All Things 2024-25 Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Thread

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GopherWeatherGuy said:
KAT didn't play 1/4th of the games last season and the Wolves had a better record. How did they manage that then? The days of needing a true center are long gone, and I've never considered KAT a true center because he's not.

Ant plays better with a more free flowing offense anyways. If Rudy went down, they could play with Naz and Randle, or Jaden and Naz, or Jaden and Randle and get by just fine.

I also don't think anyone will give him a max extension just because he's eligible. He turns 30 at the end of next month, and big guys age poorly. No one is giving him close to the 50-60 million per year that KAT will be earning the next 3 years after this one.
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With the huge TV money about to kick in, KAT's deal won't even be in the top half of Max contracts 1-2 years from now, especially for a guy his age.

I see Randle about the same as KAT...he'll have some games that will get you jacked and others where you'll want to throw stuff at the boob tube. We're definitely going to miss KAT's length and versatility, though.

I love the acquisition of DD and he made more 3's than KAT did last year. I'm not buying the false narrative that we lost outside shooting in the trade...we gained it.

C Naz
PF Randle
SF McDaniels
SG DiVincenzo
PG Ant

That line-up can really run and almost certainly score at a very efficient level. It should be fun!
 


Interesting info regarding the trade(via The Athletic) I bolded the parts which stood out to me -



Why do it days before training camp opened and not wait until the middle of the season to see how the team performed? The Knicks have coveted Towns for years, but there were precious few other options out there for the Wolves, team and league sources said. The Timberwolves needed established players in return for one of their best, but the market wasn’t strong for a player who has missed at least 22 games in four of the last five seasons and will make $61 million in 2027-28. If Towns got injured or the team tanked in the standings, it could be even harder to find what they viewed as an asset-positive move.

When New York put DiVincenzo in the deal over Mitchell Robinson, the Wolves agreed to the deal. They added three players to dramatically bolster their depth, taking some of the pressure off of rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. to produce right away for a team that has designs on making a championship run. Two of those players, the Wolves believe, can make them better than they were last season.

Randle spent the previous five seasons in New York, becoming an All-NBA forward who helped restore credibility in the Knicks organization. He said he was initially shocked by the trade when it came down last Friday. But by the time he woke up on Saturday morning he was “really, really excited.”

“It was a breath of fresh air,” Randle said. “I’m excited to bring everything I learned there over the past five years and help these guys out. My only thing here is I just want to help. I want to help Ant, I want to help Rudy, Naz all these guys, I want to help win a championship. So that’s the only thing that matters.”

Finch coached Randle for a season in New Orleans and believes the Wolves can get even more out of him than he showed in New York.


Randle will slide right into Towns’ spot in the starting lineup. Finch will be looking to utilize Randle’s playmaking and ability to get out in transition to compensate for the shooting drop-off — Randle shot 31 percent from 3-point range last season compared to KAT’s 41.6 — and add space into the offense.

“When I left Finch in New Orleans, I wanted him in New York with me because he’s just such a great coach,” Randle said. “I’ve always thought he was a genius.”

Finch said he considers DiVincenzo, a player the Wolves tried to get in free agency last season, to be “plug and play.” He shot more than nine 3s per game after the All-Star break last season, giving Finch the kind of volume shooter who can pull the trigger off the move that he has not had since Malik Beasley. And DiVincenzo plays defense.
 

Slim Tubby said:
With the huge TV money about to kick in, KAT's deal won't even be in the top half of Max contracts 1-2 years from now, especially for a guy his age.

I see Randle about the same as KAT...he'll have some games that will get you jacked and others where you'll want to throw stuff at the boob tube. We're definitely going to miss KAT's length and versatility, though.

I love the acquisition of DD and he made more 3's than KAT did last year. I'm not buying the false narrative that we lost outside shooting in the trade...we gained it.

