Minnesota Sports Forum

But back to ball.

If Ayo keeps playing like this, he just might price us out of keeping some depth. Or forcing the issue of making a Randle/Naz/Divo trade.

Good or bad thing?

Ayo fits Ant extremely well and is close in age. When's the last time we had a PG who could do a bit of it all AND shoot the 3 at a high clip? Not to mention the above average D. I may wager that we never have. It should've been Billups, but we know that story.

Man, potentiallty having a backcourt moving forward for the next 3+ years that both shoot over 40% and can defend? I have to be dreaming.

I still want to be patient before being totally declarative about Ayo--- see how he does in the PS and such--- but based on how he is acclimating to the team and even imprinting himself onto it, they have to sign him long term.

I think Dane Moore is correct that one of Rudy, Randle or Naz needs to go this off-season. I'm still willing to bet on Naz but I get why some are running out of patience. With Randle or Rudy there would be growing pains obviously but I'd be fine with trading either one actually

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:13 pm I still want to be patient before being totally declarative about Ayo--- see how he does in the PS and such--- but based on how he is acclimating to the team and even imprinting himself onto it, they have to sign him long term.

I think Dane Moore is correct that one of Rudy, Randle or Naz needs to go this off-season. I'm still willing to bet on Naz but I get why some are running out of patience. With Randle or Rudy there would be growing pains obviously but I'd be fine with trading either one actually

That's fair on Ayo. The correct approach. But, yeah it is impossible to ignore his seamless fit.

I don't care if Randle or Naz goes, I just think it should be Naz because I do feel he bring back more value in comparison to his talent level though.

Rudy has to stay. He is definitely the second most important player on the team. Honestly, his value to us is about 1/3 of our overall team value.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2026 10:32 pm

Crazysauce wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2026 10:28 pm Uh yeah aussie. Apparently Jaden Ivey was just released for expressing his religious views.

It's downright scary. And Steve Kerr can use his voice to spew political hate and it goes unchecked.

I’m going to regret posting this but like every other business in the world, you can have your belief system. Now how much you are allowed to share your beliefs is determined by how valuable you are with your skill set.

Ivey has been doing long unprovoked rants on Instagram on a ton of different subjects, whenever he wants and he has every right to do that. With that said the bulls have every right to release him because he could be a sponsorship liability. Ivey has been an often injured, flat out bad basketball player for the last couple of years so it is not worth the risk of team chemistry, winning basketball games and sponsorships.

Jonathan Isaac has very similar beliefs as Ivey but he has kept a job because he has been a positive on the basketball court. Ant made a comment a couple years ago about a group of perceived gay people and he was fined and had to do training but because he is the face of the organization he wouldn’t come close to losing his job.

If I went on instagram and was doing what Ivey is doing I probably am a brand risk for my company (I’m a head of our child mental health department). It’s all about how much talent you have vs the money risk. That has been the case for all of our lives and it will be that way for ever.

I only saw the 4th. Did Ant play faster with Ayo on the court?

kekgeek wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2026 12:46 am I only saw the 4th. Did Ant play faster with Ayo on the court?

100%!!

ANT had pretty short stints, but this may have been the least “ball stopper” he has been all season. Is it because Ayo was on the floor? Or merely another ball handler? Or a lesson learned watching the team play fast without him the past 6 games?

Maybe it was a combination of all those things, but it was beautiful to see. Worth watching if you had the opportunity. We can only hope it continues and he doesn’t fall back into LEAD GUARD mode.

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:13 pm I still want to be patient before being totally declarative about Ayo--- see how he does in the PS and such--- but based on how he is acclimating to the team and even imprinting himself onto it, they have to sign him long term.

I think Dane Moore is correct that one of Rudy, Randle or Naz needs to go this off-season. I'm still willing to bet on Naz but I get why some are running out of patience. With Randle or Rudy there would be growing pains obviously but I'd be fine with trading either one actually

If Ayo ultimately is our point guard of the future, I don't think we necessarily need to move Randle or Naz because moving them was always going to be for a point guard. We can afford Ayo and everyone on the team next season. Now if we decide to get younger, or go in a different direction say play smaller we could look at that in the off season. If Ayo can rebound like that, you could go smaller with Jaden at the pf spot. Maybe go after another player that can dribble and attack, or even a wing star player like Leonard if he doesn't get suspended for his illegal contract from the Clippers.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:29 am

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:13 pm I still want to be patient before being totally declarative about Ayo--- see how he does in the PS and such--- but based on how he is acclimating to the team and even imprinting himself onto it, they have to sign him long term.

