40: Warriors at Wolves, 8:30 pm on ESPN

[FrenchMinnyFan]

Rudy was not good tonight, never in the rythm.

I kept falling asleep all game due to jet lag. Missed half of the game, I was wondering why they never throw the ball to Rudy when GSW has such a small lineup? All game, even though, they were making a comeback, I never felt like they would win. There is a very different feel to this year's team vs previous years. You just know they will find a way to lose a close game. The only nice thing I can say is now we know our closing line up - Gobert, Naz, JMcD, Ant, DDV. DDV is finally fitting in.

Unfortunately, I did watched the entire 1st qtr and Naz missed the block out FT rebound

Totally agree. The way we play make Rudy quite useless and Mike totally. Both + NAW combined 7 shoots in one game is not a good sign.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

They didn’t give away all their picks to trade for Rudy on the Karl timeline, then dump Karl for salary in a bad move that made them worse right before the season. We are not Denver, they did it more slowly and we rushed it. Now we have mismatched pieces and have to make very costly trades to try and dig out of the hole. Dilly isn’t worth an unprotected first, much less a top 1 protected swap as well. He might develop into being worth it. But that is one steep price to pay for maybe.

They signed a 32-year old Paul Millsap to a 3/$90 million contract, the next summer trading their starting SF Wilson Chandler and two 2nds for cash because they couldn't afford to keep him.

And yet, they kept the organizational structure intact.

1 bad contract, vs trading 5 firsts, plus the money (see opportunity cost of,) Beasley, V8, Balmaro, and Beverly. Yes I am counting Kessler as a first as he never played a game as a wolf.

Rudy is a poor fit with Ant. Ant is bad at PNR, Rudy clogs the paint, and Rudy doesn’t play at the pace Ant wants to run. We designed a roster around twin towers. We then dumped out of it before seeing the full return. That is a little worse than one bad salary move.

Have to agree. Making finals last year was a fantastic achievement and we never go there without Rudy and KAT performance specially KAT one as i think people underestimated the effort he put in defense. Unfortunately owners seems to be cheap and couldn't afford to keep KAT....we will never know what would have happen this year but in business, in general if we make some moves to your organization when she is near the target, you usually do it because you prepare the future but this trade don't prepare anything...Randle is bringing nothing and we move back 3 step behind... owners being cheap is the only logical explanation for me . Which does not satisfy me as the new owners knew the financial situation when they buy it...

[_AIJ_]

So glad i did not watch the game. That should help my mental health

[TimberKat]

1 bad contract, vs trading 5 firsts, plus the money (see opportunity cost of,) Beasley, V8, Balmaro, and Beverly. Yes I am counting Kessler as a first as he never played a game as a wolf.

Rudy is a poor fit with Ant. Ant is bad at PNR, Rudy clogs the paint, and Rudy doesn’t play at the pace Ant wants to run. We designed a roster around twin towers. We then dumped out of it before seeing the full return. That is a little worse than one bad salary move.

There are plenty more examples of Denver going back and forth in terms of buying and selling.

So basically, you are saying that you wish we never traded for Rudy, that we never made the WCF as a result, etc...?

We are starting to see with consistency now why DiVincenzo was such an important get. Was it perfect value? Of course not, but it might've been the best we were ever going to get. So if you feel conviction that you will never win a title with Towns eating over $50 million, why hold onto him and let the value drop even farther?

Mismatched pieces happen all the time, it's called building a roster. But some people would rather tear down everything to the ground because the worst franchise in pro sports history is only .500 at the midway point of the season.

I love Rudy as part of a twin tower where the other half is a floor spacing big who can defend the 4/5. What I don’t love is Rudy as the big without a PNR partner and without a box out partner. Ant, Jaden, KAT, and Naz was a core that could have gone places. We had all our picks, we drafted Kessler, and Beasley, Vando, and to a lesser extent Bev’s money had value. Dlo was also a wolf who was young enough and playing well enough to maybe bring home a decent return. We went all in with assets without going all in with mindset. DDV is showing value, but not as much as Karl. Our roster will get worse over time not better. We didn’t have a proper plan, and that is how you lose Ant and go back to sucking. One bad season at a time.

Agree, the only future plan right now is Dilly. We borrow and steal to end up putting all hopes on him. You hope Ant stays when we clean out everyone for a free agent.

[Calinks]

Right away the team didn't feel fun to watch, I talked about it early in the season. I do think they are finding some things though. I have to agree that we just don't have it this season, we might make the playoffs but we can maybe be good at best, not great. Hopefully we can use some of the flexibility we earned after trading Towns to shape a better squad in the near future.

