2020-2021 Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Thread

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From the Strib:

Until this week, the Wolves had been one of the few teams not hit with absences due to COVID-19 and any subsequent contact tracing.

But that started to change Thursday, when the team announced that both Ricky Rubio and Juancho Hernangomez would miss Friday's game due to "health and safety protocols."

That meant either Hernangomez and/or Rubio tested positive for the virus or were exposed to it. The Star Tribune Thursday confirmed a report from the Athletic that said Hernangomez would be isolating, likely up to 10 days. Under NBA guidelines, any player who tests positive for the virus must sit out at least 10 days after the onset of symptoms.

Wolves radio voice Alan Horton tweeted that Wolves staff members and "a half-dozen players" were on the arena floor preparing for a walk-through late this afternoon when they were told of the postponement..

www.startribune.com

Friday's Timberwolves-Memphis game at Target Center postponed

On Twitter, Towns says he has virus; Timberwolves following protocols.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com
 


STrib Q&A:


@Justin_V_Allen — "Blasphemy alert... but is it time to think about trading KAT? I just don't really see their endgame with the current roster, even a year or two down the road (unless Edwards suddenly becomes mini-Giannis). I'm honestly ready to blow it up and start again."

A: I get the frustration, but a reset will only delay and thought of contending by even more years. Also, as all these trades for superstars have shown in the last two years, the Wolves will get a haul if they one day do decide to trade Towns or he asks out of town. Given he has three years left on his contract after this one, I think you can afford to wait and see how President Gersson Rosas adapts the team around him in the near future.

That said, I'm not sure how long of a timeframe Rosas is going to have before frustrations mounts internally and externally. Towns is staring down the barrel of only one short-lived playoff appearance in six seasons, if the Wolves don't make it this year. If that number becomes 1 in 7 next year or 1 in 8 two years from now, it's hard to imagine the rumor mill won't crank up again. But again, if that day comes, the Wolves should be able to command plenty in return for Towns, no matter when it may come. So for now, just try to see the roster for what it's worth and what it might become.

@RustyRay1980 — I realize the personal ties to the franchise, and vice-versa, but how much longer is the Saunders era going to last?

A: I wish I had a crystal ball for you, RustyRay. I can't see the future, but I think it's fair to use this year and if the Wolves haven't started to make tangible progress toward the end of this season, I think it's fair to question Saunders' job status. Last year he given a makeshift roster to play for most of the year, one that Rosas was using just as a holdover roster to make deals.

Then they had a month, without Towns, before coronavirus ended their season. This year has been a compressed training camp and Towns already missed a significant amount of time. Assuming health, and in a season when COVID is going through they league that's a big assumption to make, I think you have to give him the season.

Owner Glen Taylor wants to see that tangible progress. Taylor notably said he expects the Wolves to be a playoff team this season, and specifically he wanted to see progress from Saunders.

"We talk about things he's doing and it appears he's doing good things. It appears he's motivating the players and appears he utilizes as much practice [time] as he can, but I'm a guy on results," Taylor said before the season. "Without a doubt, the team needs to improve and we've done a lot of that by bringing in the right guys, but now we have to have them jell and get ourselves into the playoffs."

Let's circle back and see where we're at with this question in April or May.

www.startribune.com

Wolves mailbag: How long do Ryan Saunders and Gersson Rosas have to prove themselves?

www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Howl Wolves!!
 

Pioneer Press story on KAT:

“This was pretty significant to us, to our organization, to our family,” said Gersson Rosas, the Timberwolves’ president of basketball operations. “That positive was very impactful, and our team, our organization, wasn’t prepared to move forward tonight.”

Towns’ mom, Jackie, died in April after a long battle with the virus. He revealed last month he’d since lost six other family members, including an uncle in early December. Towns shared his family’s painful story with the public in hopes of raising awareness about the virus and its potentially deadly effects.
He did the same Friday by announcing his positive test.

