WCF Game 3: Minnesota at Dallas, 7 p.m.

[Guest84]

Guess we'll see if they've booked their trip to Cancun yet or if there's still some time to plan a different trip.

[KATKlownFeet]

It s funny how people overreact here. We are losing for 20 years, never win anything and finally make a fantastic run and people acting like all is bad. Keep calm guys the season is a success! Let’s finish the series and after that it will be time to think on the solution to improve a team who is already f…. Good! And don’t forget that ANT is only 22. If the FO is smart we have a 5 years window where we will win a title. I’m disappointed with some individuals performances, KAT , Rudy in this series but proud of this team. Future look bright. Go wolves!

You and I define success differently. While the Wolves accomplished more than they did in 20 years, so what? Wolves have been worst franchise in the NBA and after all that suffering, I want the Wolves to win a title. Mike Conley and Gobert said they wanted a title and not be satisfied with anything less. I'm in that camp. Wolves may not get back to WCF in a long time and coming up short when the Wolves have a talented but aging roster (Gobert, Conley) because of poor coaching is an unsatisfying year. The Wolves blew their wad already on the Rudy trade. I don't care that Ant is 22, he needs a better supporting cast and the Wolves don't have the ammo to get it, thanks to Connelly's bonehead trade for Gobert.

[Guest84]

Dealing with Kat is a double-edged sword. I feel like everyone is so hard on him because they see the talent and expect a lot from him. However, he just doesn't live up to it and they just see him as a joke (unfortunate). I think as long as he's around, the wolves will never be able to shed the stench of "pretender, etc". Note, this is not me saying to get rid of him, just my thoughts on what I see. If Kat stays, he prob has to transition into the #3 star ala Bosh, Love, etc.

Watch on YouTube

[KATKlownFeet]

. Your right, much better when wolves were winning 30 games and waiting on the draft lottery

If you are going to trade assets, I wanted DeJounte Murray not Gobert and we could have kept Kessler.
Kessler
KAT
Jaden
Ant
DeJounte

I also liked Kyrie in a trade and that was when everybody was down on him. Kyrie would have been better and he would have cost us not much.

Gobert trade made little sense to me and while I am forced to accept it, anything short of title confirms it was a disaster. There is only one winner and so if you don't win it all, I'd rather have the ammo to rebuild around Ant and Jaden.

That team isn't better then the one who have now. Glad you aren't the gm

Its much younger and cheaper. Conley's career is almost over and Gobert is old, especially for a center. Murray and Kessler are like ten years younger and their salaries are much less. Gobert trade has depleted us of trade assets and cap space. But some of you think making it this far is incredible and if you are that easily satisfied, then hallelujah. I guess I'm just crazy to want more.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

It s funny how people overreact here. We are losing for 20 years, never win anything and finally make a fantastic run and people acting like all is bad. Keep calm guys the season is a success! Let’s finish the series and after that it will be time to think on the solution to improve a team who is already f…. Good! And don’t forget that ANT is only 22. If the FO is smart we have a 5 years window where we will win a title. I’m disappointed with some individuals performances, KAT , Rudy in this series but proud of this team. Future look bright. Go wolves!

You and I define success differently. While the Wolves accomplished more than they did in 20 years, so what? Wolves have been worst franchise in the NBA and after all that suffering, I want the Wolves to win a title. Mike Conley and Gobert said they wanted a title and not be satisfied with anything less. I'm in that camp. Wolves may not get back to WCF in a long time and coming up short when the Wolves have a talented but aging roster (Gobert, Conley) because of poor coaching is an unsatisfying year. The Wolves blew their wad already on the Rudy trade. I don't care that Ant is 22, he needs a better supporting cast and the Wolves don't have the ammo to get it, thanks to Connelly's bonehead trade for Gobert.

