Are the Wolves the Most Talented Team in the West?

[Lipoli390]

As we all know, the Western Conference is loaded with talented teams from top to near the bottom.

We saw how talented Golden State is as they won the title this past season. All there guys are coming back and now they'll presumably have a healthy James Wiseman. The Clippers almost knocked the Wolves out of the playoffs without their best player, Kawhi, and he'll be back next season. The Pelicans came on strong late even without Zion who looks like he'll be back and healthy next season. The Suns haven't lost any of their key players. Denver has Murray and Porter Jr. coming back. The Rockets and Thunder are both loaded with young talent from this year's draft alone. Utah will obviously slide down substantially without Gobert and O'Neal and they'll sink even lower if they trade Donovan Mitchell as expected. Dallas will be good, but I see them taking a step backwards without Brunson.

So where do the Wolves fit into this picture? I think there's a good argument the Wolves are the most talented team in the West first now. They have two all-star bigs in their prime - one of them the best or second-best defensive big in the League and the other the 2nd-best offensive big. The Wolves also have a former all-star PG in his prime and a young SG who looks like he should eventually be a top 5 player in the League. Add Jaden McDaniels, Taurean Prince, Kyle Anderson to the list. I'd put those 7 rotation players up against any team in the West when comparing talent.

[Coolbreeze44]

I really depends on how Ant, Jaden, and Nowell come along this year. Hopefully by the end of the season, we can answer your question with a resounding yes.

[kekgeek]

Personally I think there is realistically 5 teams in the west that could win the west before injuries.

Warriors
Clippers
Wolves
Nuggets
Suns

Would of not said that before the trade. Got to stay healthy but I'm super excited for this year

[Q-is-here]

The #1 factor will be injuries and keeping key guys healthy. The #2 factor will be Ant, Jaden, and Nowell improving, as Cool mentions above. KAT, Gobert, DLO, Anderson, Prince, Rivers....these guys are what they are at this point in their careers.

[AbeVigodaLive]

A lot depends on Edwards.

The Athletic recently had its player tiers article. The guy put Anthony Edwards ahead of Towns. There must be A LOT of projection into that take because that was nowhere close to truth last season despite the uneducated casual/national narrative.

Ant has to improve significantly and stay healthy for the Gobert/Towns pairing to work. In fact, it's what has me most concerned. NBA teams can win with one star wing and one one star big man... or two star wings and no big men. But has any team won in recent NBA history with two star bigs and no star wing?

[Q-is-here]

A lot depends on Edwards.

The Athletic recently had its player tiers article. The guy put Anthony Edwards ahead of Towns. There must be A LOT of projection into that take because that was nowhere close to truth last season despite the uneducated casual/national narrative.

Ant has to improve significantly and stay healthy for the Gobert/Towns pairing to work. In fact, it's what has me most concerned. NBA teams can win with one star wing and one one star big man... or two star wings and no big men. But has any team won in recent NBA history with two star bigs and no star wing?

Significantly? He isn't THAT far from all-star status with his current production. And he was a net positive on the defensive end too so let's not forget he made nice strides in that area last season. I agree that if we want to win a title, he has to be our best player and there are definitely areas he needs to improve to leapfrog KAT. He's not there yet.

If our goal is to make a deep playoff run in the near term (say, make the Western Conference Finals), then I look at the collective "net" improvement of Ant/Jaden/Nowell as the biggest key. We can't just assume all three will keep getting better in a linear fashion, but they need to net out as collectively better than last season.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I see a rather large disparity between "sorta close All Star" and best/key player and clear best guard in long playoff run.

The good news is that we have seen progressive growth from Edwards already. Almost stunningly so... so we should all be confident that he makes another leap this season. And next.

[Lipoli390]

A lot depends on Edwards.

The Athletic recently had its player tiers article. The guy put Anthony Edwards ahead of Towns. There must be A LOT of projection into that take because that was nowhere close to truth last season despite the uneducated casual/national narrative.

Ant has to improve significantly and stay healthy for the Gobert/Towns pairing to work. In fact, it's what has me most concerned. NBA teams can win with one star wing and one one star big man... or two star wings and no big men. But has any team won in recent NBA history with two star bigs and no star wing?

Abe - Your take is the same as Draymond Green's. If you saw his podcast you'll remember he said that the key to the Wolves deal for Gobert was Edwards. He said that trading for Edwards told him the Wolves believe Edwards will be a superstar. I might not go quite that far, but almost. If the Wolves are going to make a deep playoff run next season, Edwards will need to be a consensus all-star. And he'll have to be a complete two-way player because the Wolves can't afford any significant slippage in perimeter defense resulting from Beverley's departure. I don't expect DLO to be any better defensively than he was last season. And I think it's a lot to ask a poor defender like Nowell to improve much on that end of the floor. So our perimeter defense will depend mainly on Edwards and McDaniels.

[rapsuperstar31]

A lot depends on Edwards.

The Athletic recently had its player tiers article. The guy put Anthony Edwards ahead of Towns. There must be A LOT of projection into that take because that was nowhere close to truth last season despite the uneducated casual/national narrative.

Ant has to improve significantly and stay healthy for the Gobert/Towns pairing to work. In fact, it's what has me most concerned. NBA teams can win with one star wing and one one star big man... or two star wings and no big men. But has any team won in recent NBA history with two star bigs and no star wing?

There is more to be star player to a team than just the box score. Ant started a bit slow, and also hit a wall for a good month or so when he was going through knee issues. Ant not only has the potential to be better than Towns both offensively and defensively, he has ability to be the lead of the team as well. Kat can lead, but he also pouts and gets mad too easily. Early in the season when the media was criticizing his whining, he stopped bitching during the next few games, not to be more of a leader but to try and prove his point that he needs to play with passion. Ant will be the best player on our team either next season or his 4th season, it will be very soon.

[Q-is-here]

A lot depends on Edwards.

The Athletic recently had its player tiers article. The guy put Anthony Edwards ahead of Towns. There must be A LOT of projection into that take because that was nowhere close to truth last season despite the uneducated casual/national narrative.

Ant has to improve significantly and stay healthy for the Gobert/Towns pairing to work. In fact, it's what has me most concerned. NBA teams can win with one star wing and one one star big man... or two star wings and no big men. But has any team won in recent NBA history with two star bigs and no star wing?

There is more to be star player to a team than just the box score. Ant started a bit slow, and also hit a wall for a good month or so when he was going through knee issues. Ant not only has the potential to be better than Towns both offensively and defensively, he has ability to be the lead of the team as well. Kat can lead, but he also pouts and gets mad too easily. Early in the season when the media was criticizing his whining, he stopped bitching during the next few games, not to be more of a leader but to try and prove his point that he needs to play with passion. Ant will be the best player on our team either next season or his 4th season, it will be very soon.

This is all part of the KAT drama experience. He does things in a performative, childish manner versus from a place of maturity. And yeah, it's why Ant ultimately has to ascend as both a player and leader of men in order for us to be serious contenders. KAT can be an awesome #2.