Final Western Conference Standings

[Sundog]

I’m the one that voted play in. I’m not confident this team as currently constructed will get their shit together enough to be consistently good.

[Lipoli390]

I’m the one that voted play in. I’m not confident this team as currently constructed will get their shit together enough to be consistently good.

I should have known you were the one, Sundog! Finishing below the Lakers would be a travesty. I voted 6th. I think the sum total of our individual talent is in enough for 2nd or 3rd. But this team too often plays at a level substantially less than the sum of its parts. So I agree with your overall thesis that this team isn’t a contender as currently constructed. This team will require a reconstruction that can only be done in the offseason.

[Lipoli390]

Some of you folks are a bit optimistic IMO. I said 6th (ahead of the lakers) This is a team that’s been pretty healthy and we’re tied for 6th right now. We’re in desperate need of a competent, playoff rotation level POINT guard. If we don’t get that, we’re just not that good. Last years WCF appearance was slightly fools gold. Ant isn’t in the MVP conversation, Randle is falling off a bit. If we don’t make a trade, I’d like to see 15-20 minutes a game for the rest of the season for Joan (especially), Dilly, and Shannon (once healthy) and let’s see where we land. No more Conley… at all. I think Joan is going to be a star.

I agree, Loser. It’s time to sit Conley, and play Rob as well as Shannon (when healthy). It might be time for a new coach like Mike Malone to light a fire under these guys and bring a fresh perspective. If we can trade Conley and Miller for one of the Jones brothers I’d certainly do it to improve the team this season.

Ultimately, the focus in my view should be on next season and beyond. I’m not suggesting we throw in the towel and would welcome a Mike Conley trade and/or head coaching change yet this season. But what this team likely requires to be a championship contender is an off-season reconstruction, not a last second surgical maneuver in February. In the meantime, perhaps Rob and Shannon can get develop some rhythm as well as confidence and help keep this team in the playoff hunt. Maybe we can at least acquire Tyus Jones or Slo Mo for Mike Conley and Miller. Otherwise, I’d hold onto all our other assets, including Rob, until this summer when we’ll be able to include our 2026 draft pick in a draft day deal.

If this team is going to be a legitimate championship contender in the relatively near term it will have to depend on a core of Ant, Jaden, Naz and Beringer in my view. All four of those guys are keys and all of them will need to improve. Ant can’t be our star and have nights like tonight when he shoots 36% from the field and get to the line only once. He can’t have defensive lapses like he had the other night. Jaden has to produce more offensively and has to do a much better job on the boards. Naz has to be more consistent although he’s been pretty darn consistent. Beringer has a huge upside and will likely improve exponentially over the next couple seasons. The key will be who this team can get in return for Randle, Rudy and/or Donte. Those are the three guysm outside the core guys I identified, who have significant trade value. Anything else, including Rob, Shannon, Clark, Miller or our 2026 1st round pick would be a throw-in with marginal value. Fortunately, Randle, Rudy and Donte all have very tradable contracts - reasonably short term durations with not insanely high salaries. I’d explore trading all three for talented players who play with consistent intensity and who would blend well with Ant.

[Coolbreeze44]

Some of you folks are a bit optimistic IMO. I said 6th (ahead of the lakers) This is a team that’s been pretty healthy and we’re tied for 6th right now. We’re in desperate need of a competent, playoff rotation level POINT guard. If we don’t get that, we’re just not that good. Last years WCF appearance was slightly fools gold. Ant isn’t in the MVP conversation, Randle is falling off a bit. If we don’t make a trade, I’d like to see 15-20 minutes a game for the rest of the season for Joan (especially), Dilly, and Shannon (once healthy) and let’s see where we land. No more Conley… at all. I think Joan is going to be a star.

I agree, Loser. It’s time to sit Conley, and play Rob as well as Shannon (when healthy). It might be time for a new coach like Mike Malone to light a fire under these guys and bring a fresh perspective. If we can trade Conley and Miller for one of the Jones brothers I’d certainly do it to improve the team this season.

Ultimately, the focus in my view should be on next season and beyond. I’m not suggesting we throw in the towel and would welcome a Mike Conley trade and/or head coaching change yet this season. But what this team likely requires to be a championship contender is an off-season reconstruction, not a last second surgical maneuver in February. In the meantime, perhaps Rob and Shannon can get develop some rhythm as well as confidence and help keep this team in the playoff hunt. Maybe we can at least acquire Tyus Jones or Slo Mo for Mike Conley and Miller. Otherwise, I’d hold onto all our other assets, including Rob, until this summer when we’ll be able to include our 2026 draft pick in a draft day deal.

If this team is going to be a legitimate championship contender in the relatively near term it will have to depend on a core of Ant, Jaden, Naz and Beringer in my view. All four of those guys are keys and all of them will need to improve. Ant can’t be our star and have nights like tonight when he shoots 36% from the field and get to the line only once. He can’t have defensive lapses like he had the other night. Jaden has to produce more offensively and has to do a much better job on the boards. Naz has to be more consistent although he’s been pretty darn consistent. Beringer has a huge upside and will likely improve exponentially over the next couple seasons. The key will be who this team can get in return for Randle, Rudy and/or Donte. Those are the three guysm outside the core guys I identified, who have significant trade value. Anything else, including Rob, Shannon, Clark, Miller or our 2026 1st round pick would be a throw-in with marginal value. Fortunately, Randle, Rudy and Donte all have very tradable contracts - reasonably short term durations with not insanely high salaries. I’d explore trading all three for talented players who play with consistent intensity and who would blend well with Ant.

