Wolves traded Kat

[Monster]

In the past a Towns Randle deal made some sense to me but I didn't give it much thought because first of all I didn't want to trade Towns and the biggest thing was I didn't think the Knicks would give up enough to make it worth it for the Wolves.

The Knicks added Dvincenzo and a protected first round pick and some sort of cost savings this season on top of Randle. As well as future flexibility for the Wolves. Is that enough? I think for the most part in the short term it rests on how to value Dvincenzo. Last season he played like a starter and is paid less than the mid-level. Even if he is more like the guy he was in GS that's still a 2 way guard that makes 3's at a pretty good volume. That's a pretty valuable player. If he stays healthy he is likely to be worth more than his contract and help the Wolves quite a bit. I think it's pretty clear to me if he was the guy the Wolves decided to move he would be worth at least a first round pick. He might not be quite as valuable as Covington was when the Wolves moved him but I think there would be plenty of teams interested and willing to give up assets to get him.

What's been discussed more than anything on this board was concerns about depth at guard if Conley goes down for any length of time. The Wolves helped with that in this deal. Donte isn't a PG but he is a guy that can help there to some extent plus his shooting will help the offense. In addition Randle is more of an off the dribble playmaker than Towns and we have seen Finch allow a guy like Anderson freedom to make plays. Obviously Randle isn't that level of playmaker but Randle can help more in that area than than Towns did. Connelly really is interesting how he builds rosters and also finding ways to get assets here and there when he moves players.

[guest81]

Yup! I actually liked this trade from the start, but it has grown on me even more this morning and afternoon. But I'm not even sure who the most likely starter is between Naz and Randle. On paper, Randle is the more accomplished player. But the Naz/Rudy combo was pretty good last year.

BTW, welcome to a rare "new member", guest81! Were you ever on the Enjin boards?

Lurker for years. Was actually on the old espn and sportsline forums.

To your point, i think you could have different games with different starting lineups. When you had kat however, you can't just ask that guy to come off the bench for a multitude of reasons

Hard seeing Randle coming off the bench...he's pretty established and has an ego, next contract to play for, etc. I hope we flip him and slot Naz in as the starter.

In all likelihood randle is going to be the starter but you can make the case that randle can come off the bench and Naz as the starter for at least certain matchups. With kat though you couldn't ask him to come off the bench because he has already been established here

[thedoper]

Its incredible to me that Towns will be playing for Thibs again. NYC is going to be a spectacle no doubt.

[DNatagal]

This is the part of pro sports that is tough. I love who KAT is as a person, love his skills, love his wanting the best for the Wolves, but this trade needed to happen. The new CBA caused this to happen, and it sucks.
The Wolves needed to get out of 2nd apron hell. This is the only move that starts the next process of truly building around Ant.
With all that being said, I will not miss the bone headed offensive fouls, the flailing arms, or the dumb wraparound the head passes into the stands.
The offense was boring and middle of the road. Hope Finch has something in his bag that improves the movement and easy shots.

[WildWolf2813]

This is the part of pro sports that is tough. I love who KAT is as a person, love his skills, love his wanting the best for the Wolves, but this trade needed to happen. The new CBA caused this to happen, and it sucks.
The Wolves needed to get out of 2nd apron hell. This is the only move that starts the next process of truly building around Ant.
With all that being said, I will not miss the bone headed offensive fouls, the flailing arms, or the dumb wraparound the head passes into the stands.
The offense was boring and middle of the road. Hope Finch has something in his bag that improves the movement and easy shots.

Well get ready for missed assignments, confrontations with teammates and momentum stopping heat checks from Randle.

The franchise should remove the word flexibility from their vocabulary. They traded a swap and a pick seven years from now for a PG who more than likely won't see the floor his rookie year. Now they want flexibility. TC was brought and immediately sacrificed flexibility for a center nobody really wanted. On the same day he gave KAT a supermax. Now it's about flexibility? The contract Randle has is probably the kind of deal Naz's agent is aiming for. We'll be under the 2nd apron for 2 minutes. The cheap young assets that supposedly might play a role in our future, the only one who seemingly has a clear path to some playing time is Luka freakin Garza as spot backup C. I don't wanna hear that they're trying to maintain long term flexibility when they're all in on one of JMac, Naz or Dillingham being the 2nd best player on a title team. If that fails, there's no pivot.

[60WinTim]

This is an amazingly detailed and well-thought-out analysis of the trade I have run across from Sam Vecenie and guests. It's an hour and forty five minutes. The first half is spent on the Knicks side, the second half is on the Wolves side.

I already liked the trade. This analysis adds support to that position.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lNKDe4iyq0

[Q-is-here]

Lurker for years. Was actually on the old espn and sportsline forums.

To your point, i think you could have different games with different starting lineups. When you had kat however, you can't just ask that guy to come off the bench for a multitude of reasons

Hard seeing Randle coming off the bench...he's pretty established and has an ego, next contract to play for, etc. I hope we flip him and slot Naz in as the starter.

Would be interested in your thoughts on the trade overall Q

Thanks Cool. Been traveling and haven't had much time to mull it over. Not a fan of Randle, but more sanguine about the longer term implications of the trade.

[KiwiMatt]

The more I ponder about this trade, the more I'm actually becoming ok with it.

Donte DiVencenzo could just be a gem in this trade. 18ppg on 42% 3pt shooting in the playoffs last season including 25, 28, 35 and 39 point performances against the Pacers in the ECSF. His contract would be up there with Naz Reid's in regards to being one of the best in the NBA. Signed for the next 3 years for 12 mil per on a mid level exception deal. It sounds like the Knicks were reluctant to include him and this likely held up the deal for a couple of months.

I've never been a fan of Julius Randle, but one thing you can say is he sure is productive and puts up greats numbers. Lets hope we get the 20/21 version where he averaged 24pts,10 rebounds and 6 assist on 46/41/80 splits. At 20 mil less than KAT for similar production and 2 years left on the deal its not too bad. Very tradeable contract going forward too. He dislocated his shoulder late January which needed surgery in April and is expected to be ready by start of the season. This also could have help up the deal with the uncertainty of his return.

The 1st pick (via Pistons) is so heavily protected it may never convey and will likely turn into a 2nd RP. However it has certainly made Pistons games a lot more interesting for us Wolves fans. Lets pray they turn it around in the next couple of years.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

One thing I do like is that this trade should make us a more physical team. As talented as KAT is, he was always a finesse player, and never really mastered the ability to play physically without fouling relentlessly because he just lacked the degree of body control to do it.

Randle is a obviously a banger on offense and has the physical tools to body up guys defensively. Donte isn't huge, but he's a pretty good perimeter defender and he always plays aggressively.

I've always really valued "toughness" as a qualitative measurement, and swapping out KAT for these guys should help us out in that regard. There are many more ways to look at this trade, but in terms of physicality, I do think it will be a more enjoyable product to watch if you value that sort of thing.

[Q-is-here]

One thing I do like is that this trade should make us a more physical team. As talented as KAT is, he was always a finesse player, and never really mastered the ability to play physically without fouling relentlessly because he just lacked the degree of body control to do it.

Randle is a obviously a banger on offense and has the physical tools to body up guys defensively. Donte isn't huge, but he's a pretty good perimeter defender and he always plays aggressively.

I've always really valued "toughness" as a qualitative measurement, and swapping out KAT for these guys should help us out in that regard. There are many more ways to look at this trade, but in terms of physicality, I do think it will be a more enjoyable product to watch if you value that sort of thing.

I'm trusting Wildwolf's assessment of Randle more than the stats and occasional game I've seen him play in.