C Naz
PF Randle
SF McDaniels
SG DiVincenzo
PG Ant

That line-up can really run and almost certainly score at a very efficient level. It should be fun!
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The first ones on me 🥳

You’ll be slurping these up by the All Star Game -

IMG_4921.jpeg
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Interesting info regarding the trade(via The Athletic) I bolded the parts which stood out to me -



Why do it days before training camp opened and not wait until the middle of the season to see how the team performed? The Knicks have coveted Towns for years, but there were precious few other options out there for the Wolves, team and league sources said. The Timberwolves needed established players in return for one of their best, but the market wasn’t strong for a player who has missed at least 22 games in four of the last five seasons and will make $61 million in 2027-28. If Towns got injured or the team tanked in the standings, it could be even harder to find what they viewed as an asset-positive move.

When New York put DiVincenzo in the deal over Mitchell Robinson, the Wolves agreed to the deal. They added three players to dramatically bolster their depth, taking some of the pressure off of rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. to produce right away for a team that has designs on making a championship run. Two of those players, the Wolves believe, can make them better than they were last season.

Randle spent the previous five seasons in New York, becoming an All-NBA forward who helped restore credibility in the Knicks organization. He said he was initially shocked by the trade when it came down last Friday. But by the time he woke up on Saturday morning he was “really, really excited.”

“It was a breath of fresh air,” Randle said. “I’m excited to bring everything I learned there over the past five years and help these guys out. My only thing here is I just want to help. I want to help Ant, I want to help Rudy, Naz all these guys, I want to help win a championship. So that’s the only thing that matters.”

Finch coached Randle for a season in New Orleans and believes the Wolves can get even more out of him than he showed in New York.


Randle will slide right into Towns’ spot in the starting lineup. Finch will be looking to utilize Randle’s playmaking and ability to get out in transition to compensate for the shooting drop-off — Randle shot 31 percent from 3-point range last season compared to KAT’s 41.6 — and add space into the offense.

“When I left Finch in New Orleans, I wanted him in New York with me because he’s just such a great coach,” Randle said. “I’ve always thought he was a genius.”

Finch said he considers DiVincenzo, a player the Wolves tried to get in free agency last season, to be “plug and play.” He shot more than nine 3s per game after the All-Star break last season, giving Finch the kind of volume shooter who can pull the trigger off the move that he has not had since Malik Beasley. And DiVincenzo plays defense.
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I posted this before, but the Wolves had the second fewest tradition points last season; that’s one of the reasons why they coveted Rob and Shannon - elite athletes with speed who can score in the break. Furthermore, with the addition of Randle and Double Ds, we’re going to be playing a much more up tempo game.

Comparing how we played last season to this season is fool’s gold; like any good coach, Finch will game plan to the strengths of his personnel.
 
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TRF Guy said:
Greg Gagne hit inside-the-park home runs in back-to-back at-bats on this date in 1986. Bert Blyleven earned his 17th win in the game, finishing the season with a league-leading 271.2 innings pitched.

Coincidentally, the last player with two inside-the-parkers in a game was Dick Allen OFF Blyleven in Minnesota on July 31, 1972.

View attachment 33932
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Was he a PG😉?
 



Slim Tubby said:
With the huge TV money about to kick in, KAT's deal won't even be in the top half of Max contracts 1-2 years from now, especially for a guy his age.

I see Randle about the same as KAT...he'll have some games that will get you jacked and others where you'll want to throw stuff at the boob tube. We're definitely going to miss KAT's length and versatility, though.

I love the acquisition of DD and he made more 3's than KAT did last year. I'm not buying the false narrative that we lost outside shooting in the trade...we gained it.

C Naz
PF Randle
SF McDaniels
SG DiVincenzo
PG Ant

That line-up can really run and almost certainly score at a very efficient level. It should be fun!
Click to expand...

So you're telling me the Wolves will have the money to keep their young core together and potentially add more in the future? Sounds great!

I agree with you on that lineup and on the 3 point shooting. The whole team can shoot the 3, except for Rudy.
 



