Minnesota Sports Forum

... to say I seem to be one of the very few that's okay with the trade.

The boneheaded turnovers, mental weakness, complaining... the career of KAT in Minnesota soured for me over the past few years. I went from him being one of my favorite players, to hating seeing him on the court.

Sure, he's the best player in the trade. But I will take Randle, Divincenzo, and the ability to sign Naz to a longer deal every time.

The more I think about it the more I like it. We are so deep now it's crazy. I didn't realize DDV averaged 20ppg his last 48 games last year.

Bruster wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:09 pm
The boneheaded turnovers, mental weakness, complaining.

This is ALSO Randle.

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:52 pm

Bruster wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:09 pm
The boneheaded turnovers, mental weakness, complaining.

This is ALSO Randle.

It’s like a new girlfriend. Even though they’re just as frustrating, you’re just happy to have moved on.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:18 pm The more I think about it the more I like it. We are so deep now it's crazy. I didn't realize DDV averaged 20ppg his last 48 games last year.

I was going to comment this in the other thread to you because I know you watch DDV a lot on the bucks but DDV really took a step forward as a player last year. Now was that small sample size, a outlier year or something like that, I’m not sure but last year DDV was a more well rounded and straight better player than the one you saw on the bucks a couple years back

kekgeek wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:59 am

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:18 pm The more I think about it the more I like it. We are so deep now it's crazy. I didn't realize DDV averaged 20ppg his last 48 games last year.

I was going to comment this in the other thread to you because I know you watch DDV a lot on the bucks but DDV really took a step forward as a player last year. Now was that small sample size, a outlier year or something like that, I’m not sure but last year DDV was a more well rounded and straight better player than the one you saw on the bucks a couple years back

I do think DDV was the #1 priority for the Wolves in this trade. And it was a perfect storm of factors that created the opportunity to make this trade now. With the acquisition of Bridges, the Knicks had the luxury of depth at guard/wing. But after losing Hartenstein, they were then confronting an injury with Mitchell that really put them in a bind in the frontcourt. The Wolves had tried to sign DDV last offseason. The Wolves' salary woes had to be addressed in the next year or two, with KAT's salary being the #1 anchor in that area. They lost Monte and JMac. NAW had a lousy offensive performance in the playoffs, coupled with a lousy Olympics. They drafted Rob to beef up their backcourt, but how much can a rookie do in year one?

So the Knicks urgency coupled with the Wolves needs led to this trade going down now. And I believe the most impactful outcome for the Wolves will be seeing the combo of Donte/ANT together on the court, sometimes as the 1/2, and other times as the 2/3. It should be fun!

Yeah, NAW kind of let us down in the playoffs and then his Olympics were subpar. Hard to trust that shot of his even though he came up big a lot during the regular season. DDV went through the crucible of Thibs-ball so he should fit into our defensive culture.

Bruster wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 12:08 am

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:52 pm

Bruster wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:09 pm
The boneheaded turnovers, mental weakness, complaining.

This is ALSO Randle.

It’s like a new girlfriend. Even though they’re just as frustrating, you’re just happy to have moved on.

Yeah we are trading 2 flawed but very productive players for each other. Randle isn't quite as good as Towns but also makes like 20 million less. The other thing is that the Wolves have Naz Reid to play instead of Randle if he struggles. I don't think the Knicks had that luxury.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 8:53 am Yeah, NAW kind of let us down in the playoffs and then his Olympics were subpar. Hard to trust that shot of his even though he came up big a lot during the regular season. DDV went through the crucible of Thibs-ball so he should fit into our defensive culture.

The problem with NAW is that if he isn't hitting 3's he simply isn't a scorer and while I think he is a decent enough caretaker as a PG he isn't a guy that's gonna create a ton for teammates. The Wolves lacked scoring from the perimeter all year and it hit them the hardest that Mavs series but to be honest the Denver series they ended up winning it was a problem at times too. NAW simply isn't a guy that can go get you a bucket. With DDV you get excellent shooting, some scoring and he plays defense plus he is a smart basketball player. He was pretty good in GS which was partly why he got the contract he has now which because he played well with the Knicks and stayed healthy is a value deal. He is an upgrade from NAW and if he stays healthy that's going to allow the Wolves to be able to do a few things this season they were not able to last year in terms of lineups (maybe even playing some young guys here and there) and maybe resting Conley more.

Towns missed 20 games last season. The Wolves went 14-6 during those games (.700). That's not a fluke either because he missed 53 games the previous year too and their wasn't much difference in winning percentage with Towns (.517) and without (.509).

Towns is certainly a very good player. You would certainly think he would have made the team dramatically better when playing and worse when not. But it's possible the Wolves could have used him differently (better) too.

I look at Town's career stats and probably his best years came under Thibodeau:
2016/17 - 5.2 VORP
2017/18 - 5.2 VORP All Star
2018/19 - 5.1 VORP All Star (half season with Thib and half with Saunders)

Those were the only years he's been over 5 VORP in his career. So, don't be shocked if he has a good season in NY. My guess is he'll be featured more there than he was here the last couple years.