I agree with you on the winning part. But winning a
Title required time. You don’t go from bad or average team to NBA champion in one or two years. Being ambitious is good but winning requires foundation. We have to be patient and build step by step. I agree on one point . Neither KAT or Rudy will become better. Which mean we have to make some moves is we
Want to make this team better. Which is not easy considering how much we spend for Rudy. I love Rudy but he is definitely too limited on offense part.

[m2002brian]

Let’s not forget that if we don’t fumble the ball away the first two games at some critical times, we’re up 2-1

Gotta keep your head up and keep fighting. Some team someday will come back from 0-3

[Note30]

It s funny how people overreact here. We are losing for 20 years, never win anything and finally make a fantastic run and people acting like all is bad. Keep calm guys the season is a success! Let’s finish the series and after that it will be time to think on the solution to improve a team who is already f…. Good! And don’t forget that ANT is only 22. If the FO is smart we have a 5 years window where we will win a title. I’m disappointed with some individuals performances, KAT , Rudy in this series but proud of this team. Future look bright. Go wolves!

You and I define success differently. While the Wolves accomplished more than they did in 20 years, so what? Wolves have been worst franchise in the NBA and after all that suffering, I want the Wolves to win a title. Mike Conley and Gobert said they wanted a title and not be satisfied with anything less. I'm in that camp. Wolves may not get back to WCF in a long time and coming up short when the Wolves have a talented but aging roster (Gobert, Conley) because of poor coaching is an unsatisfying year. The Wolves blew their wad already on the Rudy trade. I don't care that Ant is 22, he needs a better supporting cast and the Wolves don't have the ammo to get it, thanks to Connelly's bonehead trade for Gobert.

I agree with you on the winning part. But winning a
Title required time. You don’t go from bad or average team to NBA champion in one or two years. Being ambitious is good but winning requires foundation. We have to be patient and build step by step. I agree on one point . Neither KAT or Rudy will become better. Which mean we have to make some moves is we
Want to make this team better. Which is not easy considering how much we spend for Rudy. I love Rudy but he is definitely too limited on offense part.

It's not just difficult it's luck. At this point, we have to bank on some younger player becoming a #1 or #2 option with Ant.

We have to package and sell off one of the biggest contracts in the league after one of the worst playoff performances of his career. Won't be easy, may have to take negative value back to get one positive asset. Unless you some how get a small treasure trove that path is over too.

Even if we move KAT we're capped. We have no salary cap. We're done there too, so FAs aren't an option.

Other trades aren't feasible as the rest of our players shouldn't be touched and we don't have any sweeteners or assets to attach.

I hate that people refuse to accept that the Rudy Gobert trade was a BAD trade. Despite his playoff performance which I think was semi positive, he's not worth what we paid.

Finally this leaves the draft, not impossible, maybe not enough. Unless Connelly lucks out and drafts Jokic level talent again, and gets us a starting PG.

[yojimbo]

Rarely post but it needs saying that these growing pains are a normal part of the process for teams as they improve. It's painful to lose these last 3 games, but we were in all of them despite some bad games from KAT and Ant. Wolves have progressed every year of Ant's career so far, and that makes me optimistic for next year. If someone told me in October that we would make WCF I would have been ecstatic. It's been an enjoyable run, and I am mostly upset I won't have many more Wolves games to watch for a while.

I went to my first Wolves game in the Dome - so far away from the floor that only a guy as big as Kevin Duckworth was recognizable. I've also been a Bulls fan since the 70s and while MJ's early years were tons of fun, it took the team several tries to get over the hump. The Celtics & Pistons didn't just get out of the way. Plenty of fans wanted Pippen gone after his migraine game in 1990 - he got past that. Here's hoping McDaniels matures too.

Don't get me wrong - the Jordan years were awesome - winning never gets old. But it was also wonderful to just enjoy some great playoff runs after years of watching the likes of Mitchell Wiggins and pinning your hopes on ancient Artis Gilmore. The Wolves were bad longer, so the desperation is a little stronger, but the feeling is very familiar.

