Let's discuss long term roster construction for the Wolves

[BloopOracle]

In this scenario let's say the Wolves run it back next year and come close but don't win it all either year.

I think it's blatantly obvious at this point that we'll extend Rudy to have him play alongside Ant for the rest of Gobert's prime. KAT sadly I believe will be moved even if we won it all next year, so do you throw a big contract at Naz? Conley would be on the last year of his deal, would you throw big money at NAW to be our new point guard? Jaden won't be going anywhere, but I imagine this is where you pray Miller or Minot pan out to be a serviceable rotational piece.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Interesting question. A lot depends on how this year turns out, and how much whoever wins ownership of the team is willing to pay to keep the roster together. Actually, do you mind if I take this one step back and game out the roster for next season first? Because even running it back next year would have to look a little different then this year I think.

In terms of the luxury tax, as I understand, we're already slated to be at around $186 million for next year with just 10 or 11 guys under contract, plus our first round draft pick coming in, so just about everybody else we sign would need to be vet. mins, and each one would carry an escalating tax hit (since the second apron is supposed to be around 190?). Again, it depends on how the season works out, but if we give Denver a real run for its money and they go on to win again, or if we push past them to the WCF or the Finals, I can see Taylor or Lore/A-Rod telling Connelly he doesn't HAVE to get beneath that second apron next year, and he could probably fill in the roster. The guys we already have under contract are the mostly guys in the rotation anyway, so I feel like there's an argument that it's worth keeping all our guys and just find vet. min. guys and just have a thinner bench with SloMo, Monte Morris, and JMac replaced by the cheapest possible guys, then paying (hopefully) not too much in tax.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-t ... 600315077/

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/minnesota-t ... /year/2024

At PG, we just re-signed Conley for two more years. JMac's contract is up. Theoretically, we could try to give Monte Morris a deal maybe, though I'm guessing he'd probably cost too much. Moore is still on the roster, so I guess we run with him as our JMac next year and pray for the best? I would guess they'd also probably be looking for a guy who can handle the ball and stretch the floor a bit with their draft pick this year as well?

NAW is making 4.5 million next year (my God, that's probably the best non-rookie deal in the NBA right now). We have bird rights on him, but he'll get real expensive after next year. He's capable of handling the point for stretches, but I think we just saw in Phoenix that it's dangerous not to have a legit PG on your roster, so I'm not sure we'd try to keep him as our starting PG, as much as I love the guy. I mean seriously, he's probably my favourite Wolf. But I could see the team crossing their fingers and hoping Jaylen Clark could ultimately be a cheap replacement if finances wouldn't allow us to keep NAW after next year and then letting NAW walk like Denver let Bruce Brown go or the Lakers letting Caruso go a few years ago (which I think was a salary issue). But yeah, after Conley's contract is up in two years, assuming he holds up that long, we'll clearly need a PG at that point.

So if we did need to move a big contract, between KAT and Rudy, if we have to lose one because of lux tax hell, KAT is more replaceable with Naz and he has had some injury issues despite being younger. Rudy's under contract for 2 more years, at which point he'll be 33. I'd be wary about the amount of money and years to give him after that. He is in great shape, but I'd like to see how his body holds up for the next year and change before committing to that. KAT's under contract for 4 more years. Even if we run it back, that's still 3 more years on his contract that we (hopefully) would still be able to move.

SloMo's contract is up after this year, and it's impossible to imagine the team isn't going to just let that money come off the books and give his minutes to Minott and Miller to see what we've got there. As much as I love SloMo, that's actually something I'm interested in finding out about next year.

Bottom line, let's all just cross our fingers, hope the league gets a windfall of cash from someplace, and the second apron goes way up and makes these problems go away!

But to Bloop's question, assuming they do what I've laid out here for next year but still fall short, yeah, I think that'll be the really tough question because the repeater tax will start to kick in, as I understand, right?

[Lipoli390]

It’s my understanding that a team above the 2nd apron can still re-sign players with Bird rights. So if the Wolves decide to come back with the same core next season, which will invariably put them above the 2nd apron, the can and will likely re-sign their key bench guys with Bird rights, including Monte Morris, Slo Mo and JMac. If you’re over the second apron, you might as well be well above it to stay at the level that made you willing to exceed it in the first place.

