How many games left...

[Porckchop]

Does it take for a fan to decide that winning means less than tanking?

[Porckchop]

Or does closing out the season with a couple meaningless wins mean more than a two game winning streak half way thru?

[TAFKASP]

They're the Wolves, none of it matters, nothing ever changes.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I disagree with your premise that winning games is meaningless.

Winning is meaningful for the following people:

1. Fans that actually root for them to win, especially those that pay good money to attend games. Some fans want them to lose, but that is not a unanimous perspective. Are you trying to impose your definition of meaningful on loyal fans that actually want to watch a good product?

2. The players. None of these guys like losing. It feels good to win a game you've played in. It's meaningful to overall team spirit and mood.

3. The coaches. They spend long days and nights game planning, reviewing video, and preparing their team. Winning games rewards their efforts and helps their resume in a fickle league with very little job security.

I think it's insulting to (most) fans, players, and coaches to tank for the reasons stated above.

[thedoper]

Losing for draft picks has gotten us nowhere. Id rather us have the identity of a middling team that fights every game than a team always looking to the future. Show me some good competitive basketball with heart.

[Carlos Danger]

They're the Wolves, none of it matters, nothing ever changes.

This is becoming my take as well. I get what people are saying - winning matters. But I also feel not every win is the same. Are pre-season wins as important as regular season? If so, then we should play our top players 40 minutes in every pre-season game next year. Set the tone! I'm only busting chops. We know why teams don't do that. Risk/Reward.

Same thing applies to these meaningless end of season games IMO. There is no point in risking Towns blowing out his knee for next year to win 23 games vs. 22. Why not use these games to evaluate the bottom roster guys? Maybe they are better than we thought. Or maybe the extended look confirms they won't be back next year.

But as to SP's sentiment - none of it probably matters in the end. If we lose out, there are better odds of retaining the pick - but no guarantees. And even if we do keep the pick, the odds of the Wolves drafting/developing the right player is pretty slim. So yeah...I guess I don't care one way or another so long as nobody gets hurt.

[Coolbreeze44]

Win as much as you can Go off into the summer on an upswing. Let the ping pong balls fall where they may. You never know, the 6th position could be lucky this year.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

They're the Wolves, none of it matters, nothing ever changes.

This is becoming my take as well. I get what people are saying - winning matters. But I also feel not every win is the same. Are pre-season wins as important as regular season? If so, then we should play our top players 40 minutes in every pre-season game next year. Set the tone! I'm only busting chops. We know why teams don't do that. Risk/Reward.

Same thing applies to these meaningless end of season games IMO. There is no point in risking Towns blowing out his knee for next year to win 23 games vs. 22. Why not use these games to evaluate the bottom roster guys? Maybe they are better than we thought. Or maybe the extended look confirms they won't be back next year.

But as to SP's sentiment - none of it probably matters in the end. If we lose out, there are better odds of retaining the pick - but no guarantees. And even if we do keep the pick, the odds of the Wolves drafting/developing the right player is pretty slim. So yeah...I guess I don't care one way or another so long as nobody gets hurt.

But the bottom of the roster guys are Ed Davis and Jake Layman. What more could we possibly learn about them? And all the other guys that were crowded out of the rotation at the beginning of the season have now had plenty of reps at some point in the season, i.e. Vando, Nowell, JMac, etc.

I feel like Rosas and Co. should have a very good feel for their roster and collective capabilities at this point.

[Carlos Danger]

But the bottom of the roster guys are Ed Davis and Jake Layman. What more could we possibly learn about them? And all the other guys that were crowded out of the rotation at the beginning of the season have now had plenty of reps at some point in the season, i.e. Vando, Nowell, JMac, etc.

I feel like Rosas and Co. should have a very good feel for their roster and collective capabilities at this point.

I guess I'm mostly worried about KAT. I know freak accidents can happen at any time. But wouldn't it just be perfect cursed Timberwolf luck to have him blow out his knee in a meaningless end of season game?

I agree with most of what you wrote. But I wouldn't mind seeing more minutes to Naz Reid and less to KAT for these last games. I like the improvement Reid has made from year 1 to 2. We know what KAT can do. Why not let Reid play out against other teams starters to see how he holds up? Reid has only had 15 starts this year and only 13 games with over 25 minutes. I'd like to see him play more and this would seem like a perfect opportunity.

Also, Rosas went in hard for Hernagomez. I saw he was hurt last night. But would like to see him play big minutes these last few games. He hasn't played a ton. Those are two examples.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

But the bottom of the roster guys are Ed Davis and Jake Layman. What more could we possibly learn about them? And all the other guys that were crowded out of the rotation at the beginning of the season have now had plenty of reps at some point in the season, i.e. Vando, Nowell, JMac, etc.

I feel like Rosas and Co. should have a very good feel for their roster and collective capabilities at this point.

I guess I'm mostly worried about KAT. I know freak accidents can happen at any time. But wouldn't it just be perfect cursed Timberwolf luck to have him blow out his knee in a meaningless end of season game?

I agree with most of what you wrote. But I wouldn't mind seeing more minutes to Naz Reid and less to KAT for these last games. I like the improvement Reid has made from year 1 to 2. We know what KAT can do. Why not let Reid play out against other teams starters to see how he holds up? Reid has only had 15 starts this year and only 13 games with over 25 minutes. I'd like to see him play more and this would seem like a perfect opportunity.

Also, Rosas went in hard for Hernagomez. I saw he was hurt last night. But would like to see him play big minutes these last few games. He hasn't played a ton. Those are two examples.

Fair point on injury risk.

As far as I can tell, KAT, Ant, and DLO aren't going anywhere this offseason. So if you assume that these are your three key pillars of the roster heading into the '21-22 season and you look at the paltry number of games all three have played together this season, I believe it is of utmost importance for them to get lots of minutes together now to build chemistry. Think of it as an investment now that hopefully pays off next season.

And by the way, if you happen to be winning more than you lose with these three playing lots of minutes, that becomes a virtuous cycle that hopefully continues into next season.

These considerations outweigh the injury risks IMO.