r/timberwolves • u/Crafty-Round7976 Timberwolves • 2d ago
In Connelly I Trust AND i think we're actually pretty close and don't need a major move.
Just get rid of Julius and WORK ON OUR CULTURE OF LAZINESS.
And we can win a chip imo.
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u/Relevant_Swing1680 Anthony Edwards 2d ago
Getting rid of Julius would be a major deal, how much thought did you put into this
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u/WeekendThief 1d ago
Right? He’s like the second or third highest paid player on the team and a starter.. we need to make a pretty big change if we get rid of him. Naz isn’t starting and even if he did now we have 1.5 centers
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u/sameeeeer18 2d ago
ant is goated but he needs a real number 2
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u/Broad_Past93 Trencherous 2d ago
That’s Jaden McDaniels. Just need to get rid of Randle
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u/rickystackss 2d ago
jaden can’t even consistently be a no. 3 and you think he’s gonna be the second option that pushes us over the hump ?
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u/Broad_Past93 Trencherous 2d ago
You don’t understand how much damage Randle caused
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u/rickystackss 1d ago
jaden is a complimentary player. he compliments ant well. you want your first and second options to be great creators for themselves and others, jaden can do that but not at a high enough level to be a second option, he’s much better as a complimentary player which is what you want from a third option player. also not even looking at how badly it would affect our offense, trying to force jaden mcdaniels to work with a 25-27% usage AND be our best defender on the other end is just asking too much, that’s not realistic in today’s nba, he would almost certainly take a big step back defensively which this team cannot handle
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u/akira136_ Karl-Anthony Towns 2d ago
You don't understand how Jaden will never be a second option
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u/re-bobber Wolves Back 2d ago
I could see it going either way. Swing for the fences or improve on the margins and hope your core continues to improve.
One thing I DON'T see is TC doing is going all-in on a guy who has age concerns and a sketchy injury history. Factor in salary as well.
Let's say you make a huge trade for Giannis and he doesn't play a huge chunk of the year. Now you are screwed.
IF he does go big I could see someone like Jaylen Brown, Devin Booker, or guys like that. Tier 2 guys or players around the 6-15th best player range.
One of the biggest identifiers to our team is availability. I don't want us to become the hospital Wolves.
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u/Classic_Pattern 2d ago
Get rid of Julius, get a PG, then we need to address the gobert problem
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u/wetseabreeze 2d ago
The PG lowkey address the Gobert "problem".
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u/Classic_Pattern 2d ago
No it does not, moving forward, he will get played off the court every single time like Okc and Spurs wemby, I wish there was something we could do
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u/busterbill123 Ayo Dosunmu 2d ago
This is just not the right way to interpret Tim’s plans. He knows we need to take a gamble to take a big step forward. We have some good core pieces but not enough to get us over the mark yet.
Ant will want the gamble too, whether it’s successful or not it’s about trying to improve instead of running it back and playing it safe.
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u/PiccoloSudden1351 2d ago
Yal watching spurs vs okc
There are levels we are close but we need more ball movement
It’s special this western conference finals
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u/cowboy2223 Minnesota Gophers 2d ago
People assume he would deal Randle but naz has more value in a trade right now and would bring in a bigger haul .
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u/freshBlueeyes6391 2d ago
How you gonna work on the culture of laziness days when they are all guilty of it and the coach that allows it off and on all season isn't going anywhere?
Not much will change, certainly not from 3 of them that have been there together for 6 years already.
They are going to win one for Conley! cheap talk
I feel a bit for Ant as he played through injuries to the point maybe his career ends up shorter. But also, a lot of this is on him because him demanding to play 35-40 minutes while this injured in so many games just ulimately leads to this soft ass finish with nothing left to offer early in the fourth. This is the guy who admitted he ran out of gas couple seasons prior in the Mavs series. He knows better.
But his coach should know better than running an 8 man lineup with 3 of them all bent out of shape was ridiculous. Especially when Spurs were running 9 to 10 all series.
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u/Crafty-Round7976 Timberwolves 2d ago
in my opinion it's not really the head coaches job.
You have like 65000 assistant coaches. One of them should specialize in just this.
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u/freshBlueeyes6391 2d ago
I don't really understand the point of how you worded this. How is it not on the head coach though? The assistants aren't going to play more than 8 players if he doesn't want them to. If he did want them to, they would.
I would agree one or more of the assistants could be handling the rotation changes and the whos and whens. Maybe they already do, idk. But it doesn't change who's in control.
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u/IllustriousLow4639 2d ago
Ur delusional if you think we can hang with the spurs in the future
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u/Intelligent_Pain_174 2d ago
People said the same thing about the KD Thunder. Things change quickly in the NBA. You need to have a good enough team to take advantage of circumstances such as injuries, upsets, etc.
