What is crack lacking fellows thermonuclear a efforts. I am Dan Favalley coming at
you with a podcast about one of the most fascinating teams in the NBA right
now, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and I am super excited to be joined by
I get to now say a returning guest, Kyle Tige from the Dane Moore
NBA podcast as well as the Flagrant Howls podcast over at Score North. They
are both in my regular rotation for any of our listeners who care, so
go check them out. The links that will be in the podcast and YouTube
description. As always, follow Kyle on Twitter at Kyle Tigi. That's at
t h E. I g E as the last name and Kyle spelled exactly
as it sounds. Kyle. One, Welcome back, and two, how
the heck are you doing? H one? Thank you? As always,
I told you before we hit record that I love doing this pod and to
more than anything, I appreciate you letting me kick it down another day.
I know we're going to try to go Yesterday vibes Timberwolves fan base. Yesterday
not great. Twenty four hours later after what I think was a historic comeback,
I think I saw that they were the first team in like fifty five
hundred games to be down twenty two or more points and then win by twenty.
So at halftime last night, vibes are bad, a lot of fans
wanted Kyle Anderson kind of excommunicated, and twenty four to twenty eight minutes later,
they're up by twenty and they got a really, really, probably the
most important win of the season against the Clippers, team that they were kind
of fighting for, maybe that three spot in the West, depending on how
okay See and Denver do. But it was a really big game, not
only for tie breakers, not only for standings, but also just another win
that they can show, hey, until Carl comes back from that injury,
we can kind of stem the tide. So really cool game. Always fun
for a small market team to do it on TNT, kind of get that
national exposure. But I'm hung over today because I celebrated that win, So
let's get into it. Yeah, that was just this I had mentioned this
year before we started the progression of social media sentiment, where I wasn't tweeting
during the game, but I'd seen the stuff that was out there, and
not just about Kyle Anderson with the Wolves, and I had had someone message
me that said they thought the Wolves were more likely to finish fifth or sixth
instead of like in the top three, And like that win just flips everything
on its head, and now it has specific questions about it because it feels
like maybe they unlocked some certain certain things they can move forward with. But
we did get the news before the game that Krompty Towns undergo surgery to repair
that meniscus, I believe, and they're going to reevaluate him in four weeks.
And it's always funny to see from my perspective to see the reaction where
it's like, oh, we are so going to have him back before the
playoffs. Where I look at it and say, okay, what's his reevaluation?
He doesn't say like he's going to be back in five on five.
At that point, what do you do you have any sense or even just
personally as to like what the hope should be or a realistic timeline for when
he comes back. Because the repair recoveries, if I'm not mistaken, they're
normally supposed to last. Like the return to play is like it's supposed to
take longer than if you have it removed, and the fact that it seems
like he had it repaired unless I'm mistaken there too, Like even a six
week timetable feels a little ambitious. Yeah, it's it's the best spot to
start with this team because it's the biggest news. It's been I think one
full week since they officially lost him. It was announced last Thursday that he
had torn it right before that Indiana Pacers game, which ended up being maybe
the most fun game of the season with Anthony Edwards just hitting his back on
the on the backboard. But uh, I can't stop looking at that picture
by the way of like him just like hitting the rim. Just I need
every angle of that, Like if there's more that, like Zapruder film,
I just kind of want to study it because it was one of the most
impressive athletic moments I've just seen. It doesn't matter if I'm a Wolves fan
or not. But uh, back to Carl. Yeah, it's weird because
the team with injuries. I mean even just a year ago when Carl was
doing with what ended up being a really serious calf injury, it was like
January, like I think he's supposed to be back and he wasn't back in
February, and we just didn't know. So with this one, especially with
the meniscus tear like you said, and doing the surgery. He had it
performed out in LA yesterday, as most surgeries do in sports. It went
successful. But four weeks reevaluation. I get it from a fans point,
right, Like you want your players to be back. You played, you
know, maybe play video games. You're like, Okay, this injury,
he'll be back in four weeks or whatever. Everybody as you start to you
know, you cover the whole league, right Dan, like these players,
everybody's different. So how he'll recover, how he'll rehab. I note this
morning he tweeted out like a dragonball z in the lab rehabbing photos, So
I know he's already kind of on the up and up. But yeah,
they're gonna look at him in four weeks and kind of figure it out.
But in that four weeks, like he's not getting any game, like not
even minutes, right, He's obviously not gonna play. But game shape and
cardio shape are just completely different. So when they reevaluate him in four weeks,
that's I think eight on the schedule, So they'll still have a couple
of regular season games left that they can kind of work his way in,
whether he's playing or just ramping up his own cardio. But because again last
night's win was so big, they are distancing themselves like firmly from being a
play in team. So they're gonna have that week between the end of this
regular season on Sunday to when the playoffs start the following Saturday or Sunday.
They'll probably start at home as a top four seed knock on Wood. So
there is about six six and a half weeks here to kind of wiggle with
to get Carl back without him. I just don't it'll be matchup specific obviously,
do they play the Suns, Dallas whatever? Can they get through a
game or two. But the one that really matters to me is when you
hear Chris Finch talk. Because Chris Finch is like the most I mean,
I'm a pro Chris Finch guy. He might be the best head coach in
Timberwolves's history, him or the late great Flip Saunders, but he's not gonna
lie to you most of the time. And he's been pretty like kind of
upbeat about getting Carl back. So the Vibes seemed to say that he will
be back for the playoffs. But for now, I think all this team
can do is kind of just go next man up, whether that be nas
Reed, Nikhil, Alexander Walker. You kind of have that card in your
back pocket. You hope he recovers, You hope he can come back,
because without him, they don't really have a firm chance of advancing too far
in the West. But if you've seen what they've done since Carl went down,
the Indiana game, the Cleveland game, the Lakers game was a little
different, but then against the Clippers last night, like they are capable with
the guys they have of probably beating almost anyone, especially like a five through
eight seeds. So we'll hope Carl comes back. We'll kind of watch and
monitor his rehab, but for now, it's Anthony Edwards team for the most
part, and they'll go as far as that young twenty two year old kid
can take them. Wild and he was only twenty two. You know,
I don't wish injury, So when I say it, I don't mean it'll
be okay if it happened to someone else. But for Town specifically, all
the iterations that he just lived through with the timber Wolves, all the shit
he's gone through on and off the court, You just really want him to
be one. You want the best players to be on the court when you
get to the playoffs anyway, especially when we're talking about the best teams.
But just like this is like the culmination of everything of like his career has
been building up to where they are. They have expectations where like they should
be like in theory, should be favored during their first round playoff series whatever
they're going into. So I really just like to see him back on the
court and hope that he gets healthy and then looking like Karl Anthony Towns,
so just a bummer that like they're this good and he's so integral to what
they're doing while they're being this good, and then this happens and it's just
like infuriating, and it was his injury kind of came with the point too,
where we're dealing with all this other stuff, like there was Trey Young,
and there's since been Sadik bay and Al Prinching and Benedict Maathrin. Can
we turn NBA injury mode off for just a few months at this point,
I mean, my god it and you know, really because the Wolves had
pretty easy schedule and they took advantage of it. Right have been first placed
in the West for like ninety percent of the season, They've been the best
defense by net rating. But when they came back after All Star Break,
they did have seven straight at home. But then it just kind of got
super dicey with I don't think any team had more back to backs than them.
Their schedule was if you're from Minnesota right now, like you know,
the Spurs have their Rodeo road trip where they have like leave for two or
three weeks. Minnesota has like their state basketball road trip where like boys and
girls state basketball in the state of Minnesota is played at Target Center. So
the Wolves had to like leave for ten to twelve days. And they have
so many back to backs, and you're starting to see these injuries pile up.
I mean, Nase Reed had had multiple ankles, Money Morris had a
hamstring, where to Go Bear had a hamstring, Kyle Anderson, and then
the big one being Carl So they're just kind of fighting where I think a
lot of other teams have fought throughout. Their schedule is just a lot of
games and a condensed amount of time. But to your point about all the
injuries in general, it's just another one of those things where it's like I
would imagine before you and I die, Dan, and hopefully we have long
lives, that this thing is cut from eighty two games to like seventy two
or maybe you know, sixty five and just stretched out, because there's just
even as a fan, I find myself being, like we joked before we
hit record, I'm taking a vacation next week. I just don't want to
think about the Wolves for a week. I just need a break from the
NBA, because if your team is good, you're probably gonna play until May
or June, and ten months of basketball is way too much basketball for me,
even as a diehard fan, I totally get that. So with Towns
and I don't I want to make clear, I don't think this is the
sentiment like with people who follow and cover the Wolves, But kind of outside
that little bubble, do you think there's still maybe a little bit of a
disconnect of how valuable he actually is to what they do, specifically looking at
offenses, not just someone Yes, we know what he could do as a
floor space or open things up, but as someone who can like actually attack
through multiple layers of defense in a way that Mike Conley or Jane McDaniels or
nas reed certainly even camp, do you think that there still might be a
fundamental lack of appreciation for what Karl Anthony Towns does? Even just looking at
now, would Rudy Gobert have been my All Star pick from the Wolves if
I would have gotten one, he would have. But like even just the
reaction to Karl Anthony Town's making the All Star Game, do you think that's
still sort of a thing. One hundred percent, And it's probably because of
how intertwined we are or the league is to like NBA Twitter, right,
He's just he's one of the easier. He's an he's kind of socially different.
