kekgeek1 wrote:Kyrie has demanded a trade. Now I don't want Kyrie but a Dlo and Naz for Kyrie trade really increases the wolves ceiling for this year.
Kyrie can mold Ant into the savvy vet stage of his career. Sounds like a plan. You are right, and I dont want him either.
My fear is that franchises without a strong culture and pedigree (like the Wolves) won't want to touch him with a 10-foot pole, thus leaving just a few teams out there willing to take him on. Therefore, I'm afraid there is a 99% chance he gets traded for Westbrook and ends up an LA Laker. UGGGGGHHHHH!
kekgeek1 wrote:Kyrie has demanded a trade. Now I don't want Kyrie but a Dlo and Naz for Kyrie trade really increases the wolves ceiling for this year.
Kyrie can mold Ant into the savvy vet stage of his career. Sounds like a plan. You are right, and I dont want him either.
My fear is that franchises without a strong culture and pedigree (like the Wolves) won't want to touch him with a 10-foot pole, thus leaving just a few teams out there willing to take him on. Therefore, I'm afraid there is a 99% chance he gets traded for Westbrook and ends up an LA Laker. UGGGGGHHHHH!
OMG, Q went there! You called out Cam for being wrong! I mean you're absolutely right, he was wrong, but I thought only myself and maybe a couple others would hold him to something he said before. I am laughing my ass off right now. I didn't even have to scroll down to know that wasn't going to go unchallenged immediately by Cam LOL
Camden wrote:Frankly, this team plays better against better competition. It is what it is. The rest of the schedule being tougher might actually be a blessing in disguise.
Disagree, although I appreciate the optimism. Back in December this team had a tough12-game stretch that started with @Utah and ended with @Milwaukee. We went 4-8. Since that stretch, we have had 13 out of 18 games played at home. We've gone 2-3 in those 5 road games.
So how much of our recent good play really been more about home cookin'? Every NBA team plays better at home.
Bottom line....I'm not optimistic that we are going to continue surging up the Western Conference standings and end up with a top 4 or 5 seed and 6 will certainly be a stretch. We need some serious luck along the way to make that happen.
That 4-8 stretch included four losses decided by two possessions or less -- at Portland, vs. Dallas, at Miami, and at New Orleans. Games that could have, and probably should have, gone the other way for Minnesota.
That tough 12-game stretch was also without Karl-Anthony Towns, Jordan McLaughlin, and Taurean Prince. D'Angelo Russell didn't play in the loss to Los Angeles and Rudy Gobert didn't play in the loss to Milwaukee. I'm not turned off by that stretch of play given the circumstances. I think they're a better team right now with reinforcements on the way -- whenever that may be.
I don't think Minnesota needs any "serious luck" to continue climbing up the standings. They've mostly put up with bad luck all season. They just need to avoid losing any more of their key players. Even this current iteration of the team without Towns is pretty good.
Well, you were optimistic at the time about that stretch too and ended up being wrong. Again, I have no problem with your optimism, but even "pretty good" teams are going to lose a lot of games in a stretch where they are playing "really good" teams mostly on the road. Let's get a win tonight and at least build a little buffer!
Do we need to reference the many other times when I was right? Or perhaps the times where you were wrong? I'm not sure I understand why that comment was made. I'd actually say the optimism this season has been justified given the team's record, place in the standings, and the fact they've done it without their top guns. Excuse me if I'm not on the doomer train.
Also, I'm not actually projecting or predicting anything here. I just don't think they'll need "serious luck" to push for a top-six seed this season. They're already doing that while having bad luck to this point. I also think this team's nature is to play up to their opponents -- as well as down to their opponents -- so having more quality opponents on the slate might bring out the best of this team. Austin Rivers said something similar the other day as well. Not a crazy take.
I made the comment because you had a sunny outlook on a previous stretch of tough games and we went 4-8 (can't remember the exact games you predicted but I believe it was within that timeframe). And yes, I have been wrong on things plenty of times. And in this case, I hope I'm wrong too and you can come back later and tell me how wrong I was! I hope you are right, but I maintain this team will need some significant breaks along the way to end up with a top 6 seed.
Genuinely curious because that thread was essentially a conversation starter about a tough month of basketball, and while I hoped for a 9-5 stretch I also noted that 5-9 was just as possible, which is what inevitably happened. And then I went on to mention positive developments for the team. Developments that have mostly held true, by the way, and were significant in January where the team went 11-5 (tied for second-best in the NBA).
kekgeek1 wrote:Kyrie has demanded a trade. Now I don't want Kyrie but a Dlo and Naz for Kyrie trade really increases the wolves ceiling for this year.
Kyrie can mold Ant into the savvy vet stage of his career. Sounds like a plan. You are right, and I dont want him either.
My fear is that franchises without a strong culture and pedigree (like the Wolves) won't want to touch him with a 10-foot pole, thus leaving just a few teams out there willing to take him on. Therefore, I'm afraid there is a 99% chance he gets traded for Westbrook and ends up an LA Laker. UGGGGGHHHHH!
The Durant/Westbrook reunification?!? :)
While reading an article on NBA.com about the situation it reminded me of a situation on my caseload where the person often threatens to be done with utilizing services or says they want out and wants no contact with me anymore then a few minutes later contacts me and asks if I got the message they left. Lol
Kyrie wants a new contract. He may even want it from the Nets if it's enough money and long enough. If he doesn't get that he wants to go somewhere else and also is being nice enough to allow the Nets to maybe get something for him. How nice. Meanwhile this trade demand/ "I'll leave you in FA!!!" "I want a trade!!!" puts some additional pressure on the Nets to make some sort of decision. Will they cave? Maybe if someone offers something pretty good for Irving. I honestly doubt that will happen. If this team gets healthy they are a contender. They aren't gonna give that up for say something like Westbrook and a 1st round pick. They will probably just ride things out. Kyrie will be fine or get hurt or some other thing but if he is actually healthy and can play he will help the team. Maybe Ownership is done with him and is ready to take the best deal they can get.
If it was me...I probably would consider taking the best deal I could get assuming the return had some sort of worthwhile value even the Westbrook and a 1st I suggested earlier. I don't have much faith in Kyrie staying healthy when it matters.
It would be kinda hilarious if the Nets at some point ended up with D'Angelo Russell again.
Luka injured his heel last night in the 3rd quarter against the Pelicans with a 20+ point lead. With Dinwiddie running the show, the Pels almost came back and won that game. The ISO ball just killed the Mavs' offense with out Luka there to run it. The Mavs embark on a 5 game road trip where they could lose every single game. That might help create some of the "luck buffer" Q mentioned.
On a similar vain, the Clippers had a commanding lead against the Bucks in the 2nd half, and managed to piddle it away and lose by having Leonard and George take turns playing ISO ball. The Clippers also have a challenging schedule heading into the all-star break.
If the Wolves continue playing solid basketball, and don't piddle away their own games, we could be feeling pretty good heading into the all-star break.
