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What is up, fellow thermonuclear a
effors. I am Dan FA Valley coming

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at you with another twenty twenty three
twenty twenty four NBA team look Ahead.

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We're on to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
I am super excited and grateful to be

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joined by Kyle Tige. He covers
the Minnesota Timberwolves four score North as well

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as the Dane Moore NBA podcast,
one of my favorite team specific podcasts in

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the business. Those who do a
great job over there. File follow Kyle

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on Twitter at k y L E. T h E I G E.

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And then you can follow the Dane
Moore and the NBA podcast that they both

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do at Danemore NBA. I'll include
the links to everything that Kyle does in

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the YouTube and podcast description. Kyle, it's your first I'm on here,

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So thank you so much for agreeing
to come on and talk wolves with me.

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I was I was really hyped when
you hit me up on Twitter,

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so this is kind of a big
moment for me as well. I appreciate

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you and all the stuff you do. Like I said before we started recording,

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I think you might have the best
setup background in the podcast game.

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So if you're on YouTube. It's
definitely worth checking out. But yeah,

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I'm excited to talk about the Wolves. It's not scary anymore to be a

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fan of the team. With some
questions still, but things are things are

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looking up well one, thank you
for the kind words, and it's better.

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The YouTube commenters think I'm in like
a closet for some reason. I

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used the podcast from an addict,
so I thought that gave up more closet

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vibes than my actual office. Yeah, this team is Look, I can't

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quit the Wolves. My co host
and I were so high on the Rudy

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Gobert stuff last summer, and we
obviously, you know, pull back on

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that a little bit, but we
both remain fascinated with this team and also

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fairly high on them. But I
wanted to start because with this team,

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I think it matters what happened last
season or didn't happen. How much do

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we read in to how last season
unfolded given all of the the injuries they

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dealt with and of course the roster
churn at the trade deadline. So it's

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a good question. I mean,
obviously, a little over a year ago

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they make this blockbuster trade where Timberols
fans and people who cover the team aren't

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used to blockbuster trades where good players
come our way. It's usually the other

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way around. And then you were
immediately met with high expectations, which is

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not something a franchise that's thirty four
years in has, like one noteworthy playoff

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run in them, is used to, so expectations. And then obviously Carl's

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injury I think it was November,
he really shreds up his calf. We

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thought it was an achilles in the
moment, but he missed his fifty two

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games. So last year was all
about this two Bigs experiment, right,

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like you're talking about all other twenty
nine teams. But I think you're starting

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to see a vibe or a trend
in the league again that we were so

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used to small ball. I think
more and more teams are getting a little

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bigger now. I mean Denver had
a pretty big frontline last year when they

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won the titles. So you have
this experiment and then you get it nuked

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right away Carls out. So they
still were able to use depth. They

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had the deepest team in franchise history
last year. Again, if you don't

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know the Timberwolves, that's a pretty
low bar because there was a lot of

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Luke grid Andauer's and Alexei Sched's in
our fandom. But this year's team is

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even deeper, and now I think
with a full training camp, healthy guys

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knock on wood, that we're gonna
be able to get a real good image.

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But last year, you know,
it looked really good with Nasried at

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the four and Kyle Anderson at the
four and Rudy patrolling the paint. But

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that's not what this was about.
That's not what the experiment is about.

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This has to work with Carl and
Rudy this season. Otherwise next summer as

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you get in the second Apron and
the new CBA like they could be on

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the precipice of another blockbuster trades where
maybe good players are going out. So

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not a ton to take from last
year. I think we're still going to

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learn a lot about this team in
October, November, and December. But

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injuries definitely kind of derailed a lot
of the excitement of last year. This

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is so random, but you say
Alexi Sfed and I can't hear that name,

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and I always just think of Ricky
Rubio's change your face do It would

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immediately go to for anyone who cares. So, yeah, this team,

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the stuff that they're saying leading into
this season, one of the takeaways seems

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like they're trying to run with a
more structured offense and with play calls,

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which I find interesting. How do
you think they benefit from that? What

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changes do you actually see implemented?
How does that impact Karl Anthony Townsend,

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Anthey Edwards specifically, who might be
their two most important offensive players. Yeah,

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we're using the word like you know
how Jay Billison draft coverage uses like

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wingspan and then everyone drinks. That's
kind of what we do with structure in

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Wolves Twitter is like anytime we bring
up the word structure, it's like,

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oh my god again. But I
don't think structure is a bad thing,

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right, Like, if you anyone
listening to this, in any job you

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have or your family or whatever,
like, structure is nice because then you

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can build off structure. Structure shouldn't
restrict you. It should allow you to

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then have a baseline that then you
can you know, freestyle off of or

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build off of. So for the
Wolves, especially with a guy like Rudy,

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he's not the best player on the
team. That's Karler and he's not

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the second best that's Kraler, and
he's partly of not the third that's Jade

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McDaniels. But he is such an
integral part and you paid so much to

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get him. I mean that dude
is like signed Tangent, Like he loves

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his vitamins and his supplements and his
workout routine. He loves structure. He's

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a regiment guy. And when he's
the core of your defense and kind of

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the rim protecting all that stuff,
you need him to be able to trust

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and have a structure that then Jaden
and Ant can kind of freestyle off of

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both offensively and defensively. So I
just think Finch this is the first time

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Finch has been here where he hasn't
had D'Angel Russell at point guard. That's

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no knock to Delo. I think
Delo is more of a free flowing ball

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in his hands type guy. Now
it's Mike Conley. I think the ball

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is going to move around more.
They played the Knicks over the weekend in

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a preseason game and in the second
half had twenty five assists on twenty five

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made baskets. That's kind of the
Finchian, you know. Golden State moved

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the ball type thing, So I
think he wants to install more structure.

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You saw Ant do really well with
Team USA structure, but then still allow

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those guys I mean in transition is
when Ant's gonna thrive. Allow Carl to

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be a little more creative. He's
a good passing big. So I think

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structure is going to be something they
stress in training camp and you'll see early

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on in the season. But I
don't think that means they're going to be

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robotic or rigid in how they play. Yeah. Among the things I missed

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on with the Timberwolves last season was
thinking that the Mike Conley trade was a

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mistake because I thought Deanel Russell had
a very good individual season, But three

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games in the Mike Conley experience,
I'm like, Oh, is that Mike

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Commley just hitting those corners? He
hits a corner three, Like everything just

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seems to be working. How important
is he to kind of optimizing this offense

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of everybody drink structure. If you
are not a Timberls fan, but you're

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just familiar with buzzwords like Rudy Gobert
trade or Tim Connelly, you know that

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they paid you know, one and
a half two times market value last summer

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to get their house, and their
house was Rudy Gobert and that will never

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be able to fully get the compensation
back for that. It was an overpaid

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They got a good player. But
I say all that to say that Mike

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Conley trade was like if you found
a really nice yacht and someone just had

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to sell it right away and they
were going to for one tenth of the

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price. Because Mike Conley's great,
he feels rejuvenated, He's been great in

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media day. He says he feels
like he's twenty five. He's also probably

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in the lineage of all the cool
point guards. Anthony Edwards has played with

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Ricky Rubio, Patrick Beverly Dangel Russell. They've all helped mentor him. Mike

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might be the best. I mean, that guy's never gotten a technical foul

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in his career. But I want
to go back to the Conley trade quick

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because yes, it was Mike Conley. But another guy who has looked really

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good for Team Canada in the summer
in the workouts is Nikhil Alexander Walker.

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I mean they got essentially they flipped
De Loo for two point guards slash just

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point guards that fit better and if
you remember that trade with the Lakers and

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the Jazz, they got three second
round picks. They use one of those

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second round picks to move up and
get a guy who we're all crushing on

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right now is nineteen year old Leonard
Miller, who looked phenomenal again just preseason,

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but looks like another kind of young, cheap second round guy that Tim

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Conley found. So to your original
question, I just think Mike Conley when

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he came in, Chris Finch told
him exactly like, I need you to

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score. You haven't been expected to
score in utie how you've been more of

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a facilitator, Like you need to
fill some of Delo's shoes and score and

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space the floor and be aggressive with
your own shot. And I just think

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he is. We like to do
leadership power, leadership power rankings and kind

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of figure that stuffarth. I think
Mike Conley is probably the leader of this

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team. He's not the loudest,
but everyone in that room listens to him

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and believes in him, and I
think he's gonna be Finch called him the

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quarterback on the court, so I
think Finch is going to trust him to

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promote that structure but also be like, Hey, if I have to audible,

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I trust you to audible with certain
situations. Rudy Gobert had a down

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year last season, probably at both
ends of the floor. Having my commley

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here, I would assume I think
he ended up with his lowest role man

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volume last year, and having my
commedy there andthey edwards improving, I would

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think that changes. But he's also
talked a lot about improving his like for

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lack of just ball skills, better
phrasing. I find myself intrigued and terrified

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by that because I don't necessarily want
him trying certain things that that comes with.

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But like, do you buy into
the fact that he can do that,

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maybe make more decisions with the ball
to where it's hey, this is

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someone outside of a dunk. I
think he shot like forty seven percent on

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non dunks last year. And if
he's just able to either even use a

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gathered drible or finish better on layups, that's something that goes a long way

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for this team. Do you buy
into that type of improvement being there?

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Or is this like, I mean, this guy's in his thirties, Like

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what are we really waiting for?
I will say a little behind the scenes

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of the podcasting world. When you
sent me these questions, I just started

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reading number four, do you buy
into Rudy Gobert? And I just answered

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it. No. I didn't even
need to read the rest of it.

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No. I mean one thing that
in this is I'm very pro Chris Finch,

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as you can tell. But last
year when they got Rudy, one

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of the things was like they were
going to unlock this untapped offensive potential and

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it was borderline like throw it into
him in the post and go full Hakem

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and he does not have those skills. This is probably a more nuanced conversation

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of ken old dogs learn new t. I don't know. I you know.

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This summer was viral for Rudy taking
a couple of threes for France.

