Minnesota Sports Forum

KAT is out until the middle of January according the most recent report. JMac remains out with a similar calf injury to the one that has KAT out of action. DLO is day to day with a bruised knee. And now the latest: Rudy Gobert is questionable for Friday's game against OKC with a sprained ankle.

The Wolves were set up with the opportunity to get ahead of the curve early in the season with a relatively soft schedule. They were healthy during that stretch, but failed to take advantage of the opportunity. Now Wolves players are going down at the same time the schedule has gotten much tougher. The season is looking more and more like a lottery finish for the Wolves. Unfortunately, the Wolves lottery pick will end up on Utah. There is no safety net for the Wolves this year and no option to trade any of its future first-round picks over the next years following the 2023 draft.

I still believe the Wolves can (and should) make the playoffs, although I don't see them finishing higher than 6th or coming out of the first round. But we're fast approaching the nightmare scenario that came to my mind and that I wrote about when the Gobert deal was made.

The safety net is that Connelly has an eye for talent and the Wolves roster is full of young players even if some players leave. In addition the Wolves could have quite a few roster spots open this coming offseason and possibly some significant roles available which could be appealing to players looking for a more legit opportunity on a team that's clearly talented and therefore could add to the desire to sign here. The reality is the hardest part of the NBA is getting the top players and in some cases other key core guys. Connelly and the Wolves may need to find some more talent and at least a key contributor. Maybe Connelly isn't good at finding young talent. He has a pretty good track record I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt till proven otherwise.

I think what would be potentially more devastating than being lottery team is losing everyone or maybe a player like Nowell who turns intimacy really good player down the road in FA. Let's say everyone left though. Here is how many roster spots that would leave the Wolves.

1. Reid
2. Nowell
3. Russell
4. Forbes
5. Rivers

In addition Knight could be let go as he only has $350,000 guaranteed.

Prince has a non-guaranteed deal. I wouldn't expect them to dump him unless there is some injury concern but still worth mentioning.

Of course they also have their 2 way contracts although I think most people at this point would like to hold onto Garza somehow.

This worst case scenario means 3 legit NBA players left the roster but a wide open PG spot and maybe a 6th man could be appealing and picking the right guy/s that hasn't figured it out yet and signing him could net the Wolves a player or maybe even multiple players (might even be relatively young) that could be part of the roster going forward. Roster flexibility/roster spots, opportunity and some savvy have legit value. Sure they will be limited in what they can offer players which is gonna be even tougher when I think a lot of teams have money to spend but there will be worthwhile players they will have an opportunity to sign.

I'm not painting some sort of rosy picture here but there will be some legit chances to add to the roster outside of draft picks and having lots of money to spend in FA. Again Connelly and the people he has around him will need to add the right guys. It hasn't worked all that well this season but it's also not over yet and I still believe it's a pretty talented roster.

monsterpile wrote:The safety net is that Connelly has an eye for talent and the Wolves roster is full of young players even if some players leave. In addition the Wolves could have quite a few roster spots open this coming offseason and possibly some significant roles available which could be appealing to players looking for a more legit opportunity on a team that's clearly talented and therefore could add to the desire to sign here. The reality is the hardest part of the NBA is getting the top players and in some cases other key core guys. Connelly and the Wolves may need to find some more talent and at least a key contributor. Maybe Connelly isn't good at finding young talent. He has a pretty good track record I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt till proven otherwise.

I think what would be potentially more devastating than being lottery team is losing everyone or maybe a player like Nowell who turns intimacy really good player down the road in FA. Let's say everyone left though. Here is how many roster spots that would leave the Wolves.

1. Reid
2. Nowell
3. Russell
4. Forbes
5. Rivers

In addition Knight could be let go as he only has $350,000 guaranteed.

Prince has a non-guaranteed deal. I wouldn't expect them to dump him unless there is some injury concern but still worth mentioning.

Of course they also have their 2 way contracts although I think most people at this point would like to hold onto Garza somehow.

This worst case scenario means 3 legit NBA players left the roster but a wide open PG spot and maybe a 6th man could be appealing and picking the right guy/s that hasn't figured it out yet and signing him could net the Wolves a player or maybe even multiple players (might even be relatively young) that could be part of the roster going forward. Roster flexibility/roster spots, opportunity and some savvy have legit value. Sure they will be limited in what they can offer players which is gonna be even tougher when I think a lot of teams have money to spend but there will be worthwhile players they will have an opportunity to sign.

I'm not painting some sort of rosy picture here but there will be some legit chances to add to the roster outside of draft picks and having lots of money to spend in FA. Again Connelly and the people he has around him will need to add the right guys. It hasn't worked all that well this season but it's also not over yet and I still believe it's a pretty talented roster.

Reality is that the team is now locked into KAT, Gobert, Edwards and DLO. They are completely fucked of any pivoting win with those 4 players. Edwards will not be traded. KAT could but should not be traded. He is the perfect big for Edwards. Gobert will not and cannot be traded because the loss would be astronomical. DLo has the Wolves by the balls now, pay him and sit as currently constructed and look to shed cap somehow with zero picks, trade him to net you what?, or let him walk and have no room to maneuver. Then you have to figure out Jaden, Jmac, Reid, Nowell. Shortsighted and retarded. Funny thing is, Tim Connelly knows it too.

The only viable backup for any injury is at Center. Good thing there is 75mil tied up there for two players who cannot play together. Anybody who thinks KAT has the movement and help IQ to play PF in today's NBA is beyond my understanding. He could be the ultimate mismatch at C, yet he is now a PF/C who lacks zero awareness at a wing position.