“I pray every day that this nightmare of a virus will subside, and I beg everyone to continue to take it seriously by taking all of the necessary precautions,” Towns’ statement read Friday. “We cannot stop the spread of this virus alone. It must be a group effort by all of us.”..

Towns has been battling the virus in more ways than one over the past 10 months. He donated $100,000 to Mayo Clinic back in March to help increase COVID-19 testing capacity. The all-star center has stayed as informed as possible about the virus in an effort to keep his family safe.

“I’m trying to keep my sister and the kids, my dad out of harm’s way, keep my family out of harm’s way,” Towns said in early December. “I’ve seen a lot of coffins in the last seven to eight months.”.

“We know all too well what the end result could be,” Towns said in his statement Friday. “To my niece and nephew, Jolani and Max, I promise you I will not end up in a box next to grandma, and I will beat this.”

www.twincities.com

Karl-Anthony Towns announces he has tested positive for COVID-19

The same virus that has tragically taken seven of Karl-Anthony Towns’ family members has now infected the Timberwolves’ all-star center.
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com
 

The problem with trading KAT, at least as far as things currently stand, is that you would be doing what the old cliche says you don't want to do; sell low. KAT's value isn't exactly sky-high at the moment, but that could change by the end of the season I guess.

The real question is, who's buying? If they ever did try to trade him, let's at least hope they don't botch it like the Twins trading Johan Santana back in the day. The Twins let a few pretty good deals pass by before they finally pulled the trigger.
 


The Timberwolves’ game Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies was postponed by the NBA after Karl-Anthony Towns became the second Wolves’ player in as many days to test positive for the virus. At that point, Monday’s game in Atlanta appeared to be in doubt — and still isn’t a sure thing. More virus positives can pop up at any point.

But, as of Sunday afternoon, Timberwolves’ coach Ryan Saunders said the team was working its way through the league’s protocols, preparing to fly to Atlanta after practice. Saunders said the team hasn’t had any more close contacts after the one Wolves’ president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas reported Friday. On Sunday’s injury report, Towns, Juancho Hernangomez and Ricky Rubio were still the only players listed as “out” due to health and safety protocols.

That Minnesota is in a place where it likely will play Monday is surprising.

The Wizards, Celtics and Suns have all had multiple games postponed. Even in the college ranks, Nebraska men’s basketball announced Sunday that 12 members of the program, including seven players and head coach Fred Hoiberg, have all tested positive for the virus.

So it would be a feat for Minnesota to keep its outbreak to two positive cases — which may or may not have been related — and one close contact.

Wolves guard Josh Okogie said that speaks to the fact that Minnesota’s vigilant adherence to the protocols is paying off.

“(Timberwolves Basketball Performance and Technology Robby Sikka) and the front office do a great job of following the health and safety protocols,” Okogie said. “They’ve done a good job of making testing not only available to us but for our families to make sure that whoever is around us has the same resources we have, so they’ve been great.”..

www.twincities.com

Timberwolves working through league protocols, game Monday likely to be played

The Timberwolves’ game Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies was postponed after a second Wolves’ player in as many days tested positive for COVID-19. But, as of Sunday afternoon, the Wolves were pr…
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com
 

Towns or not. Covid or not. Looks like the Wolves have zero chance to win this against Atlanta this afternoon or Friday.

Pope Francis gives blessing to Atlanta Hawks' Martin Luther King Jr. jersey

www.usatoday.com

Pope Francis gives blessing to Atlanta Hawks' Martin Luther King Jr. jersey

The Atlanta Hawks shared a video of Pope Francis receiving a gift of a jersey Friday on what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.'s 92nd birthday.
www.usatoday.com
 

Souhan: Let's be clear. The problem with the Wolves is not Ryan Saunders

The Minnesota Timberwolves are terrible again, and again their front office and head coach are under fire, and this sentence could have been written in so many years that you are forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu, or simple dread.

But this is 2021, the year that will forever be known as 2020's hangover, and that changes everything, whether you like it or not.

