SAS v MIN ii

[Coolbreeze44]

Lakers about to go 0 - 4. I love it.

So awesome, what do you want to bet Lebron asks out?

[rapsuperstar31]

Nowell is pricing himself off our team. Going to be tough to see him go. Instant offense and a candidate for 6th man of the year. Wonder how many teams would give him a good chunk of their cap space.

I don't know he might be, I don't really see anyone outside of Minnesota talking about him. I think the Wolves need to have a deep playoff run where Nowell plays well like both Brunson and Poole did to really get a huge pay day.

[Lipoli390]

Nowell is pricing himself off our team. Going to be tough to see him go. Instant offense and a candidate for 6th man of the year. Wonder how many teams would give him a good chunk of their cap space.

When it comew down to the trade deadline, what would Nowell and Reid fetch on the trade market? No sense in letting them walk for nothing.

Good question, Phenom. I don't have a good sense of that. I think the Wolves front office will need to seriously consider trading some or all of the following at the deadline: DLO, Naz Reid and/or Nowell. If there's any chance of re-signing Nowell it will only happen in DLO goes because the Wolves definitely aren't going to pay both if Nowell ends up commanding anything remotely close to Herro type money. For the same money, I'd take Nowell over DLO.

[Jester1534]

Did we just become the first team to not grab an offensive rebound in NBA history?

That's because they didn't fing miss all night baby!

[FNG]

A few other observations...

- Jaylen Nowell's price tag could be really steep. Him and his agent are eyeing what Tyler Herro signed as their aspirational goal I suspect. The dude is a flat-out 3-level scorer that will continue to get better. Plus he has some decent passing chops.

- It was nice to see Ant hit some big mid-range jumpers and also make a crafty post move to help close the game out in the 4th. He really needs to have more than 3's and power drives to the hoop to become an elite playoff scorer.

- Huge game for Jaden. Nice to see the 3-ball go down.

- KAT played under control and continues to flash some great passing chops. I'm also glad he's OK taking those open long 2's. For most people, that's a bad shot. Not him.

- I thought DLO was bad tonight. Not necessarily in his individual stat sheet, but just seems to be weighing us down a bit. When JMac comes in everything seems to change for the better. That says something.

We really do struggle on the perimeter defensively getting into people and making things difficult. Austin Rivers WILL find his way into the regular rotation once he's healthy.

You saw the same things I saw, Q. Terrific games from several Wolves salvaged a game we could have lost to an inferior team because of our struggles with perimeter defense. You could see the high ceiling for this team tonight, but also the things that could torpedo the season.

I certainly agree with you and Lip that the entire vibe changes when JMac comes in for DLo...at both ends of the court. While it's dangerous to analyze stats after only 5 games, it is interesting that JMac is far and away our on/off leader, and DLo has been the worst player on the team by this measure. Having said that, tonight we saw the DLo we need to see if he is going to continue to be our starting PG and we want to win 50+ games...at least on offense (he was terrible on defense again). Several of us have said Russell needs to be more of a facilitator and less of a shooter, and tonight we got that version of him. He scored an efficient 12 points on only 10 shots and provided 9 assists.

Finchie might be seeing this too, because the PG split was a little more like I would prefer...29 for DLo and 19 for JMac. I would have liked to see JMac start the 3rd quarter, because we were terrible again for the 5th consecutive game. Our poor 3rd quarter is not all DLo's fault, but I see him as the main culprit...something needs to change there.

Gobert was uninspiring tonight, but I think he provides value in 2 areas that don't show up in the box score. First, it's noticeable how often opponents abort drives to the basket because Rudy is lurking...altered and prevented shots help as much as blocks. And second, KAT's demeanor has been much criticized on this board for good reason, but he seems different to me this season...much less whining. Perhaps the mature presence of Rudy in the starting lineup...something that was lacking last year...has helped KAT change his face. Who knows?

So, the good news is we are 3-2, with a good chance of being 4-2 after Friday. The bad news is we have been double digit (or close to double digit) favorites in all 5 games, and should be 5-0. No reason for panic because this is a deep, talented roster, but I am not at all content with a 3-2 start.