[TimberKat]

You and I define success differently. While the Wolves accomplished more than they did in 20 years, so what? Wolves have been worst franchise in the NBA and after all that suffering, I want the Wolves to win a title. Mike Conley and Gobert said they wanted a title and not be satisfied with anything less. I'm in that camp. Wolves may not get back to WCF in a long time and coming up short when the Wolves have a talented but aging roster (Gobert, Conley) because of poor coaching is an unsatisfying year. The Wolves blew their wad already on the Rudy trade. I don't care that Ant is 22, he needs a better supporting cast and the Wolves don't have the ammo to get it, thanks to Connelly's bonehead trade for Gobert.

I agree with you on the winning part. But winning a
Title required time. You don’t go from bad or average team to NBA champion in one or two years. Being ambitious is good but winning requires foundation. We have to be patient and build step by step. I agree on one point . Neither KAT or Rudy will become better. Which mean we have to make some moves is we
Want to make this team better. Which is not easy considering how much we spend for Rudy. I love Rudy but he is definitely too limited on offense part.

It's not just difficult it's luck. At this point, we have to bank on some younger player becoming a #1 or #2 option with Ant.

We have to package and sell off one of the biggest contracts in the league after one of the worst playoff performances of his career. Won't be easy, may have to take negative value back to get one positive asset. Unless you some how get a small treasure trove that path is over too.

Even if we move KAT we're capped. We have no salary cap. We're done there too, so FAs aren't an option.

Other trades aren't feasible as the rest of our players shouldn't be touched and we don't have any sweeteners or assets to attach.

I hate that people refuse to accept that the Rudy Gobert trade was a BAD trade. Despite his playoff performance which I think was semi positive, he's not worth what we paid.

Finally this leaves the draft, not impossible, maybe not enough. Unless Connelly lucks out and drafts Jokic level talent again, and gets us a starting PG.

Can you think of any top 40 player that is willing to play here last year or the year before? We're we going to be a top 4 team without the Gobert trade. We had two other supposed shot creator offensive player in DLo and Towns after the trade but unfortunately they don't pan out for whatever reason. Getting to final 4 is about as good as we expected for this year anyway. If we are going to move any pieces, I think we move Towns instead of Gobert.

[guest81]

If you are going to trade assets, I wanted DeJounte Murray not Gobert and we could have kept Kessler.
Kessler
KAT
Jaden
Ant
DeJounte

I also liked Kyrie in a trade and that was when everybody was down on him. Kyrie would have been better and he would have cost us not much.

Gobert trade made little sense to me and while I am forced to accept it, anything short of title confirms it was a disaster. There is only one winner and so if you don't win it all, I'd rather have the ammo to rebuild around Ant and Jaden.

That team isn't better then the one who have now. Glad you aren't the gm

Its much younger and cheaper. Conley's career is almost over and Gobert is old, especially for a center. Murray and Kessler are like ten years younger and their salaries are much less. Gobert trade has depleted us of trade assets and cap space. But some of you think making it this far is incredible and if you are that easily satisfied, then hallelujah. I guess I'm just crazy to want more.

That team is also maybe a play in team? They would still be over the tax so i don't think they much cheaper. Murray went for 2 less picks then Rudy so i guess there's that. You've lost out on the chemistry that Conley and Ant have. Ant never gets this kind of playoff experience either. Yea no I would take the gobert trade 100/100 times over your deal. If your goal is title or bust, id hate to break it to you, but only one team wins it every year, your going to be miserable every season

[Note30]

That team isn't better then the one who have now. Glad you aren't the gm

Its much younger and cheaper. Conley's career is almost over and Gobert is old, especially for a center. Murray and Kessler are like ten years younger and their salaries are much less. Gobert trade has depleted us of trade assets and cap space. But some of you think making it this far is incredible and if you are that easily satisfied, then hallelujah. I guess I'm just crazy to want more.

