Can this team really play defense without Rudy?

[shrink]

If you give up assets to get Durant, you’re trying for a championship and you want to keep Rudy.

Also KD and especially Naz really need Rudy behind them.

?????? / Ant / McDaniels / Durant / Gobert (plus Naz) is a contending starting line up, with two top 15 offensive players, and two top 15 defensive players.

[Wolvesfan21]

I think you guys nailed it. I think we could get by with a lesser center if Rudy is traded, but we would for sure need one. It's not like we have any depth behind him either!!! Sure you can play an offensive centric Naz/Ju for a spell, but it's not a winning combo on big minutes. Still got to have some rim protection for most minutes.

Ideally I suppose you get an average defensive center who can shoot the 3P OK. That is why I was pining for a guy like Lopez. He's certainly on the last few holes of the back nine, but he can do everything OK still. Of course the risk is there aquiring guys far past their prime too. Higher injury risk, more days off needed, etc.

I'm fairly certain as well that TC isn't an idiot and leaves a gaping hole at the rim on defense all of next year. I just keep seeing his name brought up and OK, get a decent replacement though if we go that route.

[Monster]

I think the Wolves might be able to play defense without Rudy but it would look very different more like the season before they acquired him but rebounding would be a massive problem. We would need to add some sort of legit rebounder at least to not get beat badly on the glass.

It will be interesting to see what a guy like Capela gets on the FA market. He got paid 22 million last year idk if anyone is gonna pay him that much but IMO Rudy is worth at a minimum 5 million more than Capela.

[Lipoli390]

I think the Wolves might be able to play defense without Rudy but it would look very different more like the season before they acquired him but rebounding would be a massive problem. We would need to add some sort of legit rebounder at least to not get beat badly on the glass.

It will be interesting to see what a guy like Capela gets on the FA market. He got paid 22 million last year idk if anyone is gonna pay him that much but IMO Rudy is worth at a minimum 5 million more than Capela.

Well said, Monster. We could be good defensively but as you said we’d look different - like the season before Rudy got here. The Warriors had the 7th best defense this season without anything resembling a center like Rudy. The Magic had the 2nd ranked defense with Carter as their starting center. The Knicks were the 14th ranked defense with Towns as their starting center.

[Monster]

I think the Wolves might be able to play defense without Rudy but it would look very different more like the season before they acquired him but rebounding would be a massive problem. We would need to add some sort of legit rebounder at least to not get beat badly on the glass.

It will be interesting to see what a guy like Capela gets on the FA market. He got paid 22 million last year idk if anyone is gonna pay him that much but IMO Rudy is worth at a minimum 5 million more than Capela.

Well said, Monster. We could be good defensively but as you said we’d look different - like the season before Rudy got here. The Warriors had the 7th best defense this season without anything resembling a center like Rudy. The Magic had the 2nd ranked defense with Carter as their starting center. The Knicks were the 14th ranked defense with Towns as their starting center.

The Wolves might have better perimeter defense overall than that year as well although Russell should get some credit for playing his role in that group. Still look at OKC they have a bunch of guys that fly around and they were like we need a true center and so they paid Hartenstein. It seems like there are going to be centers avaibale either in FA or trades so idk if that makes Moving Gobert more or less likely. Some of those guys teams have already decided they aren't the answer.

[Lipoli390]

I think the Wolves might be able to play defense without Rudy but it would look very different more like the season before they acquired him but rebounding would be a massive problem. We would need to add some sort of legit rebounder at least to not get beat badly on the glass.

It will be interesting to see what a guy like Capela gets on the FA market. He got paid 22 million last year idk if anyone is gonna pay him that much but IMO Rudy is worth at a minimum 5 million more than Capela.

Well said, Monster. We could be good defensively but as you said we’d look different - like the season before Rudy got here. The Warriors had the 7th best defense this season without anything resembling a center like Rudy. The Magic had the 2nd ranked defense with Carter as their starting center. The Knicks were the 14th ranked defense with Towns as their starting center.

The Wolves might have better perimeter defense overall than that year as well although Russell should get some credit for playing his role in that group. Still look at OKC they have a bunch of guys that fly around and they were like we need a true center and so they paid Hartenstein. It seems like there are going to be centers avaibale either in FA or trades so idk if that makes Moving Gobert more or less likely. Some of those guys teams have already decided they aren't the answer.

