Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:Apparently, Jon Krawczynski is putting out an interview article with D'Angelo Russell soon? The chatter was that Russell is excited about the Rudy Gobert trade and how they can help each other offensively and defensively. I only overheard some things so I'm not sure how true that is, but those of us with subscriptions to The Athletic should keep an eye out for it. If nothing else, I think it would be a fun read.

Thanks for the heads-up, Cam. I'm a subscriber so I'll be watching for it.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Anyone else think the Suns would have jumped in on Gobert right about now? I do and I think the Suns and Jazz could both be convinced that the same or similar pick package would have been beneficial. The Suns no doubt want to maximize their window with Chris Paul and that combo would be killer. The Jazz would look at the the age of Paul and probably like their chances better with those later picks. I'm glad the Wolves went out and got their man.

Not sure why noted cheapskate Sarver would pass on resigning Ayton only to give another, older big even more money.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Anyone else think the Suns would have jumped in on Gobert right about now? I do and I think the Suns and Jazz could both be convinced that the same or similar pick package would have been beneficial. The Suns no doubt want to maximize their window with Chris Paul and that combo would be killer. The Jazz would look at the the age of Paul and probably like their chances better with those later picks. I'm glad the Wolves went out and got their man.

Not sure why noted cheapskate Sarver would pass on resigning Ayton only to give another, older big even more money.

Same reason he went from Rubio to Paul I would guess.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Anyone else think the Suns would have jumped in on Gobert right about now? I do and I think the Suns and Jazz could both be convinced that the same or similar pick package would have been beneficial. The Suns no doubt want to maximize their window with Chris Paul and that combo would be killer. The Jazz would look at the the age of Paul and probably like their chances better with those later picks. I'm glad the Wolves went out and got their man.

Not sure why noted cheapskate Sarver would pass on resigning Ayton only to give another, older big even more money.

Same reason he went from Rubio to Paul I would guess.

But I'm almost certain that didn't put the Suns into the luxury tax.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Anyone else think the Suns would have jumped in on Gobert right about now? I do and I think the Suns and Jazz could both be convinced that the same or similar pick package would have been beneficial. The Suns no doubt want to maximize their window with Chris Paul and that combo would be killer. The Jazz would look at the the age of Paul and probably like their chances better with those later picks. I'm glad the Wolves went out and got their man.

Not sure why noted cheapskate Sarver would pass on resigning Ayton only to give another, older big even more money.

There's no way Sarver would take on Gobert's contract unless he planned on swapping Chris Paul as part of the deal.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Anyone else think the Suns would have jumped in on Gobert right about now? I do and I think the Suns and Jazz could both be convinced that the same or similar pick package would have been beneficial. The Suns no doubt want to maximize their window with Chris Paul and that combo would be killer. The Jazz would look at the the age of Paul and probably like their chances better with those later picks. I'm glad the Wolves went out and got their man.

Not sure why noted cheapskate Sarver would pass on resigning Ayton only to give another, older big even more money.

Same reason he went from Rubio to Paul I would guess.

But I'm almost certain that didn't put the Suns into the luxury tax.

It didn't and they are well under the tax right now. Basically that first year they traded away Oubre and Rubio deals which were over 31 million to pay Paul about 10 million more. That probably seemed like a worthwhile gamble especially since Oubre was very dispensable after the Suns went on their bubble run without him and basically upgrading Rubio for 10 million? Yeah even Sarver was probably like yeah sure. Sarver isn't a good owner but I would guess the biggest sticking point is that the Suns don't want to give Ayton a max deal. I can't say they are wrong there. Will anyone in the league give him a max deal? For some teams maybe he would be worth it overpaying a bit to just have a good player who could become better. Any kind of high impact move in the league is going to be sort of not done until the Durant Situation is resolved. Maybe Kyrie too but mostly Durant.

Camden wrote:Apparently, Jon Krawczynski is putting out an interview article with D'Angelo Russell soon? The chatter was that Russell is excited about the Rudy Gobert trade and how they can help each other offensively and defensively. I only overheard some things so I'm not sure how true that is, but those of us with subscriptions to The Athletic should keep an eye out for it. If nothing else, I think it would be a fun read.

Read the article. Those who like DLO will think it's a great read. Myself, KG4eva, Dloser and some others will hate it and throw up in their mouth a little bit. The most disturbing part to me is the talk about a potential extension before the season starts. On the other hand they say it may just play out this season, and then a decision made next offseason. For a guy that no other organization wants, the Wolves need to be smart about this. An extension would dampen a lot of my enthusiasm about the future of the team. We simply have to be better at that position.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Camden wrote:Apparently, Jon Krawczynski is putting out an interview article with D'Angelo Russell soon? The chatter was that Russell is excited about the Rudy Gobert trade and how they can help each other offensively and defensively. I only overheard some things so I'm not sure how true that is, but those of us with subscriptions to The Athletic should keep an eye out for it. If nothing else, I think it would be a fun read.

