Minnesota Sports Forum

thedoper wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

thedoper wrote:I've been saying for a while that I think the ideal is that Thibs eventually goes full time President and hands the coaching over to Ryan. Hope it happens at some point. When the fundamentals are as flawed as we have seen with our young players I think a psycho is good to help address those things. Once they're showing promise in those areas hopefully Thibs starts getting creative with offense, just like Pop eventually did with those San Antonio teams.

No idea why Ryan Saunders would be on anybody's short list of top coaching candidates.

No offense to him... but there are a lot of coaches out there who put in more time... and may have a better resume than provinicialism to get the gig.

I think it's clear he gets along with the players great and has been tapped for a while with skill development. This would be the type of play I would be interested in, someone young and creative. In my mind he seems to fit that bill with the way he communicates to the media. Doesn't have to be him. But I think the good cop, bad cop relationship is good for team sports. Ryan seems to fit that good cop role. If that was the hire it would be clear that it was Thibs judgement in his x and o's basketball ability. But after the history of nepotism in this franchise I get your hesitation.

monsterpile wrote:

thedoper wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

thedoper wrote:I've been saying for a while that I think the ideal is that Thibs eventually goes full time President and hands the coaching over to Ryan. Hope it happens at some point. When the fundamentals are as flawed as we have seen with our young players I think a psycho is good to help address those things. Once they're showing promise in those areas hopefully Thibs starts getting creative with offense, just like Pop eventually did with those San Antonio teams.

No idea why Ryan Saunders would be on anybody's short list of top coaching candidates.

No offense to him... but there are a lot of coaches out there who put in more time... and may have a better resume than provinicialism to get the gig.

I think it's clear he gets along with the players great and has been tapped for a while with skill development. This would be the type of play I would be interested in, someone young and creative. In my mind he seems to fit that bill with the way he communicates to the media. Doesn't have to be him. But I think the good cop, bad cop relationship is good for team sports. Ryan seems to fit that good cop role. If that was the hire it would be clear that it was Thibs judgement in his x and o's basketball ability. But after the history of nepotism in this franchise I get your hesitation.

Yeah there are other guys that are more accomplished. Then again...who was Eric Spolstra? Or JVG or Greg Popovich? Of course there are plenty of guys that were promoted from within that were basically failures but it's not like it's not possible to get a good coach (maybe even great) but doing so.

The main reason I have some hope for Ryan Saunders (before the positive reports about his player development skills) is his ability to coach our summer league team and they actually seem to know how to play basketball as a group after a couple games in. Of course that's not an 82 game grind etc but it's something. Jon K and Wolfson have both reported Saunders is a grinder and works very hard and so he fits with Thibs coaching staff. They both said Glen probably encouraged Thibs to keep him on but they both have said it basically wasn't a hard sell. Saunders name is obviously a homer one but I also wouldn't be shocked if at some point he gets the job also. I'm not holding my breath though either. Lol

IMO one of the biggest issues to me for this franchise is that many of the teams put together haven't played well together. Name the coach whether Rambis even Adelman AND Thibs and the teams didn't seem to really find their true potential. You would have some guys play well individually and maybe even show growth as players but it never came together on the floor together playing as a team for more than some 15 games or so. Some of that is the revolving door of coaches and people in charge (and the roster). Some of this is the lack of identity that was discussed last week on the forum. If this team ever gets that right we might have something. Hopefully having the same coach for 3 seasons in a row and some actual good players can help accomplish that.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

thedoper wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

thedoper wrote:I've been saying for a while that I think the ideal is that Thibs eventually goes full time President and hands the coaching over to Ryan. Hope it happens at some point. When the fundamentals are as flawed as we have seen with our young players I think a psycho is good to help address those things. Once they're showing promise in those areas hopefully Thibs starts getting creative with offense, just like Pop eventually did with those San Antonio teams.

No idea why Ryan Saunders would be on anybody's short list of top coaching candidates.

No offense to him... but there are a lot of coaches out there who put in more time... and may have a better resume than provinicialism to get the gig.

I think it's clear he gets along with the players great and has been tapped for a while with skill development. This would be the type of play I would be interested in, someone young and creative. In my mind he seems to fit that bill with the way he communicates to the media. Doesn't have to be him. But I think the good cop, bad cop relationship is good for team sports. Ryan seems to fit that good cop role. If that was the hire it would be clear that it was Thibs judgement in his x and o's basketball ability. But after the history of nepotism in this franchise I get your hesitation.