I watched the first half of the game last night and I have to amend my earlier post. The wolves will go 103-0, including preseason games. A few very premature observations:

1. JJ Reddick is one of my favorite NBA people. He was coaching his first game last night and he looked like he was taking the first preseason game way too seriously;
2. Josh Minott looks ready to play NBA rotation minutes. Hopefully, it will be with the wolves. I'd hate to see him traded because the roster is too deep.
3. This isn't a revelation...this a deep team.
4. Getting DDV was smart for multiple reasons. One of them is that Dillingham is just too small at this point to play heavy minutes. He's got high end NBA skills for sure but he's at least 20lbs away from surviving what is now football without pads.
5. Garza has come a long way.

Gonna be a fun year.
 

jamiche said:
4. Getting DDV was smart for multiple reasons. One of them is that Dillingham is just too small at this point to play heavy minutes. He's got high end NBA skills for sure but he's at least 20lbs away from surviving what is now football without pads.
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He's too small but scored 21 last night? And I don't know why you keep saying the NBA is now football without pads. That's nonsense when so many players flop around and go to the free throw line because someone breathed on them too much. The physicality of today's NBA is more comparable to a pillow fight then how it was 20 years ago.

Dillingham will likely have trouble finding PT because of the Wolves depth. It has nothing to do with his size.
 

jamiche said:
I watched the first half of the game last night and I have to amend my earlier post. The wolves will go 103-0, including preseason games. A few very premature observations:

1. JJ Reddick is one of my favorite NBA people. He was coaching his first game last night and he looked like he was taking the first preseason game way too seriously;
2. Josh Minott looks ready to play NBA rotation minutes. Hopefully, it will be with the wolves. I'd hate to see him traded because the roster is too deep.
3. This isn't a revelation...this a deep team.
4. Getting DDV was smart for multiple reasons. One of them is that Dillingham is just too small at this point to play heavy minutes. He's got high end NBA skills for sure but he's at least 20lbs away from surviving what is now football without pads.
5. Garza has come a long way.

Gonna be a fun year.
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I watched about 15 minutes this morning. Minot is for real. I never thought that before.

Dilly can score.

Reddick... The Lakers are a terrible team to try your hand at coaching.

Deepest team in the league.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
So you're telling me the Wolves will have the money to keep their young core together and potentially add more in the future? Sounds great!

I agree with you on that lineup and on the 3 point shooting. The whole team can shoot the 3, except for Rudy.
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Ultimately, I think my initial disappointment in the return for KAT will be proven wrong and you will be proven correct.

It's only one (1) preseason game but:

* DDV was absolutely brilliant

* Dilly has a ton of offensive potential

* TSJ flashed on both sides of the ball

* Luka looks solid for 8-10 minutes per game

* The ghost of Jamal Mashburn seems to have taken over the body of Josh Minott. The dude looked amazing.
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
He's too small but scored 21 last night? And I don't know why you keep saying the NBA is now football without pads. That's nonsense when so many players flop around and go to the free throw line because someone breathed on them too much. The physicality of today's NBA is more comparable to a pillow fight then how it was 20 years ago.

Dillingham will likely have trouble finding PT because of the Wolves depth. It has nothing to do with his size.
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I was about to make that same point. Historically the NBA was like that. It went away a long time ago. Unless of course one is playing against a “chosen” player. Then, it’s even less physical.
 
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GopherWeatherGuy said:
He's too small but scored 21 last night? And I don't know why you keep saying the NBA is now football without pads. That's nonsense when so many players flop around and go to the free throw line because someone breathed on them too much. The physicality of today's NBA is more comparable to a pillow fight then how it was 20 years ago.

Dillingham will likely have trouble finding PT because of the Wolves depth. It has nothing to do with his size.
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During the part of the game that I watched, when Dillingham had space he was fine. When he tried to drive he was crushed. On his first defensive possession his man wen right into him and knocked him back about twenty feet. No call. It's football without pads because the players are much bigger than they were in the 80's and 90's and the court is the same size.

I'm not saying he doesn't have skill. He's noticeably smaller than every other player on the floor. For now that limits him and that's part of the reason DDV is here.
 


Slim Tubby said:
With the huge TV money about to kick in, KAT's deal won't even be in the top half of Max contracts 1-2 years from now, especially for a guy his age.

I see Randle about the same as KAT...he'll have some games that will get you jacked and others where you'll want to throw stuff at the boob tube. We're definitely going to miss KAT's length and versatility, though.

