Which would you prefer and why?

[Lipoli390]

We are going to lose a pick in the next couple years no matter what. Play to win and let the chips fall where they may.

I'd much rather lose our 2022 pick because I can't see this team being as bad next season as they were this season. So it's a question of a top 3 pick this year versus a pick that will probably be in the 10-15 range next year. The downside of losing out on the chance to draft Cunningham, Suggs or Mobley would be compounded by the fact that one of those three would end up with the Warriors, a conference rival. For me, the stakes are too high to let the chips fall. I'd prefer to try and exert some control over the situation and play the odds.

[thedoper]

I think its pretty much set in stone that this was a horrible year. I prefer that we give maximum effort and try and win every night. But Taylor, Rosas and company have been content to throw this season in the toilet long ago. Maybe next year we can get high effort, entertaining basketball.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Let's put it this way... the Wolves have tried to intentionally lose. Many, many times.

How often have they tried to win? What's the worst that can happen from winning basketball games?

As Cam notes, this is not a normal organization. We can't measure them against other organizations. Championships? Multiple rounds in the playoffs? The Wolves have been out of the 1st rd. once in 32 seasons. They've made the playoffs once in 17 seasons.

Baby steps. Just win the next game. And then win another game. And then... another one. Even teams with a lot less talent than the Timberwolves can do that at a better rate.

Call it culture. Accountability. Whatever. It all starts with an organization that TRIES TO WIN GAMES.

[Monster]

We are going to lose a pick in the next couple years no matter what. Play to win and let the chips fall where they may.

I'd much rather lose our 2022 pick because I can't see this team being as bad next season as they were this season. So it's a question of a top 3 pick this year versus a pick that will probably be in the 10-15 range next year. The downside of losing out on the chance to draft Cunningham, Suggs or Mobley would be compounded by the fact that one of those three would end up with the Warriors, a conference rival. For me, the stakes are too high to let the chips fall. I'd prefer to try and exert some control over the situation and play the odds.

Well I think we will be better next year too but I remember for like a year I heard how freaking loaded this 2021 draft is and to be honest I'm not THAT excited about it. I remember hearing it would be better to have like pick 7 in 2021 than pick whatever in last year's draft.

Personally I believe 2 things about this roster:

1. There is actual talent on this roster that may be very worthwhile. There are quite a few promising players that could turn into worthwhile players in some way and possibly very worthwhile players.

2. The only certain things are that Towns is still very good, Russell is likely a starting level player and some guys are NBA players. That's about it.

This team NEEDS to figure out some of this shit. Tanking making games even more meaningless isn't the way I would do it personally. I'm certainly not saying try and win every game at all costs but if this team doesn't put forth some sort of real plan toward winning games why watch them? Why would you want to stay here if you are a player? Why would you listen to Finch as a coach? Finch needs to actually show as Pat Riley said to JVG "If players know you can't help you they will allow you to coach them." Finch can't afford to mail the rest of the season in. Rosas can't afford to do that to his handpicked coach. They need to try and be competitive with this roster the rest of the season. If Finch is any good as a coach he should be able to get something out fo this roster and it's also not so talented we need to worry about them really surprising...and if so...maybe there is a little hope...that could be dashed next season. Lol

[FNG]

I disregard the "whole" culture thing like Lip does...we've seen too many habitually losing franchises turn on a dime when they got the right players. That said, I'm hungry for wins...Monday night was fun. And even though I agree that the Wolves could be much better next year, the 2022 draft is going to be ridiculously deep with both the best college freshmen and the best high school seniors coming out. As much as I love the 2021 Big Three, the Top 10 in 2022 could be equally as good. Play your best 10-11 every night and play like you're battling for a playoff seed, and try to go 12-10 to show this roster can grow into something. But barring more injuries, a 9-13 finish is going to put me solidly on the "blow it up" bandwagon. I've lost my tolerance for patience.