Ryan Saunders' winning percentage after 118 games as Wolves head coach is .331. That's worse than Sam Mitchell's when Mitchell was fired after one season (.354), although not as bad as Kurt "Mendoza Line" Rambis', whose "winning" percentage in 164 Wolves games was .195.

Saunders' 2021 Wolves are last in the Western Conference and have lost nine of 10 games while proving they are noncompetitive when Karl-Anthony Towns is not available.

There is no mathematical reason to keep Saunders on the job, unless you consider the numbers 2, 0, 2, and 1.

Gersson Rosas has built a roster without a power forward or quality depth, and his two first-round picks, Jarrett Culver and Anthony Edwards, look more like projects than players. It's hard to find reason to believe in his plan at the moment, but this is 2021, and the NBA is playing through a pandemic, and three of Rosas' top seven players were unavailable against Atlanta on Monday.

In a player-first league, there is no reason to cut this group any slack. D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley have been productive but not close to transformational, and this roster seems incapable of competing without Towns. Towns continues to be an unfortunate symbol of both Wolves misfortune and the times in which we live, having tested positive for COVID-19 in the wake of losing his mother and other family members to the virus.

www.startribune.com

Let's be clear. The problem with the Wolves is not Ryan Saunders

Yes, this is all a mess (again) — exactly why the young coach should be given the benefits of patience, understanding.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com

Howl Wolves!!
 

Timberwolves with the choke of the year and Orlando wins it at the buzzer on a 3 pointer.
 



The Wolves are now inventing ways to lose. Oh and Jarred Vanderbilt has no business playing, let alone starting, in the NBA.
 

Iceland12 said:
The Wolves are now inventing ways to lose. Oh and Jarred Vanderbilt has no business playing, let alone starting, in the NBA.
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That last 5 minutes of offense....

If I'm not mistaken it was 91-81 for the Wolves with 5 to go. After that we got McLaughlin's and one drive and McLaughlin's nice dish to Reid for a dunk. That's it. Watching Russell in crunch time is just ugly. It's not like the Wolves even needed a ton of scoring. They actually managed to get some stops on D and STILL lost.
 

Iceland12 said:
The Wolves are now inventing ways to lose. Oh and Jarred Vanderbilt has no business playing, let alone starting, in the NBA.
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Hey! Don't ever forget, that 1st rounder next year is only top-3 protected. Imagine what a kick in the balls it would be if the Wolves handed Golden State like the #4 or #5 overall pick next year. Uff Da... The Wizards and Pistons seem hell bent on sucking just as bad as the Wolves, with Houston bringing up the rear of the entire shit parade.
 




Vanderbilt going 0-2 on free throws with a few seconds remaining....and then a buzzer beater. Incredible.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
This franchise will always be trash until Taylor sells the team.
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Like the North Stars? They're sold, they leave and then they win?

Agree with the first two, but don't think that they're gonna win after they leave either.
 

Iceland12 said:
Like the North Stars? They're sold, they leave and then they win?

Agree with the first two, but don't think that they're gonna win after they leave either.
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I'm not even sure I want to see this team in Vegas. Grease fire, top to bottom! Time to relocate to somewhere else, perhaps?
 


Just a train wreck. I wanted Ball but was more than ok with Edwards. Big mistake. Edwards is simply playing horribly. Culver is garbage. Reid is right up there with worst starting centers in franchise history. Russell is becoming painful to watch offensively with his style and might be the worst defender in the game. Beasley can't defend anyone. Jauncho is bad. Okogie is garbage on offense. Rubio is back to his terrible self. Vanderbuilt is a mess on offense. Towns can't stay healthy. Davis is done. Terrible coach. Terrible owner. Terrible GM. No hope with the pick most likely gone next year. So glad I wasn't able to get tickets this year.
 

The wolves being terrible has actually led me to enjoy college basketball a whole lot more though. When we had Garnett I was a die hard Wolves fan. My whole life I loved the NBA. When we traded him I gave the Wolves some time but just never really connected with them much anymore. The NBA as a whole got annoying. Too many guys needing to move to a "Big 3" team in order to win.

