Minnesota Sports Forum

Put me in the camp that would rather trade Kat and verses trading Rudy if that's the choice to keep Naz. To me Naz wouldn't sign here as the 3rd big and doesn't make much sense in terms of fit from the team perspective.

Lip you've mentioned in almost every post since the Rudy signing that it's not the best 5 guys but that it's the 5 guys that fit the bets.

I don't think it's a coincidence the energy level and effort of the team improved greatly since Kat has been out of the lineup. Naz isn't the play Kat but offensively does a lot of things better then Kat, and defensively is a better fit along side Rudy in my opinion.

And where has this Dlo been the last 3 years. The change is in play is remarkable.

Did everyone forget playoff Naz Reid? He was unplayable in the playoffs, and looked worse than a g-league player out there against Memphis. He had a fantastic off season and has really transformed his body. I'm liking what I'm seeing from him this season when he gets the minutes. There are a lot of teams with salary caps space this Summer, so it's certainly possible a young team throws a lot of cash Naz's way. If you're going to eventually trade Kat or Gobert, you probably want to keep Reid long term and sign him now if you can. If you're going to keep both Kat and Gobert, Naz is going to want to find a better situation for himself. in which case maybe you work out a trade at the deadline where you get a 1st and he agrees to sign a contract immediately with the team we trade him to.

Duke13 wrote:Put me in the camp that would rather trade Kat and verses trading Rudy if that's the choice to keep Naz. To me Naz wouldn't sign here as the 3rd big and doesn't make much sense in terms of fit from the team perspective.

Lip you've mentioned in almost every post since the Rudy signing that it's not the best 5 guys but that it's the 5 guys that fit the bets.

I don't think it's a coincidence the energy level and effort of the team improved greatly since Kat has been out of the lineup. Naz isn't the play Kat but offensively does a lot of things better then Kat, and defensively is a better fit along side Rudy in my opinion.

And where has this Dlo been the last 3 years. The change is in play is remarkable.

Almost every post? Not really. I've posted a lot and some of them contained the 5 best guys quote from McHale. In any event, the energy level, effort, ball movement and perimeter defense have all been better since Rudy's been out as well. I definitely see the case for trading KAT instead of Rudy, but KAT's no more of a hinderance than Rudy to the team's overall play. We do know that our core guys (Ant, DLO, McDaniels) did well with KAT last season. We have yet to see the same level of play from that core group with just Rudy. Moreover, Rudy is 30 years old while KAT is in him prime. Overall, KAT is the more talented player. So if the Wolves are going to deal one of them (which I think they should), I think it should be Rudy who goes.

But the other thing you have to think about Lip is what we get in return for the asset. I look at this issue as less about addition by subtraction, as both Rudy and KAT are very talented in unique ways. There is zero reason a good coach shouldn't be able to figure out how to mesh this team together better and may be Finch will eventually do that with this group.

Having said that, the very reasons you prefer KAT over Rudy may be the same reasons another team may be willing to give up more for KAT. Perhaps we can get a really good piece in return for KAT that's an even better fit with this squad.

Q-was-here wrote:But the other thing you have to think about Lip is what we get in return for the asset. I look at this issue as less about addition by subtraction, as both Rudy and KAT are very talented in unique ways. There is zero reason a good coach shouldn't be able to figure out how to mesh this team together better and may be Finch will eventually do that with this group.

Having said that, the very reasons you prefer KAT over Rudy may be the same reasons another team may be willing to give up more for KAT. Perhaps we can get a really good piece in return for KAT that's an even better fit with this squad.

Rudy and KAT just don't fit. I don't care who the coach is. What was needed next to KAT was an agile defensive big and one who could shoot. Trading KAT to save face is beyond stupid. You are beginning at lost value. We gave up the farm for a 30 year old 40 mil player. With a team constructed with 20-27 year old players who need to be paid soon. Just fire Connelly. He folded the cards for Finch.

I'm in the "trade Naz" camp. This franchise has a terrible history of selling low and buying high. Why not sell high? Once Gobert and/or Towns return Naz is expendable. Add to that he's an expiring who we will likely be unable to afford to resign.

Could we get a future lottery protected 1st for him from a team lacking front court depth? His recent play would suggest we potentially could.