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I don't think he'll ever take a
three for the team. I think that

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would be a nightmare. But basically
little things, right like can you get

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him? One thing we're pushing over
in our Wolves fandom and coverage is like

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a push shot, like if he
gets the ball and he's not he he

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is a freak of nature in terms
of his height and his build, but

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he's not necessarily like a leaper he's
not the most heat. He does a

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lot of things. If you watch
him around the rim, they are like

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finger rolls. It's like, hey
man, just like just dunk it,

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so you know that kind of five
foot space where maybe he can't gather and

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dunk. Maybe there's a little pushot
involved, but I think maybe just refining

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or leaning into the things that were
that worked for him in his twenties in

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Utah would be good, but asking
him to do other stuff, and maybe

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it was just a short sample size, but it did not look good last

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year and it really kind of nuked
how their offense was looking. So it's

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it's weird for non Timberols fans to
make wait, you all those picks and

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all those players to get a guy
who you want to be a role player.

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But that's really all they want.
They just want him to be the

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best role player that can be.
If he scores eight points on Tuesday,

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that's cool because he probably got fourteen
rebounds and had four blocks and had a

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bunch of screen assists. But I
don't know if there's much left to tap

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into when it comes to Rudy's offense. I might be okay with him posting

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up Derek Lively. But that's really
like the extent of where it be.

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Oh my god, don't even get
me started. I don't want to critique

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any Dallas Mavericks player or fan,
but boy did those two games made me

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feel good as a Timberwolf fan and
bad as a as someone who would watch

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the Mavericks. What does this team
need from And I didn't include the in

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the outline, but what do they
need from Rudy Gobert defensively? I think

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a lot of people were disappointed that
he just wasn't kind of like the caps

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locked generational defender. I think that
happens when you get older. I also

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think like he's still had his high
moments and there are points where probably got

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better as the season wre on,
Like what are realistic expectations for him on

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that end? Before? I think
just navigating what coverages? I mean they

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kind of since Finch got here,
they've dabbled with multiple defensive coverages. I

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mean they can run out lineups,
man, where they can just switch one

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through five. That's not really why
you get Rudy Gobert, right, you

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want him around the rim. He's
still I don't I'm still learning some of

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the more advanced stats that come up
now with how Rudy is still very very

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highly rated as like just rimmed A
Terrens and he does change shots and he's

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not Walker Kessler. Again, that
ship has kind of already sailed, but

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he's still really, really damn good
at it. So I think just asking

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him, you know, making him
feel more comfortable. He's also in his

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defense because of the injuries last year, he didn't have a lot of trust.

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I don't think his teammates trusted him
because he didn't know him, and

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he is just a more unique guy, and I don't think he trusted his

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player or his teammates as well.
But in Utah, did he ever really

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have a no knock on Utah when
they were making runs? But did he

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ever have a player as good on
the perimeter defensively as Jade McDaniel's. I

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don't know. Now he knows who
Jaden is. Now he knows what defensive

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ceiling is. So I think if
he can trust the guys on the perimeter

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more and just you know, really
just set up shop defensively around the rim,

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this team still struggles to rebound.
That's another reason they got him is

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that he should just if he can
just goggle up fourteen to fifteen rebounds a

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night, get a couple of blocks, and just deter some shots. Yeah,

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you're paying a real premium for that
mortgage, but that's all they need.

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They just need someone to live.
And him giving you eight fifteen and

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three every night is a dream come
true for this, for this organization.

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Yeah, especially they're so big and
yet they're rebounding. Was just it's crazy.

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It's crazy. I'm asking this.
I think more so for me because

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I don't know that actual basketball fans
will be interested. But there'd been like

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a pattern who was out there on
wolf social media that Carrently Towns has been

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very like short with the media and
was listening to a podcast you and Dane

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did where you played the clip of
someone asking him about this answer about why

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he was being short was so unbelievably
short. Is there like, what is

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this like? What is this thing? Is it just supposed to reflect the

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mindset? Is it something to even
note? Does it not matter? I

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know I think it matters because it's
clearly strategic and he's leaning into it.

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I've always been more pro cat than
maybe your general person. I know that

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like the resume is not there.
But again, as a Minnesota sports fan,

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you're used to players coming through and
then wanting to leave. He's been

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very adamant about wanting to make it
work. It's again, if you're a

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Celtics fan listening to this or a
Lakers fan, you're like, this kid's

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crazy. And I, yes,
at admittedly so, but like it's cool

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that Carl wants to wear like a
Spreewell jersey to practice or like you know,

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like wear the retro shorts. He
embraces wanting to try to make this

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work. And then I do think
he's gotten to a level because he said

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some dumb things, like some of
the podcasts he was on this summer not

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great, but they're always innocent.
They're just stupid, right, It's not

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like he There's other players in the
news right now that are causing a lot

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more havoc off the court than what
Carl does. But I think he was

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just burned by the reaction to so
many lighthearted things like, you know,

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our play in game victory was just
as important or meaningful as the Denver's.

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No it wasn't, that's not true. But now he's just really trying to

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be short zero dark Carl, I
guess, and that's good because he's still

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really good basketball player and this team
does not need any more sound bites because

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Aunt will give them all to you. They gets some young guys that like

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to talk as well. So if
that's his mentality, he's just going to

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be basketball basketball basketball. It's gonna
come off a little weird and we'll critique

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him again, but I think that's
the best thing for him in this team.

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It's just, hey, maybe you're
not the guy that talks after games.

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Let Aunt do that like some of
these other like Mike Conley is a

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great quote. Kyle Anderson's phenomenal.
So if we see less or hear less

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off Carl, that's probably a win
win win for everyone involved. Yeah.

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I didn't think of it that way, where I mean, I don't go

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what players and executives and people say
all the time, and it's like,

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if you don't want to have to
deal with the blowback of I said this,

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and it's in the moment, and
like you have this huge platform.

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I didn't even think of it that
way, and so that just doesn't seem

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like that big of an issue at
all. Just it was definitely a change

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and so I was so very curious. So the question, the service level

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question is can Karl Anthony Towns play
the four? But what are we what

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is that? Like? What do
we actually need to be watching most closely

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from him? If this dual big
setup, not just with Rudy Gobert,

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but they're gonna playnav read a ton
of minutes as well if it's going to

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work, Like, what should we
be watching to see from Karl an Anthony

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Towns. Well, that's like one
of the better ways anyone's ever phrased that

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is can he play the four?
My pushback would be, and again I'm

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very pro kar Anthony Towns is like
can he play the five? Right?

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Like, the team has never really
shown a level of success. Now granted

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they had some lean rosters, but
the rebounding was He's just not a great

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rebounder. You know, he's not
as athletic as some of the other typical

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centers you would think. I mean, he can shoot the ball. Maybe

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the best in the league is a
big man, like he's not Brook Lopez

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his size, he doesn't have that
rim protection. So I think him playing

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the four a lot of It's going
to come down to how do teams hunt

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him on the perimeter because he's just
going to be out there more. Can

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he move his feet enough. But
then just in general, going back to

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the crazy comments thing like I don't
know if he's the best shooting big man

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of all time because Derek was pretty
good, but he's he is really good,

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and for him, he just needs
to up his three point attempts.

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Like that's like the basic like if
you want to like a real basketball for

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dummies, it's like, hey,
Carl, take eight threes a game.

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I don't care what else you do. Just like take threes like you saw

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him in the Dominican Republic. Just
cross half court, one step, get

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the ball, let it fly.
That's unguardable. And then he has developed

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Jannis esque, not on Jan's level, but like the ability to pump and

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go and get to the rims.
So I think him playing power forward will

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be more about what he does on
offense and can he space the floor and

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give guys like Aunt more room to
create because Rudy is, you know,

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taking up some real estate around the
rim. Defensively, I think he can

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be a liability and it's okay because
you have Rudy Gobert who is a three

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time defensive player. Theyre Jane McDaniels
and Aunt and at other times ju Yo,

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we kind weaven guys that can also
defend. Mike Conley's not a sieve,

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so I think if he can keep
it up on the offensive end,

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we won't worry as much about what
he's not bringing to you as a you

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know, a great typical defensive minded
power forward. On the defensive end.

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Do you think they have enough spacing
outside the starting five to optimize or lean

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on his pump and go game.
I I spend a lot of nights just

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sitting on my couch thinking about that. I don't know. I do think

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shooting is like a little I'm a
little nervous about that. But I also

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will say that their two biggest they
obviously re signed Nazari right before free agency.

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Would love to tell you my thoughts
on him at some point, but

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they also then went out right away
and got Shake Milton and Troy Brown Junior.

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I wasn't super familiar with Troy Brown
Junior, just because I remember he

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started for the Lakers f out and
then kind of got buried after the trade.

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But he played last night in a
really weak preseason game, but he

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was awesome, like he just hit
every three he took. Shake Milton can

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just cook two as well. So
I do think when they bring me,

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They're bench is going to be like
their five or their six through nine guys

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are going to be like a combination
of Shake, Milton, Troy Brown,

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00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:11,440
Junior, Nikhil Alexander Walker, who
has refined his shot mechanics and is at

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least respectable. And then Kyle Anderson, who I know it takes a week

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for the shot to get off,
but think he shot damn near forty percent

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last year from three, So I
do I'm putting a pin in it,

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00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:25,960
but I do think they have enough
spacing. And then Mike Conley has been

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00:19:26,039 --> 00:19:29,480
great, shooting almost career highs from
deep, So I do think when they

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00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:32,920
start to get into weird rotations,
they'll have enough that gives Karl enough space.

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And hell, as much as I've
just emphasized this experiment, it might

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be Carl and Rudy just playing different
times, and Carls with nosmore Nas had

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00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:42,640
four to threes in the first half
against the Knicks. Like, I do

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00:19:42,759 --> 00:19:47,440
think there's enough spacing. It's just
as Chris Finch put the right five man

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00:19:47,559 --> 00:19:51,000
rotations out there to make sure Karl
does have that space. You want to

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talk about Nasried Hiss podcast loves them
some nas Reed he took off like before

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00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:00,759
his injury last year. What impressed
you the most about his development? And

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00:20:00,839 --> 00:20:03,160
then what are you kind of monitoring
most closely as he heads into this year?

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00:20:04,319 --> 00:20:08,039
Uh? I love this pod,
So everyone should be subscribing because this.

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I think Dan has one of the
best pods out there. But I

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don't know the typical listener how familiar
are with Nasrid, So I do want

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00:20:15,559 --> 00:20:19,119
to just give him or give the
elevator pitch. Nasried was undrafted or lsu

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00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,119
and he would tell you this more
than anyone. He was a fat kid

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00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:26,720
who couldn't jump Like I always say, you think about guys jumping from the

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00:20:26,799 --> 00:20:30,559
free throw line, Nasrid couldn't jump
over and it's painted on the floor.

