Least you would trade Rudy for?

[Q-is-here]

Box of apples
Not any type of apple
A box if Gala apples
In reality?
Kessler straight up

I can kinda, sorta defend the Rudy deal until the name Walker Kessler comes up.

We all knew that KAT needed a true big that could help hold down the paint and absorb some of the physicality and fouls that he'd often get by being a full-time Center. We didn't necessarily need a gold-platinum solution (remember the name Hartenstein came up quite a lot?), but that's what TC ultimately did by trading for Gobert. I ended up being fine with it at the time.

And then we come to find out that Walker Kessler is really effing good. I don't think anyone expected him to be this good this soon, but in hindsight it's his effectiveness that makes the deal look absolutely awful versus just a bit of an overpay.

I guess the good news is that TC demonstrated once again that he is one hell of a drafter!

[Q-is-here]

Rudy has kept us in the mix this year. Today we have the 12th best D with glimpses that it could get even better. I have even liked the basketball in spite of Rudy's offensive warts. If someone told me Kat was going to play 20 games of shitty basketball for the whole season no way I would have had us over 500 going into the all star break. Rudy will continue to be a polarizing player, he's paid too much, but he contributes to winning, and that is all I want. Go Wolves.

Right. Any trade that sends Gobert out has to consider the implications on our defense. We either need another stud wing defender coming back or at least a fairly strong defensive Center that might be a tier down from Gobert. Or both.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Rudy has kept us in the mix this year. Today we have the 12th best D with glimpses that it could get even better. I have even liked the basketball in spite of Rudy's offensive warts. If someone told me Kat was going to play 20 games of shitty basketball for the whole season no way I would have had us over 500 going into the all star break. Rudy will continue to be a polarizing player, he's paid too much, but he contributes to winning, and that is all I want. Go Wolves.

I would argue there are four players more deserving of that credit, honestly. Anthony Edwards, D'Angelo Russell, Jaden McDaniels, and Kyle Anderson have their fingerprints all over this season for Minnesota -- more so than Rudy Gobert. That's not even mentioning Naz Reid who has had his fair share of big moments as well.

Gobert has been an impactful defender, but overall he's been a disappointment. That's fair to say at this point. He's no longer the dominant rim protector he once was and I think his rebounding, while still adequate, has taken a real dip as well. Again, still a clear positive on that end, but not the massive boost he was for Utah. Pair that decline with the inconsistent contributions offensively and you have what I'd consider a good starter -- not an All-Star or anything close to that, unfortunately. And certainly not the reason Minnesota has survived without Karl-Anthony Towns for much of this season, in my opinion.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Box of apples
Not any type of apple
A box if Gala apples
In reality?
Kessler straight up

Honeycrisp >>>>>>>> Gala.

And I will fight to the death defending this take.




[Note: Still, it would have to be the offseason and inflation would have to hit even worse where those apples are like $2 a pop before I ever consider trading Gobert for them. Still a damn good apple though. I want one. Now. ]

[Carlos Danger]

Rudy has kept us in the mix this year. Today we have the 12th best D with glimpses that it could get even better. I have even liked the basketball in spite of Rudy's offensive warts. If someone told me Kat was going to play 20 games of shitty basketball for the whole season no way I would have had us over 500 going into the all star break. Rudy will continue to be a polarizing player, he's paid too much, but he contributes to winning, and that is all I want. Go Wolves.

I would argue there are four players more deserving of that credit, honestly. Anthony Edwards, D'Angelo Russell, Jaden McDaniels, and Kyle Anderson have their fingerprints all over this season for Minnesota -- more so than Rudy Gobert. That's not even mentioning Naz Reid who has had his fair share of big moments as well.

Gobert has been an impactful defender, but overall he's been a disappointment. That's fair to say at this point. He's no longer the dominant rim protector he once was and I think his rebounding, while still adequate, has taken a real dip as well. Again, still a clear positive on that end, but not the massive boost he was for Utah. Pair that decline with the inconsistent contributions offensively and you have what I'd consider a good starter -- not an All-Star or anything close to that, unfortunately. And certainly not the reason Minnesota has survived without Karl-Anthony Towns for much of this season, in my opinion.

As a VORP guy, I have to agree with you. Gobert is tied with Towns with 1 VORP. But Towns only played in 21 games. Gobert was like about a 3.5 VORP his last few years in Utah. Yeah, he's way down unfortunately. That said, I'm sure most would agree he's been better than what Naz would have done or Garza could have done, so in that regard - it was good we had him.

[Lipoli390]

Rudy has kept us in the mix this year. Today we have the 12th best D with glimpses that it could get even better. I have even liked the basketball in spite of Rudy's offensive warts. If someone told me Kat was going to play 20 games of shitty basketball for the whole season no way I would have had us over 500 going into the all star break. Rudy will continue to be a polarizing player, he's paid too much, but he contributes to winning, and that is all I want. Go Wolves.

I honestly don't know what impact Rudy has had on winning this season. He improves our defense, but negatively impacts our offense. There's no evidence that we're winning because of him. The Wolves record this season has actually been better in game he hasn't played. I'm not suggested that the Wolves are actually better without him; just that there's no evidence we're better from a win-loss perspective - which is the only perspective that really matters in the end. There's clearly no evidence that he's impact on the team justifies either what we gave up to get him or the $40 million per year salary the Wolves pay him.

It is what it is. We need Rudy because KAT is out and.probably not coming back until the last 10-15 games of the season at best. We no longer have Vando, we didn't keep Kessler and we didn't sign or trade for another good but less expensive big. So let's hope Conley can help bring out the best in Rudy and in everyone else on this team. The Wolves are sitting in 6th place with a chance to secure a playoff slot without going through the playin tournament. I'm all for Rudy doing what he does and hopefully helping this team win.

[thedoper]

We are 31-29 with Rudy playing significant minutes at the 5 and as everyone admits, impacting our defense. I don't know what else people are looking for in terms of evidence assessing impact, we needed to improve defensively and we are good to great when Rudy is on the floor. Our offensive players have kept us with a mediocre offense all year. We've been hovering around 10th defensively for a while and stayed middle of the pack (15th to 20th) offensively since we've been winning more. If our record is above 500 it is more related to our D then our offense based on those ratings. We've all been privy to the on/off defensive numbers relative to Rudy. We can hand out awards in any direction we want or to any player we favor, and like I said Rudy will continue to be polarizing. But the general numbers and logic doesnt lie. Rudy impacts our defense greatly, our defense is better than our offense relative to the rest of the league, and we're 2 games above 500, therefore Rudy impacts winning.

[Monster]

Box of apples
Not any type of apple
A box if Gala apples
In reality?
Kessler straight up

Honeycrisp >>>>>>>> Gala.

And I will fight to the death defending this take.




[Note: Still, it would have to be the offseason and inflation would have to hit even worse where those apples are like $2 a pop before I ever consider trading Gobert for them. Still a damn good apple though. I want one. Now. ]

+1 for Honeycrisp. I wont fight till the death but I'll cheer Abe on from a safe distance.

[BloopOracle]

I'm not sure why you guys are getting so worked up over significantly inferior apples when Granny Smith is clearly the best

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Honeycrisp and Fuji are top tier apples. They're the Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetoukounmpo of the apple discussion. Can't go wrong with either.

Granny Smith is more like the Jayson Tatum of apples. Really good and dependable, but a tier below the elite options.