Yeah there are other guys that are more accomplished. Then again...who was Eric Spolstra? Or JVG or Greg Popovich? Of course there are plenty of guys that were promoted from within that were basically failures but it's not like it's not possible to get a good coach (maybe even great) but doing so.

The main reason I have some hope for Ryan Saunders (before the positive reports about his player development skills) is his ability to coach our summer league team and they actually seem to know how to play basketball as a group after a couple games in. Of course that's not an 82 game grind etc but it's something. Jon K and Wolfson have both reported Saunders is a grinder and works very hard and so he fits with Thibs coaching staff. They both said Glen probably encouraged Thibs to keep him on but they both have said it basically wasn't a hard sell. Saunders name is obviously a homer one but I also wouldn't be shocked if at some point he gets the job also. I'm not holding my breath though either. Lol

IMO one of the biggest issues to me for this franchise is that many of the teams put together haven't played well together. Name the coach whether Rambis even Adelman AND Thibs and the teams didn't seem to really find their true potential. You would have some guys play well individually and maybe even show growth as players but it never came together on the floor together playing as a team for more than some 15 games or so. Some of that is the revolving door of coaches and people in charge (and the roster). Some of this is the lack of identity that was discussed last week on the forum. If this team ever gets that right we might have something. Hopefully having the same coach for 3 seasons in a row and some actual good players can help accomplish that.

I don't mean to be cavalierly dismissive of Saunders... only that his resume is pretty thin.

As for some of those other names you mention specifically...

Both Van Gundy and Spoelstra have Pat Riley ties. Van Gundy was his assistant for several years. Spoelstra worked his way up the Heat organization run by Riley. Popovich was a disciple for several years under Larry Brown.

Saunders has had a brief run with his dad. A briefer run with Sam Mitchell. And two years of the ogre. I'd feel better if the young Saunders had more consistent, legendary tutelage if I'm being honest.



[Note: I chuckled when I checked out Jeff Van Gundy's Wikipedia page and saw another guy in the background. Here's a hint... the guy is probably screaming "ICE ICE!" moments after the photo.]

monsterpile wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

thedoper wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

thedoper wrote:I've been saying for a while that I think the ideal is that Thibs eventually goes full time President and hands the coaching over to Ryan. Hope it happens at some point. When the fundamentals are as flawed as we have seen with our young players I think a psycho is good to help address those things. Once they're showing promise in those areas hopefully Thibs starts getting creative with offense, just like Pop eventually did with those San Antonio teams.

No idea why Ryan Saunders would be on anybody's short list of top coaching candidates.

No offense to him... but there are a lot of coaches out there who put in more time... and may have a better resume than provinicialism to get the gig.

I think it's clear he gets along with the players great and has been tapped for a while with skill development. This would be the type of play I would be interested in, someone young and creative. In my mind he seems to fit that bill with the way he communicates to the media. Doesn't have to be him. But I think the good cop, bad cop relationship is good for team sports. Ryan seems to fit that good cop role. If that was the hire it would be clear that it was Thibs judgement in his x and o's basketball ability. But after the history of nepotism in this franchise I get your hesitation.

Yeah there are other guys that are more accomplished. Then again...who was Eric Spolstra? Or JVG or Greg Popovich? Of course there are plenty of guys that were promoted from within that were basically failures but it's not like it's not possible to get a good coach (maybe even great) but doing so.

The main reason I have some hope for Ryan Saunders (before the positive reports about his player development skills) is his ability to coach our summer league team and they actually seem to know how to play basketball as a group after a couple games in. Of course that's not an 82 game grind etc but it's something. Jon K and Wolfson have both reported Saunders is a grinder and works very hard and so he fits with Thibs coaching staff. They both said Glen probably encouraged Thibs to keep him on but they both have said it basically wasn't a hard sell. Saunders name is obviously a homer one but I also wouldn't be shocked if at some point he gets the job also. I'm not holding my breath though either. Lol

IMO one of the biggest issues to me for this franchise is that many of the teams put together haven't played well together. Name the coach whether Rambis even Adelman AND Thibs and the teams didn't seem to really find their true potential. You would have some guys play well individually and maybe even show growth as players but it never came together on the floor together playing as a team for more than some 15 games or so. Some of that is the revolving door of coaches and people in charge (and the roster). Some of this is the lack of identity that was discussed last week on the forum. If this team ever gets that right we might have something. Hopefully having the same coach for 3 seasons in a row and some actual good players can help accomplish that.

