Minnesota Sports Forum

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 10:59 pm If we traded Rudy, I could see something like this:


Gobert to Charlotte for Nurkic, Mark Williams and Grant Williams.

Don't love the return, but it does get us off the Gobert money.

TheFuture wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 1:26 am

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 10:49 pm Fresh in the mind, so what are your ideas for what they should do this summer? Tough to predict TC, but this is what I would do.


If Randle opts in, suck it up and deal with it. If he opts out, vaya con dios. WIsh you the best in your future endeavors.

Naz Reid, got love for him, but it's pretty obvious the 80-90% of KAT dream was just that. Personally, I wouldn't go higher than 4/$84. Anything less than that is a win. I'm kinda comfortable letting them both walk if it comes to that. I don't wanna overpay for the right to continue to have sentimental value for him.

Newton/Edwards/Hyland. Thanks for coming. Deavors.

Ingles. It's been real. Deavors.

Mike Conley: if he wants to retire, don't let me stop you. If he comes back, he pretty much becomes Ingles. It's time for Rob to get those minutes.

NAW: I've said it all year. He's a goner. He earned the privilege to get that MLE from somewhere else. Hopefully Brooklyn for selfish reasons.


If the Wolves don't wanna add 2 rookies, try to trade 17/31 for 11 and draft Sorber. Again, the goal should to kickstart the search for Rudy's successor. If you're turnover prone, you should be off the board entirely. Clearly Finch can't fix that, but if we keep both picks, address big man and see if you wanna address PG, but they MUST come away with another big.


I'm not gonna go big game hunting. That being said, if Gobert gets traded, I'm fine with it as long as they have a plan to not destroy the entire defense.

C Gobert /Sorber or Kalkbrenner/Garza
PF Reid /Yabusele /Miller/Minott
SF McDaniels /Shannon /Drake Powell or Nique Clifford
SG Edwards /Clark
PG DiVincenzo /Dillingham /Conley

name to watch out for if we get under the tax enough to use the MLE: Guerschon Yabusele.

Just my fresh take. I might amend it given what else happens

I may be alone in this thought, but I don't think Naz is even worth $21mil per. He is a cult fan favorite.

FNG wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 7:20 am 1) Bring back everyone except NAW (who we likely can't afford) and the four free agent fringe players, including Joe, but bring him back as a coach.

2) Move at least one of the draft picks and maybe both for future draft capital...we have too many young players we already can't find minutes for, and we will need the draft capital to replace Rudy in a couple years.

3) If we have cap space, sign a lumbering defensive center to play behind Rudy...end the Ju or Naz at center experiment.

4) Get Chris Hines to spend the summer working with Ant on two things: diet (I still think his poor eating habits impact his defense and movement without the ball) and watching film of great scorers and how they use screens by their teammates to get open catch and shoot looks.

5) TC to meet with Finchy to tell him Rob, TJ, and Clark need to get meaningful minutes next year until they prove they don't deserve them...encourage him to migrate to more of a 10-man rotation that can consistently play faster and more aggressively at both ends...a la OkC.

6) Prepare for a another conference finals appearance again, and privately hope for an SGA hammy injury when we face them.

thedoper wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 12:19 pm I think you have to take the training wheels off. Jaden and Ant are ready to be front runners leading this team. Our vets are too expensive and have problematic aspects of their game (Ju’s D and Rudy’s O) to be taking up that much of our cap. Id like to strip this team down to Ant, Jaden, our rookies, NAW, take a chance on a disgruntled young talent, and fill the rest of the roster with lunch pail guys.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:47 pm

thedoper wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 12:19 pm I think you have to take the training wheels off. Jaden and Ant are ready to be front runners leading this team. Our vets are too expensive and have problematic aspects of their game (Ju’s D and Rudy’s O) to be taking up that much of our cap. Id like to strip this team down to Ant, Jaden, our rookies, NAW, take a chance on a disgruntled young talent, and fill the rest of the roster with lunch pail guys.

I agree Doper, although I'd still keep Rudy, but in a somewhat reduced role, similar to how he was used in the playoffs.