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He had no athleticism. He is
the best developmental story in franchise history.

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00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:38,279
I think he's also one of the
best developmental stories just in the league.

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00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:44,000
He's an undrafted guy who has just
busted his ass every year and now gotten

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00:20:44,079 --> 00:20:48,960
paid. He's also like only twenty
four years old, so he still is

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00:20:48,039 --> 00:20:49,839
like Is he a five, is
he a four? I don't know,

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00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:55,160
but he's great on the bounce.
He has a point guard's handle because he

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00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:56,960
was one of those prospects that like, oh, I played guard and then

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00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,200
all of a sudden one summer,
I grew six inches and now I'm a

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00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:04,680
big guy. He's the most the
Wolves executives, everyone and coaches will tell

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00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:10,119
you he's the most competitive player on
the team. He took losing the hardest

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00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:12,119
those first couple of years. So
we were all happy to see him resigned,

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00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:15,680
happy to see him get paid.
And it was three games Dan,

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00:21:15,839 --> 00:21:19,359
but there was a West Coast road
trip about in February where they had all

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00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:23,039
their guys. Carl came back and
they looked awesome, like and it was

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00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:26,720
all because in those three games of
like what nas Reid just allowed them to

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00:21:26,759 --> 00:21:30,920
do with Carl and naz Rudy and
nas Nas at the five, with Kyle

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00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:36,799
at the four. So I think
he is still when we do the whole

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00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:38,359
Oh, this is the under twenty
five group, and this is what each

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00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,440
team has for the future, like
it's always aunt and Jayden Nasried is in

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00:21:42,519 --> 00:21:45,799
there. He's a core part of
this team. He signed as a core

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00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,119
part of this team, and I
just think he continues to get better at

353
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:55,400
everything, including defense, including rebounding. So his story is awesome. If

354
00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,160
you want a guy to cheer for, it's him. And that was I

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00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,279
appreciate you letting me have propaganda for
nas read a little bit because he is.

356
00:22:03,559 --> 00:22:06,440
He's one of the coolest guys in
the league. And I think more

357
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,000
and more fans on a national level
we'll get to know him this summer or

358
00:22:08,079 --> 00:22:12,640
this fall. Yeah, and look
last season, he sneakly shot thirty seven

359
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:17,599
percent on non corner threes, which
is just big as like the position that

360
00:22:17,599 --> 00:22:21,160
he's gonna play. And the thing
that absolutely floored me was his floor game

361
00:22:21,559 --> 00:22:25,119
was just like it was, this
guy's taking people off the dribble and it's

362
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:26,720
not just oh and open space like, no, he's going through traffic,

363
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,720
making these tough, gritty finishes.
There's that sixteen game stretch I think right

364
00:22:30,759 --> 00:22:34,200
before you're huge, just annihilating everybody. And you mentioned his defense. I

365
00:22:34,279 --> 00:22:38,920
proved like his his stand up rim
protection that improved. He is when you

366
00:22:40,079 --> 00:22:44,640
when you start digging into and I
like the data of the dual big combinations

367
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:48,359
from last season. I'm so optimistic
on basically any pairing that includes him,

368
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:52,640
even though the numbers don't always support
that, and a lot of it could

369
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,400
be well d Lo was there and
Mike Commley wasn't, So we're working with

370
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,160
such a limited sample size. But
when you're looking at these, you know,

371
00:22:59,559 --> 00:23:03,039
dual bits, big combinations, what
are the you know, what's the

372
00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:06,960
one that intrigued you the most?
What is the and then what's the one

373
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:08,519
that are you concerned about the most. Where you're looking at Rudy and Nas

374
00:23:08,599 --> 00:23:12,079
or Cat NAS, or then there's
Rudy and Cat as well. It's just

375
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:18,400
every single combination is so fascinating and
has still so many unanswered questions because of

376
00:23:18,519 --> 00:23:22,519
for the most part, the limited
sample that we got from them. Well,

377
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,920
if you go pull up like the
two man lineup data from last year,

378
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,119
the Nas and Rudy pairing was really
bad, like I don't know,

379
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,680
like a negative seventeen net rating or
something, So that would be the one

380
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:34,880
that's most concerning, And ironically,
I think that's the one I'm most excited

381
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:41,519
for because I just think Nas reads
ability to space the floor. He again,

382
00:23:41,599 --> 00:23:42,920
sometimes it gets out of control,
like he'll get the rebound and just

383
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,240
make hey, I'm gonna play point
guard this possession. I'm gonna sprint up

384
00:23:45,279 --> 00:23:48,799
the floor and say, hey,
man, like classic pickup basketball, give

385
00:23:48,839 --> 00:23:52,839
it to a guard. But he
he's just fearless in that way. And

386
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,160
I think him playing alongside Rudy.
He had a couple possessions against the Mavericks

387
00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:00,720
where like he would just attack the
close out and and just have a really

388
00:24:00,799 --> 00:24:04,000
nice little drop down pass or a
lob to Rudy. So he's kind of

389
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,039
like a backup Kyle Anderson in the
way that I think Nas can unlock a

390
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:11,960
lot of guys. I also just
think to Nas and Kyle are really from

391
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,000
Kyle Anderson is like the we say
this a lot in sports, but like

392
00:24:15,039 --> 00:24:18,039
the prototypical five tool guy he can
do. He's a Swiss army knife.

393
00:24:18,039 --> 00:24:22,519
He can just make everyone's life easier. His role might be diminished this season

394
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,640
just because he played a lot of
four when Carl was out, but uh

395
00:24:26,079 --> 00:24:30,720
yeah, I think Nas no matter
what the stats were last year, and

396
00:24:30,799 --> 00:24:33,559
they're real stats, but I think
that data can be thrown out a little

397
00:24:33,559 --> 00:24:36,599
bit because I think he's just continued
to add things to his game that like,

398
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:37,880
okay, now, let's see him
just, you know, be the

399
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,240
guy that gets rudy touches around the
rim when Nas is closing out because he's

400
00:24:41,319 --> 00:24:45,640
kind of driving like Carl Woods.
So yeah, there's some scary numbers for

401
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,799
sure on Nas, and the defense
was probably one of the worst things he

402
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,839
did early in this season, but
he's retooled his body all the stuff I

403
00:24:51,839 --> 00:24:56,880
said earlier. So I'm basically if
Nas Reid's on the floor, I'm tuning

404
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:00,559
in. I don't care who the
other four guys are. I think I

405
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,000
might be most intrigued by the Cat
Nas pairing in part because I believe in

406
00:25:04,079 --> 00:25:07,759
NAS's defense, and when you're looking
at what He's able to do on offense,

407
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:14,240
that's your pathway to playing five out
without maybe torpedoing your defensive structure.

408
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,720
Everybody drink again, how many times
I gotta say that word? So I

409
00:25:18,039 --> 00:25:19,279
think I'm most excited to see that
one. But do you think this team

410
00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:25,119
is telegraphed by resigning Nas reed that
we're just gonna play with two bigs for

411
00:25:25,279 --> 00:25:27,079
basically all forty eight minutes, or
do you think they'll get to a point

412
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,880
where they still want to stagger in
some ways and see some of the one

413
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,359
big combinations and what maybe is the
one that they'll be leaning upon most.

414
00:25:36,799 --> 00:25:40,119
I think that's a great question.
I might steal that for future pods.

415
00:25:41,079 --> 00:25:44,319
I don't know, because that's kind
of the thing we're doing now. We

416
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:48,400
don't have much basketball talking about until
we start hammering rotations. They just pay

417
00:25:48,559 --> 00:25:51,920
way too much money to way too
many big guys for it ever to be

418
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,200
one big out there. I don't
know. I mean, I think it'd

419
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,160
be cool to see like a Rudy
Gobert the five, Kyle at the four

420
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:02,440
and then three guards, but you
would then have like fifty five million dollars

421
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,160
on the bench in carl and nas, So it's going to be really difficult.

422
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:07,799
I did say at the top that
last year was the deepest team in

423
00:26:07,839 --> 00:26:11,319
franchise history. Without a doubt,
this team is deeper and now the deepest

424
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:15,200
team in franchise has been like last
year. Not to segue, but Jalen

425
00:26:15,279 --> 00:26:18,799
Noel was sixth in the in total
minutes for this team. Last year in

426
00:26:18,839 --> 00:26:22,480
Austin, Rivers was seventh or eighth. Both those guys are like pseudo out

427
00:26:22,559 --> 00:26:26,160
of the league right now. I
think Jaalen Newell's on a training camp deal

428
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,960
with the Kings and Austin Rivers does
have a job. Now you just replace

429
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:32,920
those guys with like shake Milton,
who you know is good, or now

430
00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:37,240
you just replace those guys with like
more minutes for Carl. So I think

431
00:26:37,519 --> 00:26:41,920
rotations will be something that if we
drink to structure, we also maybe drink

432
00:26:41,079 --> 00:26:48,000
something harder for rotations because Finch has
more more ingredients in the kitchen than most

433
00:26:48,079 --> 00:26:51,599
coaches have, and then Finch's ever
had. But Kenny mean, not to

434
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,240
be silly, but Kenny cook,
like, does he know how to pair

435
00:26:53,319 --> 00:26:57,160
those ingredients together to make good meals? Because he could also make some really

436
00:26:57,759 --> 00:27:02,680
you know, lame five man lineups
and then it could kill them early on

437
00:27:02,759 --> 00:27:07,319
in the season. You mentioned Kyle
Anderson before, and his role is shrinking.

