Vixen Twins watch Wild Wolves and Loony Lynx (MN Sports Thread)

[solidvikingfan]

 

[SemperFeist]

That’s a lot too give up. A. Lot. 

[SemperFeist]

This looks like a bad value trade. 

I’m a very casual basketball fan, but giving up what looks like your entire depth, plus 3-4 first rounders, for a 30 year old player, who’s basically a one dimensional player, seems like a bad idea. 

Russell
Edwards
McDaniels
Towns
Gobert

That’s a very formidable lineup. But who’s coming off of the bench? 

Edited July 1, 2022 by SemperFeist

[solidvikingfan]

24 minutes ago, SemperFeist said:

This looks like a bad trade. 

I’m a very casual basketball fan, but giving up what looks like your entire depth, plus 3-4 first rounders, for a 30 year old player, who’s basically a one dimensional player, seems like a bad idea. 

Russell
Edwards
McDaniels
Towns
Gobert

That’s a very formidable lineup. But who’s coming off of the bench? 

Taurean Prince, Jaylen Nowell, Naz Reid, Kyle Anderson from what I've seen.

[wcblack34]

5 hours ago, SemperFeist said:

That’s a lot too give up. A. Lot. 

Considering the Wolves’ draft success, not really. If they don’t have the #1 overall pick, they get scrubs. 
 

As it stands now, the bench is thin, but I’d put their top 4 up against any in the league. 

[SemperFeist]

1 hour ago, wcblack34 said:

Considering the Wolves’ draft success, not really. If they don’t have the #1 overall pick, they get scrubs. 
 

As it stands now, the bench is thin, but I’d put their top 4 up against any in the league. 

What ever past regimes have done with draft picks is irrelevant, they still carry value. 

And giving up those draft picks plus a good portion of the bench depth, which was part of the team’s strength last year, is a steep price. Especially when some of those picks are going to be in Utah’s possession well after Gobert’s contract is up and he’s past his effectiveness, if not retired. 

[wcblack34]

7 hours ago, SemperFeist said:

What ever past regimes have done with draft picks is irrelevant, they still carry value. 

And giving up those draft picks plus a good portion of the bench depth, which was part of the team’s strength last year, is a steep price. Especially when some of those picks are going to be in Utah’s possession well after Gobert’s contract is up and he’s past his effectiveness, if not retired. 

I get that. But the picks are every other year. So it’s not like they’ll be completely out of the running to add young talent. But they’re going all in on Edwards and KAT. This allows KAT to focus on his offense. And while Gobert might regress over time, his defense will always be well above league average. I also LOVE that this move will help keep KAT out of foul trouble because he won’t be responsible for defending the rim or stopping penetration in the paint. This is one of those moves that is going to have ramifications all over the court. 
 

Superstars don’t want to come here. We have to make aggressive moves to get them. The team thinks they can win a championship with KAT and Edwards and they’re taking the Les Snead approach to do it. Will it work? Who knows? But for the first time in a long time (and perhaps the first time in Wolves’ history), it feels like a Minnesota team is actively trying to win a Championship. 

Edited July 2, 2022 by wcblack34

[Ozzy]

On 7/2/2022 at 5:09 AM, wcblack34 said:

I get that. But the picks are every other year. So it’s not like they’ll be completely out of the running to add young talent. But they’re going all in on Edwards and KAT. This allows KAT to focus on his offense. And while Gobert might regress over time, his defense will always be well above league average. I also LOVE that this move will help keep KAT out of foul trouble because he won’t be responsible for defending the rim or stopping penetration in the paint. This is one of those moves that is going to have ramifications all over the court. 
 

Superstars don’t want to come here. We have to make aggressive moves to get them. The team thinks they can win a championship with KAT and Edwards and they’re taking the Les Snead approach to do it. Will it work? Who knows? But for the first time in a long time (and perhaps the first time in Wolves’ history), it feels like a Minnesota team is actively trying to win a Championship. 

