Rumors, Random Thoughts, and non-Threadworthy Posts 18.0 Dave Cowens drove a taxi

[brackdan70]

Okay Indiana

Yes! I put this on the GB game thread...

Watching the game with my daughters and we've started calling McConnell "Roy Kent". Don’t know if that's a thing, but it should be. He's here, he's there, he's every...

Hah!!! Yeah as an opposing fan I have always thought that about him. Pesky little guy.
He at times seems to be here, there and every where for sure.

[brackdan70]

I know it’s too early as Indiana hasn’t finished the season yet but what are they going to do with Mathurin? Are they paying him and dumping someone else or are they going to trade him? If so will they wait until trade deadline or will they trade him in the summer? What would be his value if traded during summer?

I think they take offers but ultimately they resign him.

I think they definitely keep him for the first part of next season. If things are looking good for the team then you keep him and deal with the RFA situation in 26/27. He is one of those tweeners where he is a good player, but not so great that you offer him a nice extension. Maybe they come to an agreement and extend him on a fair deal?
I think he'd be a $15m per season guy based off current form. He hasn't improved in 3 years of regular season but his playoffs have been decent

[Godaddycurse]

Houston out: Green, Brooks, Whitmore, 10
Houston in: Durant

Phoenix out: Durant
Phoenix in: Brooks, Claxton, Whitmore, 19, 26, 27

Brooklyn out: Claxton, 19, 26, 27
Brooklyn in: Green, 10

who says no?

[kobe_vs_jordan]

To me, it’s gotta be Minnesota. Look at the map. If Memphis stays in the West, they have a good amount of teams around them in the Western conference. Minnesota is all on an island with their location in the west, but would have a ton of teams within a short flight if they moved to the East.

I understand the flight logic but can’t imagine grizz would let another team go to the East without a protest. And probably pelicans too want to move east.

Is the lg going to prioritize travel as the team that gets to move east? Pacific division travels a lot. A fair amount of teams. Travel just as far as the wolves relatively.

Pretty decent research by a wolves fan.
https://www.reddit.com/r/timberwolves/s/Ml96E1sBi6

That research is based of 2023-24 data which is good but here is 2024-25 data:

Read on Twitter

It shows that again the Wolves travel the most and even in 23-24 when the Spurs edged them out, they’re not even in the top 5 last year while Wolves never rank lower than 3rd any year.

As you can see, and to your point, Pacific coast teams travel a lot too but which of them do you want to put in the Eastern Conference?

I understand wolves travel a lot. But say the wolves move then now there is a new team that still travels a lot. Makes more sense for the lg to solve travel issues for multiple teams. Maybe the solve is better scheduling idk.

But billionaire owners of grizz and pelicans just going to watch wolves move to the east because they travel the most? That’s mighty generous of them.

[shrink]

Personally, I cannot wait for Minnesota to finally be in the Eastern Conference so they can actually have regional rivals, not have one of the worst flight times each season, and avoid the Western Conference gauntlet.

Right! MIN has six teams in the East that are closer to them than their NEAREST Western Conference foe!

The other big travel time winner if MIN gets moved is POR. The Wolves and Trailblazers are both typical in the top three in travel distance every year, even with recent away-away back to backs. For POR, removing four games with MIN (two time zones away), and replacing them with Las Vegas and Seattle will drastically reduce their travel time too.

NBA is trying to keep their players healthy and competitive, reducing travel time leaguewide. That’s why it won’t be MEM.

[hugepatsfan]

Houston out: Green, Brooks, Whitmore, 10
Houston in: Durant

Phoenix out: Durant
Phoenix in: Brooks, Claxton, Whitmore, 19, 26, 27

Brooklyn out: Claxton, 19, 26, 27
Brooklyn in: Green, 10

who says no?

Hard to say what BRK would think because it's so draft board dependent. I thin Cam Thomas is one of only a few guys they really have any attachment to on their whole roster, which makes Green on that deal a tougher fit than he already is for most teams. But it really comes down to what BRK thinks of the draft board at #10.