He's very nice. I don't think teammates ever have anything that's bad to
say about him, But he just gets kind of nitpicked for, you know,
whatever people perceive the voice changes or the funny things he says on podcasts,
or some of the silly things he said about you know, what they
did in the play and being as important or as you know, valuable as
what the Nuggets did. He's just kind of a goofy guy, but goofy
gets handled really poorly, I think in the NBA compared to other leagues.
So he just you know, he had a huge night against the Hornets right
where he dropped like sixty and they lose that game, and that's just you
know, again like all classic Timberlves, classic Carnthay Towns. So you know,
the thing you said about what poor timing for his injury, that injury
that does sideline him now for the rest of the regular season probably came a
week after he had to bury another one of his friends, like his high
school friends. That you know, he has dealt with a lot of loss
in his life, most notably his mom and a lot of other people due
to COVID. So he's just gone through a lot. And I think that's
I don't want to call a stigma because a lot of us are really pro
Carl, but around the league, people just kind of use him as a
punching bag. And those types of athletes don't really get the respect until they
start winning, and for Carl, like he's winning now and I think that's
why he made the All Star team. I've said that I think this is
Carl's best season as a pro. Statistically, it's not his biggest, but
the fit that he's had with Rudy Gobert and then, I mean, he
was known around the league as like just a bad defender. He's been serviceable,
if not maybe good this year. I mean all the stuff before he
went out, like all the net rating stuff, all the defense. He's
really good, even when Rudy's off the floor. So he is having a
great year. I thought he deserved to be an All Star. I'm with
you. Rudy Gobert also probably deserved to be an All Star. But Minnesota
is never going to get three guys, you know, even though the Hawks
that one year got five. So my biggest comment on the state of the
East that year, that's true, that's true. I think I think his
perception is just going to constantly be what it is until he wins. And
that's how a lot of players are treated. And this team has the best
chance to win a playoff series for the first time. It's been twenty years
Dan since they advanced past the first round when Kevin Garnett was here. So
yeah, that kind of tells you how all of us, why we consume
a lot of alcohol but uh, this is the first chance of this team
really has to advance, and they're gonna need Carl to come back because with
him they can lean into I mean, they have an identity, and I've
covered this team for eight years, They've never really had an identity before.
They're big, they're physical, they're long, and even against the Clippers last
night without Carl, they just showed that, like you put Jade McDaniels on
an island against Paul George and he can just shut him down. At had
like the most viral moment last night when Reggie Miller was like kind of slobbing
all over him about being a dog when he just didn't let Paul George get
into the lane, stole the ball, went down and had a layup.
So they need Carl back. I think Carl's perception would benefit from a good
playoff series, because even when he is in the playoffs hasn't been great.
But if they could win a first round series, I think a lot of
guys, they're Q scorers around the league would go up. When you're looking
at now how they've approached life without Towns, They've decided with the starting five,
I don't necessarily care who starts. But I do think it like kind
of clues you into like, oh, Chris Finch wants to really stabilize the
defense still in those minutes out of the gate by putting in Kyle Anderson,
like in Karl Anthony Towns a spot. We did see some changes kind of
though in the second half against the Clippers, So could he go in a
different direction? But what have you thought though about the just the overarching decision
to say, well, we're gonna play Kyle Anderson and Rudy Gobert together without
nas Reed on the court from the jump, And do you now expect that
to change after what happened with the Clippers? And just to reiterate for our
listeners, like the Timberwolves are not like this super high volume three pointing team
to begin with, and when you remove Karl Anthony Towns from most core for
other four starters, like their three point a tenth rate is basically nothing like
I don't know what it had it marked down after it is the Clippers game,
but like without Towns only thirty one point they're shooting thirty one point three
percent on twos like with that starting lineup and under thirty percent of their shots
are coming from three. That's a very low number in today's NBA. And
so what have you made of that initial decision? And do you like kind
of expect maybe not even the starting five, but the way that he gets
to certain lineups in games will change. Finch, that is change moving forward,
I think. So I've kind of stopped looking at various stats, just
probably in denial still about the Carl stuff over the last week. But prior
to Carl's injury, I think the Wolves were second in the league in three
point percentage, but they were like twenty fifth in the league and three points
attempted, So like you can just kind of look at that and be like,
why don't you just take more? And Carl was him or and the
highest volume guys on the on the team with like out any competition. I
mean a lot of times like said, Rudy's not taking threes, Kyle Anderson
has just stopped taking threes. They don't have a lot of other volume guys.
I mean, Jane McDaniels will get three attempts a game, My Condact
get four to five. We can talk about that. That is a topic
that hurts my heart, but uh yeah, the Kyle Anderson thing. Up
until I would say for the first thirty five years of my life, I
was with you, Dan, like, up until March twelfth. We're recording
this on March thirteenth. Up until March twelfth, I was pretty much like,
Yeah, I don't care who starts, I just who finishes. I
think Kyle Henderson has and I like Kyle has forced me to change that perspective
because I don't think Kyle Henderson can start anymore because I don't know how many
other contending teams in the league, or I don't know, top four or
five teams in the league start two non shooters, Like you just know Rudy's
never going to shoot threes. That's just like he is a traditional room protecting,
rebounding center, so it's just so bad when he's out there. And
then the Jane McDaniels thing is a part of this too. He was OH
for eight last night, had tremendous defense again, but offensively hasn't been consistent
and maybe has regressed a step. I think a lot of it's just in
his head. I don't really worry about him. He did sign a big
contract extension in October, so you know, next year instead of three million,
he's gonna be making like twenty So he has to figure out that part
of his game. But uh, I would imagine, and you kind of
saw it last night in the second half. Again, for anyone who doesn't
follow this team a lot, Anthony Edwards is awesome and is cool and is
funny and his great at basketball, but he doesn't show up on time all
the time, like last night again in the second half, like he he
wasn't there, and a couple of games ago he like didn't make it to
the scorers table in time to start. But last night it was really interesting
because they started a five man lineup in the first half of Mike Conley,
Anthony Edwards, Jane McDaniels, Kyle Anderson at the four, and then Rudy
Gobert. The second half, they started Nikhel in place of Aunt because he
was, I guess probably in the bathroom, and then Kyle as well.
But when Aunt came in twelve seconds later, Dan he put him in for
Kyle, So that might be the first kind of sign that maybe Chris Finch
they have a couple of days off the team's hanging out in LA which everyone
should do, but they play on USTAH in Saturday, and I would imagine
that maybe he starts like a Mike Conley, Nikiel, Alexander Walker, Aunt,
Jayden and Rudy just to have more spacing out there. Nas Reed is
like the guy and he's kind of starting to get the fame that he deserves
as being an undrafted kid out of LSU who make a lot of money now
and is one of the most exciting I guess six Men of the Year and
might be the starter down the road. Who knows next to Rudy Gobert.
But uh like I like Naos off the bench because I think he just gives
you that punch and he allows Chris Finch to kind of adjust his rotations.
I mean, they only have two centers now, which is funny because they
had three and everyone thought that was too many, and all of a sudden
they're down Carl and it's like they don't have enough. But I would hope
that was a long winded way because it's the most hot button topic right now
in the fan base of a lot of people. I think if they had
the choice, would like to like punch Kyle like Rudy did last year,
because it's just been so stagnant. But he does a lot of things still.
Man, he plays great defense. You kind of look up and you're
like, Kyle was bad tonight, and then he's like, oh, he
led the team in plus minus, which I know is in the be all
end all, But Finch just trust him. He's like the Swiss Army Knife,
the trusting you know, the Clippers at like stretches. So yeah,
I mean, I think I think he had like ten seven and six last
night. But I still think Kyle Anderson's good. I just think in different
lineups and maybe with less Rudy, because I put this way in twenty twenty
four, you just don't play lineups that have only three shooters, and sometimes
for the Wolves that's like two and a half with Jayden or like a Jordan
McLaughlin who's been hit or miss. So I think they just need to find
ways to space out Kyle and Rudy a little more. I mean, Kyle
Anderson can play five, like in small ball lineups, So that would be
the hope moving forward. We're gonna get a big, big kind of sample
size or view into what Chris Finch thinks on Saturday Night against the Jazz because
they just need to surround ant. This whole thing now revolves around that kid.
They need to surround him with as much spacing as possible and guys that
can get out and transition and defend a little more, because as you saw
last night in the second half, when they have shooters and guys that can
defend out there, I don't know, man, even without Carl, I
don't know how many teams outside of Boston and Denver can beat them. And
everything you just said kind of also underscores the importance of Karl Anthony Towns to
wards. You want Nasri to come off the bench, Yeah, you want
to have enough spacing around Anderson, Like that's the luxury of having Karl Anthony
Towns, his ability to play the forward where you don't run in to Yes,
we'll still have spacing conundrums in half quarter a lot of times, but
they're not as just disastrous or exacerbated when it's like Kyle Anderson, Rudy Gobert.