Lippy, why would anyone want Conley and Miller in a package deal? That duo has as close to zero value as you can get.

[Lipoli390]

Some of you folks are a bit optimistic IMO. I said 6th (ahead of the lakers) This is a team that’s been pretty healthy and we’re tied for 6th right now. We’re in desperate need of a competent, playoff rotation level POINT guard. If we don’t get that, we’re just not that good. Last years WCF appearance was slightly fools gold. Ant isn’t in the MVP conversation, Randle is falling off a bit. If we don’t make a trade, I’d like to see 15-20 minutes a game for the rest of the season for Joan (especially), Dilly, and Shannon (once healthy) and let’s see where we land. No more Conley… at all. I think Joan is going to be a star.

I agree, Loser. It’s time to sit Conley, and play Rob as well as Shannon (when healthy). It might be time for a new coach like Mike Malone to light a fire under these guys and bring a fresh perspective. If we can trade Conley and Miller for one of the Jones brothers I’d certainly do it to improve the team this season.

Ultimately, the focus in my view should be on next season and beyond. I’m not suggesting we throw in the towel and would welcome a Mike Conley trade and/or head coaching change yet this season. But what this team likely requires to be a championship contender is an off-season reconstruction, not a last second surgical maneuver in February. In the meantime, perhaps Rob and Shannon can get develop some rhythm as well as confidence and help keep this team in the playoff hunt. Maybe we can at least acquire Tyus Jones or Slo Mo for Mike Conley and Miller. Otherwise, I’d hold onto all our other assets, including Rob, until this summer when we’ll be able to include our 2026 draft pick in a draft day deal.

If this team is going to be a legitimate championship contender in the relatively near term it will have to depend on a core of Ant, Jaden, Naz and Beringer in my view. All four of those guys are keys and all of them will need to improve. Ant can’t be our star and have nights like tonight when he shoots 36% from the field and get to the line only once. He can’t have defensive lapses like he had the other night. Jaden has to produce more offensively and has to do a much better job on the boards. Naz has to be more consistent although he’s been pretty darn consistent. Beringer has a huge upside and will likely improve exponentially over the next couple seasons. The key will be who this team can get in return for Randle, Rudy and/or Donte. Those are the three guysm outside the core guys I identified, who have significant trade value. Anything else, including Rob, Shannon, Clark, Miller or our 2026 1st round pick would be a throw-in with marginal value. Fortunately, Randle, Rudy and Donte all have very tradable contracts - reasonably short term durations with not insanely high salaries. I’d explore trading all three for talented players who play with consistent intensity and who would blend well with Ant.

Lippy, why would anyone want Conley and Miller in a package deal? That duo has as close to zero value as you can get.

Great question. The only possibilities I can come up with are Orland (Tyus Jones) and Utah (Slo Mo). Tyus has been terrible for Orlando this season and they don’t really need him there. Their PBO apparently loves long forwards and Miller does have talent so he might be of interest. Conley would be a vet mentor type for them. Utah is in full rebuild mode and might welcome another young talent like Miller. Bringing Conley back might be a feel-good move for them, Slo Mo isn’t adding any value to the Jazz and he certainly has no value to them as a future prospect on a rebuilding team. Beyond that, I can’t think of any possibilities. And again, trading Conley and Miller for Tyus Jones would be a marginal move that I don’t believe would fix the Wolves core problems, which I believe reside within the team’s combo of core players. That means we need a significant reconstruction (not a complete rebuild) that doesn’t lend itself to a deadline deal. To that end, I would trade any players other than Conley and Miller this season to ensure we have a full arsenal of assets to use in the off season for trades or develop in the off season to build around next season.

I’m back to the view I expressed before the season started - i.e., that we need to trade Randle. But unless we get the proverbial offer we can’t refuse by the deadline, I’d wait until the off season when we’ll have more options and can also include our draft pick as a trade chip. I’d also shop Rudy and Donte next offseason. I think this team ultimately rises or falls in the next few years mainly on the improvement of Ant and Jaden. Neither of those two are where they need to be if they’re going to be the two best players on a championship team. So they both need to improve. Ant needs to become a better leader both by example and verbally. He has to be the MJ, Kobe, Wade, Bird with a competitive intensity on both ends that won’t tolerate any slack from his teammates. Jaden has to become more consistently productive offensively, rebound better, and stop committing dumb fouls. I think his offensive production would improve without Randle. He plays well off of Ant and Naz but not with Randle.

If there’s a Randle swap that would take us from a borderline play-in team to a championship contender this season I’m all ears. I just don’t know what that sort of deal would realistically be. I don’t think it’s Randle for Coby. And I think it’s highly imprudent for a franchise to give up a high-value player under a reasonable contract for a one-year rental, which is what Coby would be.

I get not wanting to wait. But the best organizations show patience when it’s most challenging to be patient. Impulse moves generally turn out to be failures.