Minnesota Sports Forum

thedoper wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 11:40 am

D-Loser25 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 18, 2025 11:38 pm According to Jon K, McConnell and Schroeder are two of the names to watch. Honestly, these two are the clear top two that I would go for overall. Neither are overpaid, both are under contract for multiple years after this year (according to he article) and both would fit really well imo. I don’t want some ball dominant, center of attention guy like Morant or Trae. Either McConnell or Schroeder would be great. We might have to give up some combo Dilly, DDV, Conley and Shannon (have to keep at least one of Dilly/Shannon for sure in my opinion), but this is the way to. Maybe we could get a backup big thrown in somewhere too.

This team has enough scorers… we need a very solid, real PG to add to our rotation. This is the way to go, and the sooner the better.

McConnell would be amazing. Would it cost one of our young guys?

This has always been the questionable salary range for Wolves trades. Conley for TJ works straight up but it puts a hard cap on the Pacers and I doubt they'd see value there. Rob plus 2 of TJ, Ingles, Bones, Lenny or Clark works money wise but makes a roster imbalance for both teams.

Phenom wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 11:51 am

thedoper wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 11:40 am

D-Loser25 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 18, 2025 11:38 pm According to Jon K, McConnell and Schroeder are two of the names to watch. Honestly, these two are the clear top two that I would go for overall. Neither are overpaid, both are under contract for multiple years after this year (according to he article) and both would fit really well imo. I don’t want some ball dominant, center of attention guy like Morant or Trae. Either McConnell or Schroeder would be great. We might have to give up some combo Dilly, DDV, Conley and Shannon (have to keep at least one of Dilly/Shannon for sure in my opinion), but this is the way to. Maybe we could get a backup big thrown in somewhere too.

This team has enough scorers… we need a very solid, real PG to add to our rotation. This is the way to go, and the sooner the better.

McConnell would be amazing. Would it cost one of our young guys?

This has always been the questionable salary range for Wolves trades. Conley for TJ works straight up but it puts a hard cap on the Pacers and I doubt they'd see value there. Rob plus 2 of TJ, Ingles, Bones, Lenny or Clark works money wise but makes a roster imbalance for both teams.

A 3 team deal with Conley, Shannon and Lenny going to Brooklyn, McConnel and Highsmith to Minny and Rob to Indy plus salary matching would be interesting. Brooklyn would probably buyout Mike and he could go somewhere else.

Phenom wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 11:59 am

Phenom wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 11:51 am

thedoper wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 11:40 am

McConnell would be amazing. Would it cost one of our young guys?

This has always been the questionable salary range for Wolves trades. Conley for TJ works straight up but it puts a hard cap on the Pacers and I doubt they'd see value there. Rob plus 2 of TJ, Ingles, Bones, Lenny or Clark works money wise but makes a roster imbalance for both teams.

A 3 team deal with Conley, Shannon and Lenny going to Brooklyn, McConnel and Highsmith to Minny and Rob to Indy plus salary matching would be interesting. Brooklyn would probably buyout Mike and he could go somewhere else.

So this deal would send out Rob and and Shannon? Its tough. I'd like to keep at least one of them but ultimately they have little value now.

Tj McConnell would be such a perfect get imo.
He's older than I realized, but having him as a backup and essentially be Mike's successor.

I don't know if it's the right decision but the team certainly wants to transition Ant to being a Luka or Harden esque point guard so bringing in a legit backup is an ideal goal

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 5:21 pm Tj McConnell would be such a perfect get imo.
He's older than I realized, but having him as a backup and essentially be Mike's successor.

I don't know if it's the right decision but the team certainly wants to transition Ant to being a Luka or Harden esque point guard so bringing in a legit backup is an ideal goal

Luka's best seasons were with an up and coming Jalen Brunson when the made it to the WCF, and with Kyrie Iriving when he beat us. This year he has Austin Reaves scoring a high volume from the point guard position. There is plenty of ball to go around and still have Ant in that role.

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 5:21 pm Tj McConnell would be such a perfect get imo.
He's older than I realized, but having him as a backup and essentially be Mike's successor.

I don't know if it's the right decision but the team certainly wants to transition Ant to being a Luka or Harden esque point guard so bringing in a legit backup is an ideal goal

Aussie, Ant doesn't have the same skill set that Harden and Luka have. Those two are elite distributors who have long histories of averaging 9-11 assists per game. That isn't Ant. They also think the game at a much higher level than Ant. Edwards is an off guard who you just can't tell to act like Luka. It doesn't work that way. We are going to acquire a point guard before the deadline who I hope is good enough to start alongside Ant. Let Edwards be the pure scorer that he is.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 6:12 pm

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 5:21 pm Tj McConnell would be such a perfect get imo.
He's older than I realized, but having him as a backup and essentially be Mike's successor.

I don't know if it's the right decision but the team certainly wants to transition Ant to being a Luka or Harden esque point guard so bringing in a legit backup is an ideal goal

Aussie, Ant doesn't have the same skill set that Harden and Luka have. Those two are elite distributors who have long histories of averaging 9-11 assists per game. That isn't Ant. They also think the game at a much higher level than Ant. Edwards is an off guard who you just can't tell to act like Luka. It doesn't work that way. We are going to acquire a point guard before the deadline who I hope is good enough to start alongside Ant. Let Edwards be the pure scorer that he is.

In the offseason, sans a trade, many of us thought the most logical starting lineup was what we've had -- DDV, ANT, Jaden, Randle and Rudy. But it was well acknowledged that the lineup lacked a real PG, which could be a problem. And, while the team has played fairly well, it has been a problem in a handful of games. DDV has been pretty good for us, but his game continues to scream "6th man". So I agree, Cool, TC needs to find a starting PG.

