diving to add talent.

That is the fear of the Gobert trade, that down the line we are going to suck for an extended period again because we have no way to add talent. I have a toddler I would love to get interested in basketball down the line.

1. Stepien rule. We didn't trade away ALL of our future picks. Stern took away all in the Smith ruling.
2. Also forgotten in the losing depth back then was losing a starter in Malik Sealy.
3. We have a front office that is good at finding talent deep in drafts.
4. The MLE is much different now than it was then. Other exceptions too.

1. and a swap. We control TWO of our next 7 first round draft picks. The biggest drawback to losing all the 1st rounders in the KG era was the opportunity cost of having the trade capital to get KG a running mate. We could have had Allen Iverson for example.
2. Sealy was one of those scrap heap acquisitions I was talking about. It was tragic, but he started a total of 68 games for us and averaged 11 points.
3. If you are counting on 2nd round picks as rotation players you are in real big trouble.
4. MLE is even less of a draw if we are in the tax with less to offer. 3 maxes is a lot but we would be looking at 4 with Ant/Jaden/KAT/Gobert and then also pay a decent PG and 3-4 good bench players. That's not sustainable more than one or two season at absolute most. Payroll is going to be a limiting factor as early as '24 when the rookie extensions kick in.

I think people are greatly underestimating the effect the bankruptcy/implosion of the bally sports parent company on small and mid market teams, not just on the NBA but MLB and NHL too. They basically broadcast games for half the teams.
With all the cord cutting, the rights fees they are paying the teams are much more than the income they are generating for Bally.
It's so bad that the MLB is going to void the contracts if they don't make the payments and broadcast the games themselves.

I honestly feel Gobert is realistically only here for two seasons because of his contract, and KAT is much much more important to the franchise, present and future.
Kessler as a low cost rim defending rebounder would have been a perfect long term fit and I'm really really disappointed TC wouldn't even give him a summer league to get a look, because we drafted him for exactly the role we want Gobert to fill and didn't even give him a chance before moving onto a much, much more expensive option.

[Klomp]

I loved every one of those KG teams and enjoyed all those seasons, first round exit or not.
And they failed to advance in large part because we had no draft picks and had to go dumpster diving to add talent.

That is the fear of the Gobert trade, that down the line we are going to suck for an extended period again because we have no way to add talent. I have a toddler I would love to get interested in basketball down the line.

1. Stepien rule. We didn't trade away ALL of our future picks. Stern took away all in the Smith ruling.
2. Also forgotten in the losing depth back then was losing a starter in Malik Sealy.
3. We have a front office that is good at finding talent deep in drafts.
4. The MLE is much different now than it was then. Other exceptions too.

1. and a swap. We control TWO of our next 7 first round draft picks. The biggest drawback to losing all the 1st rounders in the KG era was the opportunity cost of having the trade capital to get KG a running mate. We could have had Allen Iverson for example.
2. Sealy was one of those scrap heap acquisitions I was talking about. It was tragic, but he started a total of 68 games for us and averaged 11 points.
3. If you are counting on 2nd round picks as rotation players you are in real big trouble.
4. MLE is even less of a draw if we are in the tax with less to offer. 3 maxes is a lot but we would be looking at 4 with Ant/Jaden/KAT/Gobert and then also pay a decent PG and 3-4 good bench players. That's not sustainable more than one or two season at absolute most. Payroll is going to be a limiting factor as early as '24 when the rookie extensions kick in.

I think people are greatly underestimating the effect the bankruptcy/implosion of the bally sports parent company on small and mid market teams, not just on the NBA but MLB and NHL too. They basically broadcast games for half the teams.
With all the cord cutting, the rights fees they are paying the teams are much more than the income they are generating for Bally.
It's so bad that the MLB is going to void the contracts if they don't make the payments and broadcast the games themselves.

I honestly feel Gobert is realistically only here for two seasons because of his contract, and KAT is much much more important to the franchise, present and future.
Kessler as a low cost rim defending rebounder would have been a perfect long term fit and I'm really really disappointed TC wouldn't even give him a summer league to get a look, because we drafted him for exactly the role we want Gobert to fill and didn't even give him a chance before moving onto a much, much more expensive option.

1. A swap doesn't mean we lose a pick. The swap doesn't even necessarily happen. It's a chance thing. I get the annoyance around the inability to trade picks at this point. We won't be able to lump together our future picks for a while. But we are still more than able to move around on draft night. We can make a trade to acquire a different 1st at any point, and those picks wouldn't be privy to the Stepien rule.

2. The Sealy acquisition was not affected or created due to the Smith saga. He was already on the team. And say what you want about the length of his tenure, but to that point he was around the Top 30 in franchise history in games played. He was under contract. He was a solid starter. He had a good relationship with our superstar player.

3. I'm not necessarily talking about 2nd round picks as rotation pieces. But we have built up a nice young core already. We don't need to add 5-10 pieces to become a competitive team.