Having Towns, like you said, it pulls that big that'spacing big and
just creates this whole other different issue, especially with you know the Monte Morris
now hit that hamstring injury, we'll see if if that lingers, it feels
like it might be easier just like stagger the way they want maybe when he
comes back, because that's someone you could trust as a floor space or two.
Do you have any sense or how would you go about like trying to
like ensure that you're staggering Anderson and Gobert, Like, how complicated is it
to stagger those two as much as possible without Karl Anthony Towns there right now?
Yeah, it's complicated. It's funny because Kyle Anderson won over the hearts
of many last year. I deemed him the best free agent signing in Wolve's
franchise history. Again, don't if you don't follow this team closely, you're
probably thinking, wow, that's hyperbolok No, Actually, the bar for this
team on any sort of best ever is pretty low. Go look at who
they've signed. There's not a lot of good free agent signings in the history
of this team. But he was great last year because, as I always
joked, he spoke French like he knew how to unlock Rudy Gobert when no
one else on the team really did. And he was serviceable from three I
think he had his best season of his career just shooting from three. He
doesn't even take him anymore, like that's the concern. And he had a
late injury in the season where he got hit in the eye by Anthony Edwards,
like in an elbow on a rebound attempt. Had to get some pretty
serious surgery in the offseason, and I don't know, no one really talks
about it, no one really dives into it. But I don't know if
that's part of this whole mystery. But he just doesn't shoot threes anymore,
and it's become kind of an issue. So they needed Kyle last year,
but now everyone else on the team is at least somewhat fluent in French,
like Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert are one of the best I guess, pick
and roll kind of threats in the league. Ant's been better about finding him
Jaden, even when they bring in guys like you said, like Amani Morris,
who is I think will be back this weekend. He's was tweeting or
instagramming that he was back with a little Wolves emoji. So they need him
because he's gonna spell Mike Conley in those minutes. You don't want Mike Conley
hit thirty six playing thirty minutes a game in late March. But uh yeah,
I just I think you can play Kyle more with nas like a four
or five, or maybe have Kyle be a backup point guard for my while
Moni Morris is out. It's just the combination of that being your front court,
two guys at the four or five. I know positions are a little
more fluid in twenty twenty four, but you can't have two guys on the
court simply put that can't shoot the ball because it just clogs everything for ANT
and that's like the biggest fear is having Ant just. I mean, there's
some viral clips was like Anthony Edwards is quadruple teams and he somehow scores and
does it still, but like that's not really a formula that's gonna work come
playoff time. You imationed Jane McDaniel's ray, so I want to go there
for a second. Okay, his season has felt incredibly unevening. You already
mentioned the three point shooting. He's an under thirty five percent on uncontested threes,
which is bad, like I think the league average on open and wide
open threes. Is like in the thirty eights this year, I from not
mistake, it might even be higher. Are you noticing anything specific? Is
there is part of it? Just like could it be the way that the
personnel structure around him? And then how that also not just impacts the spacing
but the role in the opportunity he has on the offensive end? Is it?
Is it mechanics on his jumper? Like? What have you just noticed
about? Well again, what is I think the best word described his season
is probably uneven, and perhaps that's even putting it kindly. Yeah, so
I kind of have an unofficial fan base for him. I was kind of
I've been wrong about a lot of things in basketball analysis, but one of
the things I was right on was him coming out. I'm being out on
the West Coast right. I went to some of his college games when he
was at University of Washington. I just thought he kind of had this special
skill set and was a dog defensively. You saw it again last night.
There's like a twenty four second possession where he just guards everyone on the Clippers,
including ty Lou, And it was exhausting to watch, but he was
fantastic. He just guards PG, switches on Norman Pile guards him, you
know, cuts down to Jubotch just he guards everyone on the team. But
his shot is just super flat. He was zero for eight last night.
He did have a couple high you know, scoring outputs a couple of weeks
ago when they needed just another guy to step up. But it's weird with
him because he isn't he hasn't taken the leap. His defense, to me
is still pretty much there and he will probably make or will get a lot
of votes for one of the two all defensive teams. Rie Goobert will win
defensive part of the year, but I think Jayden should also be on there.
Ironically, I just learned this yesterday. Like Nikhil Alexander Walker, who
also should probably get votes, I don't think qualifies because not only is there
a games you know, like the new Award stuff, not only is there
a game minimum, but there's like a minutes minimum. So I don't think
average per game. I think you have to average twenty five, and Nikill
coming off the bench, I don't. I think Nikiel is averaging like twenty
two or something. So that's a ramble for another day. But back to
Jayden. Yeah, his shots just flat, and it makes me think,
right, like you exert so much energy on defense, he oftentimes is just
thrown out to guard a guy. I mean, you've seen ants defensive highlights,
but those are highlights like Jayden's kind of doing it the whole game,
like I don't know, like an offensive lineman, right, So I don't
know if he's just a conditioning thing. Also, and this one's tough for
people because it's not on Basketball Reference, but half the team is having a
kid like Nika, Alexander Walker, Anthony Edwards, Jane McDaniels, like half
the team is like having and I just don't know sometimes how that affects a
young player's mentality. I know it sounds like like an excuse, but you
know, maybe there's just things going on and the pressure of he knows as
well that I'm going from three. I mean, he makes this year,
I think it's the two hundred and sixty ninth highest salary in the league.
So he is a bargain at what he's getting paid for a starter who can
lock down any guy in the league. But next year he's gonna make twenty
million. He's gonna jump up to like sixty eighth, and he needs to
just find more consistent offense because everyone's focused on now and we should because this
is the greatest Timberwolf season so far in thirty five years, in the history
of the team. But next year, you know, if they have to
make a big trade because they're in the second apron or financials and like,
let's say you lose a Carl Jane McDaniels has to average more than six points
a game. So right now he's making less than his own brother Jalen in
Toronto, and Jayden's far better than Jalen is. But the offensive stuff,
whether it be in the mid or just creating a little bit, or just
having more opportunities. If he gets more opportunities, which I've always clamored for,
he has to start to deliver on them, and so far he hasn't,
and it's been really, really disappointing, and luckily it hasn't hurt the
team their success, but it will come playoff time if he can't. You
know, if they're gonna treat him like Rudy Gobert from the perimeter, that's
a nightmare. It's yeah, I can't stress enough how problematic is if teams
feel comfortable putting their bigs on him. Yeah, disastrous. Yeah. Is
there anything though, like aside from the shooting that you might be watching during
this catless stretch to where it's well they ask him to do more, can
he do more? Whether it's like kind of just more driving kick stuff within
certain lineups, or it's it's just like, we just need this guy to
hit his wide open threes right now. We'll worry about expansion later. He
was one of the best cutters on the team DAN for a couple of years,
and that was before Rudy got there. But now it's a little tougher
because Rudy's kind of always, you know, in that dunker spot or is
hovering around the rim, so it's a little harder for Jaden to cut.
But again, I don't want to make excuses. I think his defense is
still again top ten defensive player in the league, but offensively, it really
is just hitting some shots. Now. Nikil Alexander Walker is a great comp
because he also is just like a smaller version of Jaden. But last night
he had I think twenty seven points, so he's getting to the rim a
little more. He's hitting when Nikill Alexander Walker takes a three, I just
kind of close my eyes because I know what's going in. I think he's
shooting one hundred and ten percent from three in big moments. It's just crazy.
Like Nikkei, Alexander Walker was not a prototypical shooting guard coming out of
college, and he's just he has weird mechanics too, but he's just refined
them and he trusts his shots. So that's what makes me think a lot
of it for Jaden is just mental. But last night he had multiple just
corner threes, open shots and he missed them all. And I think until
he can start hitting those, it's gonna be really hard for him right to
like then drive to the basket or try to like pump fake and get to
the rim, or create for others. He's always had pretty good chemistry with
Rudy. I think last year he was like one of the four highest assist
totals to Rudy Gobert, but everyone only had like six because no one knew
how to play with them. So there's more to his game. I know
he has a lot of skill, but right now he's just in a mental
blender and he has to just basically hit open shots. Because this offense,
the way Finch designs this free flowing offense, he gets shots, he gets
opportunities. Last night, yet I think five threes and not one of them
even hit the back room. So I'm hopeful I'll buy your stock if you're
selling. But I also would be lying if I said I wasn't a little
concerned Anthony Edwards. But let me ask this question because of how much I
think Mike Comic gets a lot of credit for, like bringing aspects of the
Wolves offense together, his chemistry, his synergy with Riegaubert. That's all important,
But I also kind of feel like it's overlooked at how valuable or critical
Anthony Edwards is to this offense, and that people don't they look down on
him, but what he does gets diminished in the eyes of people because the
Wolves offense hasn't It's been fragile, verging on not even close to elite.