That team is also maybe a play in team? They would still be over the tax so i don't think they much cheaper. Murray went for 2 less picks then Rudy so i guess there's that. You've lost out on the chemistry that Conley and Ant have. Ant never gets this kind of playoff experience either. Yea no I would take the gobert trade 100/100 times over your deal. If your goal is title or bust, id hate to break it to you, but only one team wins it every year, your going to be miserable every season

A play in team with no pressure. A playin team with tons of flexibility and the ability to trade KAT without relying on an amazing return.

A playin team with Keyonte George and Walker Kessler making 7 million combined as opposed to Gobert and Conley making 60+ million.

The biggest thing is there is no pressure to win a chip in the next year. With the right coaching and perhaps a small trade, we still would have been a 1st round team.

And we could have been a team with the ability to trade for an actual superstar instead of Gobert.

If Miami decides to blow it up soon we could have gone after Bam, or we could have gone after anyone this year. We could have gone after Jrue for cheap.

Instead we paid over market price. Some other team would have gone after Mitchell or Gobert. I refuse to believe the Jazz called us, and I refuse to believe that was the only way we could have made the deal.

It was a terrible trade and it you would do it again for the same results we have gotten you're an idiot.

[Note30]

I agree with you on the winning part. But winning a
Title required time. You don’t go from bad or average team to NBA champion in one or two years. Being ambitious is good but winning requires foundation. We have to be patient and build step by step. I agree on one point . Neither KAT or Rudy will become better. Which mean we have to make some moves is we
Want to make this team better. Which is not easy considering how much we spend for Rudy. I love Rudy but he is definitely too limited on offense part.

It's not just difficult it's luck. At this point, we have to bank on some younger player becoming a #1 or #2 option with Ant.

We have to package and sell off one of the biggest contracts in the league after one of the worst playoff performances of his career. Won't be easy, may have to take negative value back to get one positive asset. Unless you some how get a small treasure trove that path is over too.

Even if we move KAT we're capped. We have no salary cap. We're done there too, so FAs aren't an option.

Other trades aren't feasible as the rest of our players shouldn't be touched and we don't have any sweeteners or assets to attach.

I hate that people refuse to accept that the Rudy Gobert trade was a BAD trade. Despite his playoff performance which I think was semi positive, he's not worth what we paid.

Finally this leaves the draft, not impossible, maybe not enough. Unless Connelly lucks out and drafts Jokic level talent again, and gets us a starting PG.

Can you think of any top 40 player that is willing to play here last year or the year before? We're we going to be a top 4 team without the Gobert trade. We had two other supposed shot creator offensive player in DLo and Towns after the trade but unfortunately they don't pan out for whatever reason. Getting to final 4 is about as good as we expected for this year anyway. If we are going to move any pieces, I think we move Towns instead of Gobert.

Gobert was traded for, we could have traded for them, that's the point.

Dallas essentially traded for their whole roster in the last year.

I'd much rather surround our team with the same pieces minus they traded for.

Kyrie (traded for one pick)
PJ (traded for whole getting off a terrible contract probably could have gotten him for less)
Gafford (minimal going out)

We don't need to sign a major FA. Bury your head in the sand and scream it was a good trade, it wasn't.

[Calinks]

I really like this tweet by Dane. Not absolving Towns, he needs to be able to figure it out more than he has and that's on him and his mental blocks and just bad shooting. That said, I agree a lot with this. He isn't the same offensive player he was a few years ago, some of that is what he has been asked to do. That said, I think it was a mistake to not lean into his strengths and I have lamented our offensive play style and how it doesn't lean into them either.

Basically, he hasn't been playing like a guy who can hit 5 three's a game or is an incredible shooter so its not shocking that he can't just turn it on in this series. All season, he has been an efficient but lesser scorer than what he has been in the past. We never found a way to get him going and we never developed any two-man chemistry between him and Ant. It's not until now that its biting us in the ass.

