Around the NBA:2025-6

[Lipoli390]

Boston losing at home to Utah and dropping to 3-5. Minott started and played only 15 minutes. Went 1-5 from the field with 4 fouls.

And Memphis about to lose at home to Detroit with Lip's guy Cade Cunningham having a great game.

Speaking of Memphis, Ja continues to struggle. He had 10 assists last night, but he also had 5 turnovers, shot 31% from the field and was a -5. So far this season, he’s shooting 40.6% from the field and hitting only 15.6% of his threes. Hard to know whether it’s mental or physical but there’s certainly something wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out of the League in three years. He’s such a great talent - one of my favorite players to watch. But there’s something wrong with the guy.

[Q-is-here]

Anyone that plays golf knows that the lower your handicap is, the harder it gets to lower it further. So going from a 25 handicap to an 18 handicap, for example, is a lot easier than going from an 18 to a 13, which in turn is easier than going from a 13 to a 9, etc., etc.

It seems to me that getting to the Finals is a similar feat. The Wolves have made two consecutive WCF and technically anyone in the Final Four of the NBA should be labeled a "contender". But we really weren't all that competitive with Dallas two seasons ago or OKC last season. That next leap is the hardest of them all.

Which brings us back to OKC. They are 8-0 and that's without their second best player in Jalen Williams. They just keep throwing different bodies out there and everyone succeeds in their system. The latest example is Ajay Mitchell, a 2nd rounder from two years ago.

The bottom line is that Lore, A-Rod, and Connelly have their work cut out for them if they truly want to compete for a title, as OKC is going no where with their still young core and Presti's genius in the draft.

I give Connelly an A for getting this team deep into the playoffs while Ant and Jaden were still young players. Building a roster to get them to the Finals is much harder and I don't think this version can get it done given the massive holes Finch has to coach around, even when Ant is back and healthy.

[Lipoli390]

Anyone that plays golf knows that the lower your handicap is, the harder it gets to lower it further. So going from a 25 handicap to an 18 handicap, for example, is a lot easier than going from an 18 to a 13, which in turn is easier than going from a 13 to a 9, etc., etc.

It seems to me that getting to the Finals is a similar feat. The Wolves have made two consecutive WCF and technically anyone in the Final Four of the NBA should be labeled a "contender". But we really weren't all that competitive with Dallas two seasons ago or OKC last season. That next leap is the hardest of them all.

Which brings us back to OKC. They are 8-0 and that's without their second best player in Jalen Williams. They just keep throwing different bodies out there and everyone succeeds in their system. The latest example is Ajay Mitchell, a 2nd rounder from two years ago.

The bottom line is that Lore, A-Rod, and Connelly have their work cut out for them if they truly want to compete for a title, as OKC is going no where with their still young core and Presti's genius in the draft.

I give Connelly an A for getting this team deep into the playoffs while Ant and Jaden were still young players. Building a roster to get them to the Finals is much harder and I don't think this version can get it done given the massive holes Finch has to coach around, even when Ant is back and healthy.

[60WinTim]

Anyone that plays golf knows that the lower your handicap is, the harder it gets to lower it further. So going from a 25 handicap to an 18 handicap, for example, is a lot easier than going from an 18 to a 13, which in turn is easier than going from a 13 to a 9, etc., etc.

It seems to me that getting to the Finals is a similar feat. The Wolves have made two consecutive WCF and technically anyone in the Final Four of the NBA should be labeled a "contender". But we really weren't all that competitive with Dallas two seasons ago or OKC last season. That next leap is the hardest of them all.

Which brings us back to OKC. They are 8-0 and that's without their second best player in Jalen Williams. They just keep throwing different bodies out there and everyone succeeds in their system. The latest example is Ajay Mitchell, a 2nd rounder from two years ago.

The bottom line is that Lore, A-Rod, and Connelly have their work cut out for them if they truly want to compete for a title, as OKC is going no where with their still young core and Presti's genius in the draft.

I give Connelly an A for getting this team deep into the playoffs while Ant and Jaden were still young players. Building a roster to get them to the Finals is much harder and I don't think this version can get it done given the massive holes Finch has to coach around, even when Ant is back and healthy.

I think "massive holes" is a bit over the top. You don't have "massive holes" if all you do is get to the Western Conference Finals the past two years...

TC may still have some work to do. But he's been planting seeds to improve the team -- Jaylen, Dilly, Shannon, Joan and Rocco. And we know he always keeps an eye out for moves that could improve the team as well. I think he is happy to let this team and it's young players grow. And he'll work on fixing something if it appears broken along the way.

TC has a better regular season winning record in Minnesota than Presti has in OKC. Just sayin'...