438
00:27:07,599 --> 00:27:08,880
How much do we brace for his
role to shrink? He was so

439
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:14,359
important last year you've actually called him
the most important signing free agent signing in

440
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,359
Wolve's history. Is it? I
think you look at it. You said

441
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:18,160
he played a lot of four and
it's just like, well, those minutes

442
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,440
aren't gonna be there. But then
it's okay, Well, this team doesn't

443
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,559
really have traditional point guards, especially
when you get outside the starting lineup,

444
00:27:25,559 --> 00:27:27,880
So could they just try to run
ultra big where maybe he's the pseudo primary

445
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:32,519
playmaker when if they ever want to
get away with Mike Conley an aunt on

446
00:27:32,599 --> 00:27:36,039
the bench, or even when Mike
Comley's just on the bench. Yeah,

447
00:27:36,079 --> 00:27:41,160
I mean for any comic book nerds
that like Avengers, like this is Doctor

448
00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:45,680
Strange is like one, like there
is one simulation of all this that this

449
00:27:45,799 --> 00:27:49,279
team like wins fifty games and everything
clicks back to the ingredients thing. But

450
00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,839
there's also so many that don't,
so like, yeah, can Kyle be

451
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,319
the backup point guard but also like
the third string power forward and also like

452
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:02,359
back up Jaden at the three.
The numbers don't love Kyle Anderson at the

453
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:03,720
three, especially on this team,
as much as they liked him at the

454
00:28:03,799 --> 00:28:08,079
four. In an ideal world,
Kyle's role wouldn't diminish. But again,

455
00:28:08,279 --> 00:28:12,279
you're getting fifty two extra games of
Carl He's gonna start. They might have

456
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:18,440
the least flexible starting five in the
league just from politics, Like you're never

457
00:28:18,519 --> 00:28:21,960
going to be able to change their
starting five unless you beg Minnesota, Mike

458
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:26,440
Conley to like come off the bench. So I don't know. I've kind

459
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,920
of predicted too, Like it's a
contract year for Kyle. He's so important

460
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,000
to them. Finch loves him.
But if he's in a contract year and

461
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,799
he is getting diminished role and stuff
like, is he a guy you maybe

462
00:28:36,839 --> 00:28:40,200
dangle at the deadline when you try
to, you know, improve in another

463
00:28:40,279 --> 00:28:42,279
area like the shooting that I'm concerned
about. I don't want Kyle Anderson to

464
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:47,920
leave, but he might be the
most available guy on the roster just because

465
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:51,079
of how this is all working out
financially. So yeah, I think he

466
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:52,400
can play back up point guard,
but I think Shake Milton can too.

467
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,720
I think Nikkeel is a really nice
backup to Mike. He can play the

468
00:28:56,759 --> 00:29:00,759
three behind Jayden in spots, but
I think Troy Brown, j You're is

469
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,240
just a better shooter to space the
floor. Uh, he can back up

470
00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:06,920
the four for sure. But again, like you just gave naz Reid fifty

471
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:11,000
two million, so that might be
the toughest thing for Finch this year is

472
00:29:11,039 --> 00:29:14,400
how do I find enough minutes for
Kyle? Can he still get to twenty

473
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,920
minutes? And is he gonna be
okay with a diminished role because he came

474
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:19,880
in and I know people might think
I'm a homer, but again, when

475
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,039
I say he's the best free agent
signing in franchise history, go look at

476
00:29:23,039 --> 00:29:26,960
the list. There's not a lot
of other impactful players on that list.

477
00:29:27,079 --> 00:29:30,000
So yeah, it's gonna I think
Kyle Anderson, to me, is maybe

478
00:29:30,039 --> 00:29:34,599
the biggest burning question outside of Ken
the two bigs work, is there Maybe

479
00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:40,200
there might be room to play larger
When it's nas Read and kar Anthony Town's

480
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:41,480
on the floor together, that might
be a lineup where you could shoehorn some

481
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:45,640
Kyle Anderson minutes if that's like the
front court, if you want him as

482
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,759
your backup point guard. Maybe I
think, like we we I've been coining

483
00:29:49,839 --> 00:29:52,920
the term size matters for this team. Put it on a shirt of like

484
00:29:53,119 --> 00:29:56,640
if you just played Kyle Aunt,
Jaden Carl or Nas and Ruby, like,

485
00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,960
that's probably one of the longest all
six to eight or higher five man

486
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:03,720
lineups in the league. I think
that'd be awesome. And again, you

487
00:30:03,759 --> 00:30:07,559
know, Tim Connolly has spoke about
this, Chris Finch has been pretty open

488
00:30:07,599 --> 00:30:10,920
about it too. Like when you
make the trade for Rudy Gobert and then

489
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:15,200
you sign Nasrid to three point fifty
two, Like you're big, Like,

490
00:30:15,319 --> 00:30:18,400
don't you know, Like it's like
on Super Bad when he's like Jewels,

491
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:21,680
you're drunk, Like, well,
if you're you're big, like embrace it,

492
00:30:21,839 --> 00:30:23,680
play big, you know. In
those two games against the MAVs,

493
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,400
I think they outscored them points in
the paint, like one hundred and ten

494
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:32,079
to sixty, Like make that your
thing. You still have great shooters from

495
00:30:32,079 --> 00:30:34,920
the outside, Carl and Anton Jaden
and Mike Conley, but embrace being big,

496
00:30:36,039 --> 00:30:37,400
and maybe that's what they'll do.
Maybe Kyle will be a backup point

497
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,079
guard off the bench, and they
just lean into having size and length and

498
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:45,839
wingspan and that's kind of their model. But they do at least have an

499
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,480
identity, and for the longest time, this team, I think a lot

500
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,200
of teams that struggle, right Dan, like they don't only have an identity.

501
00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:52,519
I think the Wolves at least know
now, like, yeah, they're

502
00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:56,119
drunk, they're big, this is
what they're gonna try to do. It's

503
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,480
been over thirty minutes and I haven't
asked about a Fi Edwards, which is

504
00:30:59,519 --> 00:31:03,559
either not how interesting this team is
or just criminal on my behalf. Let's

505
00:31:03,599 --> 00:31:08,119
start here. What impressed you the
most about his development last year. He

506
00:31:10,319 --> 00:31:12,079
again, I am a fan of
this team that also covers it, but

507
00:31:12,279 --> 00:31:15,640
he has a special place in our
hearts. Not to get too sappy,

508
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:21,319
but like he comes in during what
will be the weirdest draft in our lifetime,

509
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,119
the twenty twenty draft COVID. You
know, there's no there's no March

510
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,839
madness. You don't get to see
any of those games, there's no combine,

511
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,920
there's no summer league. And then
the first year we only get to

512
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,920
interact with him on zoom and he's
a young puppy, like he's eighteen year

513
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,359
old kid who who just wants to
talk about fast food. So as much

514
00:31:38,359 --> 00:31:41,920
as Nasrid is the greatest developmental story, you know, I don't have kids.

515
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:47,400
Like it's been cool kind of pseudo
adopting Anthony Edwards because a lot of

516
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,039
the stuff that came out in that
pre draft, and I know you remember

517
00:31:49,119 --> 00:31:52,720
this, like was does he like
playing basketball? Is he a hard worker?

518
00:31:52,839 --> 00:31:56,960
Like the compsie the way I always
whenever I see that, I just

519
00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:01,400
automatically assume that players destined for stardom. I like that that critique. I

520
00:32:01,559 --> 00:32:05,160
like that. No, and there
was not gonna name names, but there

521
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,200
are people that comped him to like
Dion Waiters and Jordan Crawford and all this

522
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,039
stuff, and it's like he might
be one of the ten, twelve,

523
00:32:12,119 --> 00:32:15,519
fifteen best players in the league and
he's twenty two. So I think he's

524
00:32:15,599 --> 00:32:17,960
gotten better every year for all the
things the Wolves have done wrong, and

525
00:32:19,039 --> 00:32:21,559
even during his tenure they had,
you know, Gerson Rosas. Then he

526
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,839
gets let go in a weird situation
Ryan Saunders, like Finch has been here

527
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:27,839
for most of it now, and
I think Finch is a good coach and

528
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:32,119
great for him, very father sonish
almost the relationship where Austin Rivers has said

529
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:36,119
this too, like Finch can coach
him hard, and if you can coach

530
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:38,400
your best guy hard, that's usually
a good thing as you trickle down the

531
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:43,079
roster, and he's open to coaching. But he's gotten better every year,

532
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,759
and the Wolves have surrounded him with
a lot of vets. Back to that

533
00:32:45,839 --> 00:32:49,640
whole point guard thing, like he's
always had a sidekick. Ricky Rubio is

534
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,480
like the best way to enter the
league, right, and then Pat Bev

535
00:32:52,519 --> 00:32:55,599
gave him an edge that allowed them
to get to the playoffs. D'Angel Russell

536
00:32:57,079 --> 00:32:59,759
kind of taught him how to be
more creative. I think Delo is one

537
00:32:59,759 --> 00:33:04,240
of the most underrated facilitators and passers
in the league. And now Mike Conley

538
00:33:04,359 --> 00:33:06,880
is like, Okay, you've done
all that stuff. You've you've been a

539
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,400
rookie, you've been tough like Pat
Beth, you've been creative, but now

540
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:14,119
you just need to be professional and
for you to be all NBA, which

541
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,839
is a big deal for him this
year because he's got about fifty million on

542
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:21,400
the line for if he makes all
NBA, his contract just balloons up as

543
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,640
one of those max extensions. Can
you do it every night? Because we've

544
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,880
seen him dunk on guys, We've
seen him go for fifty, we've seen

545
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,880
him shut down you know, Luca
and Kyrie in that one MAVs game,

546
00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:34,359
a couples like last year with him
and Jaden. But to be one of

547
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,559
the best, and you know this
covering all the teams, like every single

548
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:39,880
night. It can't just be on
Christmas, can't just be against the Grizzlies

549
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:43,400
in April. It has to be
like on the coldest night in January when

550
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,160
you're playing the Pistons. Can you
bring your game for all eighty two and

551
00:33:46,279 --> 00:33:50,079
that's the next step. Is that's
how you become a superstar, not a

552
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,240
star, is to do it consistently. Verdict still out. But what has

553
00:33:53,279 --> 00:33:57,440
he showed you that that he's not
up to any sort of challenge. He's

554
00:33:57,559 --> 00:34:00,480
a movie star, he's an Olympian, Like, he's doing everything you want

555
00:34:00,519 --> 00:34:04,680
from young kids. So I believe
in him, but we got to see

556
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,760
it. Yeah, and it's he's
so polarizing because there are some that you

557
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:13,239
mentioned that the inconsistencies, but then
it's like when you look at his profile

558
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,840
and some of the things he's done
defensively in the playoffs and just like for

559
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,159
stretches in the regular season, there
are so few guys that can legitimately be

560
00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:21,920
the best player on both ends of
the floor for their team, and he

561
00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:25,280
has like the shape to be that
guy. Yeah, the question of will

562
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:30,679
he and I think so I'll start
here, do you buy and a lot

563
00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:32,400
of the time last year he was
so central to the offense by necessity.