If he is with us next season I think it's crucial that the next step be unlocking his offense. (Note: This is all magnified by his horrible shooting, if he was making even a third of these misses, he wouldn't look as horrible. That said, I still think this is a problem that needs to be addressed as long as he's on this team).

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[guest81]

Its much younger and cheaper. Conley's career is almost over and Gobert is old, especially for a center. Murray and Kessler are like ten years younger and their salaries are much less. Gobert trade has depleted us of trade assets and cap space. But some of you think making it this far is incredible and if you are that easily satisfied, then hallelujah. I guess I'm just crazy to want more.

That team is also maybe a play in team? They would still be over the tax so i don't think they much cheaper. Murray went for 2 less picks then Rudy so i guess there's that. You've lost out on the chemistry that Conley and Ant have. Ant never gets this kind of playoff experience either. Yea no I would take the gobert trade 100/100 times over your deal. If your goal is title or bust, id hate to break it to you, but only one team wins it every year, your going to be miserable every season

A play in team with no pressure. A playin team with tons of flexibility and the ability to trade KAT without relying on an amazing return.

A playin team with Keyonte George and Walker Kessler making 7 million combined as opposed to Gobert and Conley making 60+ million.

The biggest thing is there is no pressure to win a chip in the next year. With the right coaching and perhaps a small trade, we still would have been a 1st round team.

And we could have been a team with the ability to trade for an actual superstar instead of Gobert.

If Miami decides to blow it up soon we could have gone after Bam, or we could have gone after anyone this year. We could have gone after Jrue for cheap.

Instead we paid over market price. Some other team would have gone after Mitchell or Gobert. I refuse to believe the Jazz called us, and I refuse to believe that was the only way we could have made the deal.

It was a terrible trade and it you would do it again for the same results we have gotten you're an idiot.

Walker kessler was coming off the bench for a lot of the year, not sure why you think he would be such a get.

Miami has never blown it up. Not sure why you'd suggest bam. Might as well if said you could get giannis or curry.

They gave away beasley, vando, and pat bev, none of which would get playoff minutes on this team. They'll have to give away picks in the mid 20s. Not really a big overpay looking at it today.

Gobert has the highest plus minus of anyone on the wolves this season, created one of the best defenses of the past 20 years, and created a culture of winning.

You want to put ant on a losing team developing losing habits and becoming someone like lameo ball. Instead he's played in tons of high profile high pressure games that are going to be extremely valuable when he actually hits his prime.

I feel our your just the type of fan who gets enjoyment about a potential of a team, rather then the actual results

[cmoss84]

I was a HS/college pitcher. Needless to say, ì am extremely superstitous. Game 3 starts sour and i turn off tnt volume (Harlan my all time favorite).
I says to myself, self, hows bout some Frank Sinatra radio? Lively gets kneed in balls a moment later...but short term success. 2nd half I try out Nat King Cole. So close. After game, turned to Audioslave and thc gummies.
I encourage you all to find your happy place if things go south at any point tomorrow.
Been a grear year. Congrats all and...
...arrrroooooooooo!!!!!!

[Worm Guts]

There may be a time in the future where the Wolves have a depleted roster and I think about how the Gobert trade siphoned all our resources, but it’s not going to be the first thing I think about after our best season in 20 years.

[TimberKat]

There may be a time in the future where the Wolves have a depleted roster and I think about how the Gobert trade siphoned all our resources, but it’s not going to be the first thing I think about after our best season in 20 years.

How about we look at it this way: Gobert = Kessler + George + 2025 1st. Now we are short one pick in 2027. The 2029 is top 5 protected. You can complain if LBJ wants to play at MIN but we don't have picks to trade for him. However, it's not going to deplete our roster with that one #1 for 2027. We need to draft better. So far Moore, Minott, and Miller are all disappointments.

[Note30]

There may be a time in the future where the Wolves have a depleted roster and I think about how the Gobert trade siphoned all our resources, but it’s not going to be the first thing I think about after our best season in 20 years.