True it helps Kat out because he sucks at defense, he is a bad athlete and does not move his feet welland is not very well coordinated and gets in foul trouble constantly because of it.

 

Granted how will he defend power forwards in the NBA?  There are a lot of teams that plays shooters who are 6-7 ish at PF and they could run around Kat all day long.  But going big will be hard to handle for some teams as long as the wings are athletic, Kyle Anderson and Prince are decent but wish they had another guard type who is athletic with foot speed and maybe they will go with a lineup of Russell, Forbes and Edwards or Russell, Norvell and Edwards and let the bigs play together that might work.

 

Does seem odd trading basically 9 players away for one.  I wish Russell was in that deal honestly instead of some of those other guys.  And Russell seems to constantly be hurt and is not a great leader at all, and they trade the best leader on the team in Beverly away which also seems odd, I would rather have Beverly and his passion and toughness and Russell and his scoring but his lackadaisical play at times.  But I loved the fact they got Walker Kessler in the draft as the best shot blocker in the draft and rim protection was a huge need for the team they were awful at post defense and rim protection.  So I guess getting Rudy who is arguably the best shot blocker in the league is not bad but he is up there in age which hurts.  I would not be surprised if Kessler is a very solid pro at least on D so he would have been way cheaper than Rudy.

 

Still I would rather see D. Russell go than Beverly, Beasley, Kessler etc.  

[wcblack34]

KAT won't have to lock down power forwards. Just direct them in towards Gobert. Gobert is the ultimate security blanket. Edwards will be able to be more aggressive on defense because he knows Gobert is down there. That should lead to more steals. Also, since KAT isn't being asked to defend the rim, he'll get more buckets in transition. 

There's no question that the Wolves gave up a haul, but if we get three years of peak Gobert, it will be worth it. Defensively, he's head and shoulders above any other center in the league. Even when he loses a step, he'll still be a top guy. 

I think my biggest worry now is where our bench scoring will come from. Definitely need a couple of guys to take big steps forward this season. 

[Ozzy]

1 hour ago, wcblack34 said:

KAT won't have to lock down power forwards. Just direct them in towards Gobert. Gobert is the ultimate security blanket. Edwards will be able to be more aggressive on defense because he knows Gobert is down there. That should lead to more steals. Also, since KAT isn't being asked to defend the rim, he'll get more buckets in transition. 

There's no question that the Wolves gave up a haul, but if we get three years of peak Gobert, it will be worth it. Defensively, he's head and shoulders above any other center in the league. Even when he loses a step, he'll still be a top guy. 

I think my biggest worry now is where our bench scoring will come from. Definitely need a couple of guys to take big steps forward this season. 

True bench scoring could be an issue, Nowell will help that a lot and so will Forbes.  McLaughlin I like in terms of a backup PG as well and Naz Reid can get buckets and so can McDaniels who might end up starting over Kyle Anderson if his defense improves.  

 

Still Beverly was the unquestioned emotional leader of the team and that will be a massive loss.  Gobert is not an emotional leader but maybe Edwards can be that guy because sure know Towns is not with his odd temperament.  Still I would have so much rather got rid of Russell and kept Beverly somehow, maybe Russell will be more of a leader this year but honestly I bet the only reason they kept him and only reason they even brought him here is because Towns likes him.

 

And Kat will have to defend, he has to run and move a lot with smaller power forwards and could pick up fouls just as easily as he did playing center if not more so.  Kat against say Aaron Gordon that might get ugly, or Jermai Grant or Darius Bazley and those are just guys in the divisional conference.  Sure offensively it should not matter because Kat is outside so often but on D he is going to get moved on a lot and frustrated, and not like he has some great post game to take advantage on the other end but will see.

 

As odd as it seems with Utah having Whiteside and Kessler I bet they will not miss Rudy much at all, and adding Beverly, Vanderbilt, Beasley etc will help a lot also.  Wish we would have got Nickeil Alexander-Walker in the deal from Utah or something but Rudy has that big of contract I guess.  