I think Dane Moore is correct that one of Rudy, Randle or Naz needs to go this off-season. I'm still willing to bet on Naz but I get why some are running out of patience. With Randle or Rudy there would be growing pains obviously but I'd be fine with trading either one actually

If Ayo ultimately is our point guard of the future, I don't think we necessarily need to move Randle or Naz because moving them was always going to be for a point guard. We can afford Ayo and everyone on the team next season. Now if we decide to get younger, or go in a different direction say play smaller we could look at that in the off season. If Ayo can rebound like that, you could go smaller with Jaden at the pf spot. Maybe go after another player that can dribble and attack, or even a wing star player like Leonard if he doesn't get suspended for his illegal contract from the Clippers.

If they want Joan to play next year, you need to move one of the bigs

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:43 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:29 am

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2026 11:13 pm I still want to be patient before being totally declarative about Ayo--- see how he does in the PS and such--- but based on how he is acclimating to the team and even imprinting himself onto it, they have to sign him long term.

I think Dane Moore is correct that one of Rudy, Randle or Naz needs to go this off-season. I'm still willing to bet on Naz but I get why some are running out of patience. With Randle or Rudy there would be growing pains obviously but I'd be fine with trading either one actually

If Ayo ultimately is our point guard of the future, I don't think we necessarily need to move Randle or Naz because moving them was always going to be for a point guard. We can afford Ayo and everyone on the team next season. Now if we decide to get younger, or go in a different direction say play smaller we could look at that in the off season. If Ayo can rebound like that, you could go smaller with Jaden at the pf spot. Maybe go after another player that can dribble and attack, or even a wing star player like Leonard if he doesn't get suspended for his illegal contract from the Clippers.

If they want Joan to play next year, you need to move one of the bigs

That's fair, but they need to 100% know Joan can contribute before making a massive move like that, or be willing to step back if it doesn't. Letting NAW go, and banking on Shannon and Clark was a disaster. Rudy will be 34 next season at some point his minutes are going to start going down. As valuable as he is to us, is it worth trading him while he has trade value or just keep going for as long as the wheels stay on for him. Naz despite getting a huge raise is actually playing 1.4 fewer minutes per game this year. I'm not opposed to the idea of leaning onto Joan next season, but we just need to be prepared that it might not work right away or even all of next year.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:51 am

AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:43 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2026 9:29 am

If Ayo ultimately is our point guard of the future, I don't think we necessarily need to move Randle or Naz because moving them was always going to be for a point guard. We can afford Ayo and everyone on the team next season. Now if we decide to get younger, or go in a different direction say play smaller we could look at that in the off season. If Ayo can rebound like that, you could go smaller with Jaden at the pf spot. Maybe go after another player that can dribble and attack, or even a wing star player like Leonard if he doesn't get suspended for his illegal contract from the Clippers.

If they want Joan to play next year, you need to move one of the bigs

That's fair, but they need to 100% know Joan can contribute before making a massive move like that, or be willing to step back if it doesn't. Letting NAW go, and banking on Shannon and Clark was a disaster. Rudy will be 34 next season at some point his minutes are going to start going down. As valuable as he is to us, is it worth trading him while he has trade value or just keep going for as long as the wheels stay on for him. Naz despite getting a huge raise is actually playing 1.4 fewer minutes per game this year. I'm not opposed to the idea of leaning onto Joan next season, but we just need to be prepared that it might not work right away or even all of next year.

Well there's no way for them get 100% but at some point you just have to have the conviction to trust your evaluation.
I would be the least in favor of moving Rudy but it has merit. Naz would probably get the best return and if they don't think he can be a plus starter than they MUST move him in my opinion. If he can be a starter than you need to move Randle