Minnesota Sports Forum

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

TheFuture wrote:I'm not quite sure about these rankings. How are we better than OKC? I still think we are in that 6-10 battle that happens every season. That's at best.

Edit: similar to what khans posted, but I see OKC as still the 4 or 5 in our conference with Westbrook leading.

They're still a playoff team with Westbrook. Remember, it's not unprecedented to win 40+ games without Durant. They won 45(?) without him for most of the season.

And with the emergence of Adams and Oladipo... I think next year's team is better... And better than MN.

Yup. OKC was cut down a big notch, but we're going to be fighting like dogs to make the playoffs. I can easily see us missing out unfortunately. I hate being in the West!

khans2k5 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Westbrook is going to have some say in where he goes. And if he doesn't want to go East (he probably doesn't) he's simply not going to sign an extension which will nullify any potential move.

If they don't trade him, they are going to lose him for nothing too. I don't think they have a choice, and will have to trade him to a situation where he will agree to an extension.

Westbrook isn't signing an extension with anyone. That would cost him money. Why would he do that? He'd seemingly be the only non-RFA to sign an extension since the CBA was put into place. I don't get why he would do that. He's gonna sign a 1&1 wherever he goes so he can re-up the year after next for the 10 year service 35% max.

Maybe not, but he's untradeable if he doesn't at least agree to a setup similar to Durant where re-upping is a foregone conclusion. If he isn't willing to give some team that much, he will stay in OKC next year and become an even bigger villain than Durant is.

Boston and LA would easily take that gamble without the extension. Not everyone is scared to death of losing their free agents like a lot of this board with ours especially when it's the two most storied franchises in NBA history.

Maybe LA would since that's where he is likely destined. Boston isn't that stupid. At a minimum the package would be much less without some sort of guarantee after this year.

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

TheFuture wrote:I'm not quite sure about these rankings. How are we better than OKC? I still think we are in that 6-10 battle that happens every season. That's at best.

Edit: similar to what khans posted, but I see OKC as still the 4 or 5 in our conference with Westbrook leading.

They're still a playoff team with Westbrook. Remember, it's not unprecedented to win 40+ games without Durant. They won 45(?) without him for most of the season.

And with the emergence of Adams and Oladipo... I think next year's team is better... And better than MN.

Yup. OKC was cut down a big notch, but we're going to be fighting like dogs to make the playoffs. I can easily see us missing out unfortunately. I hate being in the West!

.500 ball made the playoffs in the West last year, do you really think it's going to be that much better this year? Now if you're saying we are going to be fighting for a .500 record we can have that discussion. But I don't think we will miss the playoffs because it's going to take 50 wins to get in.

If were as talented as we think, and our coach is as accomplished as most of you think, isn't it time to make a move? If not now, when?

TRKO wrote:

BizarroJerry wrote:Any signings today? Ricky, Monster??

Gerald Henderson to the 76ers. 2 years 18 million.

This is a solid pickup for 76ers. Was my top free agent hopeful for the Wolves at SG.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

TheFuture wrote:I'm not quite sure about these rankings. How are we better than OKC? I still think we are in that 6-10 battle that happens every season. That's at best.

Edit: similar to what khans posted, but I see OKC as still the 4 or 5 in our conference with Westbrook leading.

They're still a playoff team with Westbrook. Remember, it's not unprecedented to win 40+ games without Durant. They won 45(?) without him for most of the season.

And with the emergence of Adams and Oladipo... I think next year's team is better... And better than MN.

Yup. OKC was cut down a big notch, but we're going to be fighting like dogs to make the playoffs. I can easily see us missing out unfortunately. I hate being in the West!

.500 ball made the playoffs in the West last year, do you really think it's going to be that much better this year? Now if you're saying we are going to be fighting for a .500 record we can have that discussion. But I don't think we will miss the playoffs because it's going to take 50 wins to get in.

If were as talented as we think, and our coach is as accomplished as most of you think, isn't it time to make a move? If not now, when?

.500 ball made the playoffs last year in the West, but that was an anomaly. Rarely does that get it done in the Western Conference and I see no reason it won't go back to "normal" (i.e. 45+ wins minimum) based on the free agency movement.

So yes, because I think we will win something in the 40-45 game range, I do believe we will be in a dogfight for that last playoff spot.

I think going from 29 to 40 wins is a very nice step forward. You yourself thought 50 wins was possible "with good fortune", and since I always assume some amount of bad fortune like injuries, perhaps we aren't as far apart as you might think! I also can't reconcile your ~ 50-win prediction with a top 4 playoff seeding.

I think we will win between 38 and 45 games. We are still very young and developing. We should be fighting for a playoff spot though.

I like to use Portland as a means of comparison. I think most would place Portland as a shoo-in for the playoffs at this point. And I don't see why we should take a back seat to them going forward. In fact it will be a big disappointment to me if we finish behind them this year. I honestly think spots 4 - 11 are wide open in the West, and I guess I'm optimistically placing us ahead of all those teams. Again, this group is ready to make a move - why not this year?

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I like to use Portland as a means of comparison. I think most would place Portland as a shoo-in for the playoffs at this point. And I don't see why we should take a back seat to them going forward. In fact it will be a big disappointment to me if we finish behind them this year. I honestly think spots 4 - 11 are wide open in the West, and I guess I'm optimistically placing us ahead of all those teams. Again, this group is ready to make a move - why not this year?

And I thought you were being sarcastic! ;-)

Although I see what you and LST are doing. Set the bar really high. When we don't reach it, you can say "I told Thibs was a bad hire!"...

60WinTim wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I like to use Portland as a means of comparison. I think most would place Portland as a shoo-in for the playoffs at this point. And I don't see why we should take a back seat to them going forward. In fact it will be a big disappointment to me if we finish behind them this year. I honestly think spots 4 - 11 are wide open in the West, and I guess I'm optimistically placing us ahead of all those teams. Again, this group is ready to make a move - why not this year?

And I thought you were being sarcastic! ;-)

Although I see what you and LST are doing. Set the bar really high. When we don't reach it, you can say "I told Thibs was a bad hire!"...

Hahahaha. I never said he was a bad hire, just not my first choice. But yes, with all the fanfare he comes here with, why shouldn't we expect a dramatic improvement? Tim, I'm counting on you to be aboard this train - YOU'RE USUALLY THE ONE DRIVING IT!!

I am still opTIMistic! But I am down a bit about our low key splash in free agency, although I would not have spent the amount of money and years on the guys I had hoped we might get.

It is a concern at how so many West teams seem to have taken a step forward. We will be better, but as Q mentioned, I don't think next year will be a down year for the West like it was last year...