[FNG]

Nowell is pricing himself off our team. Going to be tough to see him go. Instant offense and a candidate for 6th man of the year. Wonder how many teams would give him a good chunk of their cap space.

When it comew down to the trade deadline, what would Nowell and Reid fetch on the trade market? No sense in letting them walk for nothing.

Good question, Phenom. I don't have a good sense of that. I think the Wolves front office will need to seriously consider trading some or all of the following at the deadline: DLO, Naz Reid and/or Nowell. If there's any chance of re-signing Nowell it will only happen in DLO goes because the Wolves definitely aren't going to pay both if Nowell ends up commanding anything remotely close to Herro type money. For the same money, I'd take Nowell over DLO.

Really interesting question by Phenom that I have not considered. I love what Nowell is showing us in the first five games and I think his ceiling is quite high...he's a flat out pure scorer. But I just don't see the Wolves willing to pay him what he wants after this season if he keeps playing like this, so there is a huge risk of getting nothing for him if he walks. Perhaps getting a first round pick for him might be a prudent course of action. It's going to be a difficult decision if he continues to play like a 6th man of the year candidate and we're sitting high in the standings by the trade deadline, but management is at least going to have to consider what the best move is with Nowell. I wouldn't want to be TC having to make this decision.

[Q-is-here]

Nowell is pricing himself off our team. Going to be tough to see him go. Instant offense and a candidate for 6th man of the year. Wonder how many teams would give him a good chunk of their cap space.

When it comew down to the trade deadline, what would Nowell and Reid fetch on the trade market? No sense in letting them walk for nothing.

Good question, Phenom. I don't have a good sense of that. I think the Wolves front office will need to seriously consider trading some or all of the following at the deadline: DLO, Naz Reid and/or Nowell. If there's any chance of re-signing Nowell it will only happen in DLO goes because the Wolves definitely aren't going to pay both if Nowell ends up commanding anything remotely close to Herro type money. For the same money, I'd take Nowell over DLO.

Really interesting question by Phenom that I have not considered. I love what Nowell is showing us in the first five games and I think his ceiling is quite high...he's a flat out pure scorer. But I just don't see the Wolves willing to pay him what he wants after this season if he keeps playing like this, so there is a huge risk of getting nothing for him if he walks. Perhaps getting a first round pick for him might be a prudent course of action. It's going to be a difficult decision if he continues to play like a 6th man of the year candidate and we're sitting high in the standings by the trade deadline, but management is at least going to have to consider what the best move is with Nowell. I wouldn't want to be TC having to make this decision.

But who is going to give up a first round pick to be in the same situation we find ourselves in now? You might say a playoff team will. Well, that's us too! We really need his scoring off the bench.

It's a tough situation because I really saw him as helping to fill the scoring/shot creation void in the event DLO is no longer here after this season. That's not to say he'd be our starting PG, but we know he and Ant can co-exist and gives us a couple of elite shot creation options on the perimeter in crunch time.

[Leado01]

Fun game.

Spurs, though they lack mature talent, sure play the right way.

Our intensity started on the defensive end and until late in the 4th our players were rarely in no man's land on defense. P

Kiwi...your petition to be reinstated following your cancelation has been processed and your fine has been reduced to $5k and you will be forced to complete a course on not throwing a football into stands.

[Wolvesfan21]

Nowell is pricing himself off our team. Going to be tough to see him go. Instant offense and a candidate for 6th man of the year. Wonder how many teams would give him a good chunk of their cap space.

When it comew down to the trade deadline, what would Nowell and Reid fetch on the trade market? No sense in letting them walk for nothing.

Good question, Phenom. I don't have a good sense of that. I think the Wolves front office will need to seriously consider trading some or all of the following at the deadline: DLO, Naz Reid and/or Nowell. If there's any chance of re-signing Nowell it will only happen in DLO goes because the Wolves definitely aren't going to pay both if Nowell ends up commanding anything remotely close to Herro type money. For the same money, I'd take Nowell over DLO.