I don't mean to be cavalierly dismissive of Saunders... only that his resume is pretty thin.

As for some of those other names you mention specifically...

Both Van Gundy and Spoelstra have Pat Riley ties. Van Gundy was his assistant for several years. Spoelstra worked his way up the Heat organization run by Riley. Popovich was a disciple for several years under Larry Brown.

Saunders has had a brief run with his dad. A briefer run with Sam Mitchell. And two years of the ogre. I'd feel better if the young Saunders had more consistent, legendary tutelage if I'm being honest.



[Note: I chuckled when I checked out Jeff Van Gundy's Wikipedia page and saw another guy in the background. Here's a hint... the guy is probably screaming "ICE ICE!" moments after the photo.]

Good points Abe. Those guys did have some great basketball minds to mentor them.

Abe you left out the great Randy Wittman as one of the coaches Ryan worked for. He did also play and then was a graduate assistant under Tubby Smith. It looks like Ryan is about to start his 10th year as an assistant in the NBA. He also was the co-founder of gametime concepts which is used by a number of college NBA and overseas teams as well. Link to a story about that is below.

https://www.twincities.com/2014/11/26/timberwolves-ryan-saunders-grows-with-the-game-and-it-with-him/amp/

Overall it's a fun time to look back at his career. It would be a great story if he could become a great coach in Minnesota for many years. Will it happen? Probably not we don't even know if he will get a chance. It's fun to think about and fun to see what accomplishments he does have at a pretty young age. For all we know the Wolves great young coach is Vince Legarza or someone else on the staff.

Oops never mind it won't be Legarza...

https://twitter.com/jonkrawczynski/status/993594185830760448?s=21

Tom Thibodeau has made several changes to his staff, sources tell @TheAthleticMIN. Vince Legarza, who worked closely with KAT, shooting coach Peter Patton and asst vid coord. Wes Bohn will not be back.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

thedoper wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

thedoper wrote:I've been saying for a while that I think the ideal is that Thibs eventually goes full time President and hands the coaching over to Ryan. Hope it happens at some point. When the fundamentals are as flawed as we have seen with our young players I think a psycho is good to help address those things. Once they're showing promise in those areas hopefully Thibs starts getting creative with offense, just like Pop eventually did with those San Antonio teams.

No idea why Ryan Saunders would be on anybody's short list of top coaching candidates.

No offense to him... but there are a lot of coaches out there who put in more time... and may have a better resume than provinicialism to get the gig.

I think it's clear he gets along with the players great and has been tapped for a while with skill development. This would be the type of play I would be interested in, someone young and creative. In my mind he seems to fit that bill with the way he communicates to the media. Doesn't have to be him. But I think the good cop, bad cop relationship is good for team sports. Ryan seems to fit that good cop role. If that was the hire it would be clear that it was Thibs judgement in his x and o's basketball ability. But after the history of nepotism in this franchise I get your hesitation.

Yeah there are other guys that are more accomplished. Then again...who was Eric Spolstra? Or JVG or Greg Popovich? Of course there are plenty of guys that were promoted from within that were basically failures but it's not like it's not possible to get a good coach (maybe even great) but doing so.

The main reason I have some hope for Ryan Saunders (before the positive reports about his player development skills) is his ability to coach our summer league team and they actually seem to know how to play basketball as a group after a couple games in. Of course that's not an 82 game grind etc but it's something. Jon K and Wolfson have both reported Saunders is a grinder and works very hard and so he fits with Thibs coaching staff. They both said Glen probably encouraged Thibs to keep him on but they both have said it basically wasn't a hard sell. Saunders name is obviously a homer one but I also wouldn't be shocked if at some point he gets the job also. I'm not holding my breath though either. Lol

IMO one of the biggest issues to me for this franchise is that many of the teams put together haven't played well together. Name the coach whether Rambis even Adelman AND Thibs and the teams didn't seem to really find their true potential. You would have some guys play well individually and maybe even show growth as players but it never came together on the floor together playing as a team for more than some 15 games or so. Some of that is the revolving door of coaches and people in charge (and the roster). Some of this is the lack of identity that was discussed last week on the forum. If this team ever gets that right we might have something. Hopefully having the same coach for 3 seasons in a row and some actual good players can help accomplish that.

