Sundog60 wrote:lipoli390 wrote: Ultimately, this deal suggests to me a front office that is tone deaf. There was a strong positive vibe developing around this team as they were building around a young, impressive core that had a surprisingly successful run last season with all the key players coming back, some high-floor draft picks added and the acquisition of Kyle Anderson. And there were undoubtedly more opportunities to further improve the team through far more measured, but effective, deals to acquire a Myles Turner, Clint Capela, Richaun Holmes or perhaps another needle-moving big. A huge part of attracting, energizing and keeping a fan base is the journey -- the upward incremental climb to success. I experienced that growing up in Chicago as MJ, Scottie and Horace Grant developed together and became champions. Warriors fans experienced it with Curry, Green, and Thompson. Spurs fans experienced it with Duncan, Parker and Ginobili. The list goes on along a similar path unless you live in LA, Miami or New York.
This is the feeling I woke up with this morning, Lip. I'm more positive about the trade generally, but I do feel a loss of connection with the team resulting from the trade. It's weird, most of the players remain the same. But last year's team fought together, overachieved together, and ultimately fell short together -- and we went on that journey with them. Jaden/Jaylen in summer league, Pat Bev's perfect volatility, Malik's struggles in the first half of the season, Ant/KAT/Dlo, Vando coming from nowhere to be the starting power forward. And now much of that "band of brothers" has been replaced.
I'm getting ready to go to summer league this week, and I'm not feeling the connection to the team I felt when I made the arrangements. It's weird. It's a better team now, but it's not "my team" as much. That'll likely change as they start to get on the court together, but it's a weird feeling right now.
Sundog - I think you perfectly captured my feelings at the moment. I'll add that I was also forming a connection to Kessler. I hadn't paid any attention to him before the draft. I just dismissed him as a big, slow white guy. When they drafted him, it forced me to take a deep dive and I was becoming more and more impressed by his potential. His personality was impressive. He seems to have a bit of that "it" factor - swagger of a player who knows he's really good and expects to prove it. His connection to Minnesota through his dad and grandparents added another positive dimension to the story.
John K said the Wolves could have gotten Dejounte Murray but decided to focus on Gobert instead. Jon is obviously right about the Wolves getting Murray if they wanted to given what the Hawks gave up to get him relative to what we gave up for Gobert. The Hawks gave jump 3 future 1st-round picks and a meaningless salary match player, Gallo, to get Murray. The 2023 pick they gave up is top 16 protected and then lottery protected before it becomes two second-round picks. The Wolves could have traded for Murray giving up fewer draft assets than they gave up for Gobert while also keeping Beverley, Beasley, Kessler, and Bolmaro. They'd have a 25-year old PG on a team-friendly contract who is an excellent defender and who averaged nearly a triple double last season. All of that without losing what we lost to get Gobert - including a lost connection to the team.
As I've mentioned before. I'd probably be ok with this deal and the loss of connection if the Wolves were stuck in the mud and obviously going nowhere. But this was a team on the rise with a chemistry among players as well as between team and fans. I share D-Loser's anger towards Connelly for taking the easy path rather than doing what I thought he was brought here to do - i.e., continue building on the solid foundation we already had using his acumen for spotting young talent and building a winning, family-oriented culture. Beverley's obviously surprised reaction to the deal was telling. He said, "it's a business.... He was obvious disappointed after just tweeting his excitement the day before about the signing of Anderson. Connelly's deal for Gobert is anything but culture building. The deal contradicts so much of Connelly's rhetoric - not taking shortcuts, building on what we have, not messing things up, getting to know these guys and what they can do, building a family-oriented culture, etc. The Gobert deal is the ultimate short cut. It's impatient and it's all about business. Connelly's actions don't match his words. As DL noted, the deal actually takes pressure off Connelly to make really smart, shrewd use of the draft and more understated transactions. He's just throwing a bunch of assets and Lore's money at one 30-year old player to win big or go home. If things fall apart, he leaves MN a wealthy guy and heads back to his home in Denver, which he didn't really want to leave in the first place.
Yes, in the end it's about winning. But this was not a move Connelly needed to make to win - a high-risk move that he didn't need to make.