[Klomp]

Agree, the only future plan right now is Dilly. We borrow and steal to end up putting all hopes on him. You hope Ant stays when we clean out everyone for a free agent.

DiVincenzo / Dillingham
Edwards / Alexander-Walker / Shannon
McDaniels /Minott
Reid

That's a decent core to start building around. It might take time to have the full vision come to fruition but I think I see the plan, at least in part.

[winforlose]

Right away the team didn't feel fun to watch, I talked about it early in the season. I do think they are finding some things though. I have to agree that we just don't have it this season, we might make the playoffs but we can maybe be good at best, not great. Hopefully we can use some of the flexibility we earned after trading Towns to shape a better squad in the near future.

I keep seeing this from different people. How do we improve? Most of our core is 2-4. Dilly might develop, he might not. Rudy is aging and we have no one behind him. We aren’t going to be drafting a ton of help and even as we acquire young talent, we don’t find minutes for them. Memphis, Houston, GSW, OKC, Denver, even the Lakers and Clippers find minutes for prospects. Meanwhile our players keep getting more expensive (Naz and NAW, are the latest examples,) and guys like DDV are going to need to be paid when their value deals end. We made a bad KAT trade and went from an upward trajectory to a downward one. So tell me, other than guys getting closer to their prime, how will this poorly constructed and financially constricted team improve?

[Biff Cooper]

Agree, the only future plan right now is Dilly. We borrow and steal to end up putting all hopes on him. You hope Ant stays when we clean out everyone for a free agent.

DiVincenzo / Dillingham
Edwards / Alexander-Walker / Shannon
McDaniels /Minott
Reid

That's a decent core to start building around. It might take time to have the full vision come to fruition but I think I see the plan, at least in part.

And I guess Miller too. We're not in bad shape. Hopefully we can get Randle to opt out, re-sign NAW and Naz to minor raise deals, and then we have escaped the salary cap mess with a decent core going forward.

[TimberKat]

Agree, the only future plan right now is Dilly. We borrow and steal to end up putting all hopes on him. You hope Ant stays when we clean out everyone for a free agent.

DiVincenzo / Dillingham
Edwards / Alexander-Walker / Shannon
McDaniels /Minott
Reid

That's a decent core to start building around. It might take time to have the full vision come to fruition but I think I see the plan, at least in part.

And I guess Miller too. We're not in bad shape. Hopefully we can get Randle to opt out, re-sign NAW and Naz to minor raise deals, and then we have escaped the salary cap mess with a decent core going forward.

My concern is who on that list will make two all star games in their career? I supposed we could sign someone, once Conley, Randle, and Gobert's contracts drop off.

[Klomp]

DiVincenzo / Dillingham
Edwards / Alexander-Walker / Shannon
McDaniels /Minott
Reid

That's a decent core to start building around. It might take time to have the full vision come to fruition but I think I see the plan, at least in part.

And I guess Miller too. We're not in bad shape. Hopefully we can get Randle to opt out, re-sign NAW and Naz to minor raise deals, and then we have escaped the salary cap mess with a decent core going forward.

My concern is who on that list will make two all star games in their career? I supposed we could sign someone, once Conley, Randle, and Gobert's contracts drop off.

Anthony Edwards

[TimberKat]

And I guess Miller too. We're not in bad shape. Hopefully we can get Randle to opt out, re-sign NAW and Naz to minor raise deals, and then we have escaped the salary cap mess with a decent core going forward.

My concern is who on that list will make two all star games in their career? I supposed we could sign someone, once Conley, Randle, and Gobert's contracts drop off.

Anthony Edwards

Yes, exactly, only one. You don't win championships with one.

[Klomp]

My concern is who on that list will make two all star games in their career? I supposed we could sign someone, once Conley, Randle, and Gobert's contracts drop off.

Anthony Edwards

Yes, exactly, only one. You don't win championships with one.

I get what you are saying, but all-stars also come with reputations as a playoff team. If you are consistently a good playoff team, "undeserving" guys will be named an all-star. People are talking about Derrick White as basically a lock for an all-star, because of how good the Celtics have been and he's their third best player right now.

[TimberKat]

Anthony Edwards

Yes, exactly, only one. You don't win championships with one.

I get what you are saying, but all-stars also come with reputations as a playoff team. If you are consistently a good playoff team, "undeserving" guys will be named an all-star. People are talking about Derrick White as basically a lock for an all-star, because of how good the Celtics have been and he's their third best player right now.

Yes, is anyone besides Ant going to be selected to Olympic team? Better than Derrick White?