I don't mean to be cavalierly dismissive of Saunders... only that his resume is pretty thin.

As for some of those other names you mention specifically...

Both Van Gundy and Spoelstra have Pat Riley ties. Van Gundy was his assistant for several years. Spoelstra worked his way up the Heat organization run by Riley. Popovich was a disciple for several years under Larry Brown.

Saunders has had a brief run with his dad. A briefer run with Sam Mitchell. And two years of the ogre. I'd feel better if the young Saunders had more consistent, legendary tutelage if I'm being honest.



[Note: I chuckled when I checked out Jeff Van Gundy's Wikipedia page and saw another guy in the background. Here's a hint... the guy is probably screaming "ICE ICE!" moments after the photo.]

Good points Abe. Those guys did have some great basketball minds to mentor them.

Abe you left out the great Randy Wittman as one of the coaches Ryan worked for. He did also play and then was a graduate assistant under Tubby Smith. It looks like Ryan is about to start his 10th year as an assistant in the NBA. He also was the co-founder of gametime concepts which is used by a number of college NBA and overseas teams as well. Link to a story about that is below.

https://www.twincities.com/2014/11/26/timberwolves-ryan-saunders-grows-with-the-game-and-it-with-him/amp/

Overall it's a fun time to look back at his career. It would be a great story if he could become a great coach in Minnesota for many years. Will it happen? Probably not we don't even know if he will get a chance. It's fun to think about and fun to see what accomplishments he does have at a pretty young age. For all we know the Wolves great young coach is Vince Legarza or someone else on the staff.

Oops never mind it won't be Legarza...

https://twitter.com/jonkrawczynski/status/993594185830760448?s=21

Tom Thibodeau has made several changes to his staff, sources tell @TheAthleticMIN. Vince Legarza, who worked closely with KAT, shooting coach Peter Patton and asst vid coord. Wes Bohn will not be back.

Hard to understand why Thibodeau would get rid of the guy who works closely with the team's franchise player, especially on the eve of that player's decision on whether to sign a max extension. I sure hope KAT was on board with this decision. If not, you have to wonder what's going on. Thibodeau has pointed fingers at his players for bad games and is apparently holding some of his basketball staff accountable by canning them. That's fine, but I've never heard Thibodeau acknowledge his own responsibility for anything that hasn't gone well. Yet, I've heard Thibodeau praise himself a lot for the team getting into the playoffs this season. I'll give Thibodeau credit as PBO for getting Butler, Taj and even Crawford because those were the guys who elevated the team this season. But I give him very little credit as head coach. I recall Thibodeau the head coach doing no better than Sam Mitchell the season before with a more experienced version of the core roster Sam coached.

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

thedoper wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

thedoper wrote:I've been saying for a while that I think the ideal is that Thibs eventually goes full time President and hands the coaching over to Ryan. Hope it happens at some point. When the fundamentals are as flawed as we have seen with our young players I think a psycho is good to help address those things. Once they're showing promise in those areas hopefully Thibs starts getting creative with offense, just like Pop eventually did with those San Antonio teams.

No idea why Ryan Saunders would be on anybody's short list of top coaching candidates.

No offense to him... but there are a lot of coaches out there who put in more time... and may have a better resume than provinicialism to get the gig.

I think it's clear he gets along with the players great and has been tapped for a while with skill development. This would be the type of play I would be interested in, someone young and creative. In my mind he seems to fit that bill with the way he communicates to the media. Doesn't have to be him. But I think the good cop, bad cop relationship is good for team sports. Ryan seems to fit that good cop role. If that was the hire it would be clear that it was Thibs judgement in his x and o's basketball ability. But after the history of nepotism in this franchise I get your hesitation.

Yeah there are other guys that are more accomplished. Then again...who was Eric Spolstra? Or JVG or Greg Popovich? Of course there are plenty of guys that were promoted from within that were basically failures but it's not like it's not possible to get a good coach (maybe even great) but doing so.