Read the article. Those who like DLO will think it's a great read. Myself, KG4eva, Dloser and some others will hate it and throw up in their mouth a little bit. The most disturbing part to me is the talk about a potential extension before the season starts. On the other hand they say it may just play out this season, and then a decision made next offseason. For a guy that no other organization wants, the Wolves need to be smart about this. An extension would dampen a lot of my enthusiasm about the future of the team. We simply have to be better at that position.

I think IF we are willing to take Russell at his word the thing that is worth noting is Russell says he knows it's business and he is basically willing to play things out if needed. I also listened to Jon K's podcast and it sounded like Russell was legitimately excited about this season. This was a concern whether Russell was gonna be bought in playing on the last year of his deal. Obviously things can change but I think we have enough evidence to put that mostly aside for now. For the people like Cool who have a skeptics view of keeping Russell that means the Wolves don't HAVE to do anything now which is a good place for both the team and player IMO which I have said multiple times.

I'll be interested in hearing what other people's takes are either from the article or Jon K's podcast.

I just finished reading Jon K's article on DLO. It was a great read and I highly recommend it. It includes extensive quotes from DLO. I have several take-aways from the article:

1. DLO will definitely be with the Wolves next season via an extension or playing out the last year of his contract. It's obvious that the Gobert deal has made retaining DLO at least for next season a given. There is no other PG at DLO's level available in free agency and the Wolves don't have the assets to acquire one. Meanwhile, it is equally clear that the Wolves coaching staff sees DLO as an even more important part of the team now that Gobert is here. So all those who really can't stand DLO need to swallow hard and accept the reality that DLO is definitely here at least though next season.

2. DLO is truly excited about playing for the Wolves next season. Jon K pointed out that DLO kept using that term, "excited", repeatedly throughout the interview and it comes up in quote after quote. It sure seems genuine, especially when you read his comments about why he's excited. He said that this will be the most talented team on paper he's ever played on. He talked about the impact Gobert has on the defensive end. Like DLO or not, you have to admit he has a really high basketball IQ and really understand the game. I'm excited that he's excited.

3. He's been highly motivated this summer by his failure in the playoffs last season. He admitted that he played poorly in the playoffs and said that he took the fun out of the regular season. He said his workouts this summer have been fueled by his failure in the playoffs last season. I like his reaction because it shows he's honest with himself and also shows he cares.

4. He wants to stay but he's trying not to get too emotionally invested in staying because he knows there's a chance he might not be here beyond next season.

5. He views his role on the team as a facilitator, not a scorer. I like that. Here's my favorite DLO quote from the article, which reflects his enthusiasm for the team and the role he sees for himself:

"I've been on teams like that where everybody gets paid after we win," Russell said. "I don't care about (speculating on) how many games we win. If we just do what we're supposed to do every night, we'll look up and we might have 60 wins. You never know. I'm just excited. We got a nice young team and a nice mix of younger guys and a few older vets. I just want to be that piece that glues everything together."

I remain somewhat skeptical when it comes to DLO -- his durability, whether he'll continue to give effort defensively and and whether he'll keep the ball moving and forgo those dumb forced shots he takes too often. I also continue to view him as overpaid at his current level. However, I don't see anyone better out there who is realistically available. And whatever you think of DLO, he's a talented PG who can both score and facilitate. He was a one-time all-star and was instrumental in the Wolves success last season. So I'm content to have him on this team next season and I'm excited by what we might get from this former #2 pick in the NBA draft who is just barely entering the prime years of his career.

lipoli390 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Anyone else think the Suns would have jumped in on Gobert right about now? I do and I think the Suns and Jazz could both be convinced that the same or similar pick package would have been beneficial. The Suns no doubt want to maximize their window with Chris Paul and that combo would be killer. The Jazz would look at the the age of Paul and probably like their chances better with those later picks. I'm glad the Wolves went out and got their man.

Not sure why noted cheapskate Sarver would pass on resigning Ayton only to give another, older big even more money.

There's no way Sarver would take on Gobert's contract unless he planned on swapping Chris Paul as part of the deal.

I get it. I live in Arizona and it's always been in the Suns discussion about Sarver. He did indicate not that long ago that he won't take winning for granted and will pay for it. He was willing to take on Paul's albatross at the time because he understood the winning benefit. Ayton to Gobert is the same principle.