Minnesota Sports Forum

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2026 7:38 pm There is a fundamental misunderstanding some folk have regarding the conversation about the "core" players, specifically Jaden and Naz.

Saying that Ant, Jaden, Naz and Joan are the teams core is not a suggestion that those are and should be the four best players going into 26'-27'. It's also not a suggestion that roster changes shouldn't happen, it's actually quite the opposite.

There are those of us here who believe that roster construction and role opportunities have limited Naz and Jaden from really growing into their optimal roles. This seems rather obvious to me, but apparently not to everyone else. Which fair enough, we can disagree on what the conclusion is here but the paradigm is pretty simple--- construct a roster that involves and compliments these players as best you can, particularly the older three cause I'm not sure how strongly Joan potential should be weighed in the team champ window.

If you just watched the Knicks win a championship and don't see how a balanced and complimentary roster lifts everyone to a sum that is greater than their parts, so much so that you're hoisting the O'Brian.... I don't know what to tell you. Not a single member of the Knicks is a top 5 player and I'd be hard pressed to put any in the top 12, yet they just completed one of the most impressive and dominant playoff runs of the modern era.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2026 11:05 pm

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 14, 2026 7:38 pm There is a fundamental misunderstanding some folk have regarding the conversation about the "core" players, specifically Jaden and Naz.

Saying that Ant, Jaden, Naz and Joan are the teams core is not a suggestion that those are and should be the four best players going into 26'-27'. It's also not a suggestion that roster changes shouldn't happen, it's actually quite the opposite.

There are those of us here who believe that roster construction and role opportunities have limited Naz and Jaden from really growing into their optimal roles. This seems rather obvious to me, but apparently not to everyone else. Which fair enough, we can disagree on what the conclusion is here but the paradigm is pretty simple--- construct a roster that involves and compliments these players as best you can, particularly the older three cause I'm not sure how strongly Joan potential should be weighed in the team champ window.

If you just watched the Knicks win a championship and don't see how a balanced and complimentary roster lifts everyone to a sum that is greater than their parts, so much so that you're hoisting the O'Brian.... I don't know what to tell you. Not a single member of the Knicks is a top 5 player and I'd be hard pressed to put any in the top 12, yet they just completed one of the most impressive and dominant playoff runs of the modern era.

Best post in this thread, Aussie. I agree with you completely. A couple more more thoughts:

First, while Ant’s probably not a top 5 player right now, he’s certainly a top 15 players right player, perhaps a top 10 guy right now and he has the potential to eventually be considered a top 5 player. But I’ll say this. SGA, Jokic, Steph Curry, etc. didn’t enter the League as top five players and it took them years in the League before you could reasonably identify them as top 5 or top 7 or top 3 players in the League. Ant won’t turn 25 until August. He’s significantly more talented than Brunson who didn’t win a title until age 29 and didn’t have his break-out season until age 25 when he averaged 16.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds.

Second, the top players on championship teams are rarely under 25. SGA didn’t win his first title until he was 26. Curry didn’t win the prize until he was 27. The great LeBron didn’t win his first title until he was 27 and of course MJ didn’t until he was 28.

So I don’t think we can write-off Ant as a guy who will never be at that elite top 5 level on par with players like Curry, Jokic, and SGA. Ant raising his game even further is an important factor to consider and history tells us it’s likely he will. The beauty of having a player with Ant’s talent, in combination with other very good similar vintage players like Jaden, Naz and Ayo, is that it gives us a core around which we can build a championship contender. We already have two trips to the Western Conference Finals with three of those four a key members of the rotation.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2026 9:12 am In an alternate universe where we didn't trade for Rudy, Kept KAT, instead of Rudy we traded for OG and Nembhard with all of those draft picks. That seems like the right balance around Ant similar to how some of the top teams are constructed. Nembhard, Ant, Jaden, OG, Kat starting lineup. Never going to happen now, but a similar lineup to this seems like the right direction for an Ant team. No major 2nd star there, but the right role players and defense.

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2026 11:05 am A couple things that I think get lost a little bit on Edwards:

I improved again this year. He was more efficient while in some cases taking less efficient shots than he did making him a more diverse scorer. He did that the previous year becoming one of the best 3 point shooters in the league. He increased his FTA by 1 a game. He scored more point this year taking less shots all while in some cases having to do more on offense than he did in previous seasons. He improved again and has pretty much every season.

His ability to return from injury when he could have been like no I'll make a business decision and wait it out. That is no small thing and shows the guy wants to play. Jon K wrote an article about all he did to make it happen and suggested these injuries he had might be the thing that is the lightbulb moment for Edwards to start doing all the things to get his body right that he didn't do before because...well it didn't seem like he needed to.

So Edwards still is on an upwards trajectory while there are absolutely flaws in his game and other considerations as well. Will he step up and become a more consistent defender? He absolutely has the potential to be an all NBA team guy. Will he lock in on what's important on and off the court? Will he improve his BBIQ? Will the Wolves make some moves this off-season to help facilitate these things? Adding the right ball handlers and player makers and "connective tissue" as Finch described it could help. What is Edwards working on this off-season? It seems like he has accomplished his task each off-season that is set out for him.

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2026 11:05 am A couple things that I think get lost a little bit on Edwards:

I improved again this year. He was more efficient while in some cases taking less efficient shots than he did making him a more diverse scorer. He did that the previous year becoming one of the best 3 point shooters in the league. He increased his FTA by 1 a game. He scored more point this year taking less shots all while in some cases having to do more on offense than he did in previous seasons. He improved again and has pretty much every season.

His ability to return from injury when he could have been like no I'll make a business decision and wait it out. That is no small thing and shows the guy wants to play. Jon K wrote an article about all he did to make it happen and suggested these injuries he had might be the thing that is the lightbulb moment for Edwards to start doing all the things to get his body right that he didn't do before because...well it didn't seem like he needed to.

So Edwards still is on an upwards trajectory while there are absolutely flaws in his game and other considerations as well. Will he step up and become a more consistent defender? He absolutely has the potential to be an all NBA team guy. Will he lock in on what's important on and off the court? Will he improve his BBIQ? Will the Wolves make some moves this off-season to help facilitate these things? Adding the right ball handlers and player makers and "connective tissue" as Finch described it could help. What is Edwards working on this off-season? It seems like he has accomplished his task each off-season that is set out for him.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 15, 2026 9:12 am In an alternate universe where we didn't trade for Rudy, Kept KAT, instead of Rudy we traded for OG and Nembhard with all of those draft picks. That seems like the right balance around Ant similar to how some of the top teams are constructed. Nembhard, Ant, Jaden, OG, Kat starting lineup. Never going to happen now, but a similar lineup to this seems like the right direction for an Ant team. No major 2nd star there, but the right role players and defense.