Cool's Two Things I Didn't Like Last Night +1

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I'm good with trading KAT if it doesn't work out with him, but IMO it'd be best to do so at next years trade deadline. I know it wasn't working prior to his injury, but it's still too small of a sample size to cut bait this off season. That said, I wouldn't be upset if they do. ANT and Jaden are the future!

I'm in no way picking on you, SP, so I hope you don't take it that way, but reading the end of your comment provoked a thought in my head. It's often been said that Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels are the future, and at 21-years old and 22-years old, respectively, they are the future of Timberwolves basketball.

However, they are also the present. We're talking about a first-time All-Star and a should-be All-Defensive Team nominee. That's prestigious company relative to the league. Edwards and McDaniels are already better than most players we would consider in the win-now category.

With that said, I can't think of a better player archetype to surround two wings like that than a big that can stretch the floor and provide necessary spacing with elite shooting proficiency. It's also beneficial that said player can help shoulder the load offensively with the ability to score and facilitate from anywhere on the court. They don't make bigs like that often and they're typically difficult to obtain if they even exist.

Minnesota's been without Karl-Anthony Towns for much of this season, and it's personally made me realize just how much we take him for granted. He's obviously not a perfect player nor does he have the mental makeup of a true number one, but that does not take away from his elite talent and historically-great production. Towns is the real deal in that regard. I've come back around in my thinking. I would be very, very hesitant to move him, especially given the play styles of our other two building blocks.

[Monster]

I'm not opposed to possibly trading KAT. But if the issue is the KAT/Gobert pairing, then you trade the 30 year old guy with bad hands who can't hit shots more than a foot-and-a-half from the basket rather than the 27 year old 24/11 big who is elite offensively in multiple ways, including post scoring, drives and three-point shooting. You only trade KAT if you believe it is necessary to acquire players you're convinced will do more to amplify the talents of Ant and Jaden or who align better chronologically with those two. And if you trade KAT for those reasons, then you definitely trade Rudy who is 10 years older than Edwards and who makes it harder for Ant to take full advantage of his dribble drive game.

My caveat to what you say here is that trading Towns might be the guy that maximizes value in return. I'm not really ready to deal Towns but I'm open to it.

Towns has been pretty loyal through some actual kinds crappy stuff as this organization isn't great. I also don't think there is enough games to say whether he will or won't work with this group including Edwards.

One thing I'll say is in that Memphis series (1 series but it's something) his defense was actually pretty good. If the Wolves have to bench Gobert but still have Towns in a "small" lineup that's a neat deal. Hopefully he gets healthy and we can get a real look at what things look like both in regular season and in a playoff series.

[TheFuture]

If Ant and Jaden keep improving, then KAT is the perfect player with them. I wouldn't trade him at this point. He is under contract with Ant and Jaden control. He is such a good shooter, spacing to help them what they are best at, slashing, and he was putting opposing bigs in trouble by pulling them out of the lane. The FO did their best to nullify that, and handcuffed themselves.

The problem looming is Gobert with KAT. 40 mil for a guy on the wrong side of 30 who gets played off the court in the regular season is a problem.

Eat it for two years and hope it blossoms. There is nothing KAT brings back that makes this team better moving forward.

[Jester1534]

If Ant and Jaden keep improving, then KAT is the perfect player with them. I wouldn't trade him at this point. He is under contract with Ant and Jaden control. He is such a good shooter, spacing to help them what they are best at, slashing, and he was putting opposing bigs in trouble by pulling them out of the lane. The FO did their best to nullify that, and handcuffed themselves.

The problem looming is Gobert with KAT. 40 mil for a guy on the wrong side of 30 who gets played off the court in the regular season is a problem.

Eat it for two years and hope it blossoms. There is nothing KAT brings back that makes this team better moving forward.

I'll add to this but we just don't know if this will all mesh or not. I know we got small sample size but the Ant and Jaden these last two months aren't anywhere near where they were to start the year.

[kekgeek]

A could have things.

1) let's be patient with Kat he is traditionally a slow starter so I am guessing it is going to be clunky to start.

2) In 832 possessions with Gobert and Kat on the floor together the wolves had a defensive rating of 108.2 what is in the 95th percentile of lineups. The numbers say those 2 worked defensively together.

3) The wolves offense was really bad with Kat/Gobert on the floor together but in the 21 games. Here is how much people were shooting from 3. Dlo: 8% worse, Rivers:15% worse, Jaden 3% worse, Forbes a career low, Kat was shooting a career low for 3. I think the offense can work itself out.

I'm excited to see how this goes. Kat is really freaking good and I'm ready

[TheFuture]

A could have things.

1) let's be patient with Kat he is traditionally a slow starter so I am guessing it is going to be clunky to start.

2) In 832 possessions with Gobert and Kat on the floor together the wolves had a defensive rating of 108.2 what is in the 95th percentile of lineups. The numbers say those 2 worked defensively together.

3) The wolves offense was really bad with Kat/Gobert on the floor together but in the 21 games. Here is how much people were shooting from 3. Dlo: 8% worse, Rivers:15% worse, Jaden 3% worse, Forbes a career low, Kat was shooting a career low for 3. I think the offense can work itself out.

I'm excited to see how this goes. Kat is really freaking good and I'm ready

KAT is the perfect #2 offensively for Ant. Jaden is the perfect 3 and D wing for those two. It is coming together.

Still, screw TC for jumping the gun.

Conley/Ant/Jaden/SloMo/KAT

JMAC/Beasley/ Prince/ Vanderbilt/Reid

Beverley/ Rivers/ Moore/Minott/Kessler

Garza/NAW

That is a fine team.