Really it all led me to understand college more, follow recruiting, RPI and now NET rankings which lead you to watch other games that matter.

Truthfully I don't think I'll watch another NBA game this year.

There are a lot of basketball fans in MN. Maybe this will help the gophers land more die hard fans like they landed me.
 

tikited said:
Just a train wreck. I wanted Ball but was more than ok with Edwards. Big mistake. Edwards is simply playing horribly. Culver is garbage. Reid is right up there with worst starting centers in franchise history. Russell is becoming painful to watch offensively with his style and might be the worst defender in the game. Beasley can't defend anyone. Jauncho is bad. Okogie is garbage on offense. Rubio is back to his terrible self. Vanderbuilt is a mess on offense. Towns can't stay healthy. Davis is done. Terrible coach. Terrible owner. Terrible GM. No hope with the pick most likely gone next year. So glad I wasn't able to get tickets this year.
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Good Morning to you sir!! Praying that you aren't going to kick your dog/cat this morning
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Good Morning to you sir!! Praying that you aren't going to kick your dog/cat this morning
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I only watched the 4th qtr., so I didn't see anything positive last night. In fact.....I haven't seen anything positive from this franchise in years and years.... I only kick myself for being a fan.
 

tmvander said:
..Truthfully I don't think I'll watch another NBA game this year.

There are a lot of basketball fans in MN. Maybe this will help the gophers land more die hard fans like they landed me.
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You're right about basketball. TV ratings tell you that despite all the "State of Hockey" stuff, way more people follow basketball than they do hockey. And way,WAY more people in the state have played basketball than hockey. Just that way more people in Minnesota have played hockey than nearly all of the other states!

Still watch the Gophers. Stopped watching the regular College Basketball Season when they expanded March Madness to the point that they nearly made the regular season meaningless. People will keep watching the Gophers as long as they keep winning. Hope they do.

With the Gophers, St.Cloud State, UMD, Mankato and Bemidji State all having D-1 programs and all 4 major sports (and soccer) in the area it's certainly a front runner state. So with the Wolves being so terrible, and not really relevant since Garnett was sent packing in 2007, they are hardly anybody's favorite team.

That's why Taylor can't find a buyer to keep them here.
 
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I was at the game last January where the wolves were up 25 with five minutes to go and up 18 with three minutes left and lost. So last night practically felt like a victory.

Tikited's rundown of the roster a couple of posts ago was dead on accurate. It's doubly painful because Wiseman is playing great ball for GS. I never thought Edwards was head and shoulders above the other two guys but that's what Rosas was selling after the draft, so I bought it. Rosas plays smartest guy in the room very, very well but so far he has traded garbage for worse garbage and his drafting is Kahnesque. Trading Wigs for DLo was just trading dollars, but giving up that number one in a greatly anticipated draft? Not sure even David Kahn would do that.

The roster is KAT plus litter and, if the story about Malik blowing off Saunders and Vanterpool on the last play last night are accurate, Saunders is in danger of losing the team.

Every time the franchise seems to hit a new low, it rewards us by going even lower.

Drumroll for icey.......move 'em to Las Cruces, NM!
 

jamiche said:
I was at the game last January where the wolves were up 25 with five minutes to go and up 18 with

Drumroll for icey.......move 'em to Las Cruces, NM!
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Nah, you and Glen are gonna find that buyer who'll give them $1.5 billion to keep them here.

How's that search going Jammer?
 

jamiche said:
I was at the game last January where the wolves were up 25 with five minutes to go and up 18 with three minutes left and lost. So last night practically felt like a victory.

Tikited's rundown of the roster a couple of posts ago was dead on accurate. It's doubly painful because Wiseman is playing great ball for GS. I never thought Edwards was head and shoulders above the other two guys but that's what Rosas was selling after the draft, so I bought it. Rosas plays smartest guy in the room very, very well but so far he has traded garbage for worse garbage and his drafting is Kahnesque. Trading Wigs for DLo was just trading dollars, but giving up that number one in a greatly anticipated draft? Not sure even David Kahn would do that.