[Coolbreeze44]

I've watched all the top draft prospects for this year, and I don't see any generational talents among them. Suggs is probably my favorite, but even he is no guarantee to be a star at the next level. Cunningham looked almost ordinary the last couple times I saw him. I'm a firm believer in it's not where you pick, but whom.

[DNatagal]

My preference would be to play to win. Get KAT looking to be an bona-fide 2 way beast. Get ANT to stop making the bad defensive decisions, while not losing his ability to sniff out passes for easy dunks. Get DLO to play off-the-ball and learn to like it, and play more engaged on the defensive end. Keep McDaniels on the court and challenge him to keep improving and not give out easy fouls. Then cycle bodies in the other positions until you find someone that wants to play defense and hit open 3s.

[Lipoli390]

My preference would be to play to win. Get KAT looking to be an bona-fide 2 way beast. Get ANT to stop making the bad defensive decisions, while not losing his ability to sniff out passes for easy dunks. Get DLO to play off-the-ball and learn to like it, and play more engaged on the defensive end. Keep McDaniels on the court and challenge him to keep improving and not give out easy fouls. Then cycle bodies in the other positions until you find someone that wants to play defense and hit open 3s.

I agree with each of your specific points regarding KAT, Ant, DLO and McDaniels. But I'd also allocate substantial minutes to Culver, Vando and Juancho. We need to push Culver to see if he can rehab his trade value over the next 21 games. We need to take every opportunity to further evaluate and develop Vando in this last year of his contract. And we need to put Juancho to the test to see if he is close to worthy of his contract. We need to do these things to the extent possible to better inform our offseason decisions. If that ends up resulting in more losses as I expect it would, then it will improve our lottery odds. However, if we end up winning more than expected and pass Orlando in the standings, then so be it. In other words, play to win, but within the framework of achieving some specific strategic goals aimed at improving the organization's position in the offseason and this team in the long run.

[DNatagal]

My preference would be to play to win. Get KAT looking to be an bona-fide 2 way beast. Get ANT to stop making the bad defensive decisions, while not losing his ability to sniff out passes for easy dunks. Get DLO to play off-the-ball and learn to like it, and play more engaged on the defensive end. Keep McDaniels on the court and challenge him to keep improving and not give out easy fouls. Then cycle bodies in the other positions until you find someone that wants to play defense and hit open 3s.

I agree with each of your specific points regarding KAT, Ant, DLO and McDaniels. But I'd also allocate substantial minutes to Culver, Vando and Juancho. We need to push Culver to see if he can rehab his trade value over the next 21 games. We need to take every opportunity to further evaluate and develop Vando in this last year of his contract. And we need to put Juancho to the test to see if he is close to worthy of his contract. We need to do these things to the extent possible to better inform our offseason decisions. If that ends up resulting in more losses as I expect it would, then it will improve our lottery odds. However, if we end up winning more than expected and pass Orlando in the standings, then so be it. In other words, play to win, but within the framework of achieving some specific strategic goals aimed at improving the organization's position in the offseason and this team in the long run.

Thanks for taking the time to describe what I was to lazy to type!
Does Layman deserve any time on the court in these final 21 games? He isn't a top 7 player on this roster, but can play within an offense, is passable on defense, and is a good teroster,
Ed Davis should be in his best suit the rest of the year.
Naz is what he is...and that is a pretty good backup to Kat.
Vando needs a hand transplant.
Culver needs a confidence injection.
Juancho shows enough signs to keep his job as an energy guy off the bench.
All in all, just win baby.

[thedoper]

Allotting substantial minutes to Culver who has no business being in a professional depth chart at this point seems totally counter-intuitive to a winning culture. Finch has been giving him spot minutes as an alternative Layman a points, I think that is as far as you want to go. Culver barely bumping up his numbers on a team deliberately tanking games isnt going to get us an asset in a trade. The only way for him to change is to actually earn some pt on this shit team, which for someone with his size and athleticism, should theoretically still be possible.