And then you dig into the data and it's like, well, the Wolves
are winning the minutes when he plays without Mike Comley, and the offense has
been lights out during those moments. So eli I didn't throw this in The
outline is they're like an under I'm not gonna say everyone on the Wolves is
underrated because I asked this about Towns, But was there an underappreciation for the
workload that he's shouldering and ultimately executing for this team offensively this year? Last
night, during one possession, Tylu threw a double team at him, I
think it was maybe pg in Zubac and Anthonyowards just somehow dribbled around it and
still got to the room and dunked it. Like what he's doing. It's
not ideal right now? Again, Karl Anthony Towns is you know, a
hot button topic for many, But at least you know that when Carl's out
there spaced out, he is one of the most you know, dangerous three
point shooters in the league. And that's going to give some gravity to give
Ant Moore room without Carl, especially in these Kyle lineups. I mean,
he is just driving constantly into two and three guys. I don't I promise
myself I wouldn't talk about officiating today because I think around the league it's bad.
But he still kind of gets a weird whistle. He probably thinks he
deserves even more whistle, But uh yeah, to answer your question simply,
he deserves I think even more credit than he's getting, and he's getting way
more now locals nationally, but uh, he is putting up thirty five points
with relative ease, and it's not He'll have some games where it's like I
have to take thirty shots again because there's no Carl and you know, I
don't know who else to really trust, if because Mike Conley was awesome against
the Clippers, but he's been even a little stagnant and had some old legs
coming out of the brakes. So I think it really is impressive because we
this kid came out of Georgia as eighteen year old in that twenty twenty kind
of COVID draft, and you didn't really know what to expect. And I'll
watch a game now, Dan whole thing start to finish. My yeah,
not a great hand game tonight, and then I'll look and it's like he
had thirty two, eight and seven and did it on like fifty percent efficiency.
So the bar that we are setting for him is incredibly high. I
mean, all around all Star time, it was can he be the face
of the league? I really think he can because he's not only just an
awesome off on awesome offensive player. But you saw the block against Indiana,
you saw what he did last night to Paul George and then after the game
too. If you talk about like a face of the league, right,
they interview him on TNT last night. He's taking his jersey off and they're
like, what did you see out there? And he goes just a bunch
of mismatches. You don't really get that type of truth and honesty from players
in the league because they're so coached on PR and he basically came out and
said he's like, there's no one on that team that can guard me.
And that kind of is just the all encompassing of why I think people love
him so much is that he says it right. He kind of talks that
shit and then he backs it up as well. And that's what you want
from a guy, not only for a cornerstone of your franchise, but kind
of a cornerstone of like a professional sports league. I find there's you even
kind of alluded to this, like the efficiency without kar Anthy Towns on the
floor, we see kind of a precipitous drop in his rim finishing, his
overall effective field goal percentage, which makes sense. I've always been impressed with.
I guess you would call it his mindset where it feels like he will
just attack more to get to go down him when conds is off the court.
And then like the fact that he can still put up the numbers he
is and not see his efficiency absolutely crater like you were talking about, he's
seeing like three and four bodies and he's always going to see at least two
different lines of defenses at that point because the floor is so finitely stretched.
Is there anything like what he's doing now is incredible? And the fact that
he can do it is great? Is there anything the Wolves can do?
Is have we already talked about it where it's pulling the Nikkei Alexander Walker instead
of Kyli Anderson LeVert to make life just a little bit easier on him,
especially when he's going up against set because they are they've always loaded up against
him. But it's like it's getting egregious at this point because they just don't
care. One thing that has come out recently, especially since Carl went out
over a week ago, is Chris Finch's, like many other coaches in the
league now right that they just kind of really don't want you taking mid range
shots, so it's all threes and get into the rim and all that type
of stuff. But Finch has been pretty open about telling Aunt because Aunt loves
to get to his mid range spots. One of the criticisms of Anthony Edwards
so far is that he since he's only twenty two, he doesn't really have
that spot right, Like when I watch KD late in games, you know
exactly where Kevin Durant's gonna go to get that shot. Same with like a
Shay Gilders, Alexander or Luca donchas. Ant doesn't have that yet, and
I think he would like it to be in the mid range like so many
of those other guys I just mentioned, But for the longest time he wasn't
really given that freedom. I think Finch saw the forest through the trees a
little bit and was like with carl Out, I just need Ant to feel
comfortable wherever he can, wherever he wants to shoot. And and as a
hoops junkie, I know you know this too, Like there's a real threat
if you know, like the difference between a two level score and a three
level score is light years because if Ant pumpsfakes from the three point line,
the defender typically thought, Okay, now he's going straight to the rim.
I just have to recover all the way back. But if if there's that
threat that Ant's gonna pull up one foot inside of the three point line or
just hit that mid range, which has become kind of his bread and butter,
it makes him unguardable. So I know that's not the exact answer to
your point, but what he can to do around him, I just think
empowering him to be like, hey man, at this point, this is
kind of all about you, and if you're gonna give that type of performance
on defense and make these types of plays, we're gonna let you kind of
shoot as much as you want and from wherever you want. Because again,
Jaden Kyle, all these other guys like nas is great, and the keels
great, Mike's been better, But the best option a lot of times is
just Anthony Edwards taking the shot. That's like the best offense right now.
And it has worked, you know, mostly not only this last week but
this whole season. So surrounding him with more shooting would obviously be helpful because
it just gets that gravity. He does love to get to the rim.
He does love to dunk on guys, and he's, you know, a
really good free throw shooter, so spacing is big. But he also just
think saying, hey, man, wherever you think the best shot is on
this possession, go take it. Do you think then that Towns' absence can
sort of embolden him in a way that it hasn't been before because I wouldn't
call him an over deferential player, but he does go through stretches where it
feels like he can be overly deferential. And now it's like, well,
dude, who are you deferring to? Like, I know my commy's good,
Like they have good players on this team, but there's no there's no
real second option. If you looked right now and said who's the termber was
his second best scorer, there might be nas reed mm hmm. It's that's
You've asked a lot of good questions. That's the best question you've asked,
and it's if you watch the last week of Wolves game, So I'm talking
Indiana, Cleveland, Lakers and Clippers, the most notable thing since Carl went
out. And I don't know if this is also just personal life related or
what. Ant doesn't smile as much and he's like like more not frowning,
but like he just looks more locked in, And like Reggie Miller said,
that's not like real dog mentality. We just haven't seen like after that Pacers
game. People that cover the team, people that are around this kid every
day, they haven't seen that level of like emotional exertion. Like he is
really locked in and like wants to win. And I don't think Carl was
holding him back. But those two are really tight, and the deferential is
like they both kind of you know what movie is that with Will Ferrell?
Will they just keep passing the ball back and forth to each other pro yes,
Like that's how Carl and Ant have handled situations where it's like no,
man, you take it, No, you take it, and they just
passed back and forth. Now it's a shot clock violation without Carl. Ant
kind of knows. He probably knew it was his team before Carl went down,
but now he's like, this is my team, and I think that
allows him to just be He was fearless when he entered the league in twenty
twenty, but somehow he's become even more fearless and not having to really defer
or know in big spots like, hey, it's just gonna be you.
Like you said, every other player on this roster right now is probably plus
money to score twenty points. Nasried would be the favorite, but like on
any given night, I would not bet my life that any other player on
the team is gonna score twenty points. So and knowing that he just the
burden is on him, and he loves a challenge. He loves that type
of stuff. Him and Finch have such a cool relationship that, yeah,
I think he just knows now his best chance to win a title is probably
with Karnt Towns on, you know, alongside him, but until Carl comes
back. He's like, I can do this. You're not by myself.
I don't want to say it like that, but I can do this with
a larger load. And so far he's kind of delivered on both sides of
the floor. Nas Reed is Injing Bolster Georg's book Coming a Household. They
mean people who listen to this podcast, who listen to your two podcasts,
they know who Nasried is. But he's not like in the lexicon of just
known NBA players. He's had a couple of monster performances already, and Town's
only been o. Was it four games now, so he's already had like
a couple of monster performances. What has impressed you, either during that mini
stretch or just in general about his growth or continued development this season? Again
hyperbolic to those who do not follow the team on a daily basis, But
Nasrid is the greatest developmental story in the history of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and
that one's nice more pending, right Let yeah let him Miller Penny, thank
you for bringing that up. I appreciate you. He got some minutes last
night. Uh, no, he is. He was a highly touted high
school prospect. He goes to LSU. H. He actually did a pretty
fun interview with Worldwide wob so you go check that out on Twitter. I
thought it was actually no, the NBA players in general don't do a lot
of interviews right now unless'rying a podcast, so to hear NAS's story a
little more, It was cool, but undrafted. I always joked that he
couldn't jump over the free throw line. It's not that he couldn't jump from
it, he couldn't jump over and that thing's painted on the floor. He
just was an athletic. He was kind of a poor man's Conthley Towns when
Gers and Rosas at that point that you know, the president of the team
brought him in. He has put so much time into his body that not
only I think he's shooting dan like as of this morning, forty one forty
two percent from three, So he has hit that poor man's corinth A Town's
part. But he's also gone from being a I guess an undersized five to
and again give me a little leeway here because it's been early morning. But
he's kind of like a Paula ban Carro, like Carmaro Anthonic. He's just
like a physical wing. Now he's not nearly as good as either of those
guys, but his ability, he might have the best big man handle in
the league. Like his ability to kind of go in and out dribble.
