Buyer’s Remorse

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

There's a bit of irony with this season. Had Minnesota held off from making that Rudy Gobert trade, re-signed Taurean Prince, and signed Kyle Anderson, their current and future outlook would look outstanding right now -- arguably much, much better than it does right now.

PG:
- D'Angelo Russell
- Jordan McLaughlin
- Patrick Beverley

SG:
- Anthony Edwards
- Malik Beasley
- Jaylen Nowell
- Leandro Bolmaro

SF:
- Jaden McDaniels
- Taurean Prince
- Wendell Moore Jr.

PF:
- Kyle Anderson
- Jarred Vanderbilt
- Josh Minott (Two-Way)

C:
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Naz Reid
- Walker Kessler
- Nathan Knight (Two-Way)

Draft Capital:
- 2023 first-round pick*
- 2024 first-round pick
- 2025 first-round pick*
- 2026 first-round pick
- 2027 first-round pick*
- 2028 first-round pick
- 2029 first-round pick*

This is just a long way of saying that there has to be intense buyer's remorse, and many knew it immediately when it occurred, although it's even worse now. The Timberwolves were building organically with relative success already under their belt. They had taken the first real step by making the playoffs. They targeted the right free agents in Prince and Anderson, and didn't overpay either of them. They drafted a stud in Kessler who filled an immediate need for additional size, and there's reasons for optimism for both Moore Jr. and Minott. The future cap situation was also well-managed with a full trove of first-round picks at their disposal.

Minnesota just couldn't get out of their own way. That's the unfortunate reality. They may still have success from this point forward, and I expect that to be the case, but that feeling of "what if" still surfaces, especially after games like tonight.

[WildWolf2813]

without the trade, I still don't think they're better than they are now. Part of it is remembering why they felt they need to pursue a center at all. As soon as Connelly entered the picture they were looking to maybe add Clint Capela for a couple of ones. Given how close this team was to losing out of the play-in (if they drop that game to the Clippers, there's no way they were beating the Pelicans) and seeing why they lost to the Grizzlies, I get why they wanted more size. In a "small ball" league they were the smallest team in the league and some of the guys we cherish so much (Reid and Vanderbilt) were getting played off the court by Brandon Clarke. They needed more rebounding.


Now, I wasn't a fan of the Kessler addition, but that's because we were skeptical of how Towns would fare alongside another big man who couldn't really do much offensively. If Kessler is here, the only way he may have ever seen the court is if KAT was injured.

Also, given how D'Lo played in the playoffs, Finch really wanted to see if Nowell /McLaughlin could take the next step. While McLaughlin has had a positive impact, Nowell has failed miserably. In this current roster iteration, Pat Bev still starts (and isn't third string) AND Ant is at SF which impacts McDaniels. The reason why I think at best they'd still be in this position is because a team like the Pelicans is much more potent than we are when healthy. Same goes for the Clippers. Even if you see Utah falling apart, everyone else was on a tier above us. The best case scenario is that the Wolves woulda used Kessler as a trial period for this big man combo they wanted and then they'd have 3 choices:

if Kessler's decent but not there yet, upgrade to Gobert who might have still been had for a price elsewhere,

if Kessler and Towns suck, abandon that pairing

If Kessler is what he is and it works with Towns, problem solved and then they can focus on upgrading PG.

Realistically, Kessler would be in Iowa with Moore. Long story short, Connelly saw this roster and thought they needed much more help and size and when you have top 20 players available, they don't come around often for this team. I don't blame Connelly for that mindset (and I think if this team was in this same situation with the same cast of characters it would be more demoralizing), but the execution was horrible and it's not impossible now to think Ant's gone before Rudy is if Rudy's impact continues to lessen.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I'm ok with the Timberwolves trading players and assets to try to improve last year's squad.

They just gave up way too much for the wrong guy.

So yeah... buyer's remorse.

[Carlos Danger]

Good back point and counter points in this thread. Rudy proved in Utah he can be a big asset. Connelly went big to try and put this team over the top. It hasn't gone as well as he hoped up to this point. That would have been a lot easier pill to swallow without the gross overpay. I'm still hoping for some shuffling at the deadline. We have good players - but something is just off on this year's roster. We need a sparkplug.

[Sundog]

I'll just say again that we don't know yet how this team as currently constructed will/can perform, because of the injuries to KAT and JMac. I get the therapeutic benefits of threads like this one, but what ifs don't get us much more than that.

