Timberwolves, 2017-2018

[pikestabber]

Well, that was interesting! The same trade that would have been good last year is seemingly brilliant this year. Butler immediately shores up our defense and creates additional scoring for this young, suddenly legitimate team. Great move to start the new year, and a good draft prospect at #16 to boot. While I do like Lavine, we seemed to do a bit better with him sidelined which is not an indictment on his talent, but rather proof that he didn't quite fit our scheme. All in all, this was about as lopsided a trade as I can think of and we should be pretty darn happy with the return we got!

[paceman]

Agreed!

[hoppe56307]

I liked Lavine too, but coming off ACL surgery you get the feeling that he will lose some of that explosiveness that made him fun to watch.

[ozzie]

Great trade and as of last year I know I wasn't ready to part with Lavine and his potential but that all changed when he went down with the injury.  I hope Lavine becomes a stud for Chicago in a few years but our time to win is now with this addition!!  Great move giving up hope for a top 15 player in the league that plays D is brilliant with the young studs we still have on roster.  Now all we need to do is add another player or 2 in free agency to strengthen our bench and we will be looking good.  Excited for the free agency to start!!! Playoffs here we come!!!!!! GO WOLVES!!!!!!!!!!!

[JBMasterAngler]

Glad Lavine is gone! Added nothing but slam dunks to the team. I've been out of town for the past week, so I was very delighted to hear about this trade today.

[nofishfisherman]

My only concern is the timing of all of this. We seem to be loading up for a run in the next year or two but the Warriors are still sitting there stacked beyond belief.  Can we add enough and develop our young guys enough to be a legit threat to the Warriors.  Lebron, Irving, and Love barely made the Warriors break a sweat in the finals.  I'd like to see them time their final acquisitions to correspond with the end of the Warriors run. 

[pikestabber]

On 6/25/2017 at 9:53 AM, nofishfisherman said:

I'd like to see them time their final acquisitions to correspond with the end of the Warriors run. 

 

Unfortunately, we just don't know when that will be (injury, free agency, etc.), and by the time they wind down someone else will have already taken their place. More to the point, we need to get to the dance a few times before we will be a threat to the likes of GS, or anyone else for that matter. Get these young guys some playoff experience, continue to build, and add pieces wherever and whenever we can. Keep moving ahead, that's all we can do. It's a cliche, but we can't control what other teams do...only what we do, and I think we are making good decisions with players and personnel lately.

[ozzie]

I couldn't have said it better myself pikestabber!  We have to go out there and do what we can now and not try to set up for "when the warriors are old" cuz the way the NBA is going who knows what players may join forces to set up the next "Warriors" squad.  Heck maybe the Wolves will be that next team !!  I just really love the addition of Butler and from the sounds of it we are not done yet and I am excited to see what will happen in free agency and if we could really land the likes of Kyle Lowry one of the other PG's that are hitting the FA market.  Nice to see the Wolves making moves!!

[nofishfisherman]

I understand that you never really know when the Warriors are going to fall off or if they even will.  Hopefully the Wolves can make the playoffs and gain some experience, maybe teach the rest of the team how to play defense, so that in a few years we are knocking on the door and can lure in a top free agent to put us over the edge.  Its just an awful tough time to be a good team right now with the Warriors so clearly heads and shoulders above everyone else.

[pikestabber]

On 6/26/2017 at 1:39 PM, nofishfisherman said:

Its just an awful tough time to be a good team right now with the Warriors so clearly heads and shoulders above everyone else.

 

It's amazing to see a thoroughly talented team like Cleveland just get dissected like a back alley pick up team. I agree--GS will be THE team to beat for several more years if they keep their nucleus. I think we can make them sweat a little bit now, though, so that's pretty exciting for a change! 

Edited June 27, 2017 by pikestabber

[nofishfisherman]

It will be interesting to see how the Warriors react in free agency.  Will they be able to keep the team together?  It seems like all these guys value winning above a paycheck so they might be willing to sign deals that will still allow the team flexibility to keep good role players around them.

 

 

[pikestabber]

And that's the key...it takes a guy or two to step back from the max deal and take a pay cut to keep this type of talent together. In the NFL, the Patriots are a dynasty because Tom Brady is smart enough to take far less than he'd command on the open mark to stay put with a great coach and build weapons around him...he values rings (aka, his legacy) more than a few more dollars. If GS can do that, they will be relevant for a very long time.