The roster is KAT plus litter and, if the story about Malik blowing off Saunders and Vanterpool on the last play last night are accurate, Saunders is in danger of losing the team.

Every time the franchise seems to hit a new low, it rewards us by going even lower.

Drumroll for icey.......move 'em to Las Cruces, NM!
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I was at the Sac. game as well. Last night had that feel in the 4th qtr.

A smart coach would have called a time out as soon as Vanderbuilt got the ball with 4 seconds left. Everyone knew he was going to miss both free throws. Timeout before he got fouled would have been a smart thing to do.

Beasley is a dick simply put. He made little effort to make the last shot difficult. Just one of many on this team who refuses to play any defense. Okogie has it made in the NBA. He has little to no talent on offense, and normally would be overseas playing, but his defense will keep him relevant in the league for a long time.

Worst franchise in the history of the game.

Oh, the Kahn comparison is right on. We hire people who always outsmart themselves. The trade to get Bolmaro is a perfect example.
 

tikited said:
Worst franchise in the history of the game.
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And it all started when Taylor tried to keep Joe Smith to make Garnett happy. Taylor was also facing surgery so he agreed to put it in writing! That was a long, long time ago and Garnett still refuses to admit it he knew and it was done to make him happy.

Smith had an agreement with the Wolves to sign three one year deals in a row with them in order to establish Bird rights, and then the team would sign him to a lucrative contract over the salary cap. This agreement was discovered after his 2nd year with the club (following the 1999-2000 season) when a lawsuit between his agent and his agent's former partner led to the discovery of incriminating documents about Smith and the Wolves.

Stern came down hard. It seems clear that he chose to make an example out of the Wolves and try to put an end to teams trying to circumvent the salary cap. The Wolves were penalized by having their next five first round picks taken away, (though one was later returned), and then GM Kevin McHale and owner Glen Taylor were suspended for a year. The club was also fined $3.5M. Smith had his previous contracts with the Wolves voided, which meant that Bird rights were not forthcoming. He wound up signing with the Pistons for a year before returning to the Wolves on a long term contract.

I remember at the time that there was a lot of angst among the fan base. There was significant frustration with the front office for taking such a risk for a player the caliber of Joe Smith, and there was a lot of debate about who specifically was at fault. More, though, there was anger at Stern for inflicting such a harsh punishment. Five first round picks in a row. Ouch. The argument was that had this been the Lakers or Celtics or Knicks the penalty would not have been as harsh, that Stern was taking the opportunity to take it out on a small market team that nobody cared about, much like the NCAA, impotent to really punish the big boys, takes it out on SWNE Small State U..

www.canishoopus.com

David Stern and the Minnesota Timberwolves

With the retirement of Commissioner Stern upon us, SB Nation is running another theme day. This time it's David Stern's effect on the various NBA franchises.
www.canishoopus.com www.canishoopus.com
 

If the team is moved would they expand ever to give room for Minneapolis adding a new team? Really that option would be way quicker to having a decent basketball team than blowing up the owner, GM, coach, and players.
 

Krawczynski: The Timberwolves are getting exactly what they deserve

There were 3.3 seconds left on the clock Wednesday when Cole Anthony grabbed the second missed free throw from Jarred Vanderbilt out near the 3-point line and streaked up the court. The Orlando Magic rookie had made 22 percent of his 3s heading into the game, but even though his body twisted in the air as he rose up to shoot and his base was as stable as the internet connection on a 30-person Zoom meeting with all of the videos on, it had a 100 percent chance of going in when it left his hand.

Why? Because the Timberwolves deserved to lose this game. A team with three wins all season and one playoff berth in the last 17 years was so satisfied with itself after building a 20-point lead early in the third quarter that it figured it could shift into cruise control over the final 17 minutes and not lose, 97-96, to a team that was begging to be beaten. A team without its best player, and three regulars, could easily afford to jack up shots early in the clock, throw lazy passes and abandon its defensive principles. An embattled coach could go to a two-point-guard lineup that has not worked for most of the season in the last four minutes of the game. A max contract star could go scoreless in the fourth quarter when his team needed him most.