564
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:37,000
Do you buy into him as a
good enough passer to be that type of

565
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,239
engine? And I know that you
and Dan have also talked about maybe being

566
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:45,199
with Team USA and asked to be
more of a facilitator might have helped him

567
00:34:45,199 --> 00:34:47,440
improve there even more because I do
think he came a long way as a

568
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:51,920
playmaker over the past two years for
sure. Yeah, and that goes back

569
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:55,000
to again, like with the glass
in hand structure drink. I think if

570
00:34:55,079 --> 00:34:59,199
he has more structure, and like
I mean, I think about this in

571
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:01,599
my day job. If if you're
put in a situation where you don't have

572
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:06,519
to think, you just have like
the policies and procedures in place, the

573
00:35:06,559 --> 00:35:09,679
structure in place to just act,
that'll help him. I don't think he's

574
00:35:09,679 --> 00:35:14,199
a great passor yet, I don't
think he's a great facilitator. I didn't

575
00:35:14,199 --> 00:35:16,679
I even't followed Devin Booker's career his
whole timeline, but like it seemed like

576
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:22,400
Devin Booker come out of college was
really your prototypical two guard that would score,

577
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:24,679
but then was just forced to take
on more and more of a playmaking

578
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,679
role. And now Devin Booker is
like one of the best you know,

579
00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:30,599
he can play point or the two. So I think that would be what

580
00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:35,079
Ant would want to lean into,
is just we don't need you don't need

581
00:35:35,199 --> 00:35:37,559
to average a assists a game,
because most of the time you should just

582
00:35:37,599 --> 00:35:42,639
be taking those shots. He still
is a guy that's gonna be high volume

583
00:35:42,679 --> 00:35:45,199
score, high volume shot attempts.
But I think just even getting him to

584
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:50,039
like whatever he averages for points twenty
six twenty seven a game, if he

585
00:35:50,079 --> 00:35:52,519
can just average like four assists,
I think those four assists will unlock not

586
00:35:52,639 --> 00:35:57,199
only things for his teammates, right
Dan, but like just more ability for

587
00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:00,199
him to go score because it adds
that threat of like I might pass this,

588
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,199
I might kick it out, I
might throw this lob. But it's

589
00:36:02,199 --> 00:36:07,320
still that's that is more than his
defense. I think his ability to become

590
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:12,800
a really scary playmaker is the biggest
challenge and obstaclely faces. But if he

591
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,079
hits that again, we're talking like, how is he not, you know,

592
00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:17,840
top ten in the league by the
time he's twenty three years old.

593
00:36:19,519 --> 00:36:22,840
I wonder if having Mike Commy there
ends up helping him develop better chemistry th

594
00:36:23,079 --> 00:36:27,519
Goobert too, just as someone who's
so familiar with setting that guy up.

595
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,760
Is there any other just areas of
a game that are like, oh,

596
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:31,920
I'm going to be watching this?
Is it? Maybe the finishing is it?

597
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:36,159
Some of the takeoff points on his
drives is it the percentage of the

598
00:36:36,199 --> 00:36:37,840
off the dribble, three, the
defensive consistency, Like, what's kind of

599
00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:42,400
the next biggest thing you're watching with
him? Well, again, for the

600
00:36:42,519 --> 00:36:45,000
non Wolves fans listening to this,
like, I am a homer, but

601
00:36:45,079 --> 00:36:46,880
I'm just a fan who does this
part time. So yes, sometimes when

602
00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:51,760
I complain about things like officiating,
it's coming from a fan perspective. But

603
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,519
I would like for Ant to get
like a third of the whistles that James

604
00:36:54,559 --> 00:37:00,719
Harden gets or something. Ant Is
loves to dish out contact to try to

605
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,880
then gain contact. But he's also
just big, right, Like he's not

606
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:07,559
like no offense to Trey Young,
but Trey Young is so condensed that when

607
00:37:07,599 --> 00:37:10,920
he gets hit, like he might
slide five feet across the floor. If

608
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,199
Ant gets hit, the player hitting
him might fall backwards. So I think

609
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:19,199
when he attacks the rim, to
answer your question, like, I'd love

610
00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:21,920
to see him get as much as
I want Carl to shoot eight. Three

611
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:23,280
is a game. I mean,
if Ant's shooting ten free throws a game,

612
00:37:24,199 --> 00:37:27,119
I think he just loves a challenge. She's like, oh, I

613
00:37:27,159 --> 00:37:29,639
guess I'll just take this large step
back. Three. It's like if you

614
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:31,239
want to score a bunch of points. Is there any better way to do

615
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,599
it than just stand at the free
throw line and go shot and shot and

616
00:37:34,639 --> 00:37:37,719
shot, Like get eight free points
a game by getting to the free throw

617
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:42,360
line. So he hasn't always gotten
a great whistle. He does yell hay

618
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:45,880
a lot if you're listening to the
League Pass broadcast, but just getting to

619
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:50,760
the rim more often, learning how
to absorb contact, not get hurt,

620
00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,599
knock on wood. But increasing his
free throw attempts, to me, is

621
00:37:53,679 --> 00:37:58,159
kind of like something I'll be monitoring
in box scores early on. Is like

622
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:00,800
I just I think to be the
best players in the league and to be

623
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:04,559
a volume score that averages thirty the
Lucas the James Hardens of the world.

624
00:38:05,039 --> 00:38:08,119
You just need free points. And
he hasn't been great at getting free or

625
00:38:08,199 --> 00:38:13,239
easy baskets. If that makes sense. Oh no, I totally get that.

626
00:38:13,639 --> 00:38:17,320
Uh. Jane McDaniels another pod YEA
favorite. There are some players who

627
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:22,039
are transcendent defensively, but you have
to watch them very closely to understand what

628
00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:24,559
they do, and you probably won't
even ever understand what they do. And

629
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,920
like a Draymond Green, yep,
Jane McDaniels. I feel like you just

630
00:38:29,039 --> 00:38:35,159
watch and immediately sense how dominant he
can be defensively. I actually I forgot

631
00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:37,800
he didn't make the All Defense team, and I don't know if he made

632
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:39,239
my list if I didn't put him
on there. I think it's egregious because

633
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:43,679
going back and watching stuff with him
from last season, and he was capslock

634
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:47,360
dominant on the defensive end, but
he's also shown a bunch of flashes on

635
00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:51,880
the offensive end. And my question
to you is sort of twofold. Is

636
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:54,840
there a room for him to branch
out offensively on this team or are we

637
00:38:55,360 --> 00:39:00,840
like, should he should he be
prepping for maybe even a U said decline

638
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,679
because Conthee Towns was not playing for
so much of last year, so that

639
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:08,199
he he is my favorite player as
much as I've promoted Nasrit and and all

640
00:39:08,199 --> 00:39:13,000
these guys like Jane McDaniel's, I
think is the coolest story. Uh.

641
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:15,480
I don't know, if you ever
google this stuff, like you can see

642
00:39:15,519 --> 00:39:19,599
that, like certain sites have a
twenty twenty seven NBA mock draft right now.

643
00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:21,920
I don't know who the hell these
kids are. They're freshmen in high

644
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:24,599
school, but you can see that
there are mock drafts dating back to five

645
00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:30,360
years before twenty twenty, where Jane
McDaniels was the first overall player mocked in

646
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:34,039
drafts. He was a five star
kid out of high school, goes to

647
00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:37,039
Washington, poor coaching, gets a
lot of technical follows, falls in the

648
00:39:37,119 --> 00:39:40,840
draft, gets selected by twenty eighth
in twenty twenty, and he in three

649
00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:45,920
years has become and again you watch
probably more national around the league than I

650
00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,599
do. Like, I think he
might be the best perimeter defender in the

651
00:39:47,679 --> 00:39:51,400
league, if not one of the
top five. And then something that just

652
00:39:51,639 --> 00:39:54,320
adds to him is that feels like
most perimeter guys that can defend really well

653
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:59,599
that Paul Georgie six's eight six'
nine wingspan. I think he's like six

654
00:39:59,679 --> 00:40:04,159
eleven. Now, I mean how
tall is I mean when I was at

655
00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:06,880
media Day and he stands next to
Rudy, It's like, are they the

656
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,199
same size? And I know Rudy's
north a seven feet so if he's six

657
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:13,480
' eleven, he's also in a
lot of the advanced metrics back this up.

658
00:40:13,559 --> 00:40:15,400
He might be this Rudy's still the
best rim protector on the team,

659
00:40:15,639 --> 00:40:20,039
but Jaden is right there number two. So if your best permeter defender is

660
00:40:20,119 --> 00:40:23,000
also just an elite rim protector.
And then to go back to what you

661
00:40:23,119 --> 00:40:27,480
said, like he's kind of nasty
with the ball in his hands a little

662
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:29,400
bit, like he can score,
he can get to the rim. They

663
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:31,519
don't. He loves the mid range. They don't ask him to do that.

664
00:40:31,679 --> 00:40:36,760
And honestly talking to coaches and stuff, like he's about to get paid

665
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:40,000
really handsomely like Ant did. It's
a tough negotiation because you don't just throw

666
00:40:40,639 --> 00:40:45,039
the max at him like you would
a Desmond Bayn or an Aunt. But

667
00:40:45,119 --> 00:40:47,079
if you're his representation, you're like, well, why wouldn't you, Like,

668
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:51,599
I'm the whole reason that the ruy
go bertrade looks bad because instead of

669
00:40:52,039 --> 00:40:54,199
you know, trading me in the
package and keeping two or three first,

670
00:40:54,519 --> 00:40:58,480
you had to give all those extra
first because you made me untouchable. I've

671
00:40:58,519 --> 00:41:01,400
been the best defender in the team. I'm not like in malcontent. Yes,

672
00:41:01,679 --> 00:41:06,000
he did punch a wall. Let's
let's move forward from that. Like,

673
00:41:07,039 --> 00:41:08,960
yeah, so he's not and he's
not really asking for the ball more

674
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:14,280
so, I think you're gonna see
him just skyrocket in terms of salary.