The main reason I have some hope for Ryan Saunders (before the positive reports about his player development skills) is his ability to coach our summer league team and they actually seem to know how to play basketball as a group after a couple games in. Of course that's not an 82 game grind etc but it's something. Jon K and Wolfson have both reported Saunders is a grinder and works very hard and so he fits with Thibs coaching staff. They both said Glen probably encouraged Thibs to keep him on but they both have said it basically wasn't a hard sell. Saunders name is obviously a homer one but I also wouldn't be shocked if at some point he gets the job also. I'm not holding my breath though either. Lol

IMO one of the biggest issues to me for this franchise is that many of the teams put together haven't played well together. Name the coach whether Rambis even Adelman AND Thibs and the teams didn't seem to really find their true potential. You would have some guys play well individually and maybe even show growth as players but it never came together on the floor together playing as a team for more than some 15 games or so. Some of that is the revolving door of coaches and people in charge (and the roster). Some of this is the lack of identity that was discussed last week on the forum. If this team ever gets that right we might have something. Hopefully having the same coach for 3 seasons in a row and some actual good players can help accomplish that.

I don't mean to be cavalierly dismissive of Saunders... only that his resume is pretty thin.

As for some of those other names you mention specifically...

Both Van Gundy and Spoelstra have Pat Riley ties. Van Gundy was his assistant for several years. Spoelstra worked his way up the Heat organization run by Riley. Popovich was a disciple for several years under Larry Brown.

Saunders has had a brief run with his dad. A briefer run with Sam Mitchell. And two years of the ogre. I'd feel better if the young Saunders had more consistent, legendary tutelage if I'm being honest.



[Note: I chuckled when I checked out Jeff Van Gundy's Wikipedia page and saw another guy in the background. Here's a hint... the guy is probably screaming "ICE ICE!" moments after the photo.]

Good points Abe. Those guys did have some great basketball minds to mentor them.

Abe you left out the great Randy Wittman as one of the coaches Ryan worked for. He did also play and then was a graduate assistant under Tubby Smith. It looks like Ryan is about to start his 10th year as an assistant in the NBA. He also was the co-founder of gametime concepts which is used by a number of college NBA and overseas teams as well. Link to a story about that is below.

https://www.twincities.com/2014/11/26/timberwolves-ryan-saunders-grows-with-the-game-and-it-with-him/amp/

Overall it's a fun time to look back at his career. It would be a great story if he could become a great coach in Minnesota for many years. Will it happen? Probably not we don't even know if he will get a chance. It's fun to think about and fun to see what accomplishments he does have at a pretty young age. For all we know the Wolves great young coach is Vince Legarza or someone else on the staff.

Oops never mind it won't be Legarza...

https://twitter.com/jonkrawczynski/status/993594185830760448?s=21

Tom Thibodeau has made several changes to his staff, sources tell @TheAthleticMIN. Vince Legarza, who worked closely with KAT, shooting coach Peter Patton and asst vid coord. Wes Bohn will not be back.

Hard to understand why Thibodeau would get rid of the guy who works closely with the team's franchise player, especially on the eve of that player's decision on whether to sign a max extension. I sure hope KAT was on board with this decision. If not, you have to wonder what's going on. Thibodeau has pointed fingers at his players for bad games and is apparently holding some of his basketball staff accountable by canning them. That's fine, but I've never heard Thibodeau acknowledge his own responsibility for anything that hasn't gone well. Yet, I've heard Thibodeau praise himself a lot for the team getting into the playoffs this season. I'll give Thibodeau credit as PBO for getting Butler, Taj and even Crawford because those were the guys who elevated the team this season. But I give him very little credit as head coach. I recall Thibodeau the head coach doing no better than Sam Mitchell the season before with a more experienced version of the core roster Sam coached.

On barrierro show today Jon K said that Kat did not know that he was getting fired. And Kat learned from the fired coach

khans2k5 wrote:Sorry, but KAT hasn't earned consultation privleges yet. Tip toeing around a 22 year old restricted Free Agent to protect his feelings or put him on a pedestal he shouldn't be on yet is not the answer. Do what you think is right for the team. You don't fire someone you think is doing a good job. And he's signing his max extension. Don't try to act like any of this will prevent him from signing on the dotted line. Star players sign the max extension and then ask to be traded. They don't leave the money on the table and as soon as his name is on the dotted line he's here for another 4-5 years.

