All Things Minnesota Timberwolves 2022-2023 In-Season Thread

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Based on Finch's very vague comments Thursday about KAT's return and the wolves highly disappointing season, my guess is that KAT has played his last game as a wolf. Given that Connelly has thoroughly botched the team, he has no choice but to trade KAT. At a minimum he has to bring back a frontline pg, a frontline pf and three #1's, starting with the 2023 draft. He also has to bring back players who will make Ant and McDaniels happy.

It's a very unfortunate situation. As whiny and immature as KAT is, he's an undeniable talent. Just when the team was developing traction and playing fun ball, two clowns blow into town with not even enough money to buy an MLS team, scammed the owner (who really actually scammed them), hired a POBO who got lucky once in Denver, and wolves fans are once again screwed.

Ugh.
 

jamiche said:
Based on Finch's very vague comments Thursday about KAT's return and the wolves highly disappointing season, my guess is that KAT has played his last game as a wolf. Given that Connelly has thoroughly botched the team, he has no choice but to trade KAT. At a minimum he has to bring back a frontline pg, a frontline pf and three #1's, starting with the 2023 draft. He also has to bring back players who will make Ant and McDaniels happy.

It's a very unfortunate situation. As whiny and immature as KAT is, he's an undeniable talent. Just when the team was developing traction and playing fun ball, two clowns blow into town with not even enough money to buy an MLS team, scammed the owner (who really actually scammed them), hired a POBO who got lucky once in Denver, and wolves fans are once again screwed.

Ugh.
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Pretty much.
 

The twolves have 20 games left. Based on the schedule, not only the teams, but away games there is a real chance they win maybe 4 more games the rest of the year.
 

jamiche said:
Based on Finch's very vague comments Thursday about KAT's return and the wolves highly disappointing season, my guess is that KAT has played his last game as a wolf. Given that Connelly has thoroughly botched the team, he has no choice but to trade KAT. At a minimum he has to bring back a frontline pg, a frontline pf and three #1's, starting with the 2023 draft. He also has to bring back players who will make Ant and McDaniels happy.

It's a very unfortunate situation. As whiny and immature as KAT is, he's an undeniable talent. Just when the team was developing traction and playing fun ball, two clowns blow into town with not even enough money to buy an MLS team, scammed the owner (who really actually scammed them), hired a POBO who got lucky once in Denver, and wolves fans are once again screwed.

Ugh.
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Agree with that except for the ownership part. Yes the "new" guys are incompetent but seems just a little short sighted to be blaming them and Connelly for the present mess.

It's all on Taylor.

Looking back and considering trades, contracts and draft picks, when was the last time the Wolves had a competent GM? Going back to 2009 Saunders may have been the the only decent one. Gupta, Rosas, Thibodeau, Khan? Would anybody want any of them back?

Not sure what's gonna happen. Taylor tried to sell the team for years but couldn't find someone who'd agree to keep it here. That's how R&L got the chance in the first place.
 


From the Parkinglot said:
The twolves have 20 games left. Based on the schedule, not only the teams, but away games there is a real chance they win maybe 4 more games the rest of the year.
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So you're predicting a 3-17 finish? Bold, and you're not one of the guys who are hoping for it.
 

Iceland12 said:
So you're predicting a 3-17 finish? Bold, and you're not one of the guys who are hoping for it.
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@ warriors
@ clippers
@ lakers
@ kings
76er’s
Nets
@ hawks
Celtics
@ bulls
@ raptors
@ knicks
Hawks
@warriors
@ kings
@ suns
Lakers
Trail blazer
@ nets
@ spurs
Pelicans

I mean are there more than 5 wins in this remaining schedule. I wish I could care more when they lose, but they have been such a dumpster fire for so long I just laugh now. The fact the wolves just think they can walk into a gym a beat a team on talent alone is hilarious. You just can’t lose a home game in February to a 17 win team and you are trying to make the playoffs.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
@ warriors
@ clippers
@ lakers
@ kings
76er’s
Nets
@ hawks
Celtics
@ bulls
@ raptors
@ knicks
Hawks
@warriors
@ kings
@ suns
Lakers
Trail blazer
@ nets
@ spurs
Pelicans

I mean are there more than 5 wins in this remaining schedule. I wish I could care more when they lose, but they have been such a dumpster fire for so long I just laugh now. The fact the wolves just think they can walk into a gym a beat a team on talent alone is hilarious. You just can’t lose a home game in February to a 17 win team and you are trying to make the playoffs.
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Going into the Wizards game before the break if you told me the wolves would go 5-15 in their last 20 games I would have laughed out loud. After the last two games I think it’s sadly plausible.
 

jamiche said:
Going into the Wizards game before the break if you told me the wolves would go 5-15 in their last 20 games I would have laughed out loud. After the last two games I think it’s sadly plausible.
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That’s why pissing away all those games early on was so bad.