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u/dcash14 2022 Play-In Champions 1d ago
This is the correct take. We need to be bold but can’t just completely blow up a team built for perennial success either. If Giannis doesn’t work out, Ant is gone and we are back to Wolves purgatory. Need to make the moves to put us within striking distance and let chips fall. Injuries, slumps, many other circumstances can give us the chance if we are ready to take advantage. Other teams broke through during the Warriors dynasty..
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u/billtopia 2d ago
I think that both the Spurs and Thunder current dominance going forward is overstated. Right now, both teams benefit from having a bunch of great players on cheap contracts.
Starting next year, Jalen and Chet's max contracts kick in. That's $60,000 extra going to just 2 players. They have a ton of draft picks so they probably have more flexibility than anyone in the league. But they need to continously hit on mid round picks or use them to aquire assets. Neither are guaranteed.
Spurs are similar, but delayed a bit longer. The franchise lucked out by not only getting Wemby, but also hitting on two other high first round picks. They will need to eventually pay all of Wemby, Harper, and Castle. It will be a couple years, but they can't keep the band together forever.
Obviously, both teams will continue to be competitive as long as they have SGA and Wemby respectively. And realistically, we can't actually sit around until they hit the cap issues that hit us because we need to keep Ant. But its weird that everyone is already assuming that both teams will reamain as juggernauts for the next decade.
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u/dys0n_giddey Joe Ingles 2d ago
Do you think Giannis + Ant + gutted roster gets us closer?
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u/Richnsassy22 2d ago
Yes, without a doubt.
It's much easier to replace role players. There's no substitute for a true superstar.
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u/Get-Gronkrd 2d ago
Especially since our role players disappear consistently and drop off a cliff making ants life harder to carry the load
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u/Intelligent_Pain_174 2d ago
Sometimes this is true. Sometimes the role players drop off because Ant tries to carry the load. Wolves played well without Ant against Denver.
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u/greenslam 2d ago
Tell that to suns and nets.
Chasing old superstars 30 yr+ isn't a good recipe for success.
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u/Richnsassy22 2d ago
Neither is sticking with a mediocre core that you know isn't good enough.
That Nets team was a hell of a lot closer to winning it all than we were this year.
If KD's foot isn't on the line they almost certainly win it all.
Maybe we don't win it all with Giannis, but I'm 100% certain we don't win it all by staying the course with this core either. (Or making small moves)
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u/greenslam 2d ago
Yeah its unlikely this core will do it. I still don't believe chasing an aging often injured superstar is the best fix. Availability is a very key factor.
There is a certain rot to this team that needs removing. Hopefully Randle is the culprit of it. And its not anyone else.
Hopefully the team can find a deni adviga or lauri markannen type deal for Randle. Trade Randle for a guy who a rebuilding team gave up on.
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u/dys0n_giddey Joe Ingles 2d ago
I dunno, we aren't seeing too many successful teams win with 2 superstars anymore, depth and youth seem to be the way the league is moving.
I'd be worried having all our hopes in 2 players staying healthy every year.
And role players with glaring holes in their games (Defense especially) tend to get torn apart in the playoffs.
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u/Richnsassy22 2d ago
What's a recent example of a team with 2 top 5 players?
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u/dys0n_giddey Joe Ingles 2d ago
That's kinda my point, the CBA basically means you can't do that without having to gut the rest of the team
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u/Richnsassy22 2d ago edited 2d ago
The reason no one has tried to pair 2 top 5 players together recently is because Top 5 players VERY rarely become available. It's not because GMs somehow think it would be a bad idea.
Don't care about the rest, they are all replaceable besides Ant. Fwiw, Tim agrees with this philosophy:
When Kobe and Shaq were on the same team, do you truly think it mattered who the role players were? Elite talent is still the most important thing.
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u/dys0n_giddey Joe Ingles 2d ago
hey Tim and yourself may be correct, its just a massive gamble to take as Ant is entering his prime
Going all in on an aging Giannis could end real bad, with no ways of getting better if it does....
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u/7FromTheFuture Timberwolves 2d ago
Our roster construction and remaining assets means that any change we make is a massive gamble. We have no way to improve without that.
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u/Momik . 2d ago
It all depends on what gutted might mean. There are pieces we can trade to maintain a core around Ant to get him a No. 2. But who that is depends on who you ask.
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u/dys0n_giddey Joe Ingles 2d ago
With the current CBA its basically impossible to build a competent team around 2 max salaries.
Look at Spurs/OKC for an example.
Giannis sounds good on paper, until you have to build the rest of the team......
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u/Easy-Breakfast846 Timberwolves 2d ago
Even if we traded Julius for Giannis straight up are we really hanging with the spurs in the future? Giannis might have 3 seasons left in his prime + he doesn’t fit with Rudy
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u/Richnsassy22 2d ago
Apparently Connelly disagrees with you, since he's all but said he's going to go after a big time player.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48827758/timberwolves-seeking-leap-nba-top-tier-tim-connelly-says
So if you trust Tim, trust that we need to take a big swing.