Minnesota Sports Forum

BloopOracle wrote:

sjm34 wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:

sjm34 wrote:We should also factor in whether Kyrie would re-sign in Minny.

he only wanted to come here because of his BFF Jimmy, I imagine they would have been a package deal

THey could also be a package deal for the lakers in two years as well.

I've been hearing about the Lakers poaching top players since we still had Love, when is it actually going to happen?

Maybe this year, but I noticed we traded Love before he could leave.

I asked Jon on twitter if it was true, he and Wolfson both posted clarifying things

https://twitter.com/JonKrawczynski/status/972182305493135360

No idea how credible the story is... but I do know that the Wolves are the league's worst-run franchise over the past 13 years... and one of the two worst NBA franchises... EVER.

By the way... that includes dozens or even hundreds of players. 10+ coaches. But only one owner since 1994.

Glen Taylor has set the tone for this mickey-mouse organization multiple times:

- The Joe Smith signing... whether he was involved or it was all McHale is irrelevant.
- The (mostly) indecisive Garnett years.
- The Mark Madsen game + Kevin Garnett "quit" comments were embarrassingly awful and never got enough attention.
- The Andrew Wiggins "promise to try, ok... pretty please" nonsense.

The culture for MN Timberwolves basketball has been set for a long time. And it's a culture of losing. We should be happy the team is finally above .500 until we stop to realize how ridiculously near-impossible for it to have been this long -- all under Taylor's watch.

Oh, Glen. Keep your wrinkled hands -- and voice -- out of basketball decisions. You hired Thibodeau to take your franchise from a perennial lottery team to a contending team in the league. Let him do that. Using Andrew as a trade chip to get Kyrie this off-season would have put us in the championship window as early as this season despite the other flaws on this team. Instead, we're in a position with Andrew where his value can't possibly be as high and he's entering his grossly overpaid max contract. I thought Glen had learned his lesson.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:No idea how credible the story is... but I do know that the Wolves are the league's worst-run franchise over the past 13 years... and one of the two worst NBA franchises... EVER.

By the way... that includes dozens or even hundreds of players. 10+ coaches. But only one owner since 1994.

Glen Taylor has set the tone for this mickey-mouse organization multiple times:

- The Joe Smith signing... whether he was involved or it was all McHale is irrelevant.
- The (mostly) indecisive Garnett years.
- The Mark Madsen game + Kevin Garnett "quit" comments were embarrassingly awful and never got enough attention.
- The Andrew Wiggins "promise to try, ok... pretty please" nonsense.

The culture for MN Timberwolves basketball has been set for a long time. And it's a culture of losing. We should be happy the team is finally above .500 until we stop to realize how ridiculously near-impossible for it to have been this long -- all under Taylor's watch.

It's interesting that the the Madsen/Garnett incident is so spaced out from what you said about Wiggins. That was one of the huge Glen issues, he fell asleep on the franchise from Garnett until rehiring Flip. I think he's the worst owner in sports. Let's not forget as well he called driving the salary of the 2004 team over the luxury tax a mistake. I highly doubt this is the last problematic action of this man.

Camden wrote:Oh, Glen. Keep your wrinkled hands -- and voice -- out of basketball decisions. You hired Thibodeau to take your franchise from a perennial lottery team to a contending team in the league. Let him do that. Using Andrew as a trade chip to get Kyrie this off-season would have put us in the championship window as early as this season despite the other flaws on this team. Instead, we're in a position with Andrew where his value can't possibly be as high and he's entering his grossly overpaid max contract. I thought Glen had learned his lesson.

I agree with your completely, Cam! As you know, I was never a fan of Glen's decision to hire Thibs in the first place and even more incensed that he gave Thibs both the PBO and head coach positions. But having made the decision to hire Thibs and give him all that authority, Glen should have stayed the hell out of the way.

I still don't trust Doogie's reporting. I remember Doogie reporting about a minute before Flip made his first round pick in the 2014 that the Wolves were going to pick Payne. I laughed when I read his tweet at the time because Flip had told me 10 days earlier that he intended to take LaVine and Zach. There are other less stark examples of Doogie's shaky reporting that I vaguely recall. Doogie himself bactracked a bit in his later tweet on this Taylor/ Wiggins thing. So I don't believe that Thibs took Wiggins off the table for any and all trades.

I continue believe that Thibs needs to be held accountable for the decisions and results on his watch as PBO and head coach. At the same time, Glen Taylor is ultimately accountable for everything that happens and has happened with this franchise. In that regard, I generally agree with Abe's post.

