Minnesota Sports Forum

This deal reminds me that the Wolves under Flip had three chances to draft Gobert. The first chance was when they drafted Bazz. They also could have draft Giannis with that pick. The second chance was when they selected Gorgui. The third miss was the worst of all. In that third and final chance to draft Gobert, they sold the pick for cash.

I'm thinking about the last two times the Wolves "went for it." The first was when they brought in Spree and Cassell. They gave us one trip to the Western Conference finals and then came a free-fall that eventually led to the departure of KG. The second time was when Thibs broke up the promising core by trading LaVine and other assets for Jimmy Butler. That deal also gave us one year of success with a trip to the playoffs and a first-round exit.

I would think the Gobert deal will produce success at a higher levels and for a longer duration.

In the short-term, I think everyone should love this trade. Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and (presumably) D'Angelo Russell is a very strong core -- one that should lead to multiple 50-60 win seasons. Their starting five, including Jaden McDaniels, presents a potential top-10 offense as well as a top-10 defense, if not better. I'm fully expecting the Timberwolves to be one of the league's elite teams this upcoming season. I haven't been able to say that in a very long time.

If we focus on the long-term, the outlook is less attractive. Gobert and Towns will account for approximately 70-percent of Minnesota's salary cap in a couple years with a certain max contract on the way for Edwards on top of that. It will be extremely difficult to field a contending team with those financial commitments anchoring the books. Furthermore, the Timberwolves will have less first-round picks and flexibility at their disposal to either add cost-controlled talent in the draft or trade for additional win-now parts that may become necessary. Minnesota is also guaranteed to exceed the luxury tax threshold in just a few seasons, which also results in lesser taxpayer exceptions able to be used.

To conclude, there's a number of reasons to be legitimately excited about the next couple of years for Timberwolves basketball. However, Tim Connelly is going to have to be creative in how he continues to add talent to this roster as the years go by. He'll likely have to hit on multiple second-round picks and/or become a savvy dealmaker in various future trades. The financial constraints are so grand that Connelly will need to be near-perfect as a decision-maker to fully maximize this championship window. This deal is as much of a bet on Connelly as it is on Gobert and the rest of Minnesota's roster.

I think Gobert is awesome to pair with KAT and see if we can win at the highest level. I will be pumped up over how good I expect the Wolves to be this year. However there is a certain point when you just say no that's way to expensive. I feel we went past that point quite significantly.

I have no words how disappointed I am with the trade for Gober.
After many many years as a fan of the Timberwolves, only in the last year did I feel that something good for the future was built here, and beyond all the professional considerations written in this forum about the trade, I feel that in one decision Tim Conley took away my hope for a bright future. .
Instead of maintaining the great chemistry the team had last year, instead of maintaining stability and keep players like Pat Beverly Wonderblatt, the team takes a risky bet on one player who did not get along in his previous team and he played the same role as Towns who just signed a contract extension (Johnny Flynn And Ricky Rubio - familiar?).
A bet on twin towers when the N.B.A. Becomes game of threes and automatic substitutions in almost every position.
One bet that gives up the team's 5 draft picks + players for a 30-year-old center with a huge contract (that he is not Shaquille O'Neal and is not a factor on offense).
I wonder what Chris Finch thinks of this trade (you can already guess at the press conference he had information about Tim Conley's intentions, so he would have seemed distant and off to me at the Rockies' press conference. He also ran away quickly after it ended).
I wonder what Towns and Edwards think of the trade (did the team share it with them?)? if not it`s like the dismissal of rosas.
I hope I'm wrong, but at least for now the hope I had was shattered to pieces, and my feeling is that no one was smart enough to stop it.

Championship teams make moves to win now. Losing teams continually build for the future .

PorkChop wrote:Championship teams make moves to win now. Losing teams continually build for the future .

You are right. Championship teams make moves for the right players.
You can bet on Lebron James, Kawai Leonard - but not throwing away all your future and bet on Rudy Gober.
The bet is too high and too risky.
That is my opinion.

Eitan wrote:

PorkChop wrote:Championship teams make moves to win now. Losing teams continually build for the future .

You are right. Championship teams make moves for the right players.
You can bet on Lebron James, Kawai Leonard - but not throwing away all your future and bet on Rudy Gober.
The bet is too high and too risky.
That is my opinion.

Gobert is the first star player Minnesota has ever brought in. They'll never get the likes of Lebron or Kawai here. The future isn't guaranteed to have Kat included in it. I love the win now mentality. It might fail but 31 teams fail every season.