[Heimdallr]

I'm sure nobody here is aware, but the MLS All Star game (vs Liga MX All-Stars) is coming to Allianz Field on 8/10. Even if you don't want to go to the game, there will be some fun events going on before the game (ex: Khalid headlining a concert on August 8th). Also, MNUFC's head coach is coaching the MLS team.

Given recent soccer history between USA and Mexico, this game is going to be LIT. Even though this is a "meaningless" game, the energy and competitiveness is going to be like a World Cup final. Mexico absolutely cannot tolerate another loss to the US.

We won the last Gold Cup. We won the Nation's League. We won last year's All Star game. We won the CONCACAF Champion's League (for the first time in the common era). We qualified for the U20 World Cup and 2024 Olympics, and they didn't. Almost every trophy and meaningful game for the last 3 years has been USA > Mexico. They are angry.

 

[swede700]

As far as the Wolves trade, it certainly is a gamble, but it's probably a gamble that they needed to take.  The reality is if things work out as planned, the draft picks they're giving up will all be in the 20s...and the number of good players that come out of that range of picks isn't all large.  Therefore, unlike the dreaded Herschel Walker trade, while it's a lot to give up, the draft picks aren't likely to be as consequential.  

I don't watch a lot of NBA basketball, but I still pick up a lot about it just from various discussions, so when I hear that 1st rd picks are better to give up than Jaden McDaniels, I'll believe it.  

And considering Gobert is not an offensive player, I'd be highly surprised to see them move D-Lo now, because they'll need his offense, even as inconsistent as it might be and I'm not sure where you'd find an upgrade at PG.  D-Lo, Ant, Kyle Anderson, KAT and Gobert is a very good starting lineup.  It may not be championship level yet, but it should be one that can get them a higher seed and further in the playoffs, especially now that they'll be a team that is built completely different from any others in the NBA, which may give them a competitive advantage.

[wcblack34]

19 hours ago, swede700 said:

As far as the Wolves trade, it certainly is a gamble, but it's probably a gamble that they needed to take.  The reality is if things work out as planned, the draft picks they're giving up will all be in the 20s...and the number of good players that come out of that range of picks isn't all large.  Therefore, unlike the dreaded Herschel Walker trade, while it's a lot to give up, the draft picks aren't likely to be as consequential.  

I don't watch a lot of NBA basketball, but I still pick up a lot about it just from various discussions, so when I hear that 1st rd picks are better to give up than Jaden McDaniels, I'll believe it.  

And considering Gobert is not an offensive player, I'd be highly surprised to see them move D-Lo now, because they'll need his offense, even as inconsistent as it might be and I'm not sure where you'd find an upgrade at PG.  D-Lo, Ant, Kyle Anderson, KAT and Gobert is a very good starting lineup.  It may not be championship level yet, but it should be one that can get them a higher seed and further in the playoffs, especially now that they'll be a team that is built completely different from any others in the NBA, which may give them a competitive advantage.

Gobert is very good on the pick and roll and scored a lot of points on lobs in Utah. DLo's best season came when he played with the Nets and they had a couple of Centers who were good at that. I think they're going to be able to create a lot of opportunities for DLo. 

It will be a very unique look in today's NBA, but KAT isn't a typical Big. He's one of the game's best 3pt shooters. He's going to get to work in space and back down defenders who are a good deal smaller than him. 

All in all, we brought in new front office people to put their stamp on the team. They've certainly done that. Plus, Finch has shown himself to be a very good coach. They wouldn't make this move unless he was ecstatic about it. 

[JDBrocks]

Also consider that Gobert’s offensive production was hampered by Mitchell. Mitchell averaged more turnovers per game than PASSES to Gobert. Not even talking assists, just passes. his scoring volume might not go up because he’s not a focal point, but he should have even better efficiency in MN.

[skywindO2]

Good luck this weekend @RpMc!

Edited July 8, 2022 by skywindO2