No disrespect to what Wolfson reported but I'd pretty much guarantee that Glen didn't keep Kyrie from being here. Jon K said in a recent article the Cavs liked the offer they got from Boston better than what we would have offered which was basically Wiggins. So even if they did offer Wiggins according to Jon K it wouldn't have been enough. Also present some evidence to me that Thibs hasn't highly valued Wiggins up to that point. Also Glen didn't want to trade Rubio...Rubio was traded. This is Thibs show to run. Does Glen have input? Sure but I don't think he has kept any deals of significance from happening. This team is Thibs and to some extent Layden. Those are the guys that are gonna have to answer for the success and failure.

monsterpile wrote:No disrespect to what Wolfson reported but I'd pretty much guarantee that Glen didn't keep Kyrie from being here. Jon K said in a recent article the Cavs liked the offer they got from Boston better than what we would have offered which was basically Wiggins. So even if they did offer Wiggins according to Jon K it wouldn't have been enough. Also present some evidence to me that Thibs hasn't highly valued Wiggins up to that point. Also Glen didn't want to trade Rubio...Rubio was traded. This is Thibs show to run. Does Glen have input? Sure but I don't think he has kept any deals of significance from happening. This team is Thibs and to some extent Layden. Those are the guys that are gonna have to answer for the success and failure.

I agree with you, Monster. If Doogie's story is accurate then shame on Glen. But as I noted in my last post, I don't believe Doogie's story is accurate. I continue to believe that, had we kept Rubio, the Cavs would have agreed to deal Kyrie for Rubio and Wiggins. Ricky would have given the Cavs a legitimate starting PG without health issues to replace Kyrie plus Wiggins who would help right away and form a building block later if LeBron were to sign elsewhere down the road. And the Cavs would have gotten Kyrie out of the Eastern Conference. But Thibs had already traded Rubio to the Jazz and signed Teague before it became known that Kyrie wanted out. No way the Cavs would have traded Kyrie straight up for Wiggins and we had nothing else the Cavs would have wanted along with Andrew.

This is Thibs team. Thibs wanted to come here to coach what he called the best young roster in the NBA. He signed Dieng to a lucrative extension and referred to him at the end of the season as the team's most improved player. As we know, Thibs wanted to draft him instead of Tony Snell when he was coaching the Bulls. Then last summer, Thibs traded LaVine, Dunn and Ricky while acquiring the players he wanted -- Butler, Gibson, Teague and Crawford. He drafted Patton. He kept KAT and Wiggins, signing Wiggins to a max contract.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:No disrespect to what Wolfson reported but I'd pretty much guarantee that Glen didn't keep Kyrie from being here. Jon K said in a recent article the Cavs liked the offer they got from Boston better than what we would have offered which was basically Wiggins. So even if they did offer Wiggins according to Jon K it wouldn't have been enough. Also present some evidence to me that Thibs hasn't highly valued Wiggins up to that point. Also Glen didn't want to trade Rubio...Rubio was traded. This is Thibs show to run. Does Glen have input? Sure but I don't think he has kept any deals of significance from happening. This team is Thibs and to some extent Layden. Those are the guys that are gonna have to answer for the success and failure.

I agree with you, Monster. If Doogie's story is accurate then shame on Glen. But as I noted in my last post, I don't believe Doogie's story is accurate. I continue to believe that, had we kept Rubio, the Cavs would have agreed to deal Kyrie for Rubio and Wiggins. Ricky would have given the Cavs a legitimate starting PG without health issues to replace Kyrie plus Wiggins who would help right away and form a building block later if LeBron were to sign elsewhere down the road. And the Cavs would have gotten Kyrie out of the Eastern Conference. But Thibs had already traded Rubio to the Jazz and signed Teague before it became known that Kyrie wanted out. No way the Cavs would have traded Kyrie straight up for Wiggins and we had nothing else the Cavs would have wanted along with Andrew.

This is Thibs team. Thibs wanted to come here to coach what he called the best young roster in the NBA. He signed Dieng to a lucrative extension and referred to him at the end of the season as the team's most improved player. As we know, Thibs wanted to draft him instead of Tony Snell when he was coaching the Bulls. Then last summer, Thibs traded LaVine, Dunn and Ricky while acquiring the players he wanted -- Butler, Gibson, Teague and Crawford. He drafted Patton. He kept KAT and Wiggins, signing Wiggins to a max contract.

I don't see how Rubio meshes with LeBron James gunning for a championship... at all.

I like Rubio... but it's a really bad mix. Give LeBron James the ball and get to the perimeter and wait for him to pass it to you. That's the antithesis of Rubio...

Fake News. No way would Glen would not want Kyrie for Wiggins.