I love the acquisition of DD and he made more 3's than KAT did last year. I'm not buying the false narrative that we lost outside shooting in the trade...we gained it.

C Naz
PF Randle
SF McDaniels
SG DiVincenzo
PG Ant

That line-up can really run and almost certainly score at a very efficient level. It should be fun!
Click to expand...
I understand the trade, but we definitely lost shooting (IMO).

You're playing 5 guys at a time and a couple of them definitely need to posts.

Finding guards who can shoot to provide spacing is relativity easy and cheap, finding a 4/5 with the ability to shoot like KAT is impossible. I love DD's game, but he is replacing shots from NAW, probably some from Conley and some shots from Ant.

I get that we will have Naz taking some of the minutes from KAT, but when you add up all of the minutes played by the Wolves next year, they'll likely be significantly fewer minutes allocated to + shooters.

I think the trade was necessary to properly build for the Ant window, but I think we'll see some spacing issues.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
I understand the trade, but we definitely lost shooting (IMO).

You're playing 5 guys at a time and a couple of them definitely need to posts.

Finding guards who can shoot to provide spacing is relativity easy and cheap, finding a 4/5 with the ability to shoot like KAT is impossible. I love DD's game, but he is replacing shots from NAW, probably some from Conley and some shots from Ant.

I get that we will have Naz taking some of the minutes from KAT, but when you add up all of the minutes played by the Wolves next year, they'll likely be significantly fewer minutes allocated to + shooters.

I think the trade was necessary to properly build for the Ant window, but I think we'll see some spacing issues.
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Naz and KATs 3 point stats from last year were nearly identical. Naz is a better floor spacer for Ant than KAT was.

The Wolves are also losing Slo Mo from the rotation. Randle is an upgrade shooting wise form him, along with several other things. They're essentially replacing KAT/Slo Mo with DD, Randle, Ingles, the two rookies, and more minutes for Naz, I don't see how this team is not a better shooting team this season.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Naz and KATs 3 point stats from last year were nearly identical. Naz is a better floor spacer for Ant than KAT was.

The Wolves are also losing Slo Mo from the rotation. Randle is an upgrade shooting wise form him, along with several other things. They're essentially replacing KAT/Slo Mo with DD, Randle, Ingles, the two rookies, and more minutes for Naz, I don't see how this team is not a better shooting team this season.
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I'm not sure that they've lost shooting, but there will definitely be spacing issues. Julius, Ant and Rudy are going to be in each other's way a lot unless somebody changes how they play.
 

jamiche said:
I'm not sure that they've lost shooting, but there will definitely be spacing issues. Julius, Ant and Rudy are going to be in each other's way a lot unless somebody changes how they play.
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As I mentioned previously in an article from The Athletic, quoting Finch, they plan on using Randle’s playmaking abilities to run more to compensate for said spacing issues, this equals a more uptempo offense.
 
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Gopher_In_NYC said:
As I mentioned previously in an article from The Athletic, quoting Finch, they plan on using Randle’s playmaking abilities to run more to compensate for said spacing issues, this equals a more uptempo offense.
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If you look at the Knicks pace of play over the last couple of years there's nothing that would indicate that Randle is going to juice the tempo of the wolves' offense.

Randle is what he is. A ball dominant bucket getter who will take the pressure off of Ant late in games when the wolves have to have a basket. That's his primary value and there's nothing wrong with that. He's got a shorter, cheaper contract than KAT and that's the main reason the deal was made. To pretend he's a multi faceted offensive maestro is smoking hashish. KAT, for all of his warts, is a better player with a worse contract. The wolves got two good players on two very good contracts plus a pick of indeterminate value in exchange for a very good player on a terrible contract and a second round pick. Most likely a win/win.
 

Interesting column in The Athletic today, where each team’s bear writer makes a bold prediction regarding the team they cover.