[thedoper]

It would have been nice if Moore or Minott were playable this year. This could have changed my feelings a bit. Rudy has been a puzzle. In isolation Rudy has been underwhelming, but I see him as a nice compliment to Ant and Jaden still in many ways. The big remorse for me is still the nature of this Kat injury this year. Hard to take a temperature of this team without fulling seeing the way our all star fits into everything the brass is trying to build. At the very least we have a key asset that we could move to build around who has played this year. At the most we have a very significant offensive juggernaut waiting in the wings who could bolster our offense significantly, which this year has been our deficiency.

[Tactical unit]

without the trade, I still don't think they're better than they are now. Part of it is remembering why they felt they need to pursue a center at all. As soon as Connelly entered the picture they were looking to maybe add Clint Capela for a couple of ones. Given how close this team was to losing out of the play-in (if they drop that game to the Clippers, there's no way they were beating the Pelicans) and seeing why they lost to the Grizzlies, I get why they wanted more size. In a "small ball" league they were the smallest team in the league and some of the guys we cherish so much (Reid and Vanderbilt) were getting played off the court by Brandon Clarke. They needed more rebounding.


Now, I wasn't a fan of the Kessler addition, but that's because we were skeptical of how Towns would fare alongside another big man who couldn't really do much offensively. If Kessler is here, the only way he may have ever seen the court is if KAT was injured.

Also, given how D'Lo played in the playoffs, Finch really wanted to see if Nowell /McLaughlin could take the next step. While McLaughlin has had a positive impact, Nowell has failed miserably. In this current roster iteration, Pat Bev still starts (and isn't third string) AND Ant is at SF which impacts McDaniels. The reason why I think at best they'd still be in this position is because a team like the Pelicans is much more potent than we are when healthy. Same goes for the Clippers. Even if you see Utah falling apart, everyone else was on a tier above us. The best case scenario is that the Wolves woulda used Kessler as a trial period for this big man combo they wanted and then they'd have 3 choices:

if Kessler's decent but not there yet, upgrade to Gobert who might have still been had for a price elsewhere,

if Kessler and Towns suck, abandon that pairing

If Kessler is what he is and it works with Towns, problem solved and then they can focus on upgrading PG.

Realistically, Kessler would be in Iowa with Moore. Long story short, Connelly saw this roster and thought they needed much more help and size and when you have top 20 players available, they don't come around often for this team. I don't blame Connelly for that mindset (and I think if this team was in this same situation with the same cast of characters it would be more demoralizing), but the execution was horrible and it's not impossible now to think Ant's gone before Rudy is if Rudy's impact continues to lessen.

Kessler in Iowa? He averaged 4.6 blocks per game as a Sophomore last year, unless that didn't translate you don't think MN would have noticed him swatting tons of shots in practice?

[WildWolf2813]

without the trade, I still don't think they're better than they are now. Part of it is remembering why they felt they need to pursue a center at all. As soon as Connelly entered the picture they were looking to maybe add Clint Capela for a couple of ones. Given how close this team was to losing out of the play-in (if they drop that game to the Clippers, there's no way they were beating the Pelicans) and seeing why they lost to the Grizzlies, I get why they wanted more size. In a "small ball" league they were the smallest team in the league and some of the guys we cherish so much (Reid and Vanderbilt) were getting played off the court by Brandon Clarke. They needed more rebounding.


Now, I wasn't a fan of the Kessler addition, but that's because we were skeptical of how Towns would fare alongside another big man who couldn't really do much offensively. If Kessler is here, the only way he may have ever seen the court is if KAT was injured.

Also, given how D'Lo played in the playoffs, Finch really wanted to see if Nowell /McLaughlin could take the next step. While McLaughlin has had a positive impact, Nowell has failed miserably. In this current roster iteration, Pat Bev still starts (and isn't third string) AND Ant is at SF which impacts McDaniels. The reason why I think at best they'd still be in this position is because a team like the Pelicans is much more potent than we are when healthy. Same goes for the Clippers. Even if you see Utah falling apart, everyone else was on a tier above us. The best case scenario is that the Wolves woulda used Kessler as a trial period for this big man combo they wanted and then they'd have 3 choices:

if Kessler's decent but not there yet, upgrade to Gobert who might have still been had for a price elsewhere,

if Kessler and Towns suck, abandon that pairing

If Kessler is what he is and it works with Towns, problem solved and then they can focus on upgrading PG.

Realistically, Kessler would be in Iowa with Moore. Long story short, Connelly saw this roster and thought they needed much more help and size and when you have top 20 players available, they don't come around often for this team. I don't blame Connelly for that mindset (and I think if this team was in this same situation with the same cast of characters it would be more demoralizing), but the execution was horrible and it's not impossible now to think Ant's gone before Rudy is if Rudy's impact continues to lessen.