Realistically they will be favored to win maybe 4 games. Those would be the 2 games against the nets, the bulls, and maybe the spurs.
 



Getting healthy helps. Ask Charlotte. They won their 4th in a row last night. Beating Miami and Jimmy Butler 108-103. Wolves are out in Golden State today. A Warriors team without Curry, Wiggins and maybe Green too.

Game is at 6:30 and on ESPN.

i
Minnesota Timberwolves

NAME, POSSTATUSDATE
Jaylen Nowell
SG		Day-To-DayFeb 25
Taurean Prince
PF		Day-To-DayFeb 25
i
Golden State Warriors

NAME, POSSTATUSDATE
Stephen Curry
PG		OutFeb 22
Andrew Wiggins
SF		OutFeb 24
Draymond Green
PF		Day-To-DayFeb 25
 
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From the Parkinglot said:
That’s why pissing away all those games early on was so bad.

Realistically they will be favored to win maybe 4 games. Those would be the 2 games against the nets, the bulls, and maybe the spurs.
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If we've learned anything about this year's NBA is being favored to win doesn't mean much. What a team did last year doesn't means much either. A team's health is the best indicator of what they'll do. Probably why there are 14 teams that are 4 games either side of .500.

The Heat, Hawks and Raptors in the East have a worse record than people thought they would. The Knicks are doing better.

In the West, the Wolves, Warriors, Lakers and Pelicans all have worse records than the "experts" were predicting.

While Oklahoma, Sacramento and Utah are playing much better than we were told they were going to.

Human nature what it is, haven't heard many experts say they were wrong. Only that teams are playing better or worse than they should be.
 
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Iceland12 said:
If we've learned anything about this year's NBA is being favored to win doesn't mean much. What a team did last year doesn't means much either. A team's health is the best indicator of what they'll do. Probably why there are 14 teams that are 4 games either side of .500.

The Heat, Hawks and Raptors in the East have a worse record than people thought they would. The Knicks are doing better.

In the West, the Wolves, Warriors, Lakers and Pelicans all have worse records than the "experts" were predicting.

While Oklahoma, Sacramento and Utah are playing much better than we were told they were going to.

Human nature what it is, haven't heard many experts say they were wrong. Only that teams are playing better or worse than they should be.
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I’m not an expert and I sure as hell was wrong about this team.
 

jamiche said:
I’m not an expert and I sure as hell was wrong about this team.
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Join the bloody club. Of course neither of us knew that a team that planned to revolve around Towns and Gobert, would barely have the two of them available to play together.
 
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Have an all around game, JR Rider junior!

Just puke!
 
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0-1 in last 20. They just can’t help but urinate down their legs in the 4th quarter. Of course J-Max could make a wide open 3 to tie the game too.
 


Gutless team. Zero hope for the future.

Conley and JMac are the worst PG tandem in the nba. JMac offers nothing. Rivers, NAW and Nowell can't handle pg duties. Ant only cares about taking shots.
 

Iceland12 said:
Agree with that except for the ownership part. Yes the "new" guys are incompetent but seems just a little short sighted to be blaming them and Connelly for the present mess.

It's all on Taylor.

Looking back and considering trades, contracts and draft picks, when was the last time the Wolves had a competent GM? Going back to 2009 Saunders may have been the the only decent one. Gupta, Rosas, Thibodeau, Khan? Would anybody want any of them back?

Not sure what's gonna happen. Taylor tried to sell the team for years but couldn't find someone who'd agree to keep it here. That's how R&L got the chance in the first place.
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Been meaning to respond to this for a couple of days.

You are correct that it all starts with Taylor. Harv and Marv let him run the team before he owned it, so he's doing the same thing. He's also snookered these wannabes because he's taken their money at a $1.5B valuation for a $2B asset, knowing they don't have the money to ever buy the whole thing. Taylor will eventually sell the team to somebody with money for $2B or more. The problem is that he's let them screw it up.

Gupta and Rosas were highly competent. They put last year's roster together. Rosas had personal failings and Gupta was too "boring" for our wannabes.
 

jamiche said:
Been meaning to respond to this for a couple of days.

You are correct that it all starts with Taylor. Harv and Marv let him run the team before he owned it, so he's doing the same thing. He's also snookered these wannabes because he's taken their money at a $1.5B valuation for a $2B asset, knowing they don't have the money to ever buy the whole thing. Taylor will eventually sell the team to somebody with money for $2B or more. The problem is that he's let them screw it up.

Gupta and Rosas were highly competent. They put last year's roster together. Rosas had personal failings and Gupta was too "boring" for our wannabes.
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Last years roster with Towns out for basically the year would have been a catastrophe.