Eitan wrote:I have no words how disappointed I am with the trade for Gober.
After many many years as a fan of the Timberwolves, only in the last year did I feel that something good for the future was built here, and beyond all the professional considerations written in this forum about the trade, I feel that in one decision Tim Conley took away my hope for a bright future. .
Instead of maintaining the great chemistry the team had last year, instead of maintaining stability and keep players like Pat Beverly Wonderblatt, the team takes a risky bet on one player who did not get along in his previous team and he played the same role as Towns who just signed a contract extension (Johnny Flynn And Ricky Rubio - familiar?).
A bet on twin towers when the N.B.A. Becomes game of threes and automatic substitutions in almost every position.
One bet that gives up the team's 5 draft picks + players for a 30-year-old center with a huge contract (that he is not Shaquille O'Neal and is not a factor on offense).
I wonder what Chris Finch thinks of this trade (you can already guess at the press conference he had information about Tim Conley's intentions, so he would have seemed distant and off to me at the Rockies' press conference. He also ran away quickly after it ended).
I wonder what Towns and Edwards think of the trade (did the team share it with them?)? if not it`s like the dismissal of rosas.
I hope I'm wrong, but at least for now the hope I had was shattered to pieces, and my feeling is that no one was smart enough to stop it.

I'm with you, Eitan. It's a bad deal in my view even apart from the short-sighted and lopsided nature of the deal in favor of the Jazz. The Wolves were on a significant upward trajectory. There was strong chemistry and excitement building on the team and throughout the fanbase. This deal is highly disruptive as well as risky. There are times to be disruptive, but given the positive, upward trajectory of the team, this was not one of those times.

I understand that this deal quickly takes the Wolves to another level. But the team was already moving decidedly to higher levels over time and didn't need deal to massively accelerate the progression. It was clearly a shortcut and shortcuts almost always fail. Even those who love this deal would generally concede that is was one-sided in favor of the Jazz. One-sided deals, even with short-term payoffs, almost always fail in the long run. I understand the perspective of those who like or even love this deal. They're arguments in favor of the deal are sound. But I see far too much loss and risk in the long run to justify the short-term upside.

The Spree/Cassell acquisitions gave the Wolves one trip to the Western Conference Finals. The Butler deal got us one long-awaited playoff appearance with a first-round exit. This Gobert deal should result in a higher level of success than either of those two past examples, but I think whatever level of success it brings will be equally short-lived. And even if it's not equally short-lived, this move was entirely unnecessary in my view because I think we were on a path to the same place or better, but in a far more sustainable way and with far less risk.

Q-was-here wrote:

TheSP wrote:My biggest issue, even more than the number of picks, is Gobert is 30. His game relies upon athleticism, which for a guy his size and age suggests to me that he's not going to be close to the player he is today by year 3. I'll be plenty happy if he is still close to his current level by the end of the contract, I just don't believe it'll happen.

Really? I think his game relies on his sheer size and instincts. Not sure I'd consider him really reliant on speed, agility, vertical leap, etc. I am somewhat uncomfortable with the length left on his contract. That's where things get a bit eye-watering when combined with KAT's deal and Ant's future deal.

This is where I am, Q. I always marveled at the economy of movement Tim Duncan employed in his game, and look at how effective he was (especially on defense) all the way to 39. I see a similar style in Gobert, and don't think he will be playing much differently at the end of his contract. I hope I'm right.

I think most of us would agree that Gobert is a future hall of famer. I think an offensive unicorn like KAT will be too. And then there's Ant...I think most of us at least see HOF potential in him. Well-coached teams with 3 future HOFers win championships. And add a promising young player like Jaden to the mix, plus a PG like DLo (or whatever he still may bring back in a trade. Simmons? Irving?), and the excitement level builds a little higher. IF they stay healthy. For the first time since the early 2000s, I'm allowing myself to dream about a Wolves NBA championship in the next 5 years.

FNG wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:

TheSP wrote:My biggest issue, even more than the number of picks, is Gobert is 30. His game relies upon athleticism, which for a guy his size and age suggests to me that he's not going to be close to the player he is today by year 3. I'll be plenty happy if he is still close to his current level by the end of the contract, I just don't believe it'll happen.

Really? I think his game relies on his sheer size and instincts. Not sure I'd consider him really reliant on speed, agility, vertical leap, etc. I am somewhat uncomfortable with the length left on his contract. That's where things get a bit eye-watering when combined with KAT's deal and Ant's future deal.

This is where I am, Q. I always marveled at the economy of movement Tim Duncan employed in his game, and look at how effective he was (especially on defense) all the way to 39. I see a similar style in Gobert, and don't think he will be playing much differently at the end of his contract. I hope I'm right.

I think most of us would agree that Gobert is a future hall of famer. I think an offensive unicorn like KAT will be too. And then there's Ant...I think most of us at least see HOF potential in him. Well-coached teams with 3 future HOFers win championships. And add a promising young player like Jaden to the mix, plus a PG like DLo (or whatever he still may bring back in a trade. Simmons? Irving?), and the excitement level builds a little higher. IF they stay healthy. For the first time since the early 2000s, I'm allowing myself to dream about a Wolves NBA championship in the next 5 years.

Next 4 years, FNG. Gobert's contract only runs for 4 years. :)