Otherwise, I think we need to turn the page on Julius and Naz, slide Jaden to the starting PF role next to Rudy, slide Ant to the starting 3, promote Clark to our starting 2 (he'd be a token sub 30 MPG starter in the Lou Dort 3 & D mode), and DDV to the starting 1. Then I'd either trade for, draft, or sign via free agency our bench bigs.

Conley would be demoted to our 3rd string PG with Dillingham becoming DDV's backup until he's ready to start someday.

PG - DDV, Dillingham, Conley
Wing 1 - Ant, DDV
Wing 2 - Clark (token starter), Shannon
PF - Jaden, TBD (Miller? Draft pick? Free agent signing?)
C - Rudy, TBD (Looney? Draft pick?)

I think this opens the door for Jaden to be a much more effective all-around force, as he is no longer exhausting as much energy as a wing stopper, although he'd still be on the ball at times. It also shifts more of our offense from frontcourt guys like Julius and Naz to perimeter players like Shannon and Dillingham.

With two straight WCF appearances, Tim Connelly has accrued enough political capital to potentially take a step back in order to take two steps forward. That means placing some bets on existing younger talent and the draft while not completely tearing everything down around Ant and Jaden.

Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 4:13 pm

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:47 pm

thedoper wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 12:19 pm I think you have to take the training wheels off. Jaden and Ant are ready to be front runners leading this team. Our vets are too expensive and have problematic aspects of their game (Ju’s D and Rudy’s O) to be taking up that much of our cap. Id like to strip this team down to Ant, Jaden, our rookies, NAW, take a chance on a disgruntled young talent, and fill the rest of the roster with lunch pail guys.

I agree Doper, although I'd still keep Rudy, but in a somewhat reduced role, similar to how he was used in the playoffs.

Otherwise, I think we need to turn the page on Julius and Naz, slide Jaden to the starting PF role next to Rudy, slide Ant to the starting 3, promote Clark to our starting 2 (he'd be a token sub 30 MPG starter in the Lou Dort 3 & D mode), and DDV to the starting 1. Then I'd either trade for, draft, or sign via free agency our bench bigs.

Conley would be demoted to our 3rd string PG with Dillingham becoming DDV's backup until he's ready to start someday.

PG - DDV, Dillingham, Conley
Wing 1 - Ant, DDV
Wing 2 - Clark (token starter), Shannon
PF - Jaden, TBD (Miller? Draft pick? Free agent signing?)
C - Rudy, TBD (Looney? Draft pick?)

I think this opens the door for Jaden to be a much more effective all-around force, as he is no longer exhausting as much energy as a wing stopper, although he'd still be on the ball at times. It also shifts more of our offense from frontcourt guys like Julius and Naz to perimeter players like Shannon and Dillingham.

With two straight WCF appearances, Tim Connelly has accrued enough political capital to potentially take a step back in order to take two steps forward. That means placing some bets on existing younger talent and the draft while not completely tearing everything down around Ant and Jaden.

What I've been wondering about Clark is does he have a decent enough handle and passing (drive and kick / vision/IQ) to be a starter? Possibly. I was wondering myself how he'd look long term as a starter. I'm not quite sold on DDV's ability also as a starter. He seems to be out of control too often driving the ball / turning it over.

What I am concerned about is simply too many turnovers. But could it work? Maybe. Can they improve in those areas also with time? Sure.

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:03 pm

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 10:59 pm If we traded Rudy, I could see something like this:


Gobert to Charlotte for Nurkic, Mark Williams and Grant Williams.

Don't love the return, but it does get us off the Gobert money.

That makes no sense for Charlotte. They would not want Rudy given they are rebuilding. Also, Mark Williams is a very good young center and they had decided to trade him for Knecht and draft picks. We'd have to provide a comparable package to get Mark Williams and we would just keep Rudy or find a third team.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:47 pm

thedoper wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 12:19 pm I think you have to take the training wheels off. Jaden and Ant are ready to be front runners leading this team. Our vets are too expensive and have problematic aspects of their game (Ju’s D and Rudy’s O) to be taking up that much of our cap. Id like to strip this team down to Ant, Jaden, our rookies, NAW, take a chance on a disgruntled young talent, and fill the rest of the roster with lunch pail guys.