[Tactical unit]

Not trading Naz at the deadline speaks pretty loud and clear to me on the chances of KAT being traded. I don't think they will have Rudy, KAT, & Naz going into the start of next season so something has to give. If MN can get more value than they should for KAT it would kinda make up for giving more value than they should have for Rudy.

I think you nailed it Cool, unless Towns comes back and is amazing on both sides of the ball he very well could be gone.

If the reports are true and Naz can be resigned for less than or mid-level money and wants to come back that's why he isn't gone. Sure maybe they resign Naz and trade another big but regardless resigning Naz for that kind of money makes a ton of sense to me.

I agree and if Naz is quite the value as we both think then wouldn't it make sense that one of the other two bigs would be gone? Especially considering Anderson & McDaniels can all play PF rather well. Maybe Naz is the one they find easier to trade based on salary and production he is just easier to move and has more overall buyers. I just don't think they will have all three next year (KAT, Rudy & Naz).

[Monster]

Not trading Naz at the deadline speaks pretty loud and clear to me on the chances of KAT being traded. I don't think they will have Rudy, KAT, & Naz going into the start of next season so something has to give. If MN can get more value than they should for KAT it would kinda make up for giving more value than they should have for Rudy.

I think you nailed it Cool, unless Towns comes back and is amazing on both sides of the ball he very well could be gone.

If the reports are true and Naz can be resigned for less than or mid-level money and wants to come back that's why he isn't gone. Sure maybe they resign Naz and trade another big but regardless resigning Naz for that kind of money makes a ton of sense to me.

I agree and if Naz is quite the value as we both think then wouldn't it make sense that one of the other two bigs would be gone? Especially considering Anderson & McDaniels can all play PF rather well. Maybe Naz is the one they find easier to trade based on salary and production he is just easier to move and has more overall buyers. I just don't think they will have all three next year (KAT, Rudy & Naz).

They had all 3 this year. I don't see why they HAVE to deal one this offseason. At this point I still don't think we know if we should trade anyone. Resigning Naz gives options and great depth. Eventually someone may get traded but it doesn't have to be this summer.

[FNG]

A could have things.

1) let's be patient with Kat he is traditionally a slow starter so I am guessing it is going to be clunky to start.

2) In 832 possessions with Gobert and Kat on the floor together the wolves had a defensive rating of 108.2 what is in the 95th percentile of lineups. The numbers say those 2 worked defensively together.

3) The wolves offense was really bad with Kat/Gobert on the floor together but in the 21 games. Here is how much people were shooting from 3. Dlo: 8% worse, Rivers:15% worse, Jaden 3% worse, Forbes a career low, Kat was shooting a career low for 3. I think the offense can work itself out.

I'm excited to see how this goes. Kat is really freaking good and I'm ready

I agree with this take, Kek. Yes, the defense with KAT/Gobert was good, and just think of how much better it will be swapping in Conley for Russell. And to your point 3, there are several reasons the offense should be much better when KAT returns: 1) Ant's offense is far ahead of where he was in the first 20 games 2) nobody expects KAT to continue to be in the low 30s on threes 3) the Conley/Rudy connection will be far superior to the Russell/Gobert connection.

This team is going to look very good if KAT returns healthy!

[Carlos Danger]

This is the official post you can rip me on without me being able to reply. Anyone can post, but only the 6 winners can rip me. So with that being said, here is the pre-allstar edition of the 2+1:

1) You knew the game was going to get tighter in the 4th quarter, but did it really have to come down to the last possession? Finchie had to take Rudy off the court so we could guard the perimeter game. It was a move that had to be made but hopefully we can execute with Rudy on the floor at the end of games. I really hope this was just another developmental piece as this team matures into what we hope it will become. The 4th quarter was hard but fun at the same time.

2) Let's see, I have to be somewhat controversial to give you winners some fuel. Here goes: Unless KAT comes back and this team takes off at a .667 - .700 clip, I still support moving KAT in the offseason. With Ant and Jaden becoming key building blocks, I think we can turn this thing over to them. Moving KAT would replenish the draft pick cabinet and also allow us to bring back another established young NBA player who can start. Rudy has plenty of years left and we really don't need a two-headed center. But we do need draft capital to help supplement our roster as we become contenders. KAT is ultra talented offensively, but we can live with out him.

Plus 1 - Rudy and Jaden scored 40 points on a combined 16 of 17 from the floor. I'd say that's pretty efficient. You throw in Ant's bully drives and you saw a glimpse into the immediate future. Ant and Jaden are now surrounded by a great veteran cast who can teach them the way to be pros. They already have the talent, now it needs to be polished. I can't wait for the next game.

And that's Cool's 2 + 1 for last night's tilt.

I know I'm supposed to redeem my prize an rip this post, but I actually can't find much to fault in it. This is the best I can do...

On #2 - I'm sure most agree we have to have a better look at what this team looks like full strength before we make any final decisions. The first few games of the year when KAT/Rudy played did not look good and led to understandable angst about the trade/fit. I'm not ready to throw in the towel on it yet and I'm pretty confident neither is Tim Connelly. So, my rip is - no way should they deal KAT this offseason. You run it back to start next year and if it's not working, deal him at next year's deadline. Remember, we get our 1st round pick next year - so that's the year to not worry about how we finish anyhow. Trading your star player is always very risky. I look back at what we got for guys like KG and Love...I'm not convinced we ever "won" such a trade. Example, look back at the KG trade tree (I started but stopped because it got too depressing). Basically we got Al Jefferson and a bunch of fillers in and out over the next few years with additional trades. In the meantime, Boston got 5 All Star years out of KG. I don't want to go through that again - so, I'm only dealing Towns for a Gobert like overpay.