675
00:41:15,119 --> 00:41:17,480
But you you actually said something that
Finch told us is like, I don't

676
00:41:17,519 --> 00:41:22,360
think there's much more room for him
to grow offensively for now, right and

677
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:25,960
again, this is gonna look totally
different every other year because if you unload

678
00:41:27,079 --> 00:41:30,400
Carl next summer, now you have
this big chunk of the pie that someone

679
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:31,360
has to eat, and I think
Jane would get some of that. But

680
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:35,920
if Jade McDaniels goes from making,
I think he's like the I think he

681
00:41:36,079 --> 00:41:38,920
makes less than Wendell Moore right now. I don't know, Like so if

682
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:43,400
he goes to making, you know, thirty million dollars a year, don't

683
00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:46,320
expect him to then be like giving
you eighteen and ten because they don't really

684
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:50,280
need eighteen and ten. They just
they got a lot of other guys that

685
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,599
can score and rebound, but they
need him on the perimeter to guard the

686
00:41:53,679 --> 00:41:57,920
best player on the other team.
There is again a viral clip of him

687
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:01,800
and Aunt basically taking Luke Donchis and
Kyrie every and putting them in prison last

688
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:06,159
year. And when those two guys
are locked in, I do struggle to

689
00:42:06,199 --> 00:42:08,840
find I mean, Kawhi and Paul
George still probably the best, but there's

690
00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:13,079
not many two guard or two man
lineups that can just defend the perimeters.

691
00:42:13,159 --> 00:42:15,960
So the world is at that man's
fingertips. He's about to get paid.

692
00:42:16,039 --> 00:42:20,039
I wonder I don't know how much
you followed this, but I think the

693
00:42:20,119 --> 00:42:22,199
deadline is the twenty third of October. I don't know if he'll get the

694
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:25,800
deal done by then, which would
then leak into restricted free agency next summer.

695
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:31,400
But he has every negotiation like aspect
at his fingertips. He can basically

696
00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:34,679
demand the world and the team's just
trying to figure out, how do we

697
00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,440
just cut that to ninety percent because
we can't afford to lose this player.

698
00:42:38,079 --> 00:42:42,039
Yeah, and I'm my question to
you is going to be do think an

699
00:42:42,079 --> 00:42:45,039
extension gets done? And I guess
the more the more pressing question is what

700
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:49,800
is the What are the Wolves negotiating
over right now? Because I understand if

701
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,239
they were headed for like cat flexibility, they want to preserve his small hold.

702
00:42:52,559 --> 00:42:55,480
They're not. They're going to run
into I know this is taboo on

703
00:42:55,519 --> 00:42:59,880
the day more podcasts at They're going
to run into the second apron YEP issues

704
00:43:00,079 --> 00:43:02,880
this next summer. So it's just
like if he gets on the open market,

705
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:06,760
he his teams are and I've been
pretty critical of this. I think

706
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:09,559
they're cowards for not going harder after
opposing restricted free agents. I don't care

707
00:43:09,599 --> 00:43:13,079
that you just tied up your cap
space for thirty six hours or whatever it

708
00:43:13,159 --> 00:43:15,920
is. Now in the new CBA, make teams pay more to keep their

709
00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:20,320
own play like. I love that
gamesmanship. Jade McDaniels is somebody that other

710
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:23,000
teams, regardless of their timeline,
will go and they will throw a max

711
00:43:23,079 --> 00:43:28,920
offer sheet to barring anything like catastrophic
this season. So if you're the Wolves,

712
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:31,760
like if he's willing to sign the
Devin Vaselle deal one hundred and thirty

713
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:36,320
five million guaranteed with the potential twelve
million incentives or whatever it is, why

714
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:39,119
are you not just inking him to
that. I know Vassell's better on offense,

715
00:43:39,159 --> 00:43:44,079
but you just outlaid not just why
Jade McDaniels is better on defense than

716
00:43:44,119 --> 00:43:47,079
Denverselle, but why he is like
top five. That's putting it probably like

717
00:43:47,199 --> 00:43:51,400
being too conservative, and I'm saying
is like he is a top five perimeter

718
00:43:51,519 --> 00:43:53,719
defender, and he might just be
the best perimeter defender. Like you can

719
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:58,079
get into Herb and Ogiannanoby and these
other guys he's up there and he's so

720
00:43:58,119 --> 00:44:00,639
important, Like what are they waiting
for? What are they haggling over here?

721
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,840
I'll tell you this right now,
this is a pretty source. If

722
00:44:05,039 --> 00:44:08,400
if they could put Devin Vessel's contract
in front of Jayden and have them sign

723
00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:14,239
it, they would be over the
moon. So I think that is like

724
00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:20,079
the starting point when he and his
representation walk into Tim Connolly's office. And

725
00:44:20,159 --> 00:44:22,039
again, if you're a Spurs fan
and you want to get into the minutia

726
00:44:22,039 --> 00:44:24,559
of Jaden versus Devin Vessel, I
totally get it. I just don't think

727
00:44:24,559 --> 00:44:28,519
you can compare them because they're getting
asked to do different things. But I'm

728
00:44:28,599 --> 00:44:31,079
with you to answer your question.
We have five days. I don't think

729
00:44:31,119 --> 00:44:37,039
a deal will get done because I
think both sides, the Wolves would say,

730
00:44:37,079 --> 00:44:40,599
it's just so hard to figure out
your value. You're probably maybe worth

731
00:44:40,719 --> 00:44:45,280
a max, but we would just
love to have any sort of savings we

732
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:49,719
can. You're right that the second
Apron's gonna nuke them five different ways from

733
00:44:49,719 --> 00:44:52,559
Sunday, But like if they can
just find a little discount, right,

734
00:44:52,639 --> 00:44:55,239
just some sort of discount, that's
how you do inevitably go find a shake.

735
00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:59,920
Milton or a Troy Brown Junior or
a Nikil like every dollar matters,

736
00:45:00,079 --> 00:45:04,559
especially when you're financially in the situation
the Wolves are. And for him,

737
00:45:04,599 --> 00:45:07,440
I think he's probably just like,
Okay, let's let's wait. I will

738
00:45:07,519 --> 00:45:09,440
say, I am so with you. And when you said the restricted fre

739
00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:14,039
agency stuff, I think of Austin
Reeves. His situation was obviously a little

740
00:45:14,079 --> 00:45:19,519
different. But no, that was
impressed. But I do wonder if the

741
00:45:19,519 --> 00:45:22,719
Wolves look at Austin Reeves and think, well, if we get into restricted

742
00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:28,239
free agency and these teams have shown
no backbone and just coming out on July

743
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:30,800
first and saying here's a max deal, maybe they're like, in to Tim

744
00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:34,239
Connolly's point, the one thing I'll
say, and this ties everything in.

745
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:37,519
He has never felt pressure to do
something. He makes the Rudy Go Bear

746
00:45:37,639 --> 00:45:40,119
trade, and everyone at that time
last summer is like, well, you've

747
00:45:40,119 --> 00:45:44,440
got your four starters Carl, Rudy
and and Jayden. You got to give

748
00:45:44,519 --> 00:45:46,239
Dilo the bag, lock them up
and you know, put put it all

749
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:49,280
the pieces together. He's like,
why would I have to do that now?

750
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:53,719
He waited until I think the Thursday
at eleven am Pacific time before the

751
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:59,320
trade deadline, held the Lakers in
Jazz kind of hostage and made this move

752
00:45:59,679 --> 00:46:01,800
gets Nikhil gets draft picks, get
my comedy. Same with Nas Red.

753
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:05,679
It's like you got to resign nas
during the season. I think it was

754
00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:08,360
thirty six hours before fregency started.
He gets the deal done, so I

755
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:12,519
think he might be comfortable letting this
leak out as well. I don't think

756
00:46:12,599 --> 00:46:15,400
Jayden will be a problem. I
don't think he's for the football fans.

757
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:17,480
I don't think he's going full TJ
Hawkinson here with the Vikings saying my ear

758
00:46:17,559 --> 00:46:22,800
hurts, I can't play. But
it's the one Domino man that I think

759
00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:27,119
about a lot, because without him, I don't think a lot of the

760
00:46:27,159 --> 00:46:30,280
other stuff really matters. And that's
crazy for a guy that averages like ten

761
00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:32,599
and four. Yeah, look,
anything below the max, I would sign

762
00:46:32,719 --> 00:46:36,400
him to an a heartbeat. And
if it's the max, I might understand

763
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:37,559
them saying, well, then we're
just gonna wait to sign you. But

764
00:46:37,639 --> 00:46:42,119
I always worry when you're already tapped
out, like the good will just build

765
00:46:42,159 --> 00:46:45,239
it with the player who's this important. And I think, look, I

766
00:46:45,239 --> 00:46:47,239
don't want to get into whether Devin
Vesselle will be better long term. I'm

767
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:52,239
very I love Devin vessel another favorite
of this podcast, but he has never

768
00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:55,119
shown what Jayden has on defense,
and there have been flashes that Jayden has

769
00:46:55,119 --> 00:46:59,880
shown on offense that Devin Misselle has
not shown the same level of defense of

770
00:47:00,079 --> 00:47:04,079
lockdown flashes. And he also just
doesn't have the physical tools that Jade McDaniels

771
00:47:04,119 --> 00:47:08,119
does, just the sheer size.
So if if he costs more, yes,

772
00:47:08,239 --> 00:47:12,039
the scoring won't be there, the
assist numbers won't even be there.

773
00:47:12,239 --> 00:47:15,159
Devin Vecelle's getting a shit ton more
ball screens thrown at him and Jane McDaniels

774
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:17,480
is so if I were the Wolves, I wouldn't mess around with it.

775
00:47:17,639 --> 00:47:21,719
But it actually makes me uneasy that
you think it won't get done. I

776
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:23,320
know it's red for agency, they
have all the control, but this just

777
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:27,440
feels like one of those no brainer
situations, and it's like you're just gonna

778
00:47:27,599 --> 00:47:30,559
what are you gonna your maxim now
or your maxim later? What's the difference.

