Now or never for this wolves team

[AbeVigodaLive]

As for coaching... we've been through this before. How much do they really matter? Obviously, some are better than others. But when we start trying to weed through guys like Nurse, Bud, Finch, et al... each has success... and failures reaching a team. That's the nature of the gig, even for decent to good coaches.

MOST of the problems this season are because NBA players are not listening to the coach... and that's something Edwards has been very clear about. So we could fire that coach and hope for a new coach to get through. And it might... for awhile.

But the balance of power is so skewed with players making up to $60M that simply shuffling through coaches is NOT any sort of real solution. Fortunately for Finch, Ant seems to be in "blame the players" mode.

And actually, that's the BEST solution moving forward... to have the team's best player keep the focus on the players. That's how the best organizations maintain any sort of lasting success.

[Lipoli390]

I'll be honest, the only way we get rid of Finch is for the Wolves to miss the playoffs and that is still no certainty. But I'll always vote for short term pain for the long term good of the franchise. Keep the losses coming please until we can fire the doofus coach or the doofus GM and hopefully both.

Back to back worst posts of the year. Coach Bud is half the coach Finch is, and although I hate the return we got for Towns, TC is one of the proven best GM's in the league. Who else could fine another sucker to take DLO? He got us in to a conference final in short order and built the Nuggets championship team. You're so far off base here it's hard to take you seriously.

To back you up on this cool. People are now bitching about the wolves not taking the long approach and trading for Rudy. After making the effing WCF. But whatever lets see where the wolves not trading for Rudy would have lead us and taking the long approach.

Players the wolves trade away in the trade.
Pat Bev: Out of the league
Bolmaro: Out of the league
Vando: making 12 million a year and has been hurt the last 2 years so dead money
Beasley: Making 6 million this year after making the min last year. Ok rotation piece on a team
Kessler: A solid rotation big who is in and out of the starting lineup these last 2 year. Been averaging a solid 9 and 10 this year but the Jazz are 4.1 pts worse with Kessler on the floor. Kessler has also dealt with injuries in his young career. Oh ya he would also be up for an extension and the wolves would be having to make a probably tough decision on his future with the money he may or may not deserve.

What about the picks that the wolves would of had:
2023 1st: Keyonte George, averaging a solid 13 points per game on a terrible 38% from the floor and 34% from 3. He is one of the most inefficient offensive players in the NBA

2024 1st: Wolves would of been worse without Rudy last year so oh wait they would have drafted around 9. So they take Dilly at 9. OMG same player they have now. The wolves would not have Shannon.

Now lets look at the players they would still have because they took the long view.
Kat: Super Max Money
Ant: Super Max Money (Maybe would of just got the max because he might not of made all NBA)
Jaden: Still would be making 25 million a year
Naz: Would still be making 14 million a year
Minott and Miller would still be on the team.
Conley and Slow Mo may or not have resigned after playing for a non perceived contender.


So for this example I am going to give the "take the long view" and say slow mo and Conley did not resign and lets look at the wolves cap situation.

Dilly: 6 million
Ant: 42 million
Jaden: 23 million
Naz: 14 million
Kat: 49 million
Vando: 11 million
Naw: 4 million
Beasley: 6 million
George: 4 million
Kessler: 4 million
Miller: 2 million
Minott: 2 million
Garza: 2 million

equals 168 million for 13 players. So they could have 2 more roster players. If you add 2 vet min guys they are at 172.

So with an assumption Conley and Slow Mo do not return wolves just avoid the first apron. If one would come back they are a first apron team. If both would of come back they would of been a 2nd apron team.

So the wolves would not have cap space, would be in trouble long term due to Naw and Naz about to become FA. Sound familiar. Oh ya similar to how the team is at now but significantly less talented.

A main reason the wolves have struggled this year is because the young guys in Ant, Jaden and Naz have not preformed up to expectations and that would not of changed if they took long route. They would just be expensive young under preforming players.

Kek - I think your analysis is excellent. But I’ll offer another angle on the facts you present. The Wolves won 46 games in the 2021-22 season with that parade of marginal player you listed among those we traded to get Rudy. And that was without Anderson and when Ant wasn’t nearly as good as he’s become. The next season, largely without KAT, the Wolves won 42 even though Ant and Jaden were much improved and even though Kyle Anderson Rudy were added to the roster. Then last season, with KAT playing again, the Wolves won 56 games. This season, without KAT, the Wolves are on track to win 37 games. Hmm. I see a pattern here. The team fairs much better with KAT - regardless of whether Rudy is here or not.

The question was never whether we should have kept all, most or even any of the players we traded for Rudy. The question is what else we could have done with those players as assets while still keeping most or all of our future draft picks and maintaining the financial and transactional flexibility we lost because of that deal. Last season was great, but my main gripe about the Rudy deal at the time was that any benefit from it would probably not be sustainable. In my view, then and now, we would have been much better off continuing to build around Ant as our #1 and KAT as our #2. Even if trading KAT would have eventually made sense, our trade leverage would have been far greater if we weren’t hamstrung by the 2nd apron as a result of the Rudy deal.

If TC wanted to make a bold move upon his arrival here, then he should have traded KAT, who would have commanded a huge return coming off the Wolves 46-wins season. I think that’s what Cool would have done.

[FNG]

Abe asks if coaches have much of an impact on a team's performance. I would normally say no, but then we have the Lakers situation where Reddick seems to have had a very positive impact. I get that Knecht has been a nice addition, but I don't think adding him is the main reason for the Lakers' turnaround. Ham had lost the locker room, and they had to make a change. Now, has Finchie lost the locker room? I don't know, but I suspect not. While it was clear Lakers players were not fond of Ham, I have heard nothing but positive comments about Finchie from the players. Ant says they are not listening to the coaches, and I would say that's on the players. I still think we have a talented roster that is underperforming, and I would endorse a coaching change if I thought there was a good chance of turning things around. I'm not there yet though.

[Q-is-here]

NBA coaches have an almost impossible situation when things are going bad and they actually have to start coaching. If we were to fire Finch who could actually replace him and have credibility? Having an authoritarian isnt going to fly at this point or on most NBA teams.

I like that Ant bitched to the media at this point, but he better pick it up now. Hes only been good, and this team needs him to be great if there is any possibility of turning this ship.

I agree that an authoritarian isn't going to work with this squad, but when the whole is far less than the sum of the parts, you have to start looking at coaching strategy and tactics. I can't say whether a new coach will fix all that ails this team, but it's an available lever that is pretty easy to pull for a GM.

I also feel like up to this point Finch has been a good coach, but perhaps Ant, Jaden, and Naz don't have much more to learn from him. A new voice might do them some good.

[Q-is-here]

Abe asks if coaches have much of an impact on a team's performance. I would normally say no, but then we have the Lakers situation where Reddick seems to have had a very positive impact. I get that Knecht has been a nice addition, but I don't think adding him is the main reason for the Lakers' turnaround. Ham had lost the locker room, and they had to make a change. Now, has Finchie lost the locker room? I don't know, but I suspect not. While it was clear Lakers players were not fond of Ham, I have heard nothing but positive comments about Finchie from the players. Ant says they are not listening to the coaches, and I would say that's on the players. I still think we have a talented roster that is underperforming, and I would endorse a coaching change if I thought there was a good chance of turning things around. I'm not there yet though.

But I don't think a coach even needs to be bad or lose the team to be fired. Sometimes a team just needs something different.

When multiple players are underperforming during what should be their peak years, you have to start looking at the coach.