He loves to dunk on guys. He is a six' ten, you
know center, that's probably best position is playing the three. So his developmental
story, Carl goes out nas comes in and merely gives you multiple twenty point
games. He's physical, his defense has gotten better. It's not all the
way there yet, but he's only I think twenty three or twenty four so
he is a core part of this franchise. And it was less than a
year ago at this time when the writing was kind of on the wall that
the Wolves thought they might lose him or the fan base thought they would lose
him because of the financial situation. You had two centers making one hundred million
dollars. But Tim Connley got the job done, signed him here, and
I think Nasried will be here for a long time. But he is despite
what I just said about ant and I basically crowned him president. I think
Nasried is the highest Q score in the fan base and everyone, I mean
people name their cats after him, like people love Nasried. Yeah, his
You and I talked extensively actually leading into the season about his floor game,
which I actually think even though there might be I mean, it's been kind
of I think he' shooting like fifty eight percent on drive since Carl k cont
went down, but he's still at like fifty four percent for the season,
and they're they're like, to me, anecdotally, they look like more contested
drives whereas you have to get through maybe multiple light of defense now where you're
not just attacking on closeouts and through all this wide open space. That's huge.
And then you mentioned the defense. I actually I think he's a really
good defender, like when you're six ten and can move on the perimeter like
he does. And I know he's insulated a little bit in certain lineups,
and the numbers when he is your only big have not been great. Like
he's even improved his like kind of straight up rim protection when it comes to
that. And so this is just to get him on the contract that they
did is a is a huge win. I wonder if, like him getting
injured kind of lowered his price point at all towards the end of last season,
where that might have helped the Wolves out. Not Nas, because saying
he's on one of the best contracts in the league is a compliment and an
insult because he doesn't want to be on one of the best contracts. He
wants to be on a better one. But he has been so good and
I almost wonder the way that he's going to play during this last part of
the season if it's just going to fuel the whole, like Clarl Anthony pounds
like trade discourse where it's like, oh, it's gonna be fun watching NAS
replay. But I felt like we were finally well the trade deadline pass,
for one, but we're kind of finally removed from like that whole Even people
have pulled back on the second apron stuff, where it's all right, they'll
eventually have to make a decision maybe, but is it really gonna come before
next year's trade deadliner, before the end of next season? And my answer
has always been no for the most part when asked about that. But he
is so good that I think some people are gonna take it and run with
it that way, which again is a compliment and then almost just like an
exasperated oh, should we brace this again? But I've been so impressed with
what he's been able to do over this mini stretch, but just all seasons
where it almost feels like it's not that it's flown under the radar, but
because the story is this dual big stuff with these two expensive bigs, Yeah,
it has flown under the radar a little bit. Yeah, And to
your point, you're you're probably right. I think covering a team that has
been the best defense by a mile all season, I sometimes forget that,
like my standards now for good defense are higher than maybe most now is I
didn't know the minutes thing about I knew there was a minutes. I didn't
know that he was so below it, and you were right, he's got
like twenty three a game or whatever it is. But like when we did
our all defensive teams, I think it was like a week or two ago.
He didn't make it for either one of my coast right, But like
we mentioned, it's like, to your point, the Wolves had Jade McDaniels
and even we might have mentioned Affiy Edwards and Rudy Gobert was there, and
so it's like the fact that you're just going down the ladder and you're mentioning
I get where you're saying that about your standards just being through there. It's
like, yeah, it's like when you'd watch MTV Cribs and someone would have
like nine sweet cars in their garage. By the eighth car, you're like,
yeah, yeah, that car is cool too. It's like Nikiel's great
at defense, but it's like I'm holding it to Jade and Rudy standards.
Note on nas, You're right, I think the defense that I would like
to see improved a little more is I've I just said, he went from
being an undersized five to like this megaphysical three, and even had that really
cool block to end regulation against Garland against Cleveland when he was completely isoed.
He knew what Garland was gonna do. I mean, how many times do
you see a guy take a game winning shot and get it blocked, and
Nas just blocks Garland and they have a chance, they run a dumb play,
they lose a game. But uh yeah, I think just having a
little you know, he's decreased all of his body fat, he's gotten small,
he's become more of a wing, so it is a little harder for
him to guard real traditional fives or even more traditional fours. But he's been
great. I have never thought of that what you just said, and I'm
totally with you. He broke his wrist about this time last year trying to
again yam on someone in Phoenix, and which forced him to miss the playoffs,
and it might have been, unfortunately for Nas, the best thing to
happen to the Timberwolves, because they basically could just kind of bubble wrap him
and hide him in the closet. They ended up getting an agreement done before
they let Nas even test free agency. But he loves it here He has
kind of been one of the impetuses of guys staying in Minnesota in the summer
to keep working out. So not only do they have this cool core of
like an Ant twenty two, Jane twenty three, Nas twenty four, and
a Kill twenty five, but those guys like want to hang out and work
out together in the summer. And one thing if you knew about the Timberwolves
is that as soon as the season was done, all fifteen players would get
as far away from Minnesota as they could. So nas has just been like
a cultural impact as well. I know that sounds kind of cliche, but
nas Read's impact on the court and off the court has been massive. He's
a fan favorite. And to your other point about maybe being the replacement for
Carl down the road, him and Rudy were I think one of the two
or three worst two man lineups when you look at the stats last season and
this year it's just completely flipped. So the fact that he can also play
with Rudy is big. Because of what you just said, I'm not super
concerned yet about second Apron stuff. As of today, the Wolves are like
close to the finish line on this new ownership transition where Mark Laurie and Alex
Rodriguez are due to pay their final payment at the end of this month.
It's like they would take over the keys of the franchise and then they're gonna
be faced with big tax bills. But uh, yeah, I think he's
shown you enough in a limited sample this last week that if they decide they
have to pivot off a big contract, he can step in and be a
bona fide eighty two game starter. And I'm rooy for them not to like
view him as a replacement. And I'm just I don't want to turn this
into a tax discussion because they're so good, But it's just they haven't ntil
next season because they want to. They're not going to get out of it.
But if they want to save money, they have until the end of
next season. And so if if they're that concerned about it, unless something
disastrous happens this year that's not injury related and they're just so bad in the
postseason, I'm all for you let it roll and you just figure out the
rest later, or at least just stomach it for a year. But yeah,
and you mentioned by the way the lineup data, the only like and
this is a testament to what Karl Anthony Town's I think is done this year.
The only like bad big man data I think at this point is nas
by himself if I'm not stake and that's his things, He's Danny's become like
he can't play just the five, so that's like the only thing. But
again, in a perfect world, when you're paying one hundred million dollars to
two players that have been all NBA centers in Rudy Gobern Crnthy Town's, you
don't really want Nods to be a center, but it just so happens that
now he kind of gets thrown into that mold because they're down a big guy.
But yeah, he can't really play center anymore, which is fine because
you have two really good ones. But he's an awesome wing. And again
I apologize to a Carmelo or Apollo or even Lebron not comparing him to him,
but just physically the way he can move on the perimeter offensively and defensively,
it's just something you don't really see that often from a big guy.
This is question just be feels like it rings hollow. After Mike Conley goes
kaboom, no, that's good. No, you're good. But was there
any concern he kind of has like that rough stretch where he actually looks the
age of thirty six. Is there a level of long term concern there?
Is it? Just? Well, once Monte Morris is healthy and like we
won't have to lean on maybe Mike Conley as much. Just what did you
kind of make or notice about that? Was like, I don't know,
it's like seven or eight game just coming out of the All Star break basically
where he just looked so old. It's a great question. He is thirty
six. And my goal throughout the season in preseason predictions and stuff was like,
hey, I wonder if Nikia will play more minutes total and average than
Mike, because I thought back in September and October, this team will just
try to manage Mike's minutes, have him play sixty ish games, and just
try to keep them fresh for the for the playoffs. What I've learned covering
him and being around Mike a little bit that he might be the most competitive
player on the team. And I don't know if that's an age thing because
he sees the you know, the end of the line for him compared to
you know it's gonna be in the league front of the fifteen years. Mike
knows his time is limited and he wants to add a ring to what could
be a Hall of Fame career, I mean just based on his longevity and
how many good teams then like yeah, I mean I think the Basketball Hall
of Fame you and I are getting close to making it too. So but
Mike, Mike's had a good case, but he wants to win. And
a lot of times when it's you know that that shoot around meeting between the
medical staff and Mike and Chris Finch, two parties, Finch and the medical
staff like, hey, Mike would love you to sit tonight, and you
know it's rest up. We can we can fill your spot. And he's
adamant about playing, like he wants to play every game. So it's like
a double edged sword, right, Like you love that because Mike Conley is
stable and a veteran and kind of a floor general. But then it's like
how many miles can you put on the leg odometers. So he came out
of All Star break, ironically when you have that break, kind of stagnant
and didn't really find his groove. He had a couple of games where he
did kind of get it, then a couple of games where he fell off.