Really interesting question by Phenom that I have not considered. I love what Nowell is showing us in the first five games and I think his ceiling is quite high...he's a flat out pure scorer. But I just don't see the Wolves willing to pay him what he wants after this season if he keeps playing like this, so there is a huge risk of getting nothing for him if he walks. Perhaps getting a first round pick for him might be a prudent course of action. It's going to be a difficult decision if he continues to play like a 6th man of the year candidate and we're sitting high in the standings by the trade deadline, but management is at least going to have to consider what the best move is with Nowell. I wouldn't want to be TC having to make this decision.

But who is going to give up a first round pick to be in the same situation we find ourselves in now? You might say a playoff team will. Well, that's us too! We really need his scoring off the bench.

It's a tough situation because I really saw him as helping to fill the scoring/shot creation void in the event DLO is no longer here after this season. That's not to say he'd be our starting PG, but we know he and Ant can co-exist and gives us a couple of elite shot creation options on the perimeter in crunch time.

I really wish they would have extended Nowell prior to this season. But it also seems like he knows his value and upside and is willing to bet on himself.

Who is the better player going forward, Nowell or DLO? We certainly will not keep both, but could keep one.

Nowell is the better scorer and shooter. DLO a better passer. Both are sieves on defense though. Not sure who is worse.

[FNG]

Nowell is pricing himself off our team. Going to be tough to see him go. Instant offense and a candidate for 6th man of the year. Wonder how many teams would give him a good chunk of their cap space.

When it comew down to the trade deadline, what would Nowell and Reid fetch on the trade market? No sense in letting them walk for nothing.

Good question, Phenom. I don't have a good sense of that. I think the Wolves front office will need to seriously consider trading some or all of the following at the deadline: DLO, Naz Reid and/or Nowell. If there's any chance of re-signing Nowell it will only happen in DLO goes because the Wolves definitely aren't going to pay both if Nowell ends up commanding anything remotely close to Herro type money. For the same money, I'd take Nowell over DLO.

Really interesting question by Phenom that I have not considered. I love what Nowell is showing us in the first five games and I think his ceiling is quite high...he's a flat out pure scorer. But I just don't see the Wolves willing to pay him what he wants after this season if he keeps playing like this, so there is a huge risk of getting nothing for him if he walks. Perhaps getting a first round pick for him might be a prudent course of action. It's going to be a difficult decision if he continues to play like a 6th man of the year candidate and we're sitting high in the standings by the trade deadline, but management is at least going to have to consider what the best move is with Nowell. I wouldn't want to be TC having to make this decision.

But who is going to give up a first round pick to be in the same situation we find ourselves in now? You might say a playoff team will. Well, that's us too! We really need his scoring off the bench.

It's a tough situation because I really saw him as helping to fill the scoring/shot creation void in the event DLO is no longer here after this season. That's not to say he'd be our starting PG, but we know he and Ant can co-exist and gives us a couple of elite shot creation options on the perimeter in crunch time.

I really wish they would have extended Nowell prior to this season. But it also seems like he knows his value and upside and is willing to bet on himself.

Who is the better player going forward, Nowell or DLO? We certainly will not keep both, but could keep one.

Nowell is the better scorer and shooter. DLO a better passer. Both are sieves on defense though. Not sure who is worse.

I think you have perfectly framed the issue TC has in front of him. He's not likely moving on from Rudy and KAT, and he knows he will likely have to pay Jaden and Ant...Ant with a max. And ownership probably doesn't want to be in luxury tax hell. Plus, he needs some room for important role players like Prince and Anderson. So I see no chance of keeping both DLo and Nowell, but keeping one could happen.

So the questions are this: Who is more valuable as a piece going forward? And who might be more likely to bring back a pick or two (bringing back matching contracts for DLo doesn't help us from a cap standpoint). Having a max player just leave without getting anything in return is not an attractive thought, but right now I think it might be the best option if they can't move him at the deadline. Give the PG reins to JMac, and hope that a nice contract might interest Nowell if we tell him we're committed to him as a big minutes 6th man. In any event, the decisions are not going to be easy.