Will the switch be flipped? Nuggets/Wolves Game 1

[AussieWolf3]

I feel good about most of the guys and how they played and I'm extremely worried about Randle....

And Reid?

The Wolves two big payouts last summer ($55M for this season) play the same position. And both have been scuffling for weeks.

That's a disheartening turn.

No doubt, but given the shoulder and everything.... I'm just not expecting much from him which might be the death knell for this team's hope anyway.

But more to the point, with how this roster is currently constructed, they simply can't survive bad Randle anymore. For better or worse, he is too vital to the offense's success and they need him to deliver if they're going to win this series or any other this post season

[Wolvesfan21]

I don't think we can have it both ways. If you want to claim Ant is a top 5 player in the league, You have to stop making excuses for him every time he doesn't perform like a top 5 player. He's the best we have but it's time to show what he really has. One year it was the back injury, which I didn't buy, this year it's the knee which I'm sure is hindering him. It's his 6th year in the league, he's a full fledged veteran now. True great players impose their will in the playoffs, and show you why they're great. We are still waiting while Wolves fans insist this guy has the elite chops. Maybe instead of Shai, he's more Donovan Mitchell. Nothing wrong with that but the excuses need to end.

To be clear, I wasn't making excuses. For one- I don't think he's top 5. If I really sat down and put some work into I'm willing to bet he'd come in around 8th or 9th for me, but that's also pretty irrelevant to what I was saying --- not that you were directly addressing me, I take your comment as a general one.

What I'm saying is almost no player is all of the things everyone wishes Ant to be --- point guard, bucket, elite defender, play fast, get to the rim, great in the clutch, shoot middys, shoot treys, great leader --- all time greats aren't ALL of these things and to be honest there are times where folks complain that he isn't all of these things.

So I'm just talking about realistic expectations, and to your point about "imposing their will in the playoffs"..... Well hasn't he? Unless all you mean by that is, "win a championship" than I think there is an incredibly legitimate argument to be made that he's imposed his will every year in the playoffs.

Anyway, he needs to be better if they're to win, that I won't argue. If he's hurt, it is what it is. If he's still "finding his rhythm" or whatever than that's on him to some extent for not being more prepared.

I personally really hope it isn't the knee cause I don't want to have to look back on this year wondering what could have been. I think this is a pivotal legacy year for Ant, and to be honest... I'm not sure he sees it that way

If he's really in that 8th or 9th best player space, the Wolves and the fanbase should not consider him untradeable.

99% of Wolves fans would say trading Ant is ridiculous and I think it is. The only scenario where I would consider it is if the team knew he had a chronic and likely worsening knee injury which would plague him going forward. But other then him being the next Embiid you are not getting fair value at all in return. It's just never happening.

OK say Giannis and a couple picks? Where does that get us? No further to winning it all. What kind of trade get's you to winning a championship? Relying on picks to find the next Ant?

[thedoper]

Acting like Ant has peaked at 24 and griping about top5 v top 10 is crazy to me. He is younger than Maxey who everyone is lauding as some sort of breakout star this year. I think the problem is the typical scenario with a young talented NBA player where he is old news now even though he has improved aspects of his game every year. He is on the cusp of his prime. That doesn't mean we shouldn't expect or desire continued improvement but as far as wolves players go he is absolutely untradeable.

[Coolbreeze44]

Luka got traded, Durant got traded, Anthony Davis got traded, Chris Paul got traded, Carmelo Anthony got traded, Paul George got traded during his prime. Don't tell me Anthony Edwards isn't tradeable. Do I think he will get traded? No I do not. And I also don't think we will ever get to the NBA finals.

[AussieWolf3]

Luka got traded, Durant got traded, Anthony Davis got traded, Chris Paul got traded, Carmelo Anthony got traded, Paul George got traded during his prime. Don't tell me Anthony Edwards isn't tradeable. Do I think he will get traded? No I do not. And I also don't think we will ever get to the NBA finals.

For what it's worth, he's only "untradable" in my opinion because to trade him would mean to scrap the current direction of this team and move on. That's a heavy weight decision and you better be damn sure when you make it otherwise you'll end up like Nico Harris.

So he's functionally untradable.

It's also worth noting that, even if you're right and Ant can't be the rock of a championship roster, he's on a value contract relative to his abilities and you could theoretically still have another highly paid superstar next to him.

Unless I'm wrong cause NBA contract stuff is confusing and I'm an idiot

[Wolvesfan21]

Luka got traded, Durant got traded, Anthony Davis got traded, Chris Paul got traded, Carmelo Anthony got traded, Paul George got traded during his prime. Don't tell me Anthony Edwards isn't tradeable. Do I think he will get traded? No I do not. And I also don't think we will ever get to the NBA finals.