[rapsuperstar31]

Anyone that plays golf knows that the lower your handicap is, the harder it gets to lower it further. So going from a 25 handicap to an 18 handicap, for example, is a lot easier than going from an 18 to a 13, which in turn is easier than going from a 13 to a 9, etc., etc.

It seems to me that getting to the Finals is a similar feat. The Wolves have made two consecutive WCF and technically anyone in the Final Four of the NBA should be labeled a "contender". But we really weren't all that competitive with Dallas two seasons ago or OKC last season. That next leap is the hardest of them all.

Which brings us back to OKC. They are 8-0 and that's without their second best player in Jalen Williams. They just keep throwing different bodies out there and everyone succeeds in their system. The latest example is Ajay Mitchell, a 2nd rounder from two years ago.

The bottom line is that Lore, A-Rod, and Connelly have their work cut out for them if they truly want to compete for a title, as OKC is going no where with their still young core and Presti's genius in the draft.

I give Connelly an A for getting this team deep into the playoffs while Ant and Jaden were still young players. Building a roster to get them to the Finals is much harder and I don't think this version can get it done given the massive holes Finch has to coach around, even when Ant is back and healthy.

We weren't clutch in 23-24, and still weren't last year. Small sample size but Ant did hit clutch shots against Portland this year, and hit some in the playoffs last year. Hopefully that clutch gene is starting to click for the young player. We lost the first two games against Dallas by a total of 4 points. We were a bricked wide open 3 by Naz at the buzzer, and a late game turnover by Jaden that would have been called a foul if the new out of bounds challenge rule had started a year earlier. Even with Kat shiiting the bed against Dallas, and Ant having trouble figuring out the defense, we easily could have won that series. I think Boston would have whooped us though.

Hell if you beat OKC in the 4th game which we were right there, you never know what could have happened to that series. Some of those bounces OKC got, like SGA falling down throwing the ball under the defenders legs and Jalen hits the the big three. Denver left Williams wide open all series and doubled SGA and Jalen shot just 37.5% from the field and 23.7% from three against Denver. Jalen than kills us shooting 49.4% from the field and 46.2% from three.

[Lipoli390]

Anyone that plays golf knows that the lower your handicap is, the harder it gets to lower it further. So going from a 25 handicap to an 18 handicap, for example, is a lot easier than going from an 18 to a 13, which in turn is easier than going from a 13 to a 9, etc., etc.

It seems to me that getting to the Finals is a similar feat. The Wolves have made two consecutive WCF and technically anyone in the Final Four of the NBA should be labeled a "contender". But we really weren't all that competitive with Dallas two seasons ago or OKC last season. That next leap is the hardest of them all.

Which brings us back to OKC. They are 8-0 and that's without their second best player in Jalen Williams. They just keep throwing different bodies out there and everyone succeeds in their system. The latest example is Ajay Mitchell, a 2nd rounder from two years ago.

The bottom line is that Lore, A-Rod, and Connelly have their work cut out for them if they truly want to compete for a title, as OKC is going no where with their still young core and Presti's genius in the draft.

I give Connelly an A for getting this team deep into the playoffs while Ant and Jaden were still young players. Building a roster to get them to the Finals is much harder and I don't think this version can get it done given the massive holes Finch has to coach around, even when Ant is back and healthy.

I agree, Q. Hope I’m wrong, but don’t think we’ll even make the Conference Finals this season.

It’s interesting to compare the Wolves roster with the best teams around the League. If you just look at individual talent, we compare favorably. In fact, I’m hard pressed to find a more talented six players that we have in Ant, Jaden, Randle, Rudy, Naz, and Donte. But I’ll quote Kevin McHale again from a season ticket holder meeting many years ago: “It’s not the 5 best players; it’s the 5 players who play best together.” I’d amend that slightly to say that in today’s NBA, it’s the 9 or 10 players who play best together in various combinations. The core point is that I don’t think we have the right blend of talent and as you know I’ve thought that for some time now. I don’t think the issue is any particular position. I simply think we need to reformulate our roster to have a rotation of players who optimize the talents of one another — including covering for their respective weaknesses. More specifically, it’s having the players who fit best with Ant and Jaden who I see as our two foundational pieces for a potential championship team.

I think we were close to the TYPE of team we need to be in the season before we acquired Rudy when we won 46 games as a relentless, gritty high octane team. We weren’t talented enough to be a championship contender but that was the type of team we need to be in my view. When you think about it, it’s amazing that we won 46 games back then when Ant and Jaden were babies and not remotely close to the players they are today. We had marginal talent like Vanderbilt. It was simply a great blend of players who played well together in a style that wins in today’s NBA.