How about we look at it this way: Gobert = Kessler + George + 2025 1st. Now we are short one pick in 2027. The 2029 is top 5 protected. You can complain if LBJ wants to play at MIN but we don't have picks to trade for him. However, it's not going to deplete our roster with that one #1 for 2027. We need to draft better. So far Moore, Minott, and Miller are all disappointments.

LOL yeah I mean it's 3 picks, and then one more, and then another later, and a few pick swaps. But it's really 3!

[Note30]

That team is also maybe a play in team? They would still be over the tax so i don't think they much cheaper. Murray went for 2 less picks then Rudy so i guess there's that. You've lost out on the chemistry that Conley and Ant have. Ant never gets this kind of playoff experience either. Yea no I would take the gobert trade 100/100 times over your deal. If your goal is title or bust, id hate to break it to you, but only one team wins it every year, your going to be miserable every season

A play in team with no pressure. A playin team with tons of flexibility and the ability to trade KAT without relying on an amazing return.

A playin team with Keyonte George and Walker Kessler making 7 million combined as opposed to Gobert and Conley making 60+ million.

The biggest thing is there is no pressure to win a chip in the next year. With the right coaching and perhaps a small trade, we still would have been a 1st round team.

And we could have been a team with the ability to trade for an actual superstar instead of Gobert.

If Miami decides to blow it up soon we could have gone after Bam, or we could have gone after anyone this year. We could have gone after Jrue for cheap.

Instead we paid over market price. Some other team would have gone after Mitchell or Gobert. I refuse to believe the Jazz called us, and I refuse to believe that was the only way we could have made the deal.

It was a terrible trade and it you would do it again for the same results we have gotten you're an idiot.

Walker kessler was coming off the bench for a lot of the year, not sure why you think he would be such a get.

Miami has never blown it up. Not sure why you'd suggest bam. Might as well if said you could get giannis or curry.

They gave away beasley, vando, and pat bev, none of which would get playoff minutes on this team. They'll have to give away picks in the mid 20s. Not really a big overpay looking at it today.

Gobert has the highest plus minus of anyone on the wolves this season, created one of the best defenses of the past 20 years, and created a culture of winning.

You want to put ant on a losing team developing losing habits and becoming someone like lameo ball. Instead he's played in tons of high profile high pressure games that are going to be extremely valuable when he actually hits his prime.

I feel our your just the type of fan who gets enjoyment about a potential of a team, rather then the actual results

We'd only need him for 20 minutes a game. It's not that great of a defense in the playoffs. Regular season wins mean nothing in the playoffs.

The point wasn't specifically Miami, it was insert XYZ team that has an actual Kyrie that affects games in the moments that matter. Defense is important. Offense is more important especially as we've seen. In fact, the single biggest need we have is offense. We're not even a great rebounding team against Dallas.

Those picks might be really high in 2027 and 2029, and the pick swap in 2028 might go the other way.

Did Shai develop bad habits?

Vando only wouldn't have gotten minutes cause he's injured. The Lakers also overpaid him.

I'm not just a person that cares about potential. Look at OKC. They are the blueprint and arguably the best managed team in the league. Theyve made it further than we have as a franchise and they started in 2008. They have 18 picks over the next years and quite a bit of cap space and they are all on the same timeline. They also made the playoffs and semis. They didn't have to trade for a slow center who can only play one style of defense and has less offensive skills than an AAU player.

If you can't see that this was a terrible trade after that example then there's no point in furthering this discussion.

[Note30]

There may be a time in the future where the Wolves have a depleted roster and I think about how the Gobert trade siphoned all our resources, but it’s not going to be the first thing I think about after our best season in 20 years.

Just because something is better than absolute trash doesn't mean it's good. Trading most of your resources to be good and win two playoff series and then be mediocre for the next few years isn't the prize you think it is, we're just so used to being terrible that anything other than terrible is amazing. Objectively it's not actually good.