I have a feeling Connelly is going to try to thread the needle of trying to assemble a contender for next season while not mortgaging the future to do so, thus holding onto the majority of draft assets, Dillingham, Clark, and Shannon. I could see using one or two of those assets to get a fairly big fish if needed tacked onto a couple of vets to make salaries work, but no more than that.Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 6:28 pmInteresting debate. I agree with you, FNG, that TC should not “shake things up.” I think trading for Rudy was clearly a shake up as was trading Towns for Randle and Donte. But trading or letting Randle go doesn’t strike me up as shaking it up - at least not nearly to the same degree. The team underperformed with Randle early and then performed really well when he returned from his injury. In between, the team played well in his absence. I like what I saw during that stretch. Jaden probably played his best offensive basketball during that stretch and you could see TSJ and Clark start to blossom. In my view, that’s the foundation for a championship Wolves team in a couple years. I’m OK if we take a half step back next season if that’s what it takes to take a couple steps forward thereafter with a young core that will have a lot of years in front of it. I can appreciate the alternative view but that’s my take. And if we do this right, we don’t necessarily have to take a half step back next season. I have confidence in going forward with Ant, Jaden, Naz, Rudy, Donte next season. I see lots of potential to round out the rotation through some combination of the following: Mike Conley, TSJ, Clark and Dilly. If we trade Randle, we should get a decent rotation player in return. If we let him walk, we’ll have the full MLE to work with. And we also have two nice picks this month as well.FNG wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 2:29 pmCool, I don't agree with the premise that running it back (with the addition of more minutes from our young 3 plus perhaps a draft pick or two) says we won't get out of the West. Here's my logic:Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 11:24 am Running it back pretty much guarantees we don't get out of the West. Jaden would again be stifled in his offensive game. I just don't understand the logic. SMH.
1) I'm a big TC fan, but his need to shake things up every year seems to lead to a slow start to a season before the new pieces get used to each other. That's why I would prefer he not make a big move this offseason like he is accustomed to doing. I'm a big fan of continuity, and it was clear how much better this team was playing at the end of the season than the start.
2) I like that TC and Finchy are both saying that they want to bring everyone back (of course they have to say that) and that the young 3 have proven they are ready and will get a lot of playing time. I mentioned in another thread that OkC and Indy played more players meaningful minutes than any team other than the Warriors, and way more than we did. I think Finchy is smart and notices that the two teams in the finals play more guys and play at a faster pace and are fresher at the end. I can't wait to see what this talented roster can do at a faster pace.
3) I know you're a gambler, so perhaps you're familiar with the expression in horseracing of "bid, hung". Horses that compete for a win but fall just short are described as "bid, hung" and are often a very good bet to win in their next race because they are hungrier. I think an intact Wolves team will be hungry next year, and will come into the season focused on winning a championship.
4) Conversely, teams that win a championship are usually not as hungry the subsequent year. They are not as likely to train hard and work on their games in the offseason. I think OkC is a terrific team, but a lot of their success is due to intensity rather than talent (I personally think we may be a more talented team), and I don't expect them to play with the same urgency and intensity next season...assuming they do beat Indy. If they lose to Indy, I think they might be even scarier next season. It's human nature.
I also don't agree that the same roster is stifling for Jaden. On the contrary, I thought he had his best season ever...career highs in minutes played, points, assists, rebounds, and field goal attempts, and a career low in fouls. I hope he is stifled again next season, it that's what stifling does to him! I thought Jaden's only problem this season was his shooting. Ant, Ju and Conley gave him so many open looks in the corner, but his 33.5% success rate was far worse than any of his previous seasons. I think we all have nightmares of all the open looks he missed from the corner in the first quarter of the final game against OkC. His teammates look for him, he just didn't make the shots. And that's another reason I am bullish on this team if they run it back. I don't think Jaden is a 33.5% shooter from the corners...I think the 38%+ he has achieved the other 4 years of his career is a better indicator of what he is capable of. He's an intense competitor and can't be happy about his shooting this season. I expect him to take about 10,000 corner 3's this summer and shoot much better next season. And I know his teammates will be looking for him just like they did this season.
So that's my logic about wanting them to run it back...continuity after making the conference finals for the second year in a row combined with an expanded rotation. Now, what do I think will happen? If past is prologue, TC will make another huge move that will shake this roster up again. And if he does, I'm enough of a rube to get excited about whatever he pulls together. But I can also be critical, so if he takes a big swing and we don't win 50+ games next season, I'll be the first to say he screwed up when he had a really good thing going.
On the other hand, I just don't see us running it back with any more than 5 or 6 of our "eight starters" from this season. But if we return 5 out of the top 8 rotation guys plus Finch, that's actually still a good amount of continuity from one season to the next.