The key question is whether it makes sense to bring it back next season. Some of that depends on where we end up in the playoffs. If we win a championship there’s an argument for bringing the same team back for a potential repeat but there’s also an argument to take a step back and retool for the long term. If we make it to the WCF or Finals and lose, there’s an argument for bringing the team back for one more crack at the trophy but there’s also an argument that we can’t expect to do better with the same team and that we should take a step back and re-tool.

Rudy’s value will never be higher than it will be the end of this season. He had a career year, is in great shape and has only one year left on his contract. However, he’s extremely valuable to us as well. KAT’s value will be high based on his season and proven ability to play well defensively.

[Q-is-here]

One thing to keep in mind is that Finch has increasingly gone back to a point guard-less lineup in the playoffs, with NAW and Ant paired together for some very successful stints.

We saw how earlier in the year that seemed to result in a cascade of turnovers and stagnate offense. Then Finch decided to flood the system with PGs, having Conley, JMac, and Morris playing in the regular rotation, often with two of them out there at the same time. That seemed to really help and Finch got away from never having a PG on the floor.

Well, now we're seeing how Ant's growth - literally before our eyes - as a decision maker has allowed Finch to curtail the PG rotation in the playoffs with Conley getting the majority of minutes and then playing Morris for spot minutes only.

So I could definitely see the Ant/NAW combination growing into a starting backcourt and perhaps Conley sticking around as backup vet min PG starting the year after next.

[DNatagal]

NAW, Ant, Jaden, Naz, Rudy is a nice looking starting 5.

[Monster]

One thing to keep in mind is that Finch has increasingly gone back to a point guard-less lineup in the playoffs, with NAW and Ant paired together for some very successful stints.

We saw how earlier in the year that seemed to result in a cascade of turnovers and stagnate offense. Then Finch decided to flood the system with PGs, having Conley, JMac, and Morris playing in the regular rotation, often with two of them out there at the same time. That seemed to really help and Finch got away from never having a PG on the floor.

Well, now we're seeing how Ant's growth - literally before our eyes - as a decision maker has allowed Finch to curtail the PG rotation in the playoffs with Conley getting the majority of minutes and then playing Morris for spot minutes only.

So I could definitely see the Ant/NAW combination growing into a starting backcourt and perhaps Conley sticking around as backup vet min PG starting the year after next.

NAW has also seemed to find a certain groove playing off guys and licking his spots. Is his 3 point shooting is remotely real you have a guy that's almost a fringe starter just with that skill but he is also a guy that can play PG and is an excellent defender. My high hope was he could eventually turn into a guy that was in some sort of realm of value that Bruce Brown did. I didn't expect it to happen but I think he may have already arrived which is huge for this year and the next. How much more will NAW get better and how much will the Wolves potentially have to shell out to keep him? It could end up being a bunch of money. What's the most the Wolves can offer him after his current contract ends?

[60WinTim]

One thing to keep in mind is that Finch has increasingly gone back to a point guard-less lineup in the playoffs, with NAW and Ant paired together for some very successful stints.

We saw how earlier in the year that seemed to result in a cascade of turnovers and stagnate offense. Then Finch decided to flood the system with PGs, having Conley, JMac, and Morris playing in the regular rotation, often with two of them out there at the same time. That seemed to really help and Finch got away from never having a PG on the floor.

Well, now we're seeing how Ant's growth - literally before our eyes - as a decision maker has allowed Finch to curtail the PG rotation in the playoffs with Conley getting the majority of minutes and then playing Morris for spot minutes only.

So I could definitely see the Ant/NAW combination growing into a starting backcourt and perhaps Conley sticking around as backup vet min PG starting the year after next.

NAW has also seemed to find a certain groove playing off guys and licking his spots. Is his 3 point shooting is remotely real you have a guy that's almost a fringe starter just with that skill but he is also a guy that can play PG and is an excellent defender. My high hope was he could eventually turn into a guy that was in some sort of realm of value that Bruce Brown did. I didn't expect it to happen but I think he may have already arrived which is huge for this year and the next. How much more will NAW get better and how much will the Wolves potentially have to shell out to keep him? It could end up being a bunch of money. What's the most the Wolves can offer him after his current contract ends?

You come back here and start posting like nothing happened after a near 3 month sabbatical?!?

The Wolves have full Bird rights for NAW, so they can pay him anything. The year after next could be quite painful for the Wolves as a luxury tax repeater. Hopefully the new TV contract really balloon's the salary cap!

Welcome back, BTW!