I agree Doper, although I'd still keep Rudy, but in a somewhat reduced role, similar to how he was used in the playoffs.

Otherwise, I think we need to turn the page on Julius and Naz, slide Jaden to the starting PF role next to Rudy, slide Ant to the starting 3, promote Clark to our starting 2 (he'd be a token sub 30 MPG starter in the Lou Dort 3 & D mode), and DDV to the starting 1. Then I'd either trade for, draft, or sign via free agency our bench bigs.

Conley would be demoted to our 3rd string PG with Dillingham becoming DDV's backup until he's ready to start someday.

PG - DDV, Dillingham, Conley
Wing 1 - Ant, DDV
Wing 2 - Clark (token starter), Shannon
PF - Jaden, TBD (Miller? Draft pick? Free agent signing?)
C - Rudy, TBD (Looney? Draft pick?)

I think this opens the door for Jaden to be a much more effective all-around force, as he is no longer exhausting as much energy as a wing stopper, although he'd still be on the ball at times. It also shifts more of our offense from frontcourt guys like Julius and Naz to perimeter players like Shannon and Dillingham.

With two straight WCF appearances, Tim Connelly has accrued enough political capital to potentially take a step back in order to take two steps forward. That means placing some bets on existing younger talent and the draft while not completely tearing everything down around Ant and Jaden.

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:20 pm

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:03 pm

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 10:59 pm If we traded Rudy, I could see something like this:


Gobert to Charlotte for Nurkic, Mark Williams and Grant Williams.

Don't love the return, but it does get us off the Gobert money.

That makes no sense for Charlotte. They would not want Rudy given they are rebuilding. Also, Mark Williams is a very good young center and they had decided to trade him for Knecht and draft picks. We'd have to provide a comparable package to get Mark Williams and we would just keep Rudy or find a third team.

Are they rebuilding? Yes.

At some point, would they like to actually commit to trying to win? Yes, and if all it costs them is a center they're trying to get rid of, another big in Nurkic they don't really want and an overpaid bench big in Grant Williams, it might be worth it to them, especially since the rebuilding team that they are, they'd like to open up more of an opportunity to play Salaun along with Miller and Bridges.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:49 pm

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 3:47 pm

thedoper wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 12:19 pm I think you have to take the training wheels off. Jaden and Ant are ready to be front runners leading this team. Our vets are too expensive and have problematic aspects of their game (Ju’s D and Rudy’s O) to be taking up that much of our cap. Id like to strip this team down to Ant, Jaden, our rookies, NAW, take a chance on a disgruntled young talent, and fill the rest of the roster with lunch pail guys.

I agree Doper, although I'd still keep Rudy, but in a somewhat reduced role, similar to how he was used in the playoffs.

Otherwise, I think we need to turn the page on Julius and Naz, slide Jaden to the starting PF role next to Rudy, slide Ant to the starting 3, promote Clark to our starting 2 (he'd be a token sub 30 MPG starter in the Lou Dort 3 & D mode), and DDV to the starting 1. Then I'd either trade for, draft, or sign via free agency our bench bigs.

Conley would be demoted to our 3rd string PG with Dillingham becoming DDV's backup until he's ready to start someday.

PG - DDV, Dillingham, Conley
Wing 1 - Ant, DDV
Wing 2 - Clark (token starter), Shannon
PF - Jaden, TBD (Miller? Draft pick? Free agent signing?)
C - Rudy, TBD (Looney? Draft pick?)

I think this opens the door for Jaden to be a much more effective all-around force, as he is no longer exhausting as much energy as a wing stopper, although he'd still be on the ball at times. It also shifts more of our offense from frontcourt guys like Julius and Naz to perimeter players like Shannon and Dillingham.

With two straight WCF appearances, Tim Connelly has accrued enough political capital to potentially take a step back in order to take two steps forward. That means placing some bets on existing younger talent and the draft while not completely tearing everything down around Ant and Jaden.

Like it Q if Jaden can further advance as a rebounder. I think in your scenario TSK would be the starter over Clark. I'd still like to see TC swing for a point guard in a trade that can match up with Ant and Jaden's timeline.