I meven listen to Bill Simmons on Sunday with Rossillo. They were like
talking about how that might be one of the worst trades, even though Mike
Conley he took a fifty percent pay cut moving forward for the team. And
then last night, man, it's like, what are you worried about?
Look at him. He just hit I think it was seven threes. Two
of them were taken off the board because they were long twos. But when
he is going I'm not a big left handed shooter fan. I'm just gonna
admit that now. It always looks aesthetically displeasing to me. But when he's
cooking this offense, this sky is the limit because that's just another guy that
spaces the floor. And with the way Nikkeel's shot, so you got Nikkeil
on one end, you got Mike on the other, and Andres has this
clearly into the basket. The Mike Conley thing, to me is the number
one player. I want to know how healthy he is or how productive he's
going to be for the playoffs, even more than Carl because without Mike jord
McLoughlin off the bench has been great. Monti Morris will come back, but
Mike Conley has been the straw that stirs the drink all season, and without
him, I do kind of think they would be lost. Are there any
we talked about this a little bit, but moving forward, Are there any
lineups now without Towns that you're hoping Finch will get to, Whether it's do
we want to see We've seen a little bit of it, but not a
ton Kley Moore is playing together, or now all of a sudden the whole,
if Kyle Anderson's just our point guard when Mike Comley might be off like
during the non coll or just any lineups that you would like to see more
of or any of if we haven't seen them yet. Yeah, I love
Mike being out there and or I love NAS. I should start with that.
So I love NAS. Read any lineup NAS is in as good,
but I'm really excited to see and I think maybe it'll be the starters on
Saturday. Is like a Mike Nikhiel Aunt Jaden Rudy lineup. You would think
like, oh, Jaden at the four hasn't been great. You're right,
Jayden at the four has never been great. He's not a great rebounder.
But Anthony Edwards has been just guarding centers recently, like he just loves to
take the challenge. A couple of games I kind of think of who it
was, but he was just like, I'm just gonna guard that big guy,
ah, and he did a great job of like kind of shutting him
down. So I think ant at like the four almost with just his physicality
and his way of playing defense, would be awesome. But I really just
want to see a team. The biggest issue dan from the Wolves all season
has been they are the best defense in the league. That usually translates to
the playoffs, but you kind of got to be top tenish on both sides
of the ball if you want to be a contender, and the Wolves haven't
even sniffed ten like at best. They've been like fifteenth or sixteenth, So
they have to find ways to be more creative on offense. That's also on
Chris Finch, who I love, but like installing more structure sometimes rather than
just free flowing. Everyone figure it out. Because this team has vets Mike
Conley, Kyle Hnderson, Rugbert, but they have a lot of youth still,
whether you like it or not, Aunt and Jayden and Kill they haven't
been in a lot of winning situations, so maybe instead of youth you call
it inexperience. But I just want to see them tinker and find as much
shooting as they can on the perimeter to give Ant the runway to kind of
be a you know, come playoff time. Man, you've seen this before,
Like why couldn't Anthony Edwards average thirty eight a game in the playoffs?
Like that seems pretty normal now the way you watch him play. So just
any lineup that gives him more spacing, and probably any lineup that takes Kyle
Anderson off the floor is kind of where I've come to be at this point.
That's it. When you mentioned simplifying the offense, do you think there's
room maybe then, like you can get to certain lineups. Perhaps it's with
you know, certainly when Kyle Anderson's not on the court, where you can
just run maybe more spread pick and roll, because this isn't like a super
even though they have Rudy Gobert, this isn't just a super pick and roll
heavy team. When you watch them or when you dig into the data for
it, and like Chris Finch like doesn't want that, Like he does not.
Chris Finch does not want to coach the Classic like James Harden Rockets team
that's just all pick and roll. Like, I don't think Chris Finch would
like to coach the Mavericks. I don't think he wants to coach Luca.
And just how heavy you know, usage rate one player is or two players
now, granted Ant's usage rate is skyrocketing without Carl, but he still watches
when you look at like the front court touches since towns with that or just
like I think they're infinity at this point, but it's not a real number.
So I do think Finch and you're starting to see a little bit more.
That's one of the criticisms that all fans and people covering the team have
had is Finch doesn't install enough structure at times when the team probably needs it
and gives him too much of a leash to kind of kind of figure it
out themselves. So I would hope that Finch, to kind of answer your
question, calls a little more plays or has a little more sets that just
get these guys either moving or cutting just creating more chaos on offense because Ant
has shown that he's pretty good in chaos. But it'll be interesting to see
what they do these last eighteen or so games, because you don't want to
show too many cards right for the playoffs. But in the same vein,
you've seen enough sample size now that you have to do something different offensively because
your defense could be all world come playoff time. But it's still an offensive
league even with the rule changes and all that stuff going on right now,
Like it's still can you outscore your opponent in certain chunks of a game?
And the Wolves still have that as kind of their achilles heel right now.
How So, when you're just kind of looking at the rest of this season
and you've probably dug way more into the schedule for them than I have,
and they do have I think they're plus three games at home they have,
they have three more home games and away games moving forward. Just how much
of a slog do you expect this stretch to be? Do you expect them
now, especially if that went over the Clippers annoying the tiebreaker stuff, for
them to maintain a top three spot. Do you see a scenario where they
could drop the fourth or maybe you know, even as we're recording this,
like the Pelicans are surging and they're technically only four losses behind the Wolves,
Like what are you just you? What are your gut feelings in that sense?
Again, this is the beauty in doing this on the thirteenth rather than
the twelfth, because yesterday I was pretty much on board with like, I
feel like they're gonna fall the four that space that they gave themselves. Now
with the Clippers and some of these tiebreakers too, I don't have them all
on me. Not all of them are solidified, but the Wolves are starting
to like clinch the tiebreakers with various teams in the standings as well, which
will be beneficial. But yeah, as we wake up today, they're zero
point five games out of the one seed. Okay, seeing Denver are tied
in first and second, and the Wolves are three three games up on the
Clippers. I do see that. I mean, they have three games left
against Denver, and Denver is just I mean, in my opinion, the
best team in the West. Again, they've kind of turned it on and
are unstoppable. But this road trip they're on is a six game road trip
for the games were really tough against all playoff teams Indiana, Cleveland, Lakers,
and Clippers, and now they go play two in Utah, but they
have a couple extra days off. So I've watched enough Utah games just as
a hater because of the connection between them and Minnesota with Rudy Gobert and all
the picks they owe. So I love when Utah loses. Sorry Jazz fans,
But uh, I think if they can just give Utah Utah, that's
true, that's true. I was hoping they would go five hundred on this
road trip. That's a six, three and three. They're already now what
two and two, So I think they just got to get like steal one
of these games in Utah. They do then go home and have a second
night of a back to back against the Nuggets that I'm sure they'll drop.
But uh, the schedule has enough like kind of easier teams. I think
they play the Rockets, the Bulls, and like the Wizards at home in
a stretch they're I think the best team in the league at home. Uh
them are okay, see, I think they're twenty three and eight at home.
Target Center has been a really tough place for opponents to play, So
I'm not concerned about them anymore, especially after your last night falling, because
this team, this is kind of the fans side of me, but they've
shown so much heart. Again last night, you're down twenty two in LA,
you know you're gonna get to go to the beach in the morning,
Like, why not just let it go? And they didn't let it go.
They fought back and had maybe the most statement win of the season.
So I totally expect them to have home court, which mean they have a
top four seed, and I totally expect them to flirt with one or two.
But I would say that they're more comfortably going to be the three seed
now because Denver I think has the easiest schedule in the league, and the
Thunder a kind of this unprecedented wagon that just every time you expect them to
lose, they don't. So they're better than the Clippers, They're better than
the Pelicans. I think I've trusted the Pelicans enough Dan that like just when
you trust them, they let you down. So for now, I see
them finishing probably third in the West and would make for a great matchup against
the Kings or a Suns or whoever kind of gets that six spot. The
Pelicans are I've said it a few times. If they are my kink,
I just I think I can't quit them. That's a good way to put
it. They eventually feel like they burn you. But that leads me in
my that's quite When you're looking at prospective matchups, maybe in the first round
or just in general, if you're trying to look deeper into the playoffs,
are there any teams one or two that in particular, and the obvious edwer
just might be even though they did play them really well, but like Denver
for everybody still as well as the Wolves might have played them last year.
But is there like any just one or two teams that you find maybe it's
just compelling, or you think would be a particularly difficult matchup for this team,
And it could be you could frame it as even if they have towns,
or especially if they don't have towns. However you want to roll with
it. I don't. Again, I just want everyone who's listening to this
is in the Timberwolves fan that might be a fan of another Western Conference team.