I'd like to see Towns back to get a better feel for everything.
 

kg21 said:
Last years roster with Towns out for basically the year would have been a catastrophe.

I'd like to see Towns back to get a better feel for everything.
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There’s 19 games left. I can’t believe he could even show his face in the locker room after he basically left them to fend for himself. I would be shocked if he plays another game in a wolves uniform.

So if you are the wolves do you trade KAT and Gobbert this off-season and resign Reid. Get something back for them. Get the money off your books sooner and move on with ANT and Reid plus who ever you get back.
 

Nobody around here was saying what a fun season last year was going into January of '22. Looking at the record, nobody was saying it going into February either. Then Russell turned things around, Not only scoring but becoming the best defender on the team!

Much to the surprise/chagrin of posters around here.

At the end of the season people were griping that the Wolves needed "more rebounding and defenders!" Many around here too. Those of us screaming that what they really needed were shooters and ball handlers were ignored.

IMHO they way overpaid for Gobert. The players were needed to match salary. Don't understand why 3-4 draft picks wouldn't have done it. Do know if they were late picks it wouldn't have really mattered. That won't be the case.

Was it a complete failure? So far it has, but as kg21 just said, without Towns, last years leading scorer, rebounder and 3pt shooter who the hell really knows.
 

What, exactly, are the Minnesota Timberwolves waiting for?​

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ season didn’t end on Friday night. It just felt like it.

They came out of the All-Star break facing a daunting, road-heavy schedule over their final 21 games. That gave the home game against lowly Charlotte a must-win feel for a team that figured to need at least 12 wins down the stretch to even have a chance of avoiding the Play-In Tournament.

Instead of coming out with the desperation and urgency befitting a team about to embark on a hellacious four-game West Coast trip, the Wolves gave up 72 points in the first half to the Hornets on their way to a 121-113 loss.

The Wolves (31-31) are still in eighth place in the West and only 1 1/2 games behind Dallas for the coveted No. 6 seed, so the season is hardly lost. But considering they are 11-17 on the road this season and have 13 of their final 20 games away from home, most of them against teams above .500, they had every reason in the world to come out and compete and use a win over one of the worst teams in the NBA as a springboard for this playoff push.

Instead, they allowed the Hornets (18-43) to shoot 63 percent in the first quarter, take 20 free throws in the first half and get whatever they wanted against a team that is, theoretically, fighting for its postseason life. This on the heels of a game just before the break in which the Wolves squandered a 20-point lead to lose to the Washington Wizards.

Had the Wolves found a way to win these two obviously winnable games, they would be 33-29 and tied for the fifth seed. Instead, it was just the latest in a season full of demoralizing performances against beatable opponents. They have now lost to the Hornets twice, Wizards twice, Pistons twice, Spurs twice and Rockets once. In a season that increasingly looks like it is headed for a disappointing finish, the 5-8 record against the teams with the four worst records in the league will be scrawled on the tombstone of their 2022-23 season.

“It’s just a sense of urgency,” coach Chris Finch said. “It’s just not there. We just talked about it – you can’t wait. It’s a 20-game season. We have nothing to wait for. You’ve got to go. We only have seven home games left and we’ve got a tough schedule. I think it’s just that urgency. We’ve got to have more urgency from the get-go. We’re not playing desperate enough.”

theathletic.com

What, exactly, are the Minnesota Timberwolves waiting for?

The Minnesota Timberwolves' season didn't end on Friday night. It just felt like it.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

Howl Wolves!!
 

17. Minnesota Timberwolves (previously 15th) | 31-32 | 0.0 net rating​

Weekly slate: Loss to Hornets, Loss at Warriors

First-quarter grade: D+ | Ranked 18th
Halfway grade: D- | Ranked 15th
Third-quarter grade: C

Just a bizarre season for the Wolves, even by Minnesota’s standards. I think there is a better team in there than what we’ve seen, but they haven’t had a real chance to show it. Who knows if Karl-Anthony Towns will actually come back, but maybe he does find his way into the final 10-15 games? I think there’s something there with a lineup of Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Towns, and Rudy Gobert. It’s not good enough to contend but they should be much better than a .500 team with their talent.

Prediction update: The Wolves finish with a top-six defensive rating… The Wolves are tied for 10th in defensive rating and that’s with all the injuries and problems they’ve had this season. They’re 1.6 points per 100 possessions allowed behind sixth. And they just swapped Russell for Conley, so there is a pathway to making this happen.

theathletic.com

NBA Power Rankings: Celtics and Kings continue to rise as final stretch approaches

At the three-quarter mark, time to check some report cards and see what progress or regression has happened with all 30 teams.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
 

The Bucks were sold for $3.5 billion.

The Wolves are definitely worth more than the $1.5 billion A-Rod and Lore agreed to pay.

