Towns

[Coolbreeze44]

We really do have a ridiculous amount of $ tied up in three bigs. Naz may be the one traded by the way, not that I'm advocating for that, but does anyone doubt we could get some decent draft assets for him + a solid rotation player?

KAT is a lot more complicated because of the size of his contract.

Q, I was just going make the same comment in the GDT. Naz's star is very high around the association right now, and I think true fans would be very happy about what we could get back for him in a trade. It would open up a role for Garza, and although he is still raw, I was encouraged by his defense against Jokic last week...we know what Naz is on defense, but Garza may have some upside.

All that said, the NBA is a business and Naz is arguably our most popular player...not to mention a unique talent on offense. Trading him would be very controversial with the fan base.

I would think NAZ would be one of the least likely guys to get moved for two reasons. 1) He's on an improvement path that we've rarely seen around here. 2) He has one of the most team friendly contracts in the league. That's a pretty good combination for any team.

[kekgeek]

We really do have a ridiculous amount of $ tied up in three bigs. Naz may be the one traded by the way, not that I'm advocating for that, but does anyone doubt we could get some decent draft assets for him + a solid rotation player?

KAT is a lot more complicated because of the size of his contract.

Q, I was just going make the same comment in the GDT. Naz's star is very high around the association right now, and I think true fans would be very happy about what we could get back for him in a trade. It would open up a role for Garza, and although he is still raw, I was encouraged by his defense against Jokic last week...we know what Naz is on defense, but Garza may have some upside.

All that said, the NBA is a business and Naz is arguably our most popular player...not to mention a unique talent on offense. Trading him would be very controversial with the fan base.

I would think NAZ would be one of the least likely guys to get moved for two reasons. 1) He's on an improvement path that we've rarely seen around here. 2) He has one of the most team friendly contracts in the league. That's a pretty good combination for any team.

Dane Moore also said he would think Naz would be the one to be move (not that he wants or expects that). Shortest contract left, easier contract to move, can get legit value back and more teams can acquire him because of his contract.

I would not love moving Naz but I do think it’s a possibility.

[FNG]

Q, I was just going make the same comment in the GDT. Naz's star is very high around the association right now, and I think true fans would be very happy about what we could get back for him in a trade. It would open up a role for Garza, and although he is still raw, I was encouraged by his defense against Jokic last week...we know what Naz is on defense, but Garza may have some upside.

All that said, the NBA is a business and Naz is arguably our most popular player...not to mention a unique talent on offense. Trading him would be very controversial with the fan base.

I would think NAZ would be one of the least likely guys to get moved for two reasons. 1) He's on an improvement path that we've rarely seen around here. 2) He has one of the most team friendly contracts in the league. That's a pretty good combination for any team.

Dane Moore also said he would think Naz would be the one to be move (not that he wants or expects that). Shortest contract left, easier contract to move, can get legit value back and more teams can acquire him because of his contract.

I would not love moving Naz but I do think it’s a possibility.

Yeah, Cool's points are all valid, but they're also reasons why Naz's value is so high...and why he might bring back a return that might be more valuable than what he's bringing right now. I hear the national media talk about what a terrific offensive player he is (and he is), but I seldom hear any talk about his poor defense or lack of assists...or the fact that we often get outscored when he's on the court. I think that's probably what Dane is thinking.

[Lipoli390]

We really do have a ridiculous amount of $ tied up in three bigs. Naz may be the one traded by the way, not that I'm advocating for that, but does anyone doubt we could get some decent draft assets for him + a solid rotation player?

KAT is a lot more complicated because of the size of his contract.

Q, I was just going make the same comment in the GDT. Naz's star is very high around the association right now, and I think true fans would be very happy about what we could get back for him in a trade. It would open up a role for Garza, and although he is still raw, I was encouraged by his defense against Jokic last week...we know what Naz is on defense, but Garza may have some upside.

All that said, the NBA is a business and Naz is arguably our most popular player...not to mention a unique talent on offense. Trading him would be very controversial with the fan base.

I would think NAZ would be one of the least likely guys to get moved for two reasons. 1) He's on an improvement path that we've rarely seen around here. 2) He has one of the most team friendly contracts in the league. That's a pretty good combination for any team.

Third reason: Naz is a fan favorite. Fourth reason: His teammates love him and I’m a firm believer in team chemistry. But many of the reasons for keeping him are also reasons he’d bring a lot in return and hence reasons to trade him. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t trade him. He’s a special offensive talent and I still believe he can become a decent defender. Meanwhile, fans and teammates love him. KAT went from being a terrible defender for years to being OK two years ago and actually very good this season.

