Doctor MJ wrote:Colbinii wrote:Doctor MJ wrote:
Wow, so you too.
This is one of those situations where I think I'm so used to Minny not being good that I struggle to imagine them being good.
Do folks think there's a solution to KAT's defensive limitations and Gobert's offensive limitations? The owner/GM theory was clearly that they'd shore up each other's weaknesses, do folks think they can do that this year?
I don't really see that as a question that affects them in the standings. In a Playoff Series? Maybe, and it is very match-up dependent.
The team was successful last year--so much so that they were the hardest challenge for the Champion Denver Nuggets--all while missing Jaden McDaniels, Towns still recovering from missing 52 games and Kyle Anderson missing multiple games.
In terms of talent 1-8, the team is second to only the Celtics.
Eh, they were the essence of mediocrity over the course of the year, and while KAT missed a lot of time, they didn't actually seem to do a lot better once he got back.
I didn't really expect them to be good when he came back with 8 games remaining in the season.
If you believe KAT coming back and being healthy will elevate the team to an elite record, then you're implicitly stating that you think that there's good synergistic fit between KAT and the other players. This leads to the question of:
When has KAT ever looked like a good fit next to other NBA talent when not playing for Kentucky?
Umm...In 2018 when he led the team in +/- and Net On/Off [Boasting a Positive +13.8].
When has KAT--outside of 2018--had other NBA talent outside of 2018? 2022 and 2023, right? The year he was injured and in 2022 when the Wolves had the 8th best offense with Jared Vanderbilt playing nearly 2k minutes and Towns posting a 118 On-Court Ortg. In fact, Towns posted a 120 Ortg when sharing the court with Vanderbilt.
Here is a post about a month ago regarding his offensive impact.
...Snip
Then you get to 2019, do you know who played the most minutes for Minnesota outside of Towns? Taj Gibson, Josh Okogie, Andrew Wiggins, Dario Saric and the 3-headed PG rotation of Derrick Rose, Tyus Jones and Jeff Teague.
Then, in 2020, Towns only played 35 games, but the Wolves were a 115.7 Offense with him and 103.7 without him [+12.0 Net On/Off].
2021 rolls around and the Wolves with Towns play at a 116.5 Ortg with him and...104.8 without him [+11.7 Net On/Off].
My question then becomes, when a player routinely is posting +10 Net Ortg On/Off, are they not a massive impact player offensively?
But why stop here, let's look at 2022.
Towns On-Court Ortg is 117.9 and Off-Court is 109.2, Net of +8.7.
All that sounds like I'm saying KAT can't be a good fit, but while I'll admit to being skeptical to the point of cynicism at this point, I'm not saying I know this to be the case. It's just that that will need to be the case for KAT's return to be the thing that elevates Minny.
Why would KAT's return being the only factor here?
1) Full season of Conley
2) Growth from ANT
3) Growth from McDaniels
4) Healthy Gobert
5) More Depth
This isn't to say Minnesota is the only team where players will improve, but there is a lot more--outside of adding an All-NBA talent in Towns whose impact is seen in the +/- data--to think the Wolves will be better this year than last.
Also, just to be clear: You're referencing a series where Minnesota managed to beat Denver only one time, and did so while already down 3-0. I understand where the roots of pyrrhic victory are here for the Wolves as they fought admirably, but I don't think anyone should have been thinking after last year's playoffs that the Wolves would have been contenders if only they'd gotten past Denver.
So who were the contenders in the West? Was it the Lakers? Was it nobody besides Denver? The Lakers made the WCF, yet the Wolves went toe-to-toe, IN LA, in the Play-in game without Rudy Gobert and without Jaden McDaniels.
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