I don't pretend to watch near as many of your games as I do
my own. Teams, but uh, I think the Wolves are best matchup
suited for a team that's kind of heavy ISO. So not to say that
the teams like the Suns or the MAVs don't run plays, but we've seen
before. I mean, there's a viral clip of last year and Jane McDaniel's
and aunt were just basically on an island against Kyrie and Luca in a last
second situation, all twenty four seconds of the shot clock. They defended and
they didn't get a shot off, and they won the game. I think
those types of teams not only that a little more isocentric like a Phoenix maybe
or Dallas, but also don't have a ton of size. Like my concern
for the Suns and they're a fun team to watch is that like use of
Nurkic gets one hundred and ten percent of all their rebounds, and if you
can just get him off the court, like you can probably crush that team
and like just a rebounding advantage, and that's something that the Wolves have lost
playoff series against Memphis because they couldn't rebound. So I kind of like the
Suns. I know that sounds crazy and I'll get made fun of down the
road. But I like the Suns, I like the MAVs. I don't
like the Pelicans. I know I might have just taken a shot at them,
but they are my kink as well, like when they're on. I
don't know if there's a better team in the West other than Denver. So
and they're physical, and they have shot makers, and they have guys that
can defend in space. So give me, like a Dallas Mavericks team that
might be, you know, having some issues or like maybe they're one of
those teams that blows it up this summer. Give me a Sun's team.
Don't give me a Lakers team. That's my biggest fear because I just it's
the Lakers right from a Wolf. My thing is, I want one of
these, whether it's the Thunder, whether it's the the Wolves, Like I
just want one of these, like sort of newer teams to just beat the
Lakers of the Warriors handley, so we could move on with the how yo
the playoff run? Are they? Yeah? Are they gonna make that?
Look Lebron James, I think he's a great basketball player of all time,
one of my favorite players of all time. But just like we gotta stop
not you, but like we got to stop pretending that like one of these
teams can go on some hell fire run. It's it's not happening. But
no great point. Not only I'm with you on the Lebron stuff, but
the Lakers also do have like size and not just Ad but like Lebron and
Rue and like they have all these big guys like the Wolves. I said,
they have an identity of size. It's kind of neutralized against a team
like the Lakers. But then also too, the greatest I've said the greatest
thing so many times, but the greatest trade, without a doubt, hands
down in minnesot Timberlves history was thirteen months ago when they traded D'Angel Russell from
Mike Conley and Nikki Alexander Walker and three second round picks, one of which
they to get our best friend Leonard Miller. So I don't need Droyd.
I don't know if I told you this during the preseason pod we did.
I destroyed that trade from the Wolves's perspective because I was such a believer in
Delo and what he was doing interesting. That's fair. Oh I was clearly
wrong. I've eaten crow for it ten times. Over when Grant and I
talk about it, I absolutely that's one of the bigger misses I've had.
I miss a lot, Kyle, but that's one of the bigger misses I've
had over the best year. And you know what, as fans of this
pod, like, I appreciate you just being honest because I said I've missed
way more than I've made. It was weird too, because at the time
it did seem like a weird trade. You're trading for a thirty five year
old Mike Conley and who's this Nikhil kid, Like he was basically out of
the rotation in the Utah team that was not trying to really win games.
But that trade worked out so well and Dilo is having, to his credit,
a really great year for the Lakers. But there is just something about
the mentality of a Wolves fan having to watch like Game six, Dilo has
thirty five and he's doing ice in the veins and him and vand dapping it
up like there's too many former Timberwolves on that Lakers team that just that's not
if I'm gonna lose, I want to lose to like Luca who's putting up
sixty two points a game. It can't be the Lakers, and it definitely
can't be the Warriors because they've got Wiggins. That was the other trade,
right, Wiggins for Russell, And then I just the Draymond angle. He
hates kind of all the Timberwolves, like he hates Carl, he chokes Rudy.
Just don't want that either, so let someone else sweep them. I'm
totally with you, like, let's get those teams out of the playoffs asap,
but give me a lesser maybe smaller market team for for my small market
team to go against. I would say, there's I make fun of the
Warriors, but like they're between the two of them, I wouldn't want to
face them. I'd rather face the Lakers because it feels like the Warriors like
their peak if they can sustain it for like a couple of weeks, would
be more dangerous. I agree with you on the Pelicans, especially if they
don't have cat just looking at their size and their length and their physicality.
So I can't remember what podcast I was listening to and what am I missing
here, but someone said the Kings that the Timberwolve shouldn't want to see,
and it wasn't a King's podcast, the promise it wasn't a Kings podcast.
I wonder. I mean, I think think the Kings the Wolves matchup pretty
well against the Kings again with the size thing. The Kings obviously love to
get out in transition and the Wolves are one of the slower paced teams.
They're kind of neutral to me. To me, if I was looking at
a Western Conference like brother, they're like along with the Wolves have never maybe
gotten the respect they get. They're really fun smaller markets. So I think
it'd be a great series again, back to my twenty years of pain and
misery. O three oh four was the last time the Wolves won a playoff
series. They go to the Western Conference Finals. They lose to that star
studed Laker team that's not just Kobe and Shack but also Karl Malone and Gary
Payton. But that year they beat who was pretty much their biggest rival,
that King's team with like Chris Weber and Stariyakovicol's guys. So Wolves Kings again,
one team gets to finally advanced to the second round. Would be a
great storyline. But I don't think I'm I think I'm not neutral in them.
I'm not concerned. I'm not the Pelicans again, Like, the Wolves
have all these great defenders Rudy Nikiel, jayden Ant, but no one they
can guard Zion. Like there's just a weird kind of enigma that they don't
have a big guy that can guard a Zion. Few do, but the
Wolves definitely don't. So I kind of want to avoid the Pelicans, and
that's why I always keep coming back to like a Suns team or a Mavericks
team. By the way, shout out to the Clippers defense for making the
wolves transition offense look pretty potent. They looked like they were running sprints last
night. That was impressive. James Hardens having nightmares for sure. So assuming
Town's is out through round one, I'm letting you pick the Wolves's opponent for
the first round. Who would who would be your final pick then? For
that? I mean, god, this is this podcast is popular enough that
people will pull these receipts and come back to me. I think it's the
MAVs. I just don't really look like I love Chris Finch, but I
think there are teams in the league that are better coached. Probably like okay,
see right, Chris Finch is just a way better basketball coach than Jason
Kidd, and I like the MAVs. I have mav friends, but he
would out coach Jason Kidd. And then the MAVs would have the best player
in the series, which is always like in football, right when there's a
game, who has the best quarterback? I'm just going to take them.
But from what two to like seven, maybe two to six. I don't
want to disrespect Kyrie Irving, but the Wolves would have like the second through
six best players and then the size. I just don't know if the Wolves
would look at a Dallas team and be that concerned and they would just basically
be like, we're gonna make every other player beat us except for Lucas.
So that's kind of always been one I've starred. But I also would be
kidding myself. And this depends on where the Wolves finish themselves. But from
basketball junkies like ourselves, can you imagine the seven, eight, nine to
ten. That's like Phoenix, Dallas, Lakers, and Warriors, and those
are the playing games like and two of those teams aren't gonna make it.
It's the point of getting the one or the two seed. At that point,
a little wit and that's that's why again I'm probably coping as a guy
who covered a team that was in first place for you know, a chunk
of this marathon. But I don't think finishing third is bad. Now,
it's bad if you're trying to come out of the West, because again you're
gonna have to go into Denver, go into Oka See or whatever. But
I don't think I think three might be like a sneaky spot to finish,
right, because you get to kind of play a team that might be have
some issues, but you're not gonna have to play one of these Again.
It's weird, right because the Mas and Sons are just playing better basketball than
the Lakers are Warriors. But it's the Lakers or Warriors, and until someone
stomps them out, there's always going to be that kind of championship pedigrade that
makes you nervous. The benefit of three, by the way, and I
almost got huge, like, you know your playoff matchup at least a couple
of days earlier. I find that so straat is that you're the one seed
and you're like, don't find out your playoff match, and then if you're
the two seed, like, yeah, you narrow down the two teams,
but you're still kind of billing in the wind for a minute. Yeah,
Chris. Chris Finch mentioned that last year because this has been a play in
team, you know, for the most couple of years. But how difficult
it is is a playing team to just have less time to scout. And
I think if you're on the inverse of that, and you're a top four
team or top three, you know, if three or four, knowing who
you're gonna play and having four extra days to scout them is easier than trying
to scout you know, three or four playing teams. Now, this isn't
a second apron, it's I guess it's second apron adjacent question. But it's
also just a matter of when you go all in on a rude Gobert trade,
when you trade for a Mike Conley, when you pay Karl Anthony Towns
where you paid them. This is just a natural progression to hear there's urgency
to figure out how good this team is in the postseason. Does that calculus
change at all following the Karl Anthony Town's injury, whereas do they now have
a built in excuse if things go ry in the playoffs or is this still
sort of well we have nas read Anthony Edwards is ready now we made these
moves, like, we still have to read into even if Towns doesn't come
back, we lose in round one, we still have to read deeply into
the results that take place during the postseason. And it's the best point of
all the really good points you've made so far, is that there's no real
reason to talk about the second Apron stuff, not only because I don't think
the whole league understands it. Like, for example, there are seven teams
and they're all what pretty bad or bottom tier teams that have cap space this
summer, like the Detroits, the Charlotte's, the Spurs. They're going to
be competing to overpay Tobias Harris. It's going to be right and someone will
yeah, and Tobias will. Tobias is like the Kirk Cousins of the NBA
getting paid. But there's just there's so many other teams that are gonna have
financial issues, right, There's just there's not many teams. You're not gonna
see a team just trade for karl on the Towns into their cap space.
