All Things 2023 Minnesota Timberwolves Off-Season Thread

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JimmyJamesMD said:
So should I not want a KAT - Jaylen swap now?
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I was literally just typing that. Yep - I'm out on it now. Brown has looked awful at time in this post season run - borderline unplayable. They probably should have pulled him last night.
 

Per Shama:

Offseason speculation about Chris Finch’s job security is a topic among media and fans after the head coach’s Timberwolves fell short of expectations last season. The Wolves won four fewer games than they did during the 2021-2022 season and struggled to qualify for the playoffs. Then the Nuggets defeated the Wolves in an opening round postseason series, winning four games to one.

Next fall Finch starts his third full season as the team’s head coach. During a telephone interview with Sports Headliners, the likeable Finch was asked if he feels mounting pressure.

“There’s pressure all the time to win,” Finch said. “I want to win every game. I want to keep growing our program here. I don’t feel any more or less pressure than I did when I first got here—which was the pressure to prove ourselves every day.

“These paths are not linear. You don’t always go from 42 to 44, to 46, 48 and 50 (wins). But I think it’s a tremendous accomplishment that this team was able to get into the playoffs for back-to-back seasons for the first time in many, many years (since 2004).

“I think if I was grading this team, I would give it overall a B-. Our young players got better, we finished with a winning record (42-40). We played in a ton of meaningful games. We had chances to…maybe finish a little higher, win a few more games, maybe go a little further in the playoffs if things broke a different direction for us.

“But we gotta now win those little battles. We gotta mature across the board. There are a lot of little things we gotta do to try and improve our performances. But we feel like we’re set up pretty well going forward. We’re certainly not satisfied with where we are, but we also don’t feel we’re a million miles away from where we want to be, either.”


Howl Wolves!!
 



Bob_Loblaw said:
I was literally just typing that. Yep - I'm out on it now. Brown has looked awful at time in this post season run - borderline unplayable. They probably should have pulled him last night.
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Never got the Brown to the Wolves talk anyways. He and Ant are the same player (Ant is better).
 

tikited said:
Never got the Brown to the Wolves talk anyways. He and Ant are the same player (Ant is better).
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We have one person who can get his shot, and that's Ant.

We have no one else who can. That's why we had those forever stretches in games where we couldn't score.

Also, our perimeter defense is poor at best. Brown is a damn good defender.
 

tikited said:
Never got the Brown to the Wolves talk anyways. He and Ant are the same player (Ant is better).
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I guess the idea would be to try to rebuild Boston over here - two wings who can get their own shot and fill it in with McDaniels, Naz, and Gobert.

Essentially, it'd be Boston-light without anyone as good as Tatum. I am not sure if that formula does much better in the West than what we currently have.

I'm in the camp of just running it back if that is our option.
 

BleedGopher said:
Per Shama:

Offseason speculation about Chris Finch’s job security is a topic among media and fans after the head coach’s Timberwolves fell short of expectations last season. The Wolves won four fewer games than they did during the 2021-2022 season and struggled to qualify for the playoffs. Then the Nuggets defeated the Wolves in an opening round postseason series, winning four games to one.

Next fall Finch starts his third full season as the team’s head coach. During a telephone interview with Sports Headliners, the likeable Finch was asked if he feels mounting pressure.

“There’s pressure all the time to win,” Finch said. “I want to win every game. I want to keep growing our program here. I don’t feel any more or less pressure than I did when I first got here—which was the pressure to prove ourselves every day.

“These paths are not linear. You don’t always go from 42 to 44, to 46, 48 and 50 (wins). But I think it’s a tremendous accomplishment that this team was able to get into the playoffs for back-to-back seasons for the first time in many, many years (since 2004).

“I think if I was grading this team, I would give it overall a B-. Our young players got better, we finished with a winning record (42-40). We played in a ton of meaningful games. We had chances to…maybe finish a little higher, win a few more games, maybe go a little further in the playoffs if things broke a different direction for us.

“But we gotta now win those little battles. We gotta mature across the board. There are a lot of little things we gotta do to try and improve our performances. But we feel like we’re set up pretty well going forward. We’re certainly not satisfied with where we are, but we also don’t feel we’re a million miles away from where we want to be, either.”


Howl Wolves!!
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I saw that.

We won 4 fewer games with in an improved West (IMO), with the Nuggets being healthy, the Lakers being healthy, the Warriors being healthier, the Suns adding Durant and the Kings having a massive turnaround (I know some teams also fell off).

We was given a new roster with one of his better players injured for large chunks of the season.
 



kg21 said:
We have one person who can get his shot, and that's Ant.

We have no one else who can. That's why we had those forever stretches in games where we couldn't score.

Also, our perimeter defense is poor at best. Brown is a damn good defender.
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I guess... I just never thought Brown was a centerpiece type of player.
 


JimmyJamesMD said:
That should have been the (figurative) trade in fall 2018
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Jimmy was playing it off like it was all about the competitive deficiencies with the Wolves but I also think he wanted to force his way out of MN. I wasn't surprised he followed it up with forcing his way out of Philly to Miami.

If Butler would have stayed here, I agree 100%, we should have built around him moving forward. That would have been dicey as we would have had to find a team to also take Wiggins who was a negative asset by that time and moved KAT.