PHX is going to have to take the best offer for Durant. Technically they could keep him but practically we all know they can't. I think if they can get the BRK part of the deal with Claxton it makes sense but feels like SA or MIN can beat the deal otherwise. Again, unless PHX really likes someone at #10.

[hugepatsfan]

Grizzlies more East than minny.

To me, it’s gotta be Minnesota. Look at the map. If Memphis stays in the West, they have a good amount of teams around them in the Western conference. Minnesota is all on an island with their location in the west, but would have a ton of teams within a short flight if they moved to the East.

Yeah, it's pretty much a lock to be Minnesota, barring something shocking.

Map:

Spoiler:

Memphis shares a division with Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and San Antonio.
Shortest flight distance: ~358 Miles
Furthest flight distance: ~632 Miles

In contrast, Minnesota shares a division with Denver, Oklahoma City, Portland, and Utah.
Shortest flight distance: ~680 Miles
Longest flight distance: ~1,429 Miles.

Minnesota's shortest flight is longer than Memphis' longest flight, within their division.

Assuming four divisions per conference (assuming that they don't just scrap divisions):
East:
Atlanta/Charlotte/Miami/Orlando
Boston/Brooklyn/New York/Washington
Chicago/Indiana/Milwaukee/Minnesota
Cleveland/Detroit/Toronto/Philadelphia
West:
Clippers/Lakers/Las Vegas/Phoenix
Denver/Memphis/Oklahoma City/Utah
Golden State/Portland/Sacramento/Seattle
Dallas/Houston/New Orleans/San Antonio

Memphis gets a little hosed, with the Utah flight that is ~1,259 miles, but the flight to Oklahoma City (~374 miles) helps compensate a bit. Minnesota being a Western Conference team is honestly vile, and hoses everyone in their division (especially Portland) to a pretty extreme degree.

So the gap between most and least miles is 15K miles.

Google says planes fly 500-600 miles/hour.

15K miles translates to about 30 hours over the whole season. Can't imagine it's a serious consideration.

[daoneandonly]

Lets be real, and its not a judgment, the biggest reason Wolves fans want the team to move East isnt the travel, its the competition, or lack thereof. You essentially get a guarantee playoff spot without a play-in.

[jscott]

Lets be real, and its not a judgment, the biggest reason Wolves fans want the team to move East isnt the travel, its the competition, or lack thereof. You essentially get a guarantee playoff spot without a play-in.

TBH - I think it’s more about having actual rivals. Chicago, Milwaukee, etc all have natural rivalries in other sports.

[shrink]

Lets be real, and its not a judgment, the biggest reason Wolves fans want the team to move East isnt the travel, its the competition, or lack thereof. You essentially get a guarantee playoff spot without a play-in.

TBH - I think it’s more about having actual rivals. Chicago, Milwaukee, etc all have natural rivalries in other sports.

Yes, I’d love to attend a road game, or joke with the many local transplants here about a rivalry with Milwaukee or Chicago.

I’d also like to see the team not forced to get off planes at 4 am for back-to-backs that end in a road game.

But sure, the East is weaker. Still, I have confidence that MIN is more than a match for any western team not named OKC. Ditto in the east, except for BOS. Ant is just going to keep getting better.

EDIT: And there is no functional reason MIN is in the West to begin with. They were simply placed there when they were an expansion team with ORL. Taylor has been waiting for 30 years for the opportunity to relocate when the NBA added more western conference franchises, and it hasn’t been West > East every year for 30 years.

[Texas Chuck]

in theory the conference thing should be cyclical.

[daoneandonly]

in theory the conference thing should be cyclical.

In theory, hasnt been that way since I started college and im 42

[Texas Chuck]

in theory the conference thing should be cyclical.

In theory, hasnt been that way since I started college and im 42

Shaq, Duncan, and Curry most of that. Didn't help Lebron ran roughshod over the East forever either.