If a new PG doesn't cost us DDV, then DDV will be a terrific piece coming off the bench. I almost expect Dilly to be part of a trade for a starting PG -- a non-playoff team willing to trade a vet starting PG for a young PG with legit potential. The question is, what else is needed to get a deal done, make salaries match, etc. I have never cared for the Randle/NAZ pairing, so Dilly included with one of those PFs is a logical choice for me.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 6:12 pm

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 5:21 pm Tj McConnell would be such a perfect get imo.
He's older than I realized, but having him as a backup and essentially be Mike's successor.

I don't know if it's the right decision but the team certainly wants to transition Ant to being a Luka or Harden esque point guard so bringing in a legit backup is an ideal goal

Aussie, Ant doesn't have the same skill set that Harden and Luka have. Those two are elite distributors who have long histories of averaging 9-11 assists per game. That isn't Ant. They also think the game at a much higher level than Ant. Edwards is an off guard who you just can't tell to act like Luka. It doesn't work that way. We are going to acquire a point guard before the deadline who I hope is good enough to start alongside Ant. Let Edwards be the pure scorer that he is.

I wasn't suggesting Ant was either of those players, I named them because they are a modern archetype of playing point guard and archetype that Ant clearly wants to imitate because he has talked very frequently about watching both players and trying to learn their games.

Whether that's a good idea, idk, but it's the direction he appears to want to go. That's all I'm saying.

Personally I would also rather have a real secondary ball handler who can initiate. I don't really care whether that player is nominally a point guard or not as long as they can facilitate and play defense, so Ant can be a scorer

As far as TJ is concerned- hes a legitimate backup guard who can start when needed, be glue guy and hopefully teach younger players a thing or two. Hes also a more realistic target because teams that have elite point guards arent gonna trade them

Ps can please be done with the whole "basketball IQ" it's such a empty term. Ant is still a young player who is learning the game. He has often shown a lot of savvy and instincts for the game; he has also shown a complete bone headedness. It'll improve with experience, it's not some immutable trait that he or others can never improve upon. The constant "bbiq" things is such a tiring trope

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 6:53 pm

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 6:12 pm

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 5:21 pm Tj McConnell would be such a perfect get imo.
He's older than I realized, but having him as a backup and essentially be Mike's successor.

I don't know if it's the right decision but the team certainly wants to transition Ant to being a Luka or Harden esque point guard so bringing in a legit backup is an ideal goal

Aussie, Ant doesn't have the same skill set that Harden and Luka have. Those two are elite distributors who have long histories of averaging 9-11 assists per game. That isn't Ant. They also think the game at a much higher level than Ant. Edwards is an off guard who you just can't tell to act like Luka. It doesn't work that way. We are going to acquire a point guard before the deadline who I hope is good enough to start alongside Ant. Let Edwards be the pure scorer that he is.

I wasn't suggesting Ant was either of those players, I named them because they are a modern archetype of playing point guard and archetype that Ant clearly wants to imitate because he has talked very frequently about watching both players and trying to learn their games.

Whether that's a good idea, idk, but it's the direction he appears to want to go. That's all I'm saying.

Personally I would also rather have a real secondary ball handler who can initiate. I don't really care whether that player is nominally a point guard or not as long as they can facilitate and play defense, so Ant can be a scorer

As far as TJ is concerned- hes a legitimate backup guard who can start when needed, be glue guy and hopefully teach younger players a thing or two. Hes also a more realistic target because teams that have elite point guards arent gonna trade them

Ps can please be done with the whole "basketball IQ" it's such a empty term. Ant is still a young player who is learning the game he often shows a lot of savvy and instincts for the game and he also often shows a complete bone headedness. It comes with experience it's not some immutable trait that he or others can never improve upon. It's such a tiring trope

It doesn't matter what you want to call it - IQ, instincts, feeling, or aptitude. It's real as it pertains to many sports and it's not something you can typically develop.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 7:01 pm

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 6:53 pm

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 19, 2025 6:12 pm

Aussie, Ant doesn't have the same skill set that Harden and Luka have. Those two are elite distributors who have long histories of averaging 9-11 assists per game. That isn't Ant. They also think the game at a much higher level than Ant. Edwards is an off guard who you just can't tell to act like Luka. It doesn't work that way. We are going to acquire a point guard before the deadline who I hope is good enough to start alongside Ant. Let Edwards be the pure scorer that he is.

I wasn't suggesting Ant was either of those players, I named them because they are a modern archetype of playing point guard and archetype that Ant clearly wants to imitate because he has talked very frequently about watching both players and trying to learn their games.

Whether that's a good idea, idk, but it's the direction he appears to want to go. That's all I'm saying.

Personally I would also rather have a real secondary ball handler who can initiate. I don't really care whether that player is nominally a point guard or not as long as they can facilitate and play defense, so Ant can be a scorer

As far as TJ is concerned- hes a legitimate backup guard who can start when needed, be glue guy and hopefully teach younger players a thing or two. Hes also a more realistic target because teams that have elite point guards arent gonna trade them

Ps can please be done with the whole "basketball IQ" it's such a empty term. Ant is still a young player who is learning the game he often shows a lot of savvy and instincts for the game and he also often shows a complete bone headedness. It comes with experience it's not some immutable trait that he or others can never improve upon. It's such a tiring trope

It doesn't matter what you want to call it - IQ, instincts, feeling, or aptitude. It's real as it pertains to many sports and it's not something you can typically develop.

Of course it's real, I didn't say it wasn't
It's just nonsensical to say it can't be improved. What bothers me is that most of the time people talk about it- it's void of any context, grounding or substance