Dial up calls for Reid and Nowell immediately. Nowell sucks in my opinion. He is not conducive to winning basketball. Reid will command plenty, and I would prefer to get something while we can.

Missing Prince has hurt us. Watching Nowell brick everything on the 2nd unit has been especially brutal this stretch.

Gobert out tonight. Going to be a tough one

TheFuture wrote:

monsterpile wrote:The safety net is that Connelly has an eye for talent and the Wolves roster is full of young players even if some players leave. In addition the Wolves could have quite a few roster spots open this coming offseason and possibly some significant roles available which could be appealing to players looking for a more legit opportunity on a team that's clearly talented and therefore could add to the desire to sign here. The reality is the hardest part of the NBA is getting the top players and in some cases other key core guys. Connelly and the Wolves may need to find some more talent and at least a key contributor. Maybe Connelly isn't good at finding young talent. He has a pretty good track record I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt till proven otherwise.

I think what would be potentially more devastating than being lottery team is losing everyone or maybe a player like Nowell who turns intimacy really good player down the road in FA. Let's say everyone left though. Here is how many roster spots that would leave the Wolves.

1. Reid
2. Nowell
3. Russell
4. Forbes
5. Rivers

In addition Knight could be let go as he only has $350,000 guaranteed.

Prince has a non-guaranteed deal. I wouldn't expect them to dump him unless there is some injury concern but still worth mentioning.

Of course they also have their 2 way contracts although I think most people at this point would like to hold onto Garza somehow.

This worst case scenario means 3 legit NBA players left the roster but a wide open PG spot and maybe a 6th man could be appealing and picking the right guy/s that hasn't figured it out yet and signing him could net the Wolves a player or maybe even multiple players (might even be relatively young) that could be part of the roster going forward. Roster flexibility/roster spots, opportunity and some savvy have legit value. Sure they will be limited in what they can offer players which is gonna be even tougher when I think a lot of teams have money to spend but there will be worthwhile players they will have an opportunity to sign.

I'm not painting some sort of rosy picture here but there will be some legit chances to add to the roster outside of draft picks and having lots of money to spend in FA. Again Connelly and the people he has around him will need to add the right guys. It hasn't worked all that well this season but it's also not over yet and I still believe it's a pretty talented roster.

Reality is that the team is now locked into KAT, Gobert, Edwards and DLO. They are completely fucked of any pivoting win with those 4 players. Edwards will not be traded. KAT could but should not be traded. He is the perfect big for Edwards. Gobert will not and cannot be traded because the loss would be astronomical. DLo has the Wolves by the balls now, pay him and sit as currently constructed and look to shed cap somehow with zero picks, trade him to net you what?, or let him walk and have no room to maneuver. Then you have to figure out Jaden, Jmac, Reid, Nowell. Shortsighted and retarded. Funny thing is, Tim Connelly knows it too.

The only viable backup for any injury is at Center. Good thing there is 75mil tied up there for two players who cannot play together. Anybody who thinks KAT has the movement and help IQ to play PF in today's NBA is beyond my understanding. He could be the ultimate mismatch at C, yet he is now a PF/C who lacks zero awareness at a wing position.

Dial up calls for Reid and Nowell immediately. Nowell sucks in my opinion. He is not conducive to winning basketball. Reid will command plenty, and I would prefer to get something while we can.

I don't think DLO has any leverage after this season. If the Wolves miss the playoffs, there is a 99.99% chance DLO is gone and won't be taken back for any amount. He has the worst plus minus on the team and he is very replaceable. If the Wolves make the playoffs, he might be resigned at the right price, but Wolves will consider all options. I think Timmy didn't want to cause ruffles by trading DLO when he and KAT are close friends. But if DLO and KAT continue to underperform and Wolves miss playoffs, Timmy will be looking for scapegoats to deflect the blame for his horrific trade. I don't think he would consider trading Rudy given the amount of assets he paid. DLO will likely be the first one gone and it wouldn't surprise me if KAT is quietly shopped a bit (though I doubt they will pull the trigger). I think the sooner the Wolves front office realize the current core is not championship material the better.

With both KAT and DLO out, I found it interesting that Ant played more of an all-around game versus just launching a bunch of shots last night. Encouraging.

Q-was-here wrote:With both KAT and DLO out, I found it interesting that Ant played more of an all-around game versus just launching a bunch of shots last night. Encouraging.

Yes, I noticed that too. As he said, the smaller the Wolves play, the better he plays. That's an over-simplification to be sure. But last night's game (and many moments in other games) remind us that this team needs to be built around Ant. TC's job is to put the right blend of talent and skills around him to optimize the team's success. He should have used this season to fully assess what to do before pulling the trigger on anything big. But he can still do what needs to be done. We sink or swim with Ant. I'm still not sure he's the guy. But he clearly could be and he's what we have.

I see in the original post/timeline for this thread was KAT was to be out to Mid-January. This read just came across my feed saying he's not close to returning but doesn't give any concrete updated timeline - so who knows?

https://www.si.com/fannation/bringmethesports/timberwolves/karl-anthony-towns-not-close-to-returning-likely-still-out-a-multitude-of-weeks

Carlos Danger wrote:I see in the original post/timeline for this thread was KAT was to be out to Mid-January. This read just came across my feed saying he's not close to returning but doesn't give any concrete updated timeline - so who knows?

https://www.si.com/fannation/bringmethesports/timberwolves/karl-anthony-towns-not-close-to-returning-likely-still-out-a-multitude-of-weeks

Anthony, it's a calf muscle...and as we have learned from JMac, calf muscles take a while to fully heal. It's been fun watching them win with key players out, but I have some concerns that these two calf injuries could limit both of them off an on all season.