But we had the Celtics/Pistons/Bulls dominate the league for 15 years before the Shaq Lakers took hold.

It will cycle back. Wemby ending up in the West didn't help, but there are compelling reasons for the Wolves to move having nothing to do with trying to find an easy path.

[shrink]

Yes. These are longterm moves. MIN has been in the West 36 years - no telling the next 36 years in East will be an advantage.

However, reducing travel times (for them and other western conference teams) and MIN having nearby rivals will certainly be good for the team and the NBA product.

[Klomp]

God I hope they go away from the East/West bracket and adopt a 1-16. This **** is getting so hard in the West.

In theory, adding two expansion teams to the West should help with that, especially if also moving one of the top teams from the past few years to the East.

[daoneandonly]

in theory the conference thing should be cyclical.

In theory, hasnt been that way since I started college and im 42

Shaq, Duncan, and Curry most of that. Didn't help Lebron ran roughshod over the East forever either.

But we had the Celtics/Pistons/Bulls dominate the league for 15 years before the Shaq Lakers took hold.

It will cycle back. Wemby ending up in the West didn't help, but there are compelling reasons for the Wolves to move having nothing to do with trying to find an easy path.

Yea the Wemby going to SA of all teams really irked me. And I cant blame or hate on the Wolves, Id love for the Mavs to go East if there was a rational reason. I mean like you said, the Cowboys are in a grouping called "East"

[Klomp]

To me, it’s gotta be Minnesota. Look at the map. If Memphis stays in the West, they have a good amount of teams around them in the Western conference. Minnesota is all on an island with their location in the west, but would have a ton of teams within a short flight if they moved to the East.

Yeah, it's pretty much a lock to be Minnesota, barring something shocking.

Map:

Spoiler:

Memphis shares a division with Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and San Antonio.
Shortest flight distance: ~358 Miles
Furthest flight distance: ~632 Miles

In contrast, Minnesota shares a division with Denver, Oklahoma City, Portland, and Utah.
Shortest flight distance: ~680 Miles
Longest flight distance: ~1,429 Miles.

Minnesota's shortest flight is longer than Memphis' longest flight, within their division.

Assuming four divisions per conference (assuming that they don't just scrap divisions):
East:
Atlanta/Charlotte/Miami/Orlando
Boston/Brooklyn/New York/Washington
Chicago/Indiana/Milwaukee/Minnesota
Cleveland/Detroit/Toronto/Philadelphia
West:
Clippers/Lakers/Las Vegas/Phoenix
Denver/Memphis/Oklahoma City/Utah
Golden State/Portland/Sacramento/Seattle
Dallas/Houston/New Orleans/San Antonio

Memphis gets a little hosed, with the Utah flight that is ~1,259 miles, but the flight to Oklahoma City (~374 miles) helps compensate a bit. Minnesota being a Western Conference team is honestly vile, and hoses everyone in their division (especially Portland) to a pretty extreme degree.

So the gap between most and least miles is 15K miles.

Google says planes fly 500-600 miles/hour.

15K miles translates to about 30 hours over the whole season. Can't imagine it's a serious consideration.

Minnesota is in the same division as Portland, a 1,422-mile flight. That's 300 miles farther than flying from Minnesota to Boston.

I will say this, it's not as much of an issue as it would be if the NBA had a scheduling model closer to baseball, where you play division rivals so much more than any other team. However, I think the principle of it should matter.

[Mavrelous]

Tim Cato is reporting that Mavs interest is Jrue is "real" whatever that means...

[daoneandonly]

Tim Cato is reporting that Mavs interest is Jrue is "real" whatever that means...

Unless its for Klay, Martin, and/or Hardy, short sighted foolishness again for Nico

[nolaPELSfan]

Durant, Beal, O'Neale, Martin, Dunn
for
Herro, Wiggins, Anderson, Robinson, Rozier, #20
?