Gentleman's Sweep - Wolves at Lakers GDT

[Lipoli390]

It would be really pleasurable and satisfying to take out GSW. I hope they win game 6 to insure we see them in the next round. I think the series would be a lot like this past one, wearing them down each game and as the series drags on. They will probably be nicked up as the games pile up too. Either way I think we are going to the conference finals again, where it would be great to see Denver (our 2nd home court). Okay enough dreaming for now

lol. Keep dreaming, Cool!

[TheFuture]

As bad as Rudy was in the first 4 games of this series, he more than made up for it with his stellar performance tonight. As others have noted, Rudy and Randle carried the team.

I don’t know what Rudy’s issue was through the first four game, but he obviously has a lot of pride. I think he came into this game determined to make up for his prior lackluster performances. Having bad games and slumps is part of sports. You have to hand it to the players who will themselves out of those slumps and take it upon themselves to win games for their teammates. That’s what Rudy did tonight.

I don’t agree with those who think we would have lost tonight if we still had KAT instead of Randle. KAT is so talented and I can see where he might have been our one playing hitting threes tonight, which would have put us over the top. Having said that, I love the toughness that Randle brings to this team. That toughness and his ability to score effectively have been apparent throughout this series and were on full display tonight. If we’re giving out a series MVP award for the Wolves, I’m giving it to Randle even though Ant has been fantastic. Randle has shown up and performed in every single game. His scoring has been critical while his toughness and energy have been incredible and infectious.

Ant obviously had a terrible night shooting as did every other player not named Rudy Gobert or Julius Randle. But Ant really stepped up in other categories with 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers. I love that Ant’s not turning the ball over in the playoffs so far.

Conley’s dagger corner three late in the 4th was obviously huge for us.

Tonight’s game was a measure of just how good this team can be. We beat a very good Lakers team in their building with all but two of our players having a horrendous shooting night, and with the team hitting only 7 of 47 threes collectively and missing 9 of 32 free-throw attempts. As we all know, this is a Wolves team that could get swept by Houston or Golden State in the next round. But it’s also a team that could make it to the NBA finals.

Right now, I’m just happy that we won this first series and beyond thrilled that we beat the Lakers. Even more sweet that we beat them in their building. If this is as far as we get, I’ll be disappointed but content. Losing to the Lakers would have been hard to get over.

Thanks you Rudy and Julius!!

Great post. No player has ever made me change an opinion on him more than Julius.


I think your post is a great summary of this teams depth. Rudy terrible offensively for 4 games and then get a masterclass tonight, Ant can’t shoot tonight but almost a triple double, Jaden was not good tonight but elite in so many games this series, Naz was shit most on this series but was a key reason they won game 4, Naw and Donte can’t hit a 3 at all but don’t be shocked if they catch fire in round 2, and then finally Mike, no better player to hit the dagger than mister reliable Mike Conley.


This team has so many options, they can survive bad games from others. I want a championship so badly!!

100% agree with all of this. This team is so deep in damn near every facet of the game now. 3pt shooting, rim scoring, FT%, perimeter defense, interior defense, passing. Hell, the Wolves can legitimately roll 10 deep. Not many teams can say that. I really hope they capitalize this year, because as Lip alluded to, TC has some roster decisions to make this offseason.

P.S. I've been a Conley fan since he was at Ohio state with Oden. Love that guy's play. He has obviously hit the age barrier, but that 3 was so awesome and fitting.

[DNatagal]

It is awesome how ESPN concentrates on how the Lakers lost the series and not how the Wolves won it. Hope that helps keep the Wolves with a chip on their shoulders for the next round.

[Wolvesfan21]

Couple things. Rudy was the best player on the floor last night. Considering we gave up Vando and some other scrubs for him and some picks who will likely amount to nothing, I'd say best trade in Wolves history officially confirmed. Lebron, Ant, Luka, nope it's Rudy who dominated.

The amount of slander Rudy takes from talking shows like TNT and other podcasters is still over the top. To be fair I'll take their side. He has won 4 DPOY trophies but zero championships, so he's gotten plenty of accolades. You really want to shut them the fuck up forever. Go win it all this year. Then all they can do is suck on it.

Ju just priced himself out of the Wolves future. He was in the primetime spotlight going head to head with LeBron and took it to him, not to mention how well he fit in with the team down the stretch. I don't see any chance we can afford to keep both him and Naz. So saying that, the best chance the Wolves may have to win it all in the next 2-3 years is right mother fucking now. Go do it. We are likely to get weaker in depth next year. We got a complete team. 25% done.

[60WinTim]

Ju just priced himself out of the Wolves future. He was in the primetime spotlight going head to head with LeBron and took it to him, not to mention how well he fit in with the team down the stretch. I don't see any chance we can afford to keep both him and Naz. So saying that, the best chance the Wolves may have to win it all in the next 2-3 years is right mother fucking now. Go do it. We are likely to get weaker in depth next year. We got a complete team. 25% done.

More reverse psychology?!?

I feel very confident that the Wolves will be able to retain both players. The player options for Randle and NAZ are 31 mil and 15 mil. I expect both to sign extensions this offseason with contracts that start at roughly those numbers. Of course, that assumes we continue to see this level of play throughout remaining playoffs.

