Rudy Gobert to the Timberwolves

[Coolbreeze44]

McDaniels will never drop 25 on you night in and night out. He probably doesn't have enough "do stuff" tricks in his bag to become a star role player like Draymond or Iggy are/were. He's also not vocal enough to be the spirit engine of the team. He doesn't score enough naturally to be a Wiggins type. But he sure could become a Mikal Bridges type if he can convert more on that nice looking shot of his. Give him time. In my view that is probably his ceiling unless something drastically changes.

He's made improvements since he has been here
Small ones, but improvements none the less
From all reports you couldn't pry McDaniels away from the timberwolves with a crow bar as a rival executive.
If that truly is the talking heads sentiment on him, I doubt it's because they think he could only become a Robert Covington or a Trevor Ariza type of player, no disrespect to them. Necessary pieces on a winning team, hard to find for sure, but not irreplaceable pieces.

Dubs, I wish I had an idea of what his ceiling is. Is it Bridges, Bruce Bowen, Iggy, or maybe all the way up to Pippen. Who knows. Things can change a lot from year to year. One thing I do know is he has pretty unique tools. To be that tall and move laterally as well as he does is pretty amazing. He's also an above NBA average athlete. I think a lot of it comes down to how much dog he has in him.

[WildWolf2813]

McDaniels will never drop 25 on you night in and night out. He probably doesn't have enough "do stuff" tricks in his bag to become a star role player like Draymond or Iggy are/were. He's also not vocal enough to be the spirit engine of the team. He doesn't score enough naturally to be a Wiggins type. But he sure could become a Mikal Bridges type if he can convert more on that nice looking shot of his. Give him time. In my view that is probably his ceiling unless something drastically changes.

He's made improvements since he has been here
Small ones, but improvements none the less
From all reports you couldn't pry McDaniels away from the timberwolves with a crow bar as a rival executive.
If that truly is the talking heads sentiment on him, I doubt it's because they think he could only become a Robert Covington or a Trevor Ariza type of player, no disrespect to them. Necessary pieces on a winning team, hard to find for sure, but not irreplaceable pieces.

Dubs, I wish I had an idea of what his ceiling is. Is it Bridges, Bruce Bowen, Iggy, or maybe all the way up to Pippen. Who knows. Things can change a lot from year to year. One thing I do know is he has pretty unique tools. To be that tall and move laterally as well as he does is pretty amazing. He's also an above NBA average athlete. I think a lot of it comes down to how much dog he has in him.

He definitely has fire in him. Remember when everyone was concerned about his attitude because he racked up a bunch of techs at Washington? Nowell and McDaniels will both have added responsibilities. I don't expect both to rise to the occasion, but I do expect a significant change in their approach.

[Monster]

McDaniels will never drop 25 on you night in and night out. He probably doesn't have enough "do stuff" tricks in his bag to become a star role player like Draymond or Iggy are/were. He's also not vocal enough to be the spirit engine of the team. He doesn't score enough naturally to be a Wiggins type. But he sure could become a Mikal Bridges type if he can convert more on that nice looking shot of his. Give him time. In my view that is probably his ceiling unless something drastically changes.

He's made improvements since he has been here
Small ones, but improvements none the less
From all reports you couldn't pry McDaniels away from the timberwolves with a crow bar as a rival executive.
If that truly is the talking heads sentiment on him, I doubt it's because they think he could only become a Robert Covington or a Trevor Ariza type of player, no disrespect to them. Necessary pieces on a winning team, hard to find for sure, but not irreplaceable pieces.

Dubs, I wish I had an idea of what his ceiling is. Is it Bridges, Bruce Bowen, Iggy, or maybe all the way up to Pippen. Who knows. Things can change a lot from year to year. One thing I do know is he has pretty unique tools. To be that tall and move laterally as well as he does is pretty amazing. He's also an above NBA average athlete. I think a lot of it comes down to how much dog he has in him.

He definitely has fire in him. Remember when everyone was concerned about his attitude because he racked up a bunch of techs at Washington? Nowell and McDaniels will both have added responsibilities. I don't expect both to rise to the occasion, but I do expect a significant change in their approach.

I think McDaniels has some offensive game that we haven't seen yet. It's worth remembering that he grew last year and so he may still be getting used to his body and he is doing it against NBA players.

When looking through some highlights I ran across one of the McDonalds all American game in 2019. One team included Anthony Edwards Jaden McDaniels and Wendell Moore Jr. and it was played in Atlanta. Summer league hopeful Kahlil Whitney was on the other team.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

Well TC apparently tried getting Durant before he got Gobert. Yes, of course it's good to make the call, but My hunch is he definitely would have given up the package he gave for gobert plus at least mcdaniels. Thankfully Brooklyn saved us from ourselves when they asked for BOTH Kat and Ant lol. My next question then is was TC actually willing to include one of Ant or Kat in a package for Durant? As you can probably tell, I'm not convinced that TC is all that bright. If he actually had one of these guys on the table, along with jaden and everything we gave up for gobert, then I would just be speechless. I hope to God he's not that big of a sucker. So what this tells me is that gobert wasn't his plan, he was just going for the first pretty girl that said yes. I'd be very interested to learn which one of Ant or Kat were potentially on the table for Durant. Not good.

Just to be clear, I personally wouldn't be willing to give up any more for Durant than gobert. Sure, Durant is better, but he's also a few years older, he misses more games and he's a bit strange and would probably cause chemistry issues. I think these two are probably a wash in overall value and neither worth what we gave up for gobert.

