SameOldNudityDrew wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 2:48 am
*yawns while waking up from post-Summer League hibernation
*spits out coffee when he sees the news
Holy schnikes!!!
Damn, I wasn't necessarily expecting
that.
In terms of KAT's trade value, I'd say he's obviously not at his peak, which would have been when GMs were calling him the most promising cornerstone in the league going into his second contract. But this also wasn't his floor either. I think he's redeemed himself (and his trade value) quite a bit in the last couple of years. With a contract as big as his, there's a steep drop-off from highly valuable to toxic asset. So I think this could definitely have been worse in terms of trade value.
In terms of our prospects on the floor, I'm torn. KAT and Rudy showed last year that they really could play well together, which always made sense to me because of KAT's shooting. But I was actually fairly impressed with his defense and even (to some degree) his discipline in the playoffs. KAT did a passable job on KD and Jokic in those defensive schemes last year and that allowed us to defend the rest of those teams well. Could we count on that long-term? Maybe? Obviously, the Mavs were tough to defend with both Towns and Rudy. That might be more of a Rudy problem, but either way, getting a more switchable big at the 4 or 5 should give us the defensive flexibility to match up with them. Offensively, I do think his outside shooting is just otherworldly for a guy that size, and I don't think Finch really exploited that enough honestly. I know Randle is really good, but I worry that the loss of floor spacing from a big will really hurt us. So on one hand, it felt like there was always a bit of a ceiling with KAT and Rudy, but I do think we'll really miss that outside shooting.
I just don't know how to respond to this. I gather it will give us financial flexibility going forward, and ultimately, that's just kind of something we'd have needed. I used to really dislike KAT. I
hated his whining. Oh my god, even last year I hated his whining about calls. I hated his lack of discipline. I wanted him and DLO gone ASAP--"no defense, no toughness, no leadership" was my mantra. Even when the Jimmy thing went down I remember thinking if it were Jimmy or KAT, I'd have traded KAT (I loved Jimmy and KAT was probably at his peak value just before that).
But KAT has definitely improved in those areas in recent years, and I was particularly impressed with how he responded to the national attention Ant got.
There was always something a little bit inauthentic about KAT. It felt like he was always kind of trying to say the right thing and be somebody who other people wanted him to be, even when you could kind of tell there was some insecurity or resentment or judgment under the surface. In that sense, for much of his time here, he was very much like a Minnesotan! Friendly on the outside, but you could tell he was probably feeling something different underneath. In the last couple of years, it seems like he got tired of that sometimes and was a bit more reserved, maybe to protect himself. Maybe because the friendliness he displayed started to be a liability on social media, so he started to project a kind of toughness or detachment that was almost as inauthentic as his over-friendliness early on.
Still, after almost a decade, I think it's clear the guy was ultimately a good dude at heart. He's a bit of an awkward goofball, but he's grown up and matured and it does seem like he'd come to a kind of stable place in his life. Ultimately, I think he's kind of an insecure dude, which is a shame, because he has every reason to be proud of himself and his accomplishments. And he has grown up as a person and a player, so we are losing a guy who I think has become a positive contributor to the team culture overall. He'll be missed, but given the financial circumstances and the fact that both Randle and Donte are good players, it remains to be seen whether we'd have been better off keeping him.
I wish him luck! I'd be great to beat NY in the finals next year!