Minnesota Sports Forum

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 11:00 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:49 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:16 am I think it's safe to say,

Right now OKC is on DYNASTY tier.

Denver is on ELITE tier.

Wolves are on GREAT tier (3rd tier team).

We need to jump not one tier, but two to reach OKC if we are going to do anything chip wise, seems like a super long shot and I do think they are clearly one step and two steps better RIGHT NOW. Key RIGHT NOW. We'll see how it plays out.

If we were ever to have a down year and get some lottery luck which has been happening more since they changed the lottery odds, this would be the best year to do it. Last year Dallas, Philly, and San Antonio all jump way up, with Dallas jumping after just missing the playoffs losing in the play in. Atlanta jumps from the play in loss to the first pick the previous year. Obviously we all want to have another playoff run again, but if we do have some injury issues this year, it wouldn't be the worst thing if we get some luck. We do have a pick swap with Utah so if we did win the lottery we would swap with Utah so we can't get the first pick. But the top 5 or so guys in this draft are considered cant miss, and I see some saying Cooper Flagg wouldn't be a top 5 pick in this draft. You get Cam Boozer at pf in the draft, and you can trade Naz or even Julius for a stud point guard and time line 2.0 begins.

Yeah the only way we miss the playoffs is a lot of injury or key injuries. Like if Ant and Rudy went down for 20 games (knock on wood), We'd be pretty rough.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 11:04 am

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:37 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:16 am I think it's safe to say,

Right now OKC is on DYNASTY tier.

Denver is on ELITE tier.

Wolves are on GREAT tier (3rd tier team).

We need to jump not one tier, but two to reach OKC if we are going to do anything chip wise, seems like a super long shot and I do think they are clearly one step and two steps better RIGHT NOW. Key RIGHT NOW. We'll see how it plays out.

I believe this is correct, the silver lining however is that I think about 70% of the answers to making the jump to the 2nd tier are at least potentially on the roster in Joan, Dilly, Clark and Shannon.

Thus far the starting 5 is playing at a really high level this season, sporting roughly a top 5 net rating among starting units (+13).

The bench is really holding this team back, but perhaps in season development of the back 5 can make a difference by the end of year.

Either way this team will ultimately only go as far as Ant goes. Early on this season shows a lot of promise for him, but I'm still concerned about his consistency on defense and is ability to diagnose and manipulate an opposing defense

While I picked Ant for MVP he's clearly not through the first dozen or so games. Sure injury, but thats part of it.

I agree, IF the Wolves were to make a legit run, Ant would be playing at MVP type level (SGA and Jokic obviously).

On a side note, we miss NAW I think, his consistent defense and solid 3P shooting was huge last season. He was probably our most consistent player. Not best, just was at a steady high level most nights. We haven't really replaced his production yet, though with the young guys like you say, they will also be key.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 11:04 am

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:37 am

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:16 am I think it's safe to say,

Right now OKC is on DYNASTY tier.

Denver is on ELITE tier.

Wolves are on GREAT tier (3rd tier team).

We need to jump not one tier, but two to reach OKC if we are going to do anything chip wise, seems like a super long shot and I do think they are clearly one step and two steps better RIGHT NOW. Key RIGHT NOW. We'll see how it plays out.

I believe this is correct, the silver lining however is that I think about 70% of the answers to making the jump to the 2nd tier are at least potentially on the roster in Joan, Dilly, Clark and Shannon.

Thus far the starting 5 is playing at a really high level this season, sporting roughly a top 5 net rating among starting units (+13).

The bench is really holding this team back, but perhaps in season development of the back 5 can make a difference by the end of year.

Either way this team will ultimately only go as far as Ant goes. Early on this season shows a lot of promise for him, but I'm still concerned about his consistency on defense and is ability to diagnose and manipulate an opposing defense

While I picked Ant for MVP he's clearly not through the first dozen or so games. Sure injury, but thats part of it.

I agree, IF the Wolves were to make a legit run, Ant would be playing at MVP type level (SGA and Jokic obviously).

On a side note, we miss NAW I think, his consistent defense and solid 3P shooting was huge last season. He was probably our most consistent player. Not best, just was at a steady high level most nights. We haven't really replaced his production yet, though with the young guys like you say, they will also be key.

FNG wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 2:07 pm

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 11:04 am

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:37 am

I believe this is correct, the silver lining however is that I think about 70% of the answers to making the jump to the 2nd tier are at least potentially on the roster in Joan, Dilly, Clark and Shannon.

Thus far the starting 5 is playing at a really high level this season, sporting roughly a top 5 net rating among starting units (+13).

The bench is really holding this team back, but perhaps in season development of the back 5 can make a difference by the end of year.

Either way this team will ultimately only go as far as Ant goes. Early on this season shows a lot of promise for him, but I'm still concerned about his consistency on defense and is ability to diagnose and manipulate an opposing defense

While I picked Ant for MVP he's clearly not through the first dozen or so games. Sure injury, but thats part of it.

I agree, IF the Wolves were to make a legit run, Ant would be playing at MVP type level (SGA and Jokic obviously).

On a side note, we miss NAW I think, his consistent defense and solid 3P shooting was huge last season. He was probably our most consistent player. Not best, just was at a steady high level most nights. We haven't really replaced his production yet, though with the young guys like you say, they will also be key.

I mentioned in another thread how our PnR defense has gone from top five last year to bottom five this year, and thar has a lot to do with missing NAW. Nobody on the current roster except Clark is as good as NAW at busting through screens.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 3:01 pm Yeah, but NAW was barely on the floor for half the minutes. It’s more than just NAW.

60WinTim wrote: ↑Sun Nov 16, 2025 11:36 am I don't buy the "3rd tier" team bit. I put OKC AND Denver in the 1st tier. And a whole bunch of teams in the 2nd tier that are fighting to avoid the play-in.

So, losing on the second night of a back-to-back against a team that is a tier ahead of us with ANT having a terrible shooting night is not something that gets me worried. With the exception of the home loss to the Lakers (which was without ANT), the Wolves have won all the games you would expect a tier 2 team to win. Let's see how the next 4 games go before taking on OKC in OKC.