[Monster]

Well TC apparently tried getting Durant before he got Gobert. Yes, of course it's good to make the call, but My hunch is he definitely would have given up the package he gave for gobert plus at least mcdaniels. Thankfully Brooklyn saved us from ourselves when they asked for BOTH Kat and Ant lol. My next question then is was TC actually willing to include one of Ant or Kat in a package for Durant? As you can probably tell, I'm not convinced that TC is all that bright. If he actually had one of these guys on the table, along with jaden and everything we gave up for gobert, then I would just be speechless. I hope to God he's not that big of a sucker. So what this tells me is that gobert wasn't his plan, he was just going for the first pretty girl that said yes. I'd be very interested to learn which one of Ant or Kat were potentially on the table for Durant. Not good.

Jon K has said it was neither. For Durant maybe they would have considered giving up McDaniels but including either Edwards or Towns was not happening.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

Well TC apparently tried getting Durant before he got Gobert. Yes, of course it's good to make the call, but My hunch is he definitely would have given up the package he gave for gobert plus at least mcdaniels. Thankfully Brooklyn saved us from ourselves when they asked for BOTH Kat and Ant lol. My next question then is was TC actually willing to include one of Ant or Kat in a package for Durant? As you can probably tell, I'm not convinced that TC is all that bright. If he actually had one of these guys on the table, along with jaden and everything we gave up for gobert, then I would just be speechless. I hope to God he's not that big of a sucker. So what this tells me is that gobert wasn't his plan, he was just going for the first pretty girl that said yes. I'd be very interested to learn which one of Ant or Kat were potentially on the table for Durant. Not good.

Jon K has said it was neither. For Durant maybe they would have considered giving up McDaniels but including either Edwards or Towns was not happening.

I hope you're right, but what else is he gonna say. It seems very odd that they wanted both if one of them wasn't at least discussed.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

A more logical assumption is that Tim Connelly was interested in acquiring Kevin Durant -- as he should have been -- and was willing to give up what he inevitably did for Rudy Gobert, and when Brooklyn reportedly countered with an unreasonable request of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and four first-round picks, Connelly rightly walked away and pursued the next best player available on the market. No where have I seen that Edwards or Towns were ever made available. Rather, I had only seen the opposite that those two were considered "untouchable" and that Jaden McDaniels would only have been moved for a star player.

This weird, emotional gripe you have with Connelly (calling him lazy, stupid, etc.) is a really bad look, especially after admitting that his actions have only gotten the Timberwolves significantly closer to being a championship team. Take a step back and breathe. Maybe, just maybe, Connelly knows what he's doing. Maybe, just maybe, this new ownership group has calculated the risk involved here and determined that the reward is worth it -- considering it is their investment anyways.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

A more logical assumption is that Tim Connelly was interested in acquiring Kevin Durant -- as he should have been -- and was willing to give up what he inevitably did for Rudy Gobert, and when Brooklyn reportedly countered with an unreasonable request of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and four first-round picks, Connelly rightly walked away and pursued the next best player available on the market. No where have I seen that Edwards or Towns were ever made available. Rather, I had only seen the opposite that those two were considered "untouchable" and that Jaden McDaniels would only have been moved for a star player.

This weird, emotional gripe you have with Connelly (calling him lazy, stupid, etc.) is a really bad look, especially after admitting that his actions have only gotten the Timberwolves significantly closer to being a championship team. Take a step back and breathe. Maybe, just maybe, Connelly knows what he's doing. Maybe, just maybe, this new ownership group has calculated the risk involved here and determined that the reward is worth it -- considering it is their investment anyways.

Yeah, maybe you're right that Brooklyn jumped from zero to both of them on their request... it's very delusional, but yeah maybe that's how it went.

Cam, for the 87th time (I said 86h last time), I explained that I thought there were several better (far cheaper) avenues to get this good (or almost this good). Can you please confirm that you understand this? :)

Yep, I still believe everything I said, and it's no more emotional than your choice to be an optimistic homer about this trade.

[WallyBall]

TC would have had to fool a lot of people for a lot of years. He made the lateral move title and day to day function wise, this isn't a new GM like McHale, or Thibs or Rosas, or many that have come before him. He made Denver. I understand the skepticism, but I'm ready to roll with TC. We've been a lopsided team in regards to a combination of lack of talent, lack of overall depth, lack of an entire position player at one position on the entire roster, or lack of two way players. This year we have a shortage in none of those things.
Let's roll

One criticism of start of the new TC regime:
How am I supposed to enjoy summer now with the start of the season months away?
No seriously, I'm open to suggestions...

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

TC would have had to fool a lot of people for a lot of years. He made the lateral move title and day to day function wise, this isn't a new GM like McHale, or Thibs or Rosas, or many that have come before him. He made Denver. I understand the skepticism, but I'm ready to roll with TC. We've been a lopsided team in regards to a combination of lack of talent, lack of overall depth, lack of an entire position player at one position on the entire roster, or lack of two way players. This year we have a shortage in none of those things.
Let's roll

One criticism of start of the new TC regime:
How am I supposed to enjoy summer now with the start of the season months away?
No seriously, I'm open to suggestions...

I get the optimism, and I have no doubt that we'll be better than last year, so I'm optimistic in that sense too.

My problem is that a guy with nothing invested in the organization came in and mortgaged our future. He didn't even bother to give it a year and see how some young players developed on his watch. I understand the other side, but I just think he was all about getting a big name and making a splash (despite the cost). Like I said before, he realistically gets one shot at adding another star over the next 6-7 years and that was it. I would haven't taken some time to make sure I actually added the right one. Also, as a result of this trade, we're probably stuck with Dlo now too. This makes the trade double irritating for me :)