I don’t have answers on exactly how to reshape our roster. I’d hate to lose Randle. He’s such a great bucket getter who can also pass and I love his toughness. I love that he never complains about calls. I’d hate to lose Naz. He’s a so beloved by his teammates and the community. He’s the best friend of one of our two foundational players (Jaden) and is also lose to Ant and the rest of the team. He’s a remarkably gifted, mobile big in a League that favors mobile bigs. And let’s not forget that he’s an elite 3-point shooter, hitting nearly 39% of his threes so far this season, 38% last season and 41% the season before. I’d hate to lose Donte’s three-point shooting, toughness and feistiness. We need more of those qualities on this team. I’d hate to lose any of our recent draft picks - Dilly, TSJ or Clark. A mid-market team like the Wolves under the current CBA can’t succeed without developing and relying significantly on its draft picks. At least one or two of those three have to pan out. I’d hate to lose Rudy because our defense depends so much on him.

So I don’t know what TC should to but at some point this roster will have to be changed — not overhauled - but changed significantly in one way or another. I know it’s hard to be patient but if it were up to me I’d wait until the end of the season to make any significant changes. I’d use this season to focus on developing Dilly, TSJ and Clark with meaningful (but not too many) minutes while still playing to win and see if things come together. We haven’t seen enough of this team yet with Ant playing so maybe we’re going to be better than I think. Maybe we’re the 57-win team I projected a few weeks ago in what must have been a drunken stupor. . There are times when watching this team play has me projecting them in the lottery. But taking a step back there’s no doubt in my mind that this team is a playoff team. So we’ll have a good team worth watching all season without making any changes. But our front office needs to have a plan for the next three seasons after this one before Ant and Jaden hit the ends of their current contracts.

[rapsuperstar31]

Anyone that plays golf knows that the lower your handicap is, the harder it gets to lower it further. So going from a 25 handicap to an 18 handicap, for example, is a lot easier than going from an 18 to a 13, which in turn is easier than going from a 13 to a 9, etc., etc.

It seems to me that getting to the Finals is a similar feat. The Wolves have made two consecutive WCF and technically anyone in the Final Four of the NBA should be labeled a "contender". But we really weren't all that competitive with Dallas two seasons ago or OKC last season. That next leap is the hardest of them all.

Which brings us back to OKC. They are 8-0 and that's without their second best player in Jalen Williams. They just keep throwing different bodies out there and everyone succeeds in their system. The latest example is Ajay Mitchell, a 2nd rounder from two years ago.

The bottom line is that Lore, A-Rod, and Connelly have their work cut out for them if they truly want to compete for a title, as OKC is going no where with their still young core and Presti's genius in the draft.

I give Connelly an A for getting this team deep into the playoffs while Ant and Jaden were still young players. Building a roster to get them to the Finals is much harder and I don't think this version can get it done given the massive holes Finch has to coach around, even when Ant is back and healthy.

I agree, Q. Hope I’m wrong, but don’t think we’ll even make the Conference Finals this season.

It’s interesting to compare the Wolves roster with the best teams around the League. If you just look at individual talent, we compare favorably. In fact, I’m hard pressed to find a more talented six players that we have in Ant, Jaden, Randle, Rudy, Naz, and Donte. But I’ll quote Kevin McHale again from a season ticket holder meeting many years ago: “It’s not the 5 best players; it’s the 5 players who play best together.” I’d amend that slightly to say that in today’s NBA, it’s the 9 or 10 players who play best together in various combinations. The core point is that I don’t think we have the right blend of talent and as you know I’ve thought that for some time now. I don’t think the issue is any particular position. I simply think we need to reformulate our roster to have a rotation of players who optimize the talents of one another — including covering for their respective weaknesses. More specifically, it’s having the players who fit best with Ant and Jaden who I see as our two foundational pieces for a potential championship team.

I think we were close to the TYPE of team we need to be in the season before we acquired Rudy when we won 46 games as a relentless, gritty high octane team. We weren’t talented enough to be a championship contender but that was the type of team we need to be in my view. When you think about it, it’s amazing that we won 46 games back then when Ant and Jaden were babies and not remotely close to the players they are today. We had marginal talent like Vanderbilt. It was simply a great blend of players who played well together in a style that wins in today’s NBA.