4. It's still early to say what the cap will look like. But this isn't a 5-6 year overlap we're talking about. When the rookie extensions kick in, Gobert is on a 1+1 contract. If we want, that's easily tradable. Otherwise, Gobert seems like the kind of guy who will be open to renegotiation in order to help the team. His next contract will not start at $40 million. I'm not even sure it will be half of that.

At the end of the day, we're worried about how we're going to keep adding depth when we're easily the deepest we've ever been. Naz Reid is struggling to find playing time when everyone's healthy. On those Garnett teams, he was probably as high as the third-best talent on some of those rosters. This isn't some aging team, and won't be for a while as long as Edwards and McDaniels are at the center of it.

[younggunsmn]

1. The swap severely dilutes both the value and liquidity of that asset. Utah owing OKC a pick makes it even foggier.
2. Sealy was the 1.0 version of Trenton Hassell, a bargain signing filling a starting position with a somewhat limited role player.
This is what we have to look forward to at PG post-Mike Conley.
4, Gobert is guaranteed 41, 44, and 47 million the next 3 years, LOL he isn't giving any of that back and the 2nd and 3rd years coincide with the first 2 years Ant and Jaden will make huge money while KAt makes 50 and 54 million.
In 2025 KAT and a 33 year old Gobert alone will combine to make over 100 million. That is a catastrophe in a market this size.

Naz Reid would be foolish to re-sign here as the 3rd string center for the same money he will be offered elsewhere.
Salary is quickly going to become a limiting factor.
It's really hard to grow with no cap room and no draft picks.
Mike Conley is 35, Gobert is 30.
We have no quality guard depth to speak of beyond Conley and Ant.
Realistically, the current iteration of the team is probably only going to be kept together for one more season after this year.
Trading one of Gobert/KAT is the most realistic avenue to staying competetive long term.
We already made that choice once by moving D-Lo.
There's another painful decision coming summer '24, and I really hope Gobert has positive trade value then, because if we can't move his contract it will be really bad news.

[Neeva]

Ok debbie downer

[minimus]

I wonder if Austin Reaves will be the reason why DLo wont get big contract and Beasley will be traded this offseason.

[shrink]

I wonder if Austin Reaves will be the reason why DLo wont get big contract and Beasley will be traded this offseason.

This may amuse you a few of you guys, so I’ll post my embarrassment.

You know how I have a long history of mixing up names? I spent ten seconds thinking this was about Austin Rivers!

[TimberKat]

I wonder if Austin Reaves will be the reason why DLo wont get big contract and Beasley will be traded this offseason.

This may amuse you a few of you guys, so I’ll post my embarrassment.

You know how I have a long history of mixing up names? I spent ten seconds thinking this was about Austin Rivers!

That actually could had been a true statement between 12/16 - 12/21 for Twolves. Austin Rivers will be the reason DLo wont get the big contract and Beasley was traded away last off-season

[shrink]

I wonder if Austin Reaves will be the reason why DLo wont get big contract and Beasley will be traded this offseason.

Serious answer…. I think you’re right - he won’t get a big contract from the Lakers.

I think Plan A for LAL is for Kyrie to want to come to the Lakers. If he does, the Lakers will let their expirings like DLo and Beasley walk for nothing to create the cap space to sign Irving.

Plan B, rising fast to maybe even eclipse Plan A, is to give Reaves a decent contract. He’s certainly earned it, and I think he takes away money, and usage, from DLo. Lucky for the Lakers, to help prevent them from giving him a big contract they might regret down the road.

Plan C is to bring back everyone they can, regardless of the cost, and try to give LeBron another shot. This is not off the table.

My guess though is that D’Angelo Russell is not a Laker next year. However, after putting up his best stats whenever it’s a contract year again, I think he gets a big contract from some other team. There just isn’t a lot of great talent in free agency again, with most decent starters getting extensions in today’s NBA. I think some owner who is interested in showing their fans they are competing will give DLo a big number this summer, and I’ll feel like we dodged a bullet.

[urinesane]

I wonder if Austin Reaves will be the reason why DLo wont get big contract and Beasley will be traded this offseason.

Serious answer…. I think you’re right - he won’t get a big contract from the Lakers.

I think Plan A for LAL is for Kyrie to want to come to the Lakers. If he does, the Lakers will let their expirings like DLo and Beasley walk for nothing to create the cap space to sign Irving.

Plan B, rising fast to maybe even eclipse Plan A, is to give Reaves a decent contract. He’s certainly earned it, and I think he takes away money, and usage, from DLo. Lucky for the Lakers, to help prevent them from giving him a big contract they might regret down the road.

Plan C is to bring back everyone they can, regardless of the cost, and try to give LeBron another shot. This is not off the table.

My guess though is that D’Angelo Russell is not a Laker next year. However, after putting up his best stats whenever it’s a contract year again, I think he gets a big contract from some other team. There just isn’t a lot of great talent in free agency again, with most decent starters getting extensions in today’s NBA. I think some owner who is interested in showing their fans they are competing will give DLo a big number this summer, and I’ll feel like we dodged a bullet.