779
00:47:30,239 --> 00:47:35,239
It does seem like a no brainer. I have no additional smart analysis

780
00:47:35,280 --> 00:47:37,639
to put there, because the one
thing that Wolves fans lean on if this

781
00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:43,079
experiment doesn't work and yes, the
draft capitol and stuff. A smart team

782
00:47:43,119 --> 00:47:45,360
will still give you something for Carl
and a smart team will probably give you

783
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:49,039
at least a little something for Rudy. But there's a chance. I mean,

784
00:47:49,079 --> 00:47:52,079
everyone loves the Tatum Brown stuff.
It's like, oh, the best

785
00:47:52,119 --> 00:47:53,719
two way, you know, just
built like Ant and Jane are twenty three

786
00:47:53,760 --> 00:47:57,280
and twenty two and usually the best
player in the league. Aren't the best

787
00:47:57,280 --> 00:47:59,559
player in the league until twenty five, twenty six, Like we could be

788
00:47:59,559 --> 00:48:01,400
three years away from that being the
best duo in the league. You'll figure

789
00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:05,639
out everything else around it. But
yeah, this team cannot afford to lose

790
00:48:05,719 --> 00:48:07,960
Jane McDaniels, and they've already shown
how much they covet him by being basically

791
00:48:08,039 --> 00:48:12,440
being like, we'll give up every
legal first round pick we can to make

792
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:16,280
sure that we don't lose him.
Uh. You mentioned Nikil Alexander Walker before,

793
00:48:16,559 --> 00:48:20,719
and I'm asking this because it matters
most because my co host is obsessed

794
00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:23,039
with him. He was very impressive
when he came over from the trade in

795
00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:28,239
Utah. I thought his defensive pressure
was great for them. What is the

796
00:48:28,719 --> 00:48:31,440
key though, to him kind of
fitting in on offense? And are they

797
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:34,960
I think you alluded to this.
It seems like they might rely on him

798
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:40,039
for a little bit more complicated offensive
usage just given their lack of a discernible

799
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:45,239
backup floor general structure. There you
go. The best thing, Nikil ol

800
00:48:45,679 --> 00:48:49,519
I know we love stats. I
know we love data and basketball reference on

801
00:48:49,599 --> 00:48:52,800
stuff. The best thing Nakil Alexander
Walker has going for him is just up

802
00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:57,920
here. I think he gave the
best quotes at media Day. He is

803
00:48:58,199 --> 00:49:00,840
a thirty eight year old in a
twenty five or twenty six year old's body.

804
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:05,719
He has more than most. And
again, think of all the guys

805
00:49:05,760 --> 00:49:07,840
we cover manner we've watched out the
years that don't get it. I mean,

806
00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:13,360
Nakai Alexander Walker came in as a
pretty high lottery pick, high prospect

807
00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:15,960
in New Orleans and it just never
worked. Ironically, that first year in

808
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:19,599
New Orleans, his one of his
coaches, not his head coach, but

809
00:49:19,679 --> 00:49:22,840
one of his coaches was Chris Finch. Chris Finch was the guy pounding the

810
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:25,000
table at the trade deadline to be
like, don't just get Mike Conley throw?

811
00:49:25,079 --> 00:49:30,039
And I think they were talking about
like Rudy Gay or another player like

812
00:49:30,079 --> 00:49:31,599
no, no, I want n
to Kiel. He obviously has a big

813
00:49:31,679 --> 00:49:37,559
summer with Team Canada, but he
just sounds so mature and he knows like,

814
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:40,119
I'm not gonna be that guy,
and I'm never going to be the

815
00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:44,800
guard that maybe you drafted tenth overall
five years ago. I just want to

816
00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:47,559
be a contributor. I want to
be another kind of Swiss army knife type

817
00:49:47,599 --> 00:49:51,639
guy. So he's been great.
They'll be able to play. I mean,

818
00:49:52,119 --> 00:49:54,199
in the two preseason games against Dallas, first night, Ant didn't play

819
00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:58,360
because of an ankle. Second night, Jane didn't play. Finch just plugged

820
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:00,760
him in at both spots. So
when doesn't start, Nikil starts. When

821
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:04,920
Jade doesn't start, Nikil starts.
So he can give you a little of

822
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:07,039
what Anne could give you offensively.
He can give you a little bit what

823
00:50:07,159 --> 00:50:10,079
Jayden does defensively. But to me, as much as I rave about Nasried

824
00:50:10,119 --> 00:50:14,039
and Kyle Anderson and Shake Milton,
if you were like, I don't think

825
00:50:14,039 --> 00:50:17,000
any Wolf's player will win six Men
of the Year because they'll cannibalize themselves.

826
00:50:17,039 --> 00:50:22,000
But if you had to pick one, it would be Nikiel because I think

827
00:50:22,079 --> 00:50:24,519
even though he won't start Dan at
the end of the Year. Nikil will

828
00:50:24,559 --> 00:50:29,239
be top five and total minutes played
on this team because I just think he's

829
00:50:29,280 --> 00:50:31,679
going to be able to play next
to Ant, play in place with Jayden.

830
00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:35,679
He's just he does a lot.
I mean, again, small sample

831
00:50:35,719 --> 00:50:38,039
sizes. The Nuggets killed everyone,
but like he might have given Jamal Murray

832
00:50:38,079 --> 00:50:44,239
the toughest test in the playoffs when
they played the playing game against Shae in

833
00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:46,679
the Thunder. Obviously they're related,
but he also kind of did the best

834
00:50:46,719 --> 00:50:50,559
to shut down Shay. So he's
kind of an untapped guy that we're all

835
00:50:50,599 --> 00:50:52,559
probably like, oh, I remember
when he got drafted. He's a bust.

836
00:50:52,039 --> 00:50:55,159
He's twenty five. I think he's
got a lot left in him and

837
00:50:55,320 --> 00:50:59,400
he gets what his role is.
And man, I don't know how much

838
00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:02,239
you believe in that's stuff, but
like hierarchy and just knowing your role to

839
00:51:02,360 --> 00:51:07,159
me is sometimes more important than just
raw talent. Yeah. I think it's

840
00:51:07,559 --> 00:51:10,079
like when you understand that you need
to be more plug in player scalable rather

841
00:51:10,159 --> 00:51:13,199
than you know, he had a
ball a lot at some of his other

842
00:51:13,280 --> 00:51:15,280
stops, and I kind of enjoyed
his on ball stuff because it was so

843
00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:20,280
chaotic and unpredictable, right, like
not very rarely in a good way.

844
00:51:20,599 --> 00:51:22,400
So if he's willing to just make
quicker decisions, which if you can absorb

845
00:51:22,519 --> 00:51:25,840
that from Mike Conley through osmosis,
that would be great. Maybe hit some

846
00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:30,119
like relocation threes or something like those
set threes would be huge for him,

847
00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:32,440
and just attack an open space and
maybe make quicker passes out of drives.

848
00:51:32,800 --> 00:51:37,000
Like there's just the outline based off
what he's done defensively of like a really

849
00:51:37,119 --> 00:51:40,159
really impactful NBA player that they just
got on a freaking steal when you look

850
00:51:40,199 --> 00:51:44,280
at his when you look at his
deal, and so he's he's like a

851
00:51:44,599 --> 00:51:47,840
feels like a sneaky swing peep from
ten thousand feet away. If you ask,

852
00:51:47,880 --> 00:51:51,119
well, who aren't people talking about
enough on this team, it's probably

853
00:51:51,159 --> 00:51:52,239
like, well, like you,
Alexander Walker might just be like this really

854
00:51:52,280 --> 00:51:55,519
big swing piece, especially if you
believe the bench is going to be even

855
00:51:55,559 --> 00:51:59,840
better than it was last season.
Yeah, I just again, he's a

856
00:52:00,039 --> 00:52:01,480
plug and play I like the scalable
I'm gonna steal that, Like, I

857
00:52:01,599 --> 00:52:04,840
just think he can do a lot
of That's kind of what you want in

858
00:52:04,840 --> 00:52:06,880
your bench sometimes, right, you
just want guys that can come in and

859
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:08,400
give you a little bit of a
couple other guys that are, you know,

860
00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:10,639
better at what they do, but
they're sitting on the bench. Like,

861
00:52:10,679 --> 00:52:14,119
if he can come in and hit
a couple of threes, his shot

862
00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:16,360
has been reformed as well. It
does not look like the shot that you

863
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:20,800
saw when he entered the league.
And if he can at least be honest.

864
00:52:20,960 --> 00:52:22,920
I mean, he hit a couple
of threes during the playing time in

865
00:52:23,119 --> 00:52:28,000
early against Denver that like helped them
win games. I know they played all

866
00:52:28,119 --> 00:52:30,840
five games against the Nuggets, but
like he hit a couple of big shots.

867
00:52:30,880 --> 00:52:32,480
He is fearless, and I just
think again, to have a twenty

868
00:52:32,519 --> 00:52:37,119
six year old that's like already a
vet or a mentor for the young guys.

869
00:52:37,599 --> 00:52:38,920
I know, we might talk about
a couple other young guys here too,

870
00:52:39,079 --> 00:52:43,079
Like it's just really important for this
team because it's not just all twenty

871
00:52:43,639 --> 00:52:45,760
twenty year olds and old dudes like
Rudy and Kyle. You got some mix

872
00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:49,320
in there, Like, Hey,
I've I've been high drafted, I've I've

873
00:52:49,360 --> 00:52:52,960
had my lumps before, but this
is kind of how you recover and fit

874
00:52:52,039 --> 00:52:54,280
a role because that's kind of what
these guys are doing right, Like,

875
00:52:54,639 --> 00:52:58,440
that's why some guys don't have jobs
early in their careers, is they don't

876
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:02,239
appreciate or understand the he knows what
Finch's giving him. They have a trust

877
00:53:02,320 --> 00:53:05,559
factor, and I think, yeah, I think he's a big, big,

878
00:53:05,679 --> 00:53:08,400
big part of what they're trying to
do. Uh this season. This

879
00:53:08,719 --> 00:53:13,159
section might be more for me than
anyone else because I know absolutely nothing about

880
00:53:13,159 --> 00:53:15,760
the players I'm about to ask you
about the extent of my knowledge, I

881
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:19,360
wanted to ask you about just a
couple of their young guys, your impressions

882
00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:22,280
of them, what their futures are
with this team. The extent of my

883
00:53:22,360 --> 00:53:25,800
knowledge on Leonard Miller is you were
on one of your podcasts saying that you

884
00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:30,679
are all in on Leonard Miller.
Basically, can you tell can you give