That's good news for Taylor when he goes out to try and sell the team again.
 

jamiche said:
Been meaning to respond to this for a couple of days.

You are correct that it all starts with Taylor. Harv and Marv let him run the team before he owned it, so he's doing the same thing. He's also snookered these wannabes because he's taken their money at a $1.5B valuation for a $2B asset, knowing they don't have the money to ever buy the whole thing. Taylor will eventually sell the team to somebody with money for $2B or more. The problem is that he's let them screw it up.

Gupta and Rosas were highly competent. They put last year's roster together. Rosas had personal failings and Gupta was too "boring" for our wannabes.
Click to expand...

What was so great about last year's roster? They were 32-29 on this date, a whopping 2 games better than this year's record, and that was with KAT playing nearly all of last season.

They turned out to be a play in team, and they should have been better. It became obvious last year that a 'big 3' of Ant, KAT, and DLo was going to lead them nowhere long term.

Connelly is now rebuilding around Ant, which is the right approach long term. He overpaid for Gobert, but yet you think Rosas is competent when he completely botched trading up for Jarret Culver.

It doesn't happen overnight, but building around a young core of Ant, McDaniels, and hopefully Naz Reid, after hopefully trading KAT for a nice package of players/picks, this offseason gives this franchise a much brighter future than continuing on with DLo and KAT. It'll also give them more financial flexibility for FAs long term.
 
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Gopherguy0723 said:
The Bucks were sold for $3.5 billion.

The Wolves are definitely worth more than the $1.5 billion A-Rod and Lore agreed to pay.

That's good news for Taylor when he goes out to try and sell the team again.
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It's gotta make Taylor happy. Just saw that the guy who owns 25% of the team is selling his share. Three major differences. The Bucks, with pressure from the NBA, Herb Kohls' and the city helped build a new arena in Downtown Milwaukee.

Then they got Marquette to agree to play their home games there.

Third would be that by being winners, the Bucks had the support of the community to stay there.

Don't think that any of those things would apply to the Wolves.
 
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GopherWeatherGuy said:
What was so great about last year's roster? They were 32-29 on this date, a whopping 2 games better than this year's record, and that was with KAT playing nearly all of last season.

They turned out to be a play in team, and they should have been better. It became obvious last year that a 'big 3' of Ant, KAT, and DLo was going to lead them nowhere long term.

Connelly is now rebuilding around Ant, which is the right approach long term. He overpaid for Gobert, but yet you think Rosas is competent when he completely botched trading up for Jarret Culver.

It doesn't happen overnight, but building around a young core of Ant, McDaniels, and hopefully Naz Reid, after hopefully trading KAT for a nice package of players/picks, this offseason gives this franchise a much brighter future than continuing on with DLo and KAT. It'll also give them more financial flexibility for FAs long term.
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Naz Reid can't defend.

McDaniels is so overrated I could cry. Guards blow by him as he is guarding them 35 feet out. He has a limited offensive game and is not the least bit physical. I don't understand the McDaniels fascination.

I guess you build around Ant, but I think he's a guy who will put up numbers, but his basketball IQ is off the charts bad. Maybe that improves with age.

If we are building with McDaniels and Reid as the core, stick a fork in them now.
 

kg21 said:
Naz Reid can't defend.

McDaniels is so overrated I could cry. Guards blow by him as he is guarding them 35 feet out. He has a limited offensive game and is not the least bit physical. I don't understand the McDaniels fascination.

I guess you build around Ant, but I think he's a guy who will put up numbers, but his basketball IQ is off the charts bad. Maybe that improves with age.

If we are building with McDaniels and Reid as the core, stick a fork in them now.
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Not true according to all of the metrics. He is highly rated as a defensive player. He needs to work on his offense game for sure.
 

tikited said:
Not true according to all of the metrics. He is highly rated as a defensive player. He needs to work on his offense game for sure.
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they keep starting him on certain guys lately, and he can't stay with them. Then they switch to someone else.

The put him on a smaller guy, he guards them way out, and they go by him often.

Also, his offensive game is limited, and we can't rebound. He is a very weak rebounder. He's toothpick thin.

In the 4th quarter, when the games are tight and things go up a notch, he's basically worthless.

He's not a guy that takes you anywhere. He's just another guy.
 

kg21 said:
they keep starting him on certain guys lately, and he can't stay with them. Then they switch to someone else.

The put him on a smaller guy, he guards them way out, and they go by him often.

Also, he offensive game is limited, and we can't rebound. He is a very weak rebounder. He's toothpick thin.

He's not a guy that takes you anywhere. He's just another guy.
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The part i never understand is every single pick set on mcdaniels...even if its 50 feet from the basket...he chases over the top. I'm to the point where I would like to start seeing them slide under and watch guys jack up somewhat contested 3's as opposed to him chasing over the top and us being left 5 on 4.
 

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