The Luka one almost made sense to me, he was due to get a raise to 70+ mill or something because of the super duper max stuff. Which then makes building a team around him pretty tough. Trading him made his next contract much cheaper for the Lakers. No super duper max now, since he was traded.

Ant isn't even at that window and missed All NBA this year too. Like I said, barring a knowing his health is a major risk, no chance we trade him within the next two years. Down the road it's possible. Now no chance.

Chances the Wolves ever make the Finals is actually pretty good, within a couple seasons? No of course not. But say 20-30 years, yeah it's fair to think we could do it. Doing with Ant? I think we do it, but maybe not. Obviously this year has been a major bust.

[Q-is-here]

Luka got traded, Durant got traded, Anthony Davis got traded, Chris Paul got traded, Carmelo Anthony got traded, Paul George got traded during his prime. Don't tell me Anthony Edwards isn't tradeable. Do I think he will get traded? No I do not. And I also don't think we will ever get to the NBA finals.

For what it's worth, he's only "untradable" in my opinion because to trade him would mean to scrap the current direction of this team and move on. That's a heavy weight decision and you better be damn sure when you make it otherwise you'll end up like Nico Harris.

So he's functionally untradable.

It's also worth noting that, even if you're right and Ant can't be the rock of a championship roster, he's on a value contract relative to his abilities and you could theoretically still have another highly paid superstar next to him.

Unless I'm wrong cause NBA contract stuff is confusing and I'm an idiot

That's a good way of putting it Aussie. Ant isn't functionally tradeable right now, but certainly could be in the future. In fact, he might even be the one that forces it! At 24, he's still on the front end of his latest contract with further room for growth and improvement. Now if either he stagnates or Connelly can't surround him with the right pieces and the team regresses back to mediocrity, then we'll probably need to hit the re-set button before his current contract expires, which is in the 2028/29 season. That certainly isn't going to happen this offseason.

As for bringing in another highly paid superstar, that certainly is a viable path (with risks of course) and it's why the Giannis rumors will likely crank up again this offseason. Now go test Cool's personal bias by asking about trading Jaden to help land Giannis or some other vet star to pair up with Ant .

[AbeVigodaLive]

Anthony Edwards has improved statistically every season in some way.
Anthony Edwards is immensely popular.
Anthony Edwards is still pretty young (24).
Anthony Edwards is not overpaid yet.
Anthony Edwards has been THE best playoff performer in the best, most sustained period of Timberwolves basketball.

Whether we're talking about on-court play or off-court popularity... Anthony Edwards is NOT getting traded unless he specifically requests it. Full stop. This should end any "let's trade Anthony Edwards" talk.



[Note: And as noted previously, this doesn't even qualify for a "I told you so" post from Edwards naysayer(s) if the Wolves don't win a title with him. The odds are extremely low that the Wolves win a title with or without Anthony Edwards. What we do know is that he won't be the primary reason for not winning one. I find it even odder that any 30+ year Wolves fan would be championing for a trade of an ascending star player.]

[Coolbreeze44]

I'm not advocating for an Ant trade, I'm just saying our fanbase overrates him and that he shouldn't be considered untradeable.

If you read this discussion, it's obvious our fanbase overrates him. After all, we drafted him so he must be better than other teams best players . Give me a break, it's his 6th year and he's not the easiest guy to play with. If he's so great, go beat Denver, San Antonio, and OKC this year. That would convince me he's untradeable. But if you can't beat your peers in the best player group, that has to say something. I'll give him credit for the Denver series win two years ago, and a little credit for beating Phoenix which wasn't a close series to begin with. He got embarrassed against Dallas two years ago, embarrassed against OKC last year. So let's see what you've got now in year 6. No excuses.

[FNG]

We'll revisit whether Ant is untradable or not in the offseason, but if OkC called and said they wanted to trade us SGA for Ant, I hope there's nobody on this board that would say no. Any POBO who considers a player to be untradable in all circumstances is not doing is job...the only criteria for considering a trade should be "does it make us better".

When asked what happened to the Wolves' offense after the 1st quarter, Mike Conley said we went to Iso and quit moving the ball. And it shows up in the stats. We had 8 assists in the 1st quarter and only 13 more the rest of the game. And that's on Ant and Ju, who reverted back to their one on one half court game in the last three quarters. And I'll say unlike Ant, Ju wasn't very good in the first quarter either. I'm not sure, but I think Ju's first assist came in the 4th quarter. Ant needs to be better tonight to be sure, but Julius needs to be much better.