Hmmmmm.... do you think it's more likely that LAL and DAL do a sign and trade between DLO and Irving? It would be pretty insane to give up the assets they did to let both walk for nothing (besides a short rental for a playoff push).

[shrink]

I wonder if Austin Reaves will be the reason why DLo wont get big contract and Beasley will be traded this offseason.

Serious answer…. I think you’re right - he won’t get a big contract from the Lakers.

I think Plan A for LAL is for Kyrie to want to come to the Lakers. If he does, the Lakers will let their expirings like DLo and Beasley walk for nothing to create the cap space to sign Irving.

Plan B, rising fast to maybe even eclipse Plan A, is to give Reaves a decent contract. He’s certainly earned it, and I think he takes away money, and usage, from DLo. Lucky for the Lakers, to help prevent them from giving him a big contract they might regret down the road.

Plan C is to bring back everyone they can, regardless of the cost, and try to give LeBron another shot. This is not off the table.

My guess though is that D’Angelo Russell is not a Laker next year. However, after putting up his best stats whenever it’s a contract year again, I think he gets a big contract from some other team. There just isn’t a lot of great talent in free agency again, with most decent starters getting extensions in today’s NBA. I think some owner who is interested in showing their fans they are competing will give DLo a big number this summer, and I’ll feel like we dodged a bullet.

Hmmmmm.... do you think it's more likely that LAL and DAL do a sign and trade between DLO and Irving? It would be pretty insane to give up the assets they did to let both walk for nothing (besides a short rental for a playoff push).

Wow! DLo gets really big contracts twice in sign-and-trades? Yeah, that would be wild!

[life_saver]

Beasley is catching lot of fire from Lakers fans

Read on Twitter

[urinesane]

Serious answer…. I think you’re right - he won’t get a big contract from the Lakers.

I think Plan A for LAL is for Kyrie to want to come to the Lakers. If he does, the Lakers will let their expirings like DLo and Beasley walk for nothing to create the cap space to sign Irving.

Plan B, rising fast to maybe even eclipse Plan A, is to give Reaves a decent contract. He’s certainly earned it, and I think he takes away money, and usage, from DLo. Lucky for the Lakers, to help prevent them from giving him a big contract they might regret down the road.

Plan C is to bring back everyone they can, regardless of the cost, and try to give LeBron another shot. This is not off the table.

My guess though is that D’Angelo Russell is not a Laker next year. However, after putting up his best stats whenever it’s a contract year again, I think he gets a big contract from some other team. There just isn’t a lot of great talent in free agency again, with most decent starters getting extensions in today’s NBA. I think some owner who is interested in showing their fans they are competing will give DLo a big number this summer, and I’ll feel like we dodged a bullet.

Hmmmmm.... do you think it's more likely that LAL and DAL do a sign and trade between DLO and Irving? It would be pretty insane to give up the assets they did to let both walk for nothing (besides a short rental for a playoff push).

Wow! DLo gets really big contracts twice in sign-and-trades? Yeah, that would be wild!

I mean I think it's a bad idea for LAL and DAL, but the Lakers gave up a 1st and 2nd round pick to get rid of Westbrook's contract, so I would think they'll try to get something out of it (even if it's not resigning DLo).

Dallas gave up Dinwiddie, Finney Smith, an unprotected 1st and two 2nds for a Kyrie/Morris (the less talented one) rental.

I think both were bad trades, but at this point what can they do?

[urinesane]

Beasley is catching lot of fire from Lakers fans

Read on Twitter

Laker fans are some of the most entitled in all of sports. Knicks fans are probably the closest in the NBA (even though they've had WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY less success).

[minimus]

Wow! DLo gets really big contracts twice in sign-and-trades? Yeah, that would be wild!

In this case I feel bad for DLo, because no team wants him as player, but rather use as salary spot

[urinesane]

Wow! DLo gets really big contracts twice in sign-and-trades? Yeah, that would be wild!

In this case I feel bad for DLo, because no team wants him as player, but rather use as salary spot

I don't feel bad for him. He gets 1st-2nd Banana pay for 4th-6th Banana play.

His agent is amazing.

[TimberKat]

Wow! DLo gets really big contracts twice in sign-and-trades? Yeah, that would be wild!

In this case I feel bad for DLo, because no team wants him as player, but rather use as salary spot

I don't feel bad for him. He gets 1st-2nd Banana pay for 4th-6th Banana play.

His agent is amazing.

Feel bad? How many people could land a job like that for 30m? I will gladly sit on the bench and let Draymond punch me a few times for 1/2 the money. Hack, I will even run around and play some defense and earn 6 fouls.

[TimberKat]

Beasley is catching lot of fire from Lakers fans

Laker fans are some of the most entitled in all of sports. Knicks fans are probably the closest in the NBA (even though they've had WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY less success).

What do you expect from Jack and Spike Lee?