Kessler in Iowa? He averaged 4.6 blocks per game as a Sophomore last year, unless that didn't translate you don't think MN would have noticed him swatting tons of shots in practice?

Who was gonna take the hit in terms of playing time? Reid, Vando, KAT and Kessler weren't gonna all produce the way they have together, and that's with the belief that KAT would transition to the 4 alongside a big like Kessler smoothly, which the jury is still out on.

[Monster]

Kessler is playing legit minutes for a team hovering around .500. Assuming Towns still gets hurt Kessler probably plays some legit minutes for MN this season.

Honestly the guy that the Wolves MIGHT actually miss the most this season is Beasley. He was available because they wanted to clear the way for Nowell. They also signed Bryn Forbes who hasn't shot well in his opportunities which have been somewhat limited. Losing Beverly hurts since McLaughlin was injured but the Wolves 2 replacements for Beasley can't hit a 3. So far I was wrong about both of those guys although while I did supper giving Nowell a shot at the role he has I did realize there was a chance he wasn't up for it. Wasn't expecting it to be quite this bad shooting the 3.

I see a scenario where Rivers becomes a cheap multi year vet player for this roster. That could have real value. I'm not sure which guy I'd rather have for the next 3 years him or Beverly. I'd probably lean Rivers part because he is younger and partly because I think he might have better staying power as a vet leader than Beverly.

Another question is whether either Garza or Matt Ryan turn out to be worthwhile players for this team the next few years. If they do that could be worth a 1 first round pick. That's part of the bet that Connelly can use his eye for talent and roster spots to fill in the roster even without picks. Garza flashes more but I like Matt Ryan. He seems to know how to play and is shooting the heck out of the ball when he gets a chance to play. Of course it's possible both guys could be out the league in a couple years. The end of the roster matters you never know what type of solid guy you can get and McLaughlin is an excellent example of that.

[Tactical unit]

without the trade, I still don't think they're better than they are now. Part of it is remembering why they felt they need to pursue a center at all. As soon as Connelly entered the picture they were looking to maybe add Clint Capela for a couple of ones. Given how close this team was to losing out of the play-in (if they drop that game to the Clippers, there's no way they were beating the Pelicans) and seeing why they lost to the Grizzlies, I get why they wanted more size. In a "small ball" league they were the smallest team in the league and some of the guys we cherish so much (Reid and Vanderbilt) were getting played off the court by Brandon Clarke. They needed more rebounding.


Now, I wasn't a fan of the Kessler addition, but that's because we were skeptical of how Towns would fare alongside another big man who couldn't really do much offensively. If Kessler is here, the only way he may have ever seen the court is if KAT was injured.

Also, given how D'Lo played in the playoffs, Finch really wanted to see if Nowell /McLaughlin could take the next step. While McLaughlin has had a positive impact, Nowell has failed miserably. In this current roster iteration, Pat Bev still starts (and isn't third string) AND Ant is at SF which impacts McDaniels. The reason why I think at best they'd still be in this position is because a team like the Pelicans is much more potent than we are when healthy. Same goes for the Clippers. Even if you see Utah falling apart, everyone else was on a tier above us. The best case scenario is that the Wolves woulda used Kessler as a trial period for this big man combo they wanted and then they'd have 3 choices:

if Kessler's decent but not there yet, upgrade to Gobert who might have still been had for a price elsewhere,

if Kessler and Towns suck, abandon that pairing

If Kessler is what he is and it works with Towns, problem solved and then they can focus on upgrading PG.

Realistically, Kessler would be in Iowa with Moore. Long story short, Connelly saw this roster and thought they needed much more help and size and when you have top 20 players available, they don't come around often for this team. I don't blame Connelly for that mindset (and I think if this team was in this same situation with the same cast of characters it would be more demoralizing), but the execution was horrible and it's not impossible now to think Ant's gone before Rudy is if Rudy's impact continues to lessen.

Kessler in Iowa? He averaged 4.6 blocks per game as a Sophomore last year, unless that didn't translate you don't think MN would have noticed him swatting tons of shots in practice?

Who was gonna take the hit in terms of playing time? Reid, Vando, KAT and Kessler weren't gonna all produce the way they have together, and that's with the belief that KAT would transition to the 4 alongside a big like Kessler smoothly, which the jury is still out on.

The offseason narrative was they needed blocking and rebounding, Kessler would have found 12-17 mins a night and probably played his way into an active role. I just don't see how he would be Iowa.