[JBMasterAngler]

The first piece that Golden State might be losing is Andre Iguadala. Would love to see the wolves grab him.

[ozzie]

The Warriors won't lose anyone that wants to stay with them since Durant is basically sitting back and saying pay my boys and then we will take care of business.  Hard to lure a free agent from them if their studs take such paycuts...

Edited June 29, 2017 by ozzie

[nofishfisherman]

The Warriors have an incredible situation. Incredibly talented players without the ego that typically comes with it. Most guys want to make the most money or be "The Man", these guys don't seem to care, they just want to win.

I saw a quote from I think it was Klay Thompson, someone asked if he thought about ever leaving leaving to be "The Man" on another team.  He said something to the effect that it would be cool to be "The Man" and for it to be his team but winning is just too much fun.

 

[JBMasterAngler]

Wolves trade Rubio to Utah for 2018 1st round pick. Sign Jeff Teague to replace him. He's a slight downgrade on defense, but way better shooter! Should be able to open things up nicely for KAT and Butler. This offseason is going way too good for a Minnesota sports team...I'm afraid I might be dreaming 

[JBMasterAngler]

Just signed Taj Gibson to 2 year deal. Gives the wolves some depth at forward position. I really like the direction this team is heading.

[pikestabber]

On 7/1/2017 at 11:15 AM, JBMasterAngler said:

Wolves trade Rubio to Utah for 2018 1st round pick. Sign Jeff Teague to replace him. He's a slight downgrade on defense, but way better shooter! Should be able to open things up nicely for KAT and Butler. This offseason is going way too good for a Minnesota sports team...I'm afraid I might be dreaming 

 

I will miss Rubio's defense, no doubt about that, and for a team struggling to find their defensive prowess, I hope this loss is mitigated by a good defender in Butler, and defenses needing to respect Teague's shooting enough to open up more scoring changes for KAT and crew. We will need to get better on the defensive side of the ball, but I think our offense is primed to really take off. I am liking this off-season, too!

 

[JBMasterAngler]

Add Jamal Crawford to the roster! Unfortunately the wolves have no more money to spend, and I think there's still like 3 roster spots to fill.

[pikestabber]

Well, pre-season is pre-season, but it sounds like Butler is fitting right in. 2-0 means nothing right now, but it sounds a lot better than 0-2! 

We have steadiness at the coaching position, upgraded talent, and guys that go toe-to-toe with pretty much any team out there. I've said (and been dead wrong) for years... This is our year! Lol. But seriously, anything less than a DEEP playoff run will be very disappointing. No more excuses...

Edited October 5, 2017 by pikestabber

[Storm]

On 10/5/2017 at 1:29 PM, pikestabber said:

Well, pre-season is pre-season, but it sounds like Butler is fitting right in. 2-0 means nothing right now, but it sounds a lot better than 0-2! 

We have steadiness at the coaching position, upgraded talent, and guys that go toe-to-toe with pretty much any team out there. I've said (and been dead wrong) for years... This is our year! Lol. But seriously, anything less than a DEEP playoff run will be very disappointing. No more excuses...

Unfortunatley the west has gotten stronger for a few teams competing with us. While I also believe we have a good chance at past first round playoff berth, I don't think it's a bust if we don't. Thunder, Houston, spurs, and golden state are all going to be very tough matches. I'm excited for it to officially start though!

[rundrave]

Any concern that Wiggins has not signed max offer yet that's been available for weeks?

Lol I literally posted this and now see presser for later today that he is signing.

[pikestabber]

Well, some good things, some bad things...

We didn't pull of the win on the road as I'd hoped, but I think there were some positive take-aways...

Defensively, we aren't fixed, but we are looking better. Taj jumped off the screen last night with his aggressive D. I think his presence will help a lot! We played good defense at times, but it was VERY streaky. It seemed that throughout the night SA went up by 8-10, then we buckled down to pull with a bucket or tied it up, repeat...

Butler looks like he needs a few more games to gel with the boys, but I think his addition can't be overstated. If even for one game, he seemed to light a fire under Wiggins.

If we can get some form of consistent 3 point shooting, we will be talking a lot more about wins than losses this year!

[Duffman]

It took Garnett, Sprewell, and Cassell about 15 games to gel.

We'll have a much better feel for this team after about 10 games.

[JBMasterAngler]

Final 2 minutes of lastnight’s game was pretty exciting. I agree, it’s going to take several more games for the team to really come together. But winning those types of games will make it happen faster!