Like I commented earlier in the thread, I'd want to work out an extension with Naz Reid during the season. I laid out what I think are realistic figures for him given comparable players recently on the market. I think he's grown as a player on both ends of the floor and worth keeping around past this season at his likely price tag. I also think he's worth finding minutes for if you're Chris Finch.

However, if they're unable to work out an extension prior to the trade deadline, then you probably have to explore moving him just to ensure that you retain value. If his current play sustains, then I do think he would return a first-round pick and a useful player.

TheFuture wrote:

Q-was-here wrote:But the other thing you have to think about Lip is what we get in return for the asset. I look at this issue as less about addition by subtraction, as both Rudy and KAT are very talented in unique ways. There is zero reason a good coach shouldn't be able to figure out how to mesh this team together better and may be Finch will eventually do that with this group.

Having said that, the very reasons you prefer KAT over Rudy may be the same reasons another team may be willing to give up more for KAT. Perhaps we can get a really good piece in return for KAT that's an even better fit with this squad.

Rudy and KAT just don't fit. I don't care who the coach is. What was needed next to KAT was an agile defensive big and one who could shoot. Trading KAT to save face is beyond stupid. You are beginning at lost value. We gave up the farm for a 30 year old 40 mil player. With a team constructed with 20-27 year old players who need to be paid soon. Just fire Connelly. He folded the cards for Finch.

Can you name 1 center outside of embiid that is a defensive agile Big that can shoot? Those players really exist.

Also it's hard to say the Kat and Gobert don't fit when their lineups are league average and defensively they have been elite. (They might end up not working but they have been league average), they were struggling offensively but how much of that is those 2 as a pairing compared to Dlo was really bad to start the year and Ant being out of shape.

Way to early to say it does or does not work either way

KiwiMatt wrote:I'm in the "trade Naz" camp. This franchise has a terrible history of selling low and buying high. Why not sell high? Once Gobert and/or Towns return Naz is expendable. Add to that he's an expiring who we will likely be unable to afford to resign.

Could we get a future lottery protected 1st for him from a team lacking front court depth? His recent play would suggest we potentially could.

I think I land here too. Unless the franchise really has the idea that KAT is gone, Naz is going to have to go back to the bench. His value will then fall again from there. If Naz continues this play and somehow got us a defensive wing/guard I think it could be a smart play.

Q-was-here wrote:But the other thing you have to think about Lip is what we get in return for the asset. I look at this issue as less about addition by subtraction, as both Rudy and KAT are very talented in unique ways. There is zero reason a good coach shouldn't be able to figure out how to mesh this team together better and may be Finch will eventually do that with this group.

Having said that, the very reasons you prefer KAT over Rudy may be the same reasons another team may be willing to give up more for KAT. Perhaps we can get a really good piece in return for KAT that's an even better fit with this squad.

Yep. That's the other side of the equation, Q. I see both sides of the debate.

I'd advocate for trading KAT if I thought this franchise was broken and needed to rebuild - sort of like the Pelicans when they traded AD. But my thesis is that it's not broken and I think that thesis is supported by the team's success last season as well as the way they've played the last three games The team simply needs to recalibrate and get back to the path it was on before the Gobert deal. Watching the growth of Naz, Edwards, McDaniels and Nowell recently when they're able to play a style that suits them tells me we have a terrific young core to keep building around - which is exactly what i thought the end of last season. KAT was part of last season's success and I think he can continue it be. At 27 years of age, he has a lot of years contributing to the Wolves at his peak while retaining his full trade value for the Wolves to use in a couple years if things go south and the team needs to rebuild.

We're never going to get for Gobert what we gave up to get him and we can't get nearly as much as we'd get for KAT. But we don't need to get the same value we gave up or the value we'd get for KAT. We need complementary pieces that fit well with Ant, McDaniels, KAT and Naz. We could trade Gobert for an expiring contract and perhaps three future lightly protected 1st-round picks. That deal would help replenish our draft capital and clear some salary space for free agents. In the alternative, we could probably trade Gobert and Forbes to Toronto for Anunoby and Trent, although I don't think we'd get more than one future top-10 protected first in that deal. Anunoby would help our defense without diminishing our speed, mobility or offensive production. Trent would strengthen our 3-point shooting off the bench.