I don’t have answers on exactly how to reshape our roster. I’d hate to lose Randle. He’s such a great bucket getter who can also pass and I love his toughness. I love that he never complains about calls. I’d hate to lose Naz. He’s a so beloved by his teammates and the community. He’s the best friend of one of our two foundational players (Jaden) and is also lose to Ant and the rest of the team. He’s a remarkably gifted, mobile big in a League that favors mobile bigs. And let’s not forget that he’s an elite 3-point shooter, hitting nearly 39% of his threes so far this season, 38% last season and 41% the season before. I’d hate to lose Donte’s three-point shooting, toughness and feistiness. We need more of those qualities on this team. I’d hate to lose any of our recent draft picks - Dilly, TSJ or Clark. A mid-market team like the Wolves under the current CBA can’t succeed without developing and relying significantly on its draft picks. At least one or two of those three have to pan out. I’d hate to lose Rudy because our defense depends so much on him.

So I don’t know what TC should to but at some point this roster will have to be changed — not overhauled - but changed significantly in one way or another. I know it’s hard to be patient but if it were up to me I’d wait until the end of the season to make any significant changes. I’d use this season to focus on developing Dilly, TSJ and Clark with meaningful (but not too many) minutes while still playing to win and see if things come together. We haven’t seen enough of this team yet with Ant playing so maybe we’re going to be better than I think. Maybe we’re the 57-win team I projected a few weeks ago in what must have been a drunken stupor. . There are times when watching this team play has me projecting them in the lottery. But taking a step back there’s no doubt in my mind that this team is a playoff team. So we’ll have a good team worth watching all season without making any changes. But our front office needs to have a plan for the next three seasons after this one before Ant and Jaden hit the ends of their current contracts.

I don't know how we fix our defensive issues this season with the roster as it is, if Joan is nowhere near ready to contribute by the end of the year. I do think TSJ being the player that we all had hoped this Summer he was would go a long ways on offense. The player that attacks the hoop at will and gets defenses out of position. That player hasn't shown up at all, and it's bringing me down a bit on the team. Maybe it was too much to ask of a 2nd year player, but Shannon attacking the hoop opens up so much for Ant and Randle.

[Q-is-here]

Anyone that plays golf knows that the lower your handicap is, the harder it gets to lower it further. So going from a 25 handicap to an 18 handicap, for example, is a lot easier than going from an 18 to a 13, which in turn is easier than going from a 13 to a 9, etc., etc.

It seems to me that getting to the Finals is a similar feat. The Wolves have made two consecutive WCF and technically anyone in the Final Four of the NBA should be labeled a "contender". But we really weren't all that competitive with Dallas two seasons ago or OKC last season. That next leap is the hardest of them all.

Which brings us back to OKC. They are 8-0 and that's without their second best player in Jalen Williams. They just keep throwing different bodies out there and everyone succeeds in their system. The latest example is Ajay Mitchell, a 2nd rounder from two years ago.

The bottom line is that Lore, A-Rod, and Connelly have their work cut out for them if they truly want to compete for a title, as OKC is going no where with their still young core and Presti's genius in the draft.

I give Connelly an A for getting this team deep into the playoffs while Ant and Jaden were still young players. Building a roster to get them to the Finals is much harder and I don't think this version can get it done given the massive holes Finch has to coach around, even when Ant is back and healthy.

I think "massive holes" is a bit over the top. You don't have "massive holes" if all you do is get to the Western Conference Finals the past two years...

TC may still have some work to do. But he's been planting seeds to improve the team -- Jaylen, Dilly, Shannon, Joan and Rocco. And we know he always keeps an eye out for moves that could improve the team as well. I think he is happy to let this team and it's young players grow. And he'll work on fixing something if it appears broken along the way.

TC has a better regular season winning record in Minnesota than Presti has in OKC. Just sayin'...

I think they are massive holes relative to what it takes to be an NBA champion. It's like going from a 4 handicap to scratch going back to my golf analogy. A 4-handicap is a damn good golfer, but it's really hard to get to scratch from there.

I do think Connelly has put himself in position now to make deals and improve the team since they are out of the second apron restrictions and he has some positive, tradeable assets. We know he isn't afraid to pull off something bold, but I agree he wants to see more before doing anything.

[Q-is-here]

Anyone that plays golf knows that the lower your handicap is, the harder it gets to lower it further. So going from a 25 handicap to an 18 handicap, for example, is a lot easier than going from an 18 to a 13, which in turn is easier than going from a 13 to a 9, etc., etc.

It seems to me that getting to the Finals is a similar feat. The Wolves have made two consecutive WCF and technically anyone in the Final Four of the NBA should be labeled a "contender". But we really weren't all that competitive with Dallas two seasons ago or OKC last season. That next leap is the hardest of them all.

Which brings us back to OKC. They are 8-0 and that's without their second best player in Jalen Williams. They just keep throwing different bodies out there and everyone succeeds in their system. The latest example is Ajay Mitchell, a 2nd rounder from two years ago.