I don’t have a good read on TC. He surprised me with the Gobert deal. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he trades Naz. I just hope he doesn’t.

[Q-is-here]

We really do have a ridiculous amount of $ tied up in three bigs. Naz may be the one traded by the way, not that I'm advocating for that, but does anyone doubt we could get some decent draft assets for him + a solid rotation player?

KAT is a lot more complicated because of the size of his contract.

Q, I was just going make the same comment in the GDT. Naz's star is very high around the association right now, and I think true fans would be very happy about what we could get back for him in a trade. It would open up a role for Garza, and although he is still raw, I was encouraged by his defense against Jokic last week...we know what Naz is on defense, but Garza may have some upside.

All that said, the NBA is a business and Naz is arguably our most popular player...not to mention a unique talent on offense. Trading him would be very controversial with the fan base.

Naz is a poor mans KAT amd Garza could be a poor mans Naz (they are all quite similar skill wise). I think I posted a couple years ago how Garza could be just as effective as Naz at some point ( I think we were debating on resiging or losing Naz). I still think that. Though his driving game will never be. Naz is just quicker and more skilled on the drive then both KAT and Garza ever will be. Better handle too. That is where Naz is just so special. His athleticsm for his size is tremendous.

You're right too. Garza does have defensive upside as well. However he is starting from atrocious. So it's hard to predict good things for me at this point. He does have the work ethic though going for him. I am a Garza fan and really like his upside.

I like Garza as an emergency backup, but he does not have any defensive upside. He is what he is at this point, which is a guy that will work his ass off on that end, but simply has too many physical limitations to ever make him a plus-level defender.

Naz on the other hand does have upside because he actually has the physical tools to really compete on that end. That's why it's been so frustrating to see a guy with his wingspan, sturdy frame, foot speed, and coordination get bullied in the paint so badly. But I'm coming around to what others are saying about how he can still improve in that area. I also hope the refs will start giving him some respect. He can hardly touch anyone without getting a whistle.

[Carlos Danger]

My two cents on the Big dilemma (pun intended)...

Towns should be the one to go. He is a very good, but not great player. That's a problem because he's being paid to be great. He is an All Star. He's still in his prime. But he has not really gotten better over the last 5 years. When I look at his stats, I'd say his best years were ages 21 to 24. His age 24 season was shortened by wrist injury, but he looked great until he went down. Some on here will laud his improvement on defense. I'm less convinced. His rebounding has been trending down for five years in a row (off a high of 20 TRB% at age 22 and again in 23). Our team defense made its big jump when Rudy came over. Towns (and everyone else) got better on Defense because of Rudy. I mean...that was one of the main reasons we had to make the Rudy trade was because most believed Towns couldn't anchor our defense. Fast forward and Towns has been injured the last two seasons. Unload him this off season for the best return. You have been warned.

Naz is still only 24. He's gotten better every single year. I'd bet the streak on this guy and let it ride. We don't know his ceiling yet. He is on a great value contract. Why give that up? He's not going to get nearly the return as Towns. But the drop off between Towns and Naz isn't catastrophic to this team (as we have seen so far). And both guys seem to be trending in opposite directions, so that gap might continue to close going forward.

Garza...He's certainly dominated the G league. But hasn't really had much opportunity with the Timberwolves yet. Finch seems like he's adopting a "must have experience to play" requirement. We (as fans) don't know what we have there yet. But I have to assume the coaches do. The fact that he hasn't gotten more run since Towns went down does not bode well for his future here IMO. Maybe he gets some opportunity to change some minds as the season winds down. But I suspect he's probably a very replaceable guy via either vet minimum contract or future draft pick.

[Wolvesfan21]

Q, I was just going make the same comment in the GDT. Naz's star is very high around the association right now, and I think true fans would be very happy about what we could get back for him in a trade. It would open up a role for Garza, and although he is still raw, I was encouraged by his defense against Jokic last week...we know what Naz is on defense, but Garza may have some upside.

All that said, the NBA is a business and Naz is arguably our most popular player...not to mention a unique talent on offense. Trading him would be very controversial with the fan base.

Naz is a poor mans KAT amd Garza could be a poor mans Naz (they are all quite similar skill wise). I think I posted a couple years ago how Garza could be just as effective as Naz at some point ( I think we were debating on resiging or losing Naz). I still think that. Though his driving game will never be. Naz is just quicker and more skilled on the drive then both KAT and Garza ever will be. Better handle too. That is where Naz is just so special. His athleticsm for his size is tremendous.

