Wolves vs Jazz

[Carlos Danger]

I see we won again last night. *Yawn*. I'm bored.

It's a pretty good team when you can win without two starters. KAT is returning to All Star form. He & Edwards will be tough for teams to stop on offense.

And on defense? It looks like it continues to start and end with Rudy. Who would have ever thought that adding a three time Defensive Player of the Year would help our habitual shit defense become respectable? Also love that TC seems to covet two way players as supporting cast vs. bucket only guys like DLO, Beasely and Nowell. NAW is a great example. His shot doesn't always fall. But you can count on his defense every night. We are seeing the value in that (what value does an offense only guy bring when his shot isn't falling?).

I wrote it before the season started and I'll write it again...I really like the way this team is built.

Yeah, pairing Rudy with plus-level perimeter defenders all around him is what takes us from a Top 10 defense to absolutely elite, as we are now about 2 points per 100 possessions better than the next best defense, which is actually pretty significant. We're 7 points per 100 possessions better than the 10th best defense, so it gives you an idea of how much better #1 is versus #10.

I still worry that this squad is game-plannable in a playoff series. Conley will get targeted; teams can go small and fast on us; Rudy's poor hands will be magnified.....but I'll continue to enjoy a franchise best start and hope we are healthy come playoff time!

Those are fair concerns. It would not be a shock to many of us if they add another PG and/or shooter around the trade deadline. As someone else wrote, we are now finally actually looking like a team that a buyout player might want to hop onto for a playoff run. Some said we'd never get there. Pfff. We did it in only 35 years.

[BloopOracle]

Camden is on Twitter today arguing that the Wolves trading Dlo for Conley, NAW, and three 2nds was a lateral move at best lol. Never in a million years did I think he'd give TeamRicky a run for his money.

[Carlos Danger]

Camden is on Twitter today arguing that the Wolves trading Dlo for Conley, NAW, and three 2nds was a lateral move at best lol. Never in a million years did I think he'd give TeamRicky a run for his money.

I'm not sure what's worse....someone claiming it was a lateral move, or someone actually following Camden on Twitter
Just busting your chops Bloop!

[FNG]

Camden is on Twitter today arguing that the Wolves trading Dlo for Conley, NAW, and three 2nds was a lateral move at best lol. Never in a million years did I think he'd give TeamRicky a run for his money.

I'm not sure what's worse....someone claiming it was a lateral move, or someone actually following Camden on Twitter
Just busting your chops Bloop!

Ha, good one Anthony! I suspect Bloop checks in on Camden's X for the same reason I do...entertainment value. His hatred for Bite Bite and passionate defense of anything Russell does is consistent, but also pathological. We all have our prejudices to some extent, but it's a good lesson to not let our prejudices get in the way of obvious reason.

[Monster]

Camden is on Twitter today arguing that the Wolves trading Dlo for Conley, NAW, and three 2nds was a lateral move at best lol. Never in a million years did I think he'd give TeamRicky a run for his money.

I'm not sure what's worse....someone claiming it was a lateral move, or someone actually following Camden on Twitter
Just busting your chops Bloop!

Ha, good one Anthony! I suspect Bloop checks in on Camden's X for the same reason I do...entertainment value. His hatred for Bite Bite and passionate defense of anything Russell does is consistent, but also pathological. We all have our prejudices to some extent, but it's a good lesson to not let our prejudices get in the way of obvious reason.

Russell should get credit for continuing his regular season shooting building on what he did last year. The Lakers traded assets to get Russell. In the playoffs Schroder ended up playing quite a bit more than Russell at times. Of course that train ran out a bit too. Without Russell they may not have made the playoffs. Meanwhile for this season they could have just resigned Schoder for less and still had some draft assets to work with.

As for the trade for the Wolves it looks great for them. NAW for Russell I think would have been a pretty good deal and I actually like Russell. The Wolves got 2 good players for one and Russell is currently only signed for one more season than Conley. The 2nd round picks make it an easy decision on whether or not it was a good move for the Wolves especially since they were lacking in both 1st and 2nd round picks before the trade. It seems like a trade that has worked out for both teams. I do think Russell on his current contract is positive especially for the Lakers who are limited by their salary cap. Often we don’t find out how well a trade works out for teams till payers on short term deals sign or don’t sign back. Imagine if Russell had left in FA or they brought him back for like 25 million a year (wasn’t gonna happen after the playoffs). What if the Wolves are able to resign Conley for a really reasonable contract after this season? So far Connelly looks like he knows what he is doing.