[AbeVigodaLive]

For years... I typed "just win" as the Timberwolves piled up loss after loss after loss.

Yesterday, they just won. I think players and fans should be optimistic after this series. Gobert was averaging 3.5 ppg and 6 reb. Conley, DDV and NAW were shooting below 25% on threes. Ant went 0 - 11 on threes last night.

And they won. Sorta easily.

Some teams are carried by the same cast of characters game after game after game. The Wolves have had three different players claim "best player in that game" status in their four wins. And none of those include Julius Randle who just went for 23/5/4 on 48/39/84 shooting during this series. As long as there's still potential of having one guy capable of being the best player in any game (Edwards) in the holster... I think I'll take that approach.

I'm a tempered optimist. At best. The Wolves have scarred me. But I'm optimistic for another WCF run.

Let's enjoy it. After 34 years of seeing the 2nd rd only once... we're about to enjoy it for the 2nd time in two years. I know this is very common (for other teams), but I'm relishing it.

Edwards averaged 1.2 TOs in this series. And 6.2 assists. That's better A/TO than Mike Conley and Tyus Jones.

[Wolvesfan21]

Ju just priced himself out of the Wolves future. He was in the primetime spotlight going head to head with LeBron and took it to him, not to mention how well he fit in with the team down the stretch. I don't see any chance we can afford to keep both him and Naz. So saying that, the best chance the Wolves may have to win it all in the next 2-3 years is right mother fucking now. Go do it. We are likely to get weaker in depth next year. We got a complete team. 25% done.

More reverse psychology?!?

I feel very confident that the Wolves will be able to retain both players. The player options for Randle and NAZ are 31 mil and 15 mil. I expect both to sign extensions this offseason with contracts that start at roughly those numbers. Of course, that assumes we continue to see this level of play throughout remaining playoffs.

It depends for sure how the rest of the playoffs plays out BUT Randles biggest issue I believe was his ability to show two things, be a playoff stud or at least be good, check, and integrate well with a top end type of contending team with good defense and passing, again check. I think he gets a payraise above that 31 mill. Naz also, despite being up and down, 15 is just too low. Some team will pay him 20+ I think. I've heard people speculate he's a 30 mill guy. That seems crazy, but 20+ is fair.

Now it may depend on ownership and willingness to stay in the second apron. I think keeping both right now the odds went down because players are clearly showing improvement. So I really feel like this might be our best opportunity for the next few years (certainly players on the roster can get better though).

Especially with how Randle started, he's become a main guy we want to keep. I say, just go out and get the job done now.

[Jester1534]

https://www.reddit.com/r/timberwolves/s/e3S7gFa3mj

A+ troll job PR team

[rapsuperstar31]

Ju just priced himself out of the Wolves future. He was in the primetime spotlight going head to head with LeBron and took it to him, not to mention how well he fit in with the team down the stretch. I don't see any chance we can afford to keep both him and Naz. So saying that, the best chance the Wolves may have to win it all in the next 2-3 years is right mother fucking now. Go do it. We are likely to get weaker in depth next year. We got a complete team. 25% done.

More reverse psychology?!?

I feel very confident that the Wolves will be able to retain both players. The player options for Randle and NAZ are 31 mil and 15 mil. I expect both to sign extensions this offseason with contracts that start at roughly those numbers. Of course, that assumes we continue to see this level of play throughout remaining playoffs.

It depends for sure how the rest of the playoffs plays out BUT Randles biggest issue I believe was his ability to show two things, be a playoff stud or at least be good, check, and integrate well with a top end type of contending team with good defense and passing, again check. I think he gets a payraise above that 31 mill. Naz also, despite being up and down, 15 is just too low. Some team will pay him 20+ I think. I've heard people speculate he's a 30 mill guy. That seems crazy, but 20+ is fair.

Now it may depend on ownership and willingness to stay in the second apron. I think keeping both right now the odds went down because players are clearly showing improvement. So I really feel like this might be our best opportunity for the next few years (certainly players on the roster can get better though).

Especially with how Randle started, he's become a main guy we want to keep. I say, just go out and get the job done now.

The Wolves and all teams don't want to be in the 2nd apron for too long. If the Wolves make it to the WCF I have to imagine they will suck it up one more year and pay the 2nd apron to keep the team together. The cap goes up 10% next year so we have about 15 million more than our next year payroll with Randle and Naz current salary to add in salary to stay under it. It may be hard to that, and they may have to cut Mike to do so and bring in a vet min point guard like Tyus to try and cut a bit of salary. Doing that would save about 7 million. You don't want to be in the 2nd apron more than 2 years out of 5 years, and if we are in the 2nd apron two years in a row, we absolutely need to be out of it the next three years. The cap will go up another 10% the following season as well, so it should be easy to stay under the 2nd apron two years from now. Now being in the 2nd apron next year goes against the purposes of Trading Towns, but we'll see how the rest of this playoff goes and what Arod/Lore want to do as the new owners.

[Coolbreeze44]

I agree with the "win now" philosophy. Let's go for it this year. You never know when the next opportunity will come your way.