Perhaps the most maddening characteristic of this Timberwolves group has been its ability to believe it has accomplished something of importance when, in fact, it has accomplished nothing. The way they seem to puff their chests out after a good quarter or, in this case, a good half against an injury-plagued team that had lost six in a row. They are young, yes, and playing without Karl-Anthony Towns. But they treat the game with such casualness at the first sign of success, like the celebratory plane ride from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles after beating the Jazz in the second game of the season that preceded a beatdown by the Lakers the next day.

On Wednesday night, the Magic couldn’t buy a bucket in the first half. They shot 13 percent in the second quarter, were running no discernible offensive system for much of the game and only hit 39 percent from the field for the game. The Magic were still down 16 points with 2:44 to play in the third quarter, but Minnesota relaxed and gave up a 9-2 run to give Orlando life heading into the fourth.

The Wolves led by 13 with 6:33 to go and eight with 2:22 to go. It was still a two-possession game (96-91) with 50 seconds to play, and the Wolves led by two with 4.6 seconds left and Vanderbilt at the free-throw line. But so much carelessness ensued every time the Wolves had even a little bit of a cushion.

“You could say it comes with maturity in a lot of ways,” coach Ryan Saunders said. “Unfortunately, maturity means that’s measured by time and experience. We’ve got to find a way to not get too high when we’re up big and not get too low when you’re down big. Tonight was an example of that.”

theathletic.com

The Timberwolves are getting exactly what they deserve

Wednesday's buzzer-beating defeat to the Magic wasn't one of those trademark hard-luck disappointments. The Wolves earned this loss.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

Howl Wolves!!
 

tmvander said:
If the team is moved would they expand ever to give room for Minneapolis adding a new team? Really that option would be way quicker to having a decent basketball team than blowing up the owner, GM, coach, and players.
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Ever? Possibly. Just that if we can't find a buyer to keep the Wolves here now, who's gonna pay the fee in the future?
 

BleedGopher said:
Krawczynski: The Timberwolves are getting exactly what they deserve

There were 3.3 seconds left on the clock Wednesday when Cole Anthony grabbed the second missed free throw from Jarred Vanderbilt out near the 3-point line and streaked up the court. The Orlando Magic rookie had made 22 percent of his 3s heading into the game, but even though his body twisted in the air as he rose up to shoot and his base was as stable as the internet connection on a 30-person Zoom meeting with all of the videos on, it had a 100 percent chance of going in when it left his hand.

Why? Because the Timberwolves deserved to lose this game. A team with three wins all season and one playoff berth in the last 17 years was so satisfied with itself after building a 20-point lead early in the third quarter that it figured it could shift into cruise control over the final 17 minutes and not lose, 97-96, to a team that was begging to be beaten. A team without its best player, and three regulars, could easily afford to jack up shots early in the clock, throw lazy passes and abandon its defensive principles. An embattled coach could go to a two-point-guard lineup that has not worked for most of the season in the last four minutes of the game. A max contract star could go scoreless in the fourth quarter when his team needed him most.

Perhaps the most maddening characteristic of this Timberwolves group has been its ability to believe it has accomplished something of importance when, in fact, it has accomplished nothing. The way they seem to puff their chests out after a good quarter or, in this case, a good half against an injury-plagued team that had lost six in a row. They are young, yes, and playing without Karl-Anthony Towns. But they treat the game with such casualness at the first sign of success, like the celebratory plane ride from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles after beating the Jazz in the second game of the season that preceded a beatdown by the Lakers the next day..

Howl Wolves!!
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Unless they can unload the whole team than all of that speaks to Coaching or management..

In the Souhan column you posted (#158) Jim insisted that it's far too early to blame Saunders or Rosas. Ever wonder if Taylor is trying to make the team as unwatchable as possible so he and his family won't take a lot of heat when he inevitably sells to outstate interests to make as much money as he can.

You know, to please the NBA Owners too?
 
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