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Camden0916 wrote:I see two options. Continue the "all-in" approach that has already been started by hiring Tom Thibodeau, trading young players and assets for Jimmy Butler, signing Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson, OR go half rebuild by firing Thibs, hiring someone more devoted to player development and incremental success (Tony Bennett, Brent Barry, Jay Wright, and Ryan Saunders would be my candidates), dealing veterans Taj Gibson and Jeff Teague to playoff contending teams in need of a starting caliber plugin in hopes of getting back expirings and a first-round pick or two, and trading Jimmy Butler for a top-eight pick in this year's draft, a future pick, and a useful role player or two -- Cleveland would potentially be the perfect trade partner for this as they showed real interest in Butler last summer and could offer Brooklyn's first-round pick in 2018, Cleveland's first-round pick in 2020, Larry Nance Jr., and Jordan Clarkson.

If you choose the former, as I'm sure most Wolves fans would, then you can't be afraid to spend money this off-season or be afraid to trade Andrew Wiggins. We must get better in a plethora of areas.

If you choose the latter, you're potentially a lottery team once again or fighting for the eighth-seed at very best for the next couple of seasons, but you might have salvaged your long-term window. You also probably lose a significant portion of credibility around the league as well as within your own fan base.

You laid out lots of good stuff here Cam. Worthwhile question IMO...does one of those top college coaches make a jump to the NBA if the franchise that's hiring them is going to sell off the vet players?

Also does any up and coming coach want to come here and when we fire thibs after our best season in 14 years

They might if it means the expectations are re-set and the starting point is KAT, with a bundle of picks, expiring contracts, etc. They'd have a couple years before winning would be expected.

That being said, I'm not for Cam's "Choice B". I prefer we keep our current core together, but I define that as KAT, Butler, and Gibson. That doesn't mean everyone else gets traded, but I really think some combination of Teague/Wiggins/Dieng needs to go if we can get the right value back and it means a more complimentary player on our roster.

I think that is fair. I'm cool with trading Wiggins if we get a borderline all star back. Young guy would be preferred.

In general I don't see the wolves being a super attractive job. If we fire thibs after the wolves best season in 14 years. A angry butler on a contract year. And if we trade all of those pieces does Kat really want to go through a rebuild again. Also what player would want to come here after the wolves 1st above 500 year in 14 years and they just blow it up right away.

Think this all needs to be in consideration if we are looking to fire thibs

Geek -- As I think about it, I'm persuaded you're right. We have to let this thing play out at least another season with Thibodeau.

There's a lot we don't know other than the fact that Butler really likes Thibodeau. We have no idea what KAT and the others think of him. The most important priority this summer for this franchise over the long term is signing KAT to the max extension. It's critical that we lock him up this summer. Unless KAT really dislikes Thibodeau, I think he'd probably prefer to keep our current coaching staff and build on what we did last season. Blowing things up this summer might make KAT reluctant to commit here long term.

Why do I consider extending KAT this summer our top priority? Because he is the center of both of Cam's alternatives -- the short term and long term strategies. In the short term, KAT's our only allstar other than Butler. Those two are our keys to making the playoffs again next season. In the longer term, KAT is our one young player around whom we can retool in the event we part company with Butler and Taj after next season.

So as much as I don't like Thibodeau as a head coach, I'd opt for Cam's plan A. As Cam said, that means we can't be afraid to spend money. The problem, however, is that the salary cap won't allow us to spend much. We're pretty much limited to re-signing Belly and then relying on a limited portion of the MLE, the vet minimum and our two draft picks to supplement the roster. So Cam's point about being willing to trade Wiggins is an important one. I'd be reluctant to deal him, but I'd quietly make some inquiries. If we're lucky, maybe we'll find a team willing to give us good value for Gorgui or Jeff Teague. And as I indicated, I'd be willing to trade Taj for the right return as well if we're going to take Cam's all-in approach. Taj was terrific this past season, but Butler's the key to our success last season.

My fork in the road would be next February's trade deadline. If we're struggling to just make the playoffs at that point and kind of floundering, then I'd be inclined to blow things up by firing Thibodeau and also dealing Butler, Teague and anyone not named KAT for draft picks. But all that would depend on the team's atmosphere and trajectory at the time. I suspect we'll have a good feel for this team's prospects, both short and long term, by next February. If we build on last season through some smart personnel moves this summer, some adjustments by Thibodeau, and significant improvement from KAT and Wiggins, then assuming good health the Wolves should be on the road to a 52+ win season. In spite of my doubts about Thibodeau, I can't see blowing things up this summer. I think we really need to see this thing through for at least another 8 months.