The bottom line is that Lore, A-Rod, and Connelly have their work cut out for them if they truly want to compete for a title, as OKC is going no where with their still young core and Presti's genius in the draft.

I give Connelly an A for getting this team deep into the playoffs while Ant and Jaden were still young players. Building a roster to get them to the Finals is much harder and I don't think this version can get it done given the massive holes Finch has to coach around, even when Ant is back and healthy.

I agree, Q. Hope I’m wrong, but don’t think we’ll even make the Conference Finals this season.

It’s interesting to compare the Wolves roster with the best teams around the League. If you just look at individual talent, we compare favorably. In fact, I’m hard pressed to find a more talented six players that we have in Ant, Jaden, Randle, Rudy, Naz, and Donte. But I’ll quote Kevin McHale again from a season ticket holder meeting many years ago: “It’s not the 5 best players; it’s the 5 players who play best together.” I’d amend that slightly to say that in today’s NBA, it’s the 9 or 10 players who play best together in various combinations. The core point is that I don’t think we have the right blend of talent and as you know I’ve thought that for some time now. I don’t think the issue is any particular position. I simply think we need to reformulate our roster to have a rotation of players who optimize the talents of one another — including covering for their respective weaknesses. More specifically, it’s having the players who fit best with Ant and Jaden who I see as our two foundational pieces for a potential championship team.

I think we were close to the TYPE of team we need to be in the season before we acquired Rudy when we won 46 games as a relentless, gritty high octane team. We weren’t talented enough to be a championship contender but that was the type of team we need to be in my view. When you think about it, it’s amazing that we won 46 games back then when Ant and Jaden were babies and not remotely close to the players they are today. We had marginal talent like Vanderbilt. It was simply a great blend of players who played well together in a style that wins in today’s NBA.

I don’t have answers on exactly how to reshape our roster. I’d hate to lose Randle. He’s such a great bucket getter who can also pass and I love his toughness. I love that he never complains about calls. I’d hate to lose Naz. He’s a so beloved by his teammates and the community. He’s the best friend of one of our two foundational players (Jaden) and is also lose to Ant and the rest of the team. He’s a remarkably gifted, mobile big in a League that favors mobile bigs. And let’s not forget that he’s an elite 3-point shooter, hitting nearly 39% of his threes so far this season, 38% last season and 41% the season before. I’d hate to lose Donte’s three-point shooting, toughness and feistiness. We need more of those qualities on this team. I’d hate to lose any of our recent draft picks - Dilly, TSJ or Clark. A mid-market team like the Wolves under the current CBA can’t succeed without developing and relying significantly on its draft picks. At least one or two of those three have to pan out. I’d hate to lose Rudy because our defense depends so much on him.

So I don’t know what TC should to but at some point this roster will have to be changed — not overhauled - but changed significantly in one way or another. I know it’s hard to be patient but if it were up to me I’d wait until the end of the season to make any significant changes. I’d use this season to focus on developing Dilly, TSJ and Clark with meaningful (but not too many) minutes while still playing to win and see if things come together. We haven’t seen enough of this team yet with Ant playing so maybe we’re going to be better than I think. Maybe we’re the 57-win team I projected a few weeks ago in what must have been a drunken stupor. . There are times when watching this team play has me projecting them in the lottery. But taking a step back there’s no doubt in my mind that this team is a playoff team. So we’ll have a good team worth watching all season without making any changes. But our front office needs to have a plan for the next three seasons after this one before Ant and Jaden hit the ends of their current contracts.

I don't know how we fix our defensive issues this season with the roster as it is, if Joan is nowhere near ready to contribute by the end of the year. I do think TSJ being the player that we all had hoped this Summer he was would go a long ways on offense. The player that attacks the hoop at will and gets defenses out of position. That player hasn't shown up at all, and it's bringing me down a bit on the team. Maybe it was too much to ask of a 2nd year player, but Shannon attacking the hoop opens up so much for Ant and Randle.

Connelly had the right idea in drafting Dillingham and then Beringer, but the gap between what we need right now and when they will be ready is huge and their ultimate ceiling is purely speculative at this point. It could be years if ever! Watching Beringer stand there as rebounds go over his head into the awaiting arms of the guy he's boxing out is frustrating as hell! Meanwhile, we continue to be totally dependent on an aging Rudy and Mike Conley....

And yeah, Shannon was the wildcard for me coming into this season and has been a total flop so far. It's still early though.

[FNG]

Walker Kessler out for the season with a shoulder injury. Makes our 4 games with them more likely wins.