You're right too. Garza does have defensive upside as well. However he is starting from atrocious. So it's hard to predict good things for me at this point. He does have the work ethic though going for him. I am a Garza fan and really like his upside.

I like Garza as an emergency backup, but he does not have any defensive upside. He is what he is at this point, which is a guy that will work his ass off on that end, but simply has too many physical limitations to ever make him a plus-level defender.

Naz on the other hand does have upside because he actually has the physical tools to really compete on that end. That's why it's been so frustrating to see a guy with his wingspan, sturdy frame, foot speed, and coordination get bullied in the paint so badly. But I'm coming around to what others are saying about how he can still improve in that area. I also hope the refs will start giving him some respect. He can hardly touch anyone without getting a whistle.

I'm on the same page. Garza is just really bad right now. I was thinking he could potentially become avg on defense. But that is asking a lot. He's not very quick, nor have hops. So it will be all refining technique with experience and study, then additional determination and toughness. Technique and hustle can go a long ways.

You're right on about Naz too. He just doesn't rebound good enough for his size and speed. That is always been frustrating for me to watch.

[60WinTim]

If money were not an issue, keeping both KAT and Naz makes sense. But if money IS an issue, KAT is clearly the one to go. The problem is who can possibly take on his contract? And considering you have to take back a fair amount of money in any trade, you really are not saving a ton for next year!

However, if KAT is traded before next year's contract numbers take affect in July, only 36 mil of his outgoing salary needs to be matched instead of next year's 49 mil. Which means we are talking about a trade somewhere in or around the draft.

I doubt this will excite anyone, but Brooklyn is the one team I can find that might be able to handle KAT's contract AND has a pretty clear positional need for someone like KAT - the fit makes a lot of sense. KAT for Ben Simmons and whatever else is needed to make everyone happy would get it done. Obviously, the Wolves would be looking for draft capital. They would still be a luxury tax team next season, but far less so than they would be with KAT. And then the next season could once again be under the luxury tax as Simmon's contract comes off the books.

Don't shoot the messenger! I have looked high and low for possible KAT landing spots that might make sense for both the Wolves and the trade partner. Nowhere else really makes much sense (unless Philly thought a KAT-Embiid pairing would work. I don't.).

[Carlos Danger]

If money were not an issue, keeping both KAT and Naz makes sense. But if money IS an issue, KAT is clearly the one to go. The problem is who can possibly take on his contract? And considering you have to take back a fair amount of money in any trade, you really are not saving a ton for next year!

However, if KAT is traded before next year's contract numbers take affect in July, only 36 mil of his outgoing salary needs to be matched instead of next year's 49 mil. Which means we are talking about a trade somewhere in or around the draft.

I doubt this will excite anyone, but Brooklyn is the one team I can find that might be able to handle KAT's contract AND has a pretty clear positional need for someone like KAT - the fit makes a lot of sense. KAT for Ben Simmons and whatever else is needed to make everyone happy would get it done. Obviously, the Wolves would be looking for draft capital. They would still be a luxury tax team next season, but far less so than they would be with KAT. And then the next season could once again be under the luxury tax as Simmon's contract comes off the books.

Don't shoot the messenger! I have looked high and low for possible KAT landing spots that might make sense for both the Wolves and the trade partner. Nowhere else really makes much sense (unless Philly thought a KAT-Embiid pairing would work. I don't.).

I agree with you 100%. The Simmons things has been batted around on here before. It was only a couple years ago and many would have been happy to give a Rudy like trade to get him. Obviously those days are gone and he should be considered nothing more than salary facilitation. But yeah, if they could get ANYTHING out of him it would certainly add considerable value. But certainly we'd go into the trade assuming he adds nothing.

[FNG]

I'm going to go in a different direction with the Naz/Garza discussion. I think they are both limited defensively, but for different reasons. Naz has some quickness and can guard the perimeter when he isn't lost on defense (not very often), but doesn't have the strength to compete with physical centers...he's a disaster against Jokic. On the other hand, Garza has no footspeed and he's always going to struggle defending the perimeter, but he showed me against Denver that he has the physical strength to keep a guy like Joker away from the rim. Finchie raved about Garza's defense in his post-game presser. Neither of these guys is ever going to be considered a defensive stopper, but I think Garza will be (and even is now) the better defender. When it comes to 1-4, I'll take speed over strength. But I'll take strength over speed with my center.