Yep, I agree completely.

[thedoper]

We had such a drastic dropoff defensively in the non-rudy minutes because our system was adapted to completely play to Rudy's strengths. There was little diversity integrated into the system this year because last year our primary coverage was so effective. I think we got burned in the playoffs because of it. Rudy is a one trick pony who is very amazing at what he does defensively. I think it is better for a dynamic defensive team to get off Rudy and the drop. I think you clearly need to get past the variety of offensive talent (Jokic ->Shai) in the West. Ant + Jaden can be some cornerstones of a great defensive team. I think we can get someone who does some of Rudy's contributions for a hell of a lot cheaper, and we may even get some offense out of the position.

[Monster]

We had such a drastic dropoff defensively in the non-rudy minutes because our system was adapted to completely play to Rudy's strengths. There was little diversity integrated into the system this year because last year our primary coverage was so effective. I think we got burned in the playoffs because of it. Rudy is a one trick pony who is very amazing at what he does defensively. I think it is better for a dynamic defensive team to get off Rudy and the drop. I think you clearly need to get past the variety of offensive talent (Jokic ->Shai) in the West. Ant + Jaden can be some cornerstones of a great defensive team. I think we can get someone who does some of Rudy's contributions for a hell of a lot cheaper, and we may even get some offense out of the position.

Yes the Wolves can't play the same way with Rudy but it also hurts that the bigs aren't anywhere near anchor type guys. I'll say this about Gobert I think this year he was even better switching onto smaller players than the previous year.

You bring up a good point about offense at the C position. Gobert gives you offense over the course of a season with his drawing fouls offensivee rebounds and size etc even with his flaws. The problem is that in even a 7 game series the potential for varience can be problematic especially depending on match ups. Still I think the Wolves problem is needing another perimeter scorer/player that's better than moving on from Gobert. Ideally Dillingham and Donte do that with TSJ giving some juice as well. Conley's drop off on offense was a bit tough. 9.1 per 36 mins this year in the playoffs was a bit of a problem. Rudy Conley and Donte's offensive production in the playoffs was pretty disappointing. Rudy's TS% in the playoffs was under 59%. That's really bad for him.

[Lipoli390]

We had such a drastic dropoff defensively in the non-rudy minutes because our system was adapted to completely play to Rudy's strengths. There was little diversity integrated into the system this year because last year our primary coverage was so effective. I think we got burned in the playoffs because of it. Rudy is a one trick pony who is very amazing at what he does defensively. I think it is better for a dynamic defensive team to get off Rudy and the drop. I think you clearly need to get past the variety of offensive talent (Jokic ->Shai) in the West. Ant + Jaden can be some cornerstones of a great defensive team. I think we can get someone who does some of Rudy's contributions for a hell of a lot cheaper, and we may even get some offense out of the position.

Yes the Wolves can't play the same way with Rudy but it also hurts that the bigs aren't anywhere near anchor type guys. I'll say this about Gobert I think this year he was even better switching onto smaller players than the previous year.

You bring up a good point about offense at the C position. Gobert gives you offense over the course of a season with his drawing fouls offensivee rebounds and size etc even with his flaws. The problem is that in even a 7 game series the potential for varience can be problematic especially depending on match ups. Still I think the Wolves problem is needing another perimeter scorer/player that's better than moving on from Gobert. Ideally Dillingham and Donte do that with TSJ giving some juice as well. Conley's drop off on offense was a bit tough. 9.1 per 36 mins this year in the playoffs was a bit of a problem. Rudy Conley and Donte's offensive production in the playoffs was pretty disappointing. Rudy's TS% in the playoffs was under 59%. That's really bad for him.

I agree that having another guard with an elite handle who can create for himself and others is the biggest key for us. Rudy did not perform well in the playoff but he wasn’t the only one on this team who underperformed in the playoffs. And of course, you first have to make it to the playoffs through 82 games and your regular season success will also impact your playoff success by determining where you’re seeded. We need to have a team that can go small in the playoffs and play like Indiana and OKC. There’s no reason we can’t do that and still keep Rudy because we’re already starting with a lot of talented players who can play that style effectively - namely Ant, Jaden, Naz, Donte, TSJ, Jaylen Clark and possibly Dilly.