Minnesota Sports Forum

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2026 5:40 pm

TheFuture wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2026 5:32 pm

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 18, 2026 9:29 am I think overall that team is probably worse than the current roster but more forward looking so I wouldn't have any problem with it.

Personally I believe the gamble on Ried as the starting PF is worth it. There are two caveats, however, don't play him as a center anymore at all and can he have the positional flexibility to play as wing from time to time?

If the answer to either of those is a no than I think a trade is more prudent but not necessary.

The other gamble this roster construction makes, at least in order to reach its ceiling, is can TSJ be your 6th man? The way he's played in the last two games says he can, but that's a extremely small sample. Regardless, they have shown that would be his ideal role and one in which he would be quite capable imo.

At the end of the day this team probably needs an identity shift with a much more spread out look, removing Randle goes a long way towards that end

In the scenario I laid out, DDV is the 6th man. Bones,TSJ, Anderson, Reed, Clark, Beringer in whichever order are the 7-12 slots.

As for Reid, this roster says C never and Wing likely not. Just a full-time starter spacing PF.

Ahhh, yes you're right, I neglected DDV. My point about TJ is that he would be key to unlocking that rosters ceiling

RE Naz: that wasn't really my point. What I'm saying is that if I'm to be convinced that he is still worth gambling on, especially as a starter, than he needs to have more positional flexibility and therefore lineup flexibility than just being a PF. Cause he is not going to be good enough as just a pure power forward to rolling with him imo and you'd be better served trading him

I agree on TJ. I enjoyed watching him in college. He just really needs to develop his right hand, and continue to improve 3pt and defensive IQ. Tall asks to be fair. He is a blur in transition and fearless when deciding to attack the rim.

With Reid, I guess it will always be match-up dependent and who he is paired with on the court. There may be scenarios where he can play stints as a small ball 5 or as a wing in a big lineup. I just hate pegging him as an actual backup C option. He cannot do that full-time.

Interesting data point regarding Reid.

This year the two lineups with all starters, plus Ried, minus one of the bigs had a combined Net rating of 15.7 in 156 total minutes.

To be honest, I don't that this to mean that Ried is just that good, but rather how important it is to have the extra spacing he provides. Or maybe another way, just how clogged it is with both Rudy and Randle

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 19, 2026 6:47 pm Interesting data point regarding Reid.

This year the two lineups with all starters, plus Ried, minus one of the bigs had a combined Net rating of 15.7 in 156 total minutes.

To be honest, I don't that this to mean that Ried is just that good, but rather how important it is to have the extra spacing he provides. Or maybe another way, just how clogged it is with both Rudy and Randle

That’s right. Naz is a PF - a very skilled, mobile PF who stretches the floor with his three-point shooting. He should have been the starting PF next to Rudy starting the day we traded KAT. The problem is that TC traded KAT for Randle and that necessarily meant starting Randle and playing him 30+ minutes per game. As you noted, playing Rudy and Randle together hurts our offensive spacing. I believe Randle’s style of play has also stifled Jaden’s offensive development and contribution. I think we’re headed for a 1st round exit this season. We made the conference finals last season, but we were easily dispatched in the Conference finals and probably wouldn’t have made the Conference finals if Curry hadn’t been hurt.

We’ll all do post-mortems after the post-season ends for the Wolves. But our 6th place regular season finish is already a matter of record and a first-round exit seems likely even though I think we have more talent overall than the Nuggets. If things end up as I think they will this series, we can look to several main factors behind the result, starting with poor roster construction. As Kevin McHale used to say, “it’s not the best five players, it’s the five player who play best together.” Beyond that, I’d add poor drafting and/or poor player development. Where we go from here will be an interesting discussion.