But to the Second Apron conversation. A lot of these teams think they know
what they have and have a five year plan, and then they're gonna get
punched in the mouth in the playoffs or have a really successful run, and
that will determine everything. So I can't predict what the Wolves will do this
summer because I want to see what they do in the playoffs. But for
a team, again that has never made it out of the first round since
Kevin Garnett and O three four, a first round playoff series win an advancement
is a big deal. And that's silly to a Knicks fan or a Celtics
fan or whatever, but well maybe not a Knicks fan, but you're a
Celtics fan. But like, that is a big step for them, and
for this Rudy Gobert experiment to work, it's gonna involve multiple playoff runs.
And this will be a playoff run and then you just kind of figure out,
you know who your second round matchup is. If they get bounced out
of the first round and Carl doesn't play, I'm an excuse maker, so
I would be like, you know what, run it back. New ownership,
the team has gone like up one billion dollars since the Layoway plans started
to twenty four months ago, they can probably afford it. But I could
also see them being like, no, we want to run it back,
like or we want to change or we want to run back. So there's
two paths of them to go. I think it'll all determine what happens in
late April early May with it without Carl. But their goal has to be,
especially with home court and being so good at home, their goal has
to be winning one playoff series. And then most people won't like this,
but then it is kind of house money, like it's you know, what,
what can you do? You know against a Denver against an Okac or
maybe maybe the Suns are good at that point too, So it's going to
be really interesting. But for now, I don't really care about the financials
because the player. I don't think fans they should recognize it, couldn't care
about That's not their job. I will say if Karl Anthony Towns is back
and looks at anything like Karl Anthy Towns, any team that they are playing
outside of Denver, like I'm going to and okay see is tough. But
it's just like I have expectations for this team because I was pretty high on
them. We loved the Rudy Gobert trade on this podcast. We look like
idiot, good look at you. Part of that, But the way that
they've played this year, even with how shaky the offense has been, this
is a team at full strength that I think should be held to that championship
contender standard. And so the Karl Anthony Towns injury, that excuse is there.
But if you have like your full supporting, if you have your full
cast, and Karlnthony Towns is even seventy five percent of Karl Anthony Towns,
like, this is a team that, yes, there's that level of house
money, I agree from the fan experience, but they are good enough for
us to expect more and to criticize them accordingly if that happens to the postseason.
I will also say, though I think relative to national consensus, I
am higher on what they can do in the playoffs at full strength, where
everyone wants to focus on, well, how's this defense going to hold up
in the postseason? You know what, I'm not gonna say, the Rudy
Gobert storylines in the playoffs are a myth, Like the defense is going to
be fine. Even during the worst series of his playoff career, like that
Clippers Jazz series, they had figured it out by the end of it.
It was the jazz Is offense that kind of betrayed them there, unless I'm
misremembering correctly, and so I have well, I should say I have a
lot of faith in this team. It's just the Karl Anthony Towns injury changes
the complexion of everything for me, because even if he does come back,
I just knowing it's like, how important the meniscus is that part that he
injured, to the mobility and the weight bearing exercise of it, and now
he's playing the four and has had to defend different types of guys. What
does he look like when he comes back. I think that's fair, But
this team is. And I don't think anyone needs to hear this right now,
but if anybody does, they're fucking incredible. Therefore, like they are
super dangerous and I am going to hold them to a standard accordingly. And
I should say I was pretty like apologetic. And again, if you're a
Timberwolds fan like myself, you're just always building in coping mechanisms because it's March
thirteenth. Then I'm usually just on Tanka Thon, Like I'm not used to
being like, what seed are they going to get? Like on the top?
I'm more like what seed are they going to get on the bottom.
But if they flame out in the first round, regardless with Carl without,
they're going to be heavily criticized, and they deserve to be heavily criticized,
because again, this has been the best season so far, but it's not
going to really matter unless they can finally break that ceiling and be like,
we want a playoff series. I mean, it was a big deal for
them to make the playoffs a couple of years ago, because like the Pat
BEV playing game celebration thing, it was silly the most. But when you're
the team that, in all four professional sports has had the longest playoff drought,
it's kind of nice to get off that list. This would be the
next list for them to get off of is like advancing to the second round,
however it may come, is a really big deal, and it'll solidify
that the Gobert trade. You know, for some teams, if you're the
Celtics and you trade for Gobert and you give up all that you're trying to
win multiple banners for the Wolves and you give up that price. You're just
trying to be a conference Conference finals team, like one out of four years.
Is there anything anyone else I didn't ask you about that you think needs
to be discussed before I let you go to Leonard Millard first ballot Hall of
Fame takes that you need to get off. Since since we last spoke in
like October, Leonard Miller has had kind of an up and down he You
know, I don't know how much G League you watch. I do I've
seen Leonard Miller. Maybe they're retweeted by you onto my feed, but like
I've seen Leonder Miller G League highlights throughout the season. No, I think
Leonard Miller he's tied into like the Josh Maynott thing. This team under Tim
Conley has made just some of the best trades ever. Like you love the
Go Bear trade, it's clearly worked out. The Nikhil Alexander Walker and Mike
Conley trade has worked out. He's signed Nasried, he's signed Jade, and
he signed Ant. But the next generation of what this team could look like
moving forward, they haven't really done anything or gotten any production out of their
young guys. And I'm just interested to kind of monitor that. That has
nothing to do with the hour probably just did now, but it will be
interesting to see. You know, you look around the league and like the
Nuggets or the Thunder. They the Nuggets for example, like with Watson and
some of these guys, they kind of integrate and fold in these young guys
to be part of their core and their cheap contracts. That's been really good.
The Wolves are gonna have to find a way to do that. They
won't give any of the young guys minutes the rest of this season, whether
you agree with that or not. But uh I'm already thinking and this is
just the sicko when me Dan, I'm excited for summer League. I'm excited
to go watch like some of these guys. Again, I just said I
need a break from basketball. Now I'm like, hey, you know what,
Actually I can't wait to go to Vegas for a week and watch these
guys. But uh no, I think we hit on everyone. It's a
really fun season. I always appreciate coming on. But if you're looking for
a team that is just you know, if you're just a general NBA fan.
It's a I'm biased, but it's a pretty likable team, right,
Like it's a lot of guys they really gel they're all having baby showers again
because like half the team is expecting their first kid. No, you mentioned
that it's like sleep, it is hard to come by. And I know
that players technically have more time on their hands than most of us, But
when you're throwing a kid into the equation, like the lack of sleep and
the recovery, that you shouldn't theory need for this type of job. When
you mentioned that, I didn't think you were crazy at all. It was
like I didn't know how many of them were having kids. I'd like,
but that's certainly I would think a factor. Some of my close friends that
cover the team were in Indiana for that game the other night. That was
again just must watch turn the lights down low, poor glass of wine and
watch what Ant does in the force. But uh, he has that crazy
game, crazy production offense, game ceiling block and then they go into the
locker room and and could be overheard on the phone talking to his girlfriend about
like how to position the car seat in the car. And it's just like
that type of stuff right that we don't really focus on. We don't really
have we're not privy too, but it's yeah, he's Anthony Edwards was probably
the most popular athlete in the world for an hour last Thursday and he was
just kind of consumed with his child that's been around for two weeks. So
it's a really cool team that if you're just looking for a bandwagon to hop
on, there's plenty of seats still, but it's a it's a cool team
that I'm hopeful as a fan can make a little run because there's nothing I
believe more than like this fan base has gotten the least ROI on their investment
for the last twenty years, and no one deserves it, even in organizational
members of the players. No one deserves having a fun April and May more
than Timberwolves fans. So it'll be fun to watch coming down the stretch.
Kyle, thank you as always for giving me seventy plus minutes anytime Wolves.
Are you able just to tell our listeners where they can find you and all
the fantastic hashtag con tent that you put out. Yeah, so I help
run Daane Moore's NBA podcast, which is like the best bat like I think
the best team specific podcast of all the teams. So if you want Timberwolves
stuff every day from on the Beat writers Danemore and Bay Podcast to help produce
that, and then I do Flaggan high over at Score North. It's kind
of fun. I know you're a hoops junkie. So like Jim Peterson,
who is that That was really cool. He's kind of known as one of
the best broadcasters in the league, him and Michael Grady. We have Jim
on every Thursday, and he played in the league. He's from Minnesota.
He coached WNBA like four time links championships, so he's a cool perspective to
have on. We just have a lot of fun with it. So I'm
at Kyle's heige on Twitter that that website continues to be interesting. But it's
just fun to produce content and try to entertain people. Again, I always
have the utmost respect for how you run this one and the thorough outline you
give me because it makes it a lot easier. So if you don't listen
to this pod and you're a Timberls fan, you should add this one to
the to the weekly collection as well, because it's really strong. I appreciate
all those kinn of words. They mean the world to me, so generally,
thank you, And as you know by now, I will be pastoring
you again in the future, so thank you a little. When they make
the fun, I'll just have me on and we'll just drink and talk with
the wolves.