Krawczynski‘s prediction is that we will have a better offense this year -



Minnesota Timberwolves​

Wolves will have a better offense in 2024-25: One would assume trading Karl-Anthony Towns would make the offense worse. But as great individually as Towns is, it didn’t add up to a great offense last season. The Wolves were ranked 17th in offensive efficiency. Adding Donte DiVincenzo’s shooting and Julius Randle’s playmaking, and increasing the roles for Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid will help the Wolves climb higher as a collective offense this season. — Jon Krawczynski
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Interesting column in The Athletic today, where each team’s bear writer makes a bold prediction regarding the team they cover.

Krawczynski‘s prediction is that we will have a better offense this year -



Minnesota Timberwolves​

Wolves will have a better offense in 2024-25: One would assume trading Karl-Anthony Towns would make the offense worse. But as great individually as Towns is, it didn’t add up to a great offense last season. The Wolves were ranked 17th in offensive efficiency. Adding Donte DiVincenzo’s shooting and Julius Randle’s playmaking, and increasing the roles for Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid will help the Wolves climb higher as a collective offense this season. — Jon Krawczynski
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The above mirrors what he reported on the trade regarding Finch’s comments (who hopefully knows more about how to you Julius than any of us).
Gopher_In_NYC said:
Interesting info regarding the trade(via The Athletic) I bolded the parts which stood out to me -



Why do it days before training camp opened and not wait until the middle of the season to see how the team performed? The Knicks have coveted Towns for years, but there were precious few other options out there for the Wolves, team and league sources said. The Timberwolves needed established players in return for one of their best, but the market wasn’t strong for a player who has missed at least 22 games in four of the last five seasons and will make $61 million in 2027-28. If Towns got injured or the team tanked in the standings, it could be even harder to find what they viewed as an asset-positive move.

When New York put DiVincenzo in the deal over Mitchell Robinson, the Wolves agreed to the deal. They added three players to dramatically bolster their depth, taking some of the pressure off of rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. to produce right away for a team that has designs on making a championship run. Two of those players, the Wolves believe, can make them better than they were last season.

Randle spent the previous five seasons in New York, becoming an All-NBA forward who helped restore credibility in the Knicks organization. He said he was initially shocked by the trade when it came down last Friday. But by the time he woke up on Saturday morning he was “really, really excited.”

“It was a breath of fresh air,” Randle said. “I’m excited to bring everything I learned there over the past five years and help these guys out. My only thing here is I just want to help. I want to help Ant, I want to help Rudy, Naz all these guys, I want to help win a championship. So that’s the only thing that matters.”

Finch coached Randle for a season in New Orleans and believes the Wolves can get even more out of him than he showed in New York.


Randle will slide right into Towns’ spot in the starting lineup. Finch will be looking to utilize Randle’s playmaking and ability to get out in transition to compensate for the shooting drop-off — Randle shot 31 percent from 3-point range last season compared to KAT’s 41.6 — and add space into the offense.

“When I left Finch in New Orleans, I wanted him in New York with me because he’s just such a great coach,” Randle said. “I’ve always thought he was a genius.”

Finch said he considers DiVincenzo, a player the Wolves tried to get in free agency last season, to be “plug and play.” He shot more than nine 3s per game after the All-Star break last season, giving Finch the kind of volume shooter who can pull the trigger off the move that he has not had since Malik Beasley. And DiVincenzo plays defense.
Click to expand...
 
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At first I was thinking Detoilet was just that. They have improved quite a bit. That pick might convey as a 1st rdr.

They are one of the 10 worst still, but they may push for the last play in spot in the east. A lot better chance that pick conveys as a 1st, than I gave credit for initially.
 



I've seen the first four episodes of "The Starting 5" and it's a great series for us NBA/Wolves addicts.

It got me thinking about how far the wolves can actually go this year. I think there's enough talent and depth on the wolves roster for the team to make it to the finals. The two independent variables are injuries (of course) and Ant's level of maturity and focus. Ant is younger than the other players featured in the series and, at least in the first four episodes, it showed. The talent is more than there but leading a team to an NBA championship is a psychological marathon, maybe an ultra marathon. It looks like he's still too easily distracted and might need another couple of years of growing into what it takes to lead a team to a championship. Should be an interesting season...
 



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