Long term, that would have been the play. Short term, we would have had a few seasons of teams built around Jimmy, D. Rose, Teague, and Taj Gibson. Then we would have had to hope our Thibs was able to build around that team.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I guess the idea would be to try to rebuild Boston over here - two wings who can get their own shot and fill it in with McDaniels, Naz, and Gobert.

Essentially, it'd be Boston-light without anyone as good as Tatum. I am not sure if that formula does much better in the West than what we currently have.

I'm in the camp of just running it back if that is our option.
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Outside of Tatum and Brown, Boston has weak starters. Horford is a fossil. Smart is alright but nothing special. Derrick White is just another guy.

I would hope we could be better at the other spots.
 



It’s foolish to think Butler would still be in Minnesota. He blamed it on KAT and others, but he wanted out. There’s zero chance he would have stayed here. I think Butler is a joke of a human being. Good player though
 

kg21 said:
Outside of Tatum and Brown, Boston has weak starters. Horford is a fossil. Smart is alright but nothing special. Derrick White is just another guy.

I would hope we could be better at the other spots.
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White is a very good defensive player.
Smart is as well.
Either one would fit well here.
 


kg21 said:
Outside of Tatum and Brown, Boston has weak starters. Horford is a fossil. Smart is alright but nothing special. Derrick White is just another guy.

I would hope we could be better at the other spots.
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The huge issue is that Ant is nowhere near as good as Tatum at this point in their careers. It's not even close. If Ant takes the next step to get to Tatum level, our team will be much better regardless of if we go with KAT or Brown.

I think you could make an argument that Gobert, McDaniels, Conley, Naz, and NAW > Williams, G. Williams, Brogdon, White, and Horford - - but it's close.
 


Bob_Loblaw said:
We were giving about 25 total minutes per game to McLaughlin and Nowell, we're a lot better team last year if Derrick White or Malcolm Brogdon takes JUST those minutes.
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White ain't going to go for being a backup when he starts for the Celtics. Of course we'd be better if he would.
 

kg21 said:
White ain't going to go for being a backup when he starts for the Celtics. Of course we'd be better if he would.
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Of course not but this was just a hypothetical discussion about which Celtics players are better than Wolves players. I'm sure Tiki meant he'd take him compared to what we have, no one thought he'd sign here as a free agent to back someone up.

If your argument is that I shouldn't compare those players to White, then compare them to Brogdon.

Their backup wing minutes were going to a far superior player - Brogdon or White.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
The huge issue is that Ant is nowhere near as good as Tatum at this point in their careers. It's not even close. If Ant takes the next step to get to Tatum level, our team will be much better regardless of if we go with KAT or Brown.

I think you could make an argument that Gobert, McDaniels, Conley, Naz, and NAW > Williams, G. Williams, Brogdon, White, and Horford - - but it's close.
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Ant isn't as good as Tatum today, but Tatum has been in the league 3 years longer. They both made their 1st All Star game in their 3rd season, and both were 21 years old.

Tatum's numbers in year 3: 23 PPG, 3 APG, 7 RPG, 45% FG, 40% 3 pt
Ant's numbers in year 3: 25 PPG, 4 APG, 6 RPG, 46% FG, 37% 3 pt

Those numbers are very close, and Ant's have gotten better every year. Ant was better in his first 3 seasons than Tatum, and can definitely be on Tatum's level 3 years from now.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Ant isn't as good as Tatum today, but Tatum has been in the league 3 years longer. They both made their 1st All Star game in their 3rd season, and both were 21 years old.

Tatum's numbers in year 3: 23 PPG, 3 APG, 7 RPG, 45% FG, 40% 3 pt
Ant's numbers in year 3: 25 PPG, 4 APG, 6 RPG, 46% FG, 37% 3 pt

Those numbers are very close, and Ant's have gotten better every year. Ant was better in his first 3 seasons than Tatum, and can definitely be on Tatum's level 3 years from now.
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Tatum is a superstar. Ant is an all-star. There is a huge difference. I really hope for the Wolves sake that that can change.
 

I just saw a trade rumor:
Mn gets Siakam from Toronto along with the 13th pick for Towns. I would do that in a heartbeat.
 

tikited said:
I just saw a trade rumor:
Mn gets Siakam from Toronto along with the 13th pick for Towns. I would do that in a heartbeat.
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Me too. Not sure why Toronto would do it. The money works now but Towns can't be traded until after 7/7/23. If that's when the extension kicks in the money won't work will it? Unless the Wolves take on another 15 million in salary?

Edit: Just read that Toronto has to decide if they want to extend Siakam or not. Probably why someone started the towns for Siakam rumor in the first place.

 
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tmvander said:
I don't think the wolves will trade towns at all.
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That seems the most likely. All the National Talking Heads, Hollinger chief among them, are screaming that the Gobert/Towns paring "didn't work!" Conveniently forgetting that considering the injuries and mid-season trades we don't know if the Towns/Gobert combo will work or not.

Wolves executives are probably more concerned about the status of McDaniels and Reid and that putrid bench than getting rid of Towns.

Now the Wolves "Faithful"...
 

Iceland12 said:
That seems the most likely. All the National Talking Heads, Hollinger chief among them, are screaming that the Gobert/Towns paring "didn't work!" Conveniently forgetting that considering the injuries and mid-season trades we don't know if the Towns/Gobert combo will work or not.

Wolves executives are probably more concerned about the status of McDaniels and Reid and that putrid bench than getting rid of Towns.

Now the Wolves "Faithful"...
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When Gobert and Towns are on the floor, we will always have slow feet.
 

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