885
00:53:30,719 --> 00:53:35,000
me the lowdown on Leonard Miller.
So I want to preface this by saying,

886
00:53:35,039 --> 00:53:37,719
when you when you give up what
you give up to get Rudy Gobert,

887
00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:40,119
you put yourself in a situation where
the microscope is just like you have

888
00:53:40,360 --> 00:53:45,639
to hit the margins and the fringes. So when you don't have first round

889
00:53:45,679 --> 00:53:50,199
picks like you got to hit those
second rounders. Josh may not was the

890
00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:53,480
first second round pick of the Tim
Connolly era. Just a six' ten

891
00:53:54,400 --> 00:53:59,800
uh. He looks just like when
you watch this like the animal videos of

892
00:53:59,880 --> 00:54:01,920
a baby giraffe where not all their
arms are connected to like the rest of

893
00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:07,159
their torso he is that long and
just I mean he's twenty so but he's

894
00:54:07,320 --> 00:54:12,480
super athletic. He's so long.
I don't know if he's like a like

895
00:54:12,679 --> 00:54:15,199
gonna be a Jade McDaniels, or
if he's gonna be like a really light

896
00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:17,400
concinct. Times he can't really shoot, but he's just so athletic. And

897
00:54:17,480 --> 00:54:22,719
again, he's just not every young
prospect that's twenty in the second round hits,

898
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:25,199
but he just does a lot of
stuff. And then in that same

899
00:54:25,320 --> 00:54:29,119
draft, you know they draft Walker
Kessler, they sent him out that they

900
00:54:29,199 --> 00:54:32,360
draft Wendell Moore junior out of Duke. He's twenty two now, as high

901
00:54:32,360 --> 00:54:36,719
as I am on Josh Maynott,
who we've deemed the lawnmower because he's just

902
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:38,440
let you know, once he gets
going, he doesn't stop. Wendell Moore,

903
00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:42,519
I don't know what he does,
and I don't like to be super

904
00:54:42,559 --> 00:54:45,880
critical players, but like, you
got to have one skill that you can

905
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:46,880
tell the coach, like I can
give you that. I don't know what

906
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:51,639
Wendell Moore's skill is. He's not
big, he's not super athletic. He

907
00:54:51,800 --> 00:54:54,679
had twenty two good minutes guarding John
Morant and a spot start last year,

908
00:54:54,760 --> 00:54:59,559
but can't space the floor, doesn't
get to the rim. So of those

909
00:55:00,079 --> 00:55:02,960
three young guys in the in the
Timberwolves cupboard, he's the least likely to

910
00:55:04,360 --> 00:55:07,039
really do anything. And then Leonard
Miller, a nineteen year old kid,

911
00:55:07,039 --> 00:55:09,960
played for the G League Ignite last
year. I saw him play when Wemby

912
00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:14,360
was over here and they were playing
you know Scoot Henderson in that Vegas showcase.

913
00:55:14,719 --> 00:55:17,039
He's just an amazing for nineteen years
old. He's an elite rebounder.

914
00:55:17,360 --> 00:55:20,840
He got to play last night in
some minutes. I think he had like

915
00:55:21,159 --> 00:55:24,360
twenty two points fifteen rebounds. He
just is a natural rebounder. He also

916
00:55:24,880 --> 00:55:29,079
just does a lot of if you
want to camp Dan and I don't love

917
00:55:29,199 --> 00:55:31,599
comps, but I also kind of
subconsciously love comps. He's got a lot

918
00:55:31,639 --> 00:55:36,119
of lamar outaminum. And yes he's
also left handed, but he just Lamar

919
00:55:36,199 --> 00:55:37,480
wasn't the best shooter, He wasn't
really the best at anything, but he

920
00:55:37,559 --> 00:55:40,760
just did a ton of stuff that
like, if anyone on this team had

921
00:55:40,760 --> 00:55:44,360
a chance to give you a five
by five or a five and five like

922
00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:46,719
box score with five steels five blocks, like, it would be Leonard Miller

923
00:55:46,719 --> 00:55:51,000
because he's just kind of everywhere.
He's learning how to play defense. But

924
00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:54,320
if you were investing in playing cards
of any of those three guys, I'd

925
00:55:54,320 --> 00:55:58,599
buy a couple Leonard Miller cards.
Wow. And is there even like a

926
00:55:58,719 --> 00:56:00,800
path, Like what is the pathway? Nope? Yeah, no path,

927
00:56:01,039 --> 00:56:04,920
No, no path this year because
I gave you nine I told you how

928
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:07,960
this team will be nine deep,
and I no offense to Troy Brown Junior

929
00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:09,760
from the Lakers, but like I
don't know how he plays, he would

930
00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:14,639
be tenth. They also this is
real, real basketball nerd stuff. But

931
00:56:14,719 --> 00:56:17,039
like Luca Garza is one of the
best G League players of all time out

932
00:56:17,079 --> 00:56:21,840
of Iowa. He's twenty four.
Now he might be like an NBA player.

933
00:56:22,199 --> 00:56:25,320
He's gotten really lean. So now
you have another big man, another

934
00:56:25,480 --> 00:56:30,519
center. I think the Iowa Wolves
could make the play in tournament, Like

935
00:56:30,599 --> 00:56:32,960
that's their League team, Like,
they just have so many guys that are

936
00:56:34,000 --> 00:56:37,159
gonna be on this Iowa Wolves team
and it'll be led by Leonard Miller and

937
00:56:37,199 --> 00:56:39,079
Josh Minu. But if you're thinking
long term and you're like, what is

938
00:56:39,159 --> 00:56:44,480
this team gonna do when they reach
cap Hell, Leonard Miller, Josh Minaut,

939
00:56:44,599 --> 00:56:47,960
Luca Garza, all these kind of
big, multi talented, young cheap

940
00:56:49,159 --> 00:56:52,559
players, that might be what the
next iteration of this looks like is when

941
00:56:52,559 --> 00:56:55,159
Anton Jayder making max money and they're
the Corrier team and you have one of

942
00:56:55,280 --> 00:57:00,679
Rudy and Carl, then you just
plug in these weird young animal power forwards.

943
00:57:00,719 --> 00:57:02,960
They can do a lot of weird
stuff and just give you energy.

944
00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:07,199
I mean, Josh Mina and London
Miller have a lot of Jared Vanderbilt in

945
00:57:07,280 --> 00:57:10,760
him and the Wolves looked really good
that one year when Jared Vanderbilt was playing

946
00:57:10,800 --> 00:57:14,559
a lot of four. So that
might be what they envision long term,

947
00:57:14,599 --> 00:57:15,559
But short term, if you're like, oh, I can't wait to watch

948
00:57:15,599 --> 00:57:17,760
these guys play and see if that
kid knows what he's talking about, you'll

949
00:57:17,760 --> 00:57:21,480
never see him play. They'll never
play this season, and it's not because

950
00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:24,320
they're bad it's because I think the
Wolves are also one of just the deeper

951
00:57:24,400 --> 00:57:27,880
teams in the league when you look
one through nine to one through ten.

952
00:57:28,519 --> 00:57:31,639
Is it like cano Josh might not
do anything that might just change that on

953
00:57:31,679 --> 00:57:35,960
the phrase it does it come down
to his shot and also his name I'm

954
00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:38,880
convinced was like a character from Raven
Claw and Harry Potter. Yeah, Josh

955
00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:42,679
might not just sounds like that.
Yeah, No, No, I think

956
00:57:42,719 --> 00:57:46,239
he can give you some time behind
Jaden if you need to just kind of

957
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:50,320
like be out there and be he
he when again, I talk about the

958
00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:52,400
Giraft thing, like the way he
navigates screens right now, he's not big

959
00:57:52,679 --> 00:57:55,920
enough or strong enough or has like
the core strength to like he kind of

960
00:57:55,920 --> 00:57:59,760
gets bumped off. But then he
just because he's so long, he's got

961
00:57:59,840 --> 00:58:00,840
to be one of the longer players
in the league. Dan Like, he

962
00:58:00,960 --> 00:58:04,840
just recovers. It doesn't look like
how you would teach it or coach it,

963
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:07,519
but oh my god, he just
recovered and he's back in the play.

964
00:58:07,679 --> 00:58:12,079
So I think they will definitely all
be break Glass in case of emergency.

965
00:58:12,360 --> 00:58:14,760
With Leonard Miller, I could see
them being like, oh my god,

966
00:58:14,840 --> 00:58:16,840
we lost Carl again, and now
Nas is out with the hamstring.

967
00:58:17,039 --> 00:58:21,480
We just need to rebound. Of
all the young guys the Wolves have that

968
00:58:21,519 --> 00:58:24,159
won't play. Leonard Miller has one
skill that tomorrow will translate. He'll go

969
00:58:24,239 --> 00:58:28,159
in there and just get you rebounds. And that's kind of like what Vando

970
00:58:28,239 --> 00:58:31,519
did too, So he can shoot
better than Josh. He's got a lot

971
00:58:31,599 --> 00:58:35,719
of things to work on. Again, he's nineteen. Let's just close our

972
00:58:35,760 --> 00:58:38,599
eyes and see what he's like at
twenty two. But in Tim Connley's defense,

973
00:58:38,639 --> 00:58:40,920
after he made what a lot of
people deem is one of the worst

974
00:58:40,920 --> 00:58:45,719
trades ever, he follows it up
with the nikkiel Conley Dilo trade and then

975
00:58:45,760 --> 00:58:47,519
he's just that's kind of what he
did in Denver too, right. I

976
00:58:47,559 --> 00:58:51,280
mean, the best player in the
league was a second round pick. I

977
00:58:51,400 --> 00:58:54,880
don't think Josh or Leonard will be
Nicole Jokic, but he was great.

978
00:58:54,960 --> 00:58:59,559
It just he loves to scout and
he loves to find those hidden gems and

979
00:59:00,400 --> 00:59:02,639
crossing our fingers in Minnesota. That
that's that's what Leonard Miller and josh Mine

980
00:59:02,679 --> 00:59:07,800
are. I'm so old. Let's
trade everybody. Leonar Miller's Leonard Miller is

981
00:59:07,800 --> 00:59:12,599
a good, good hang, a
weird cat, just really into like anime.

982
00:59:12,840 --> 00:59:15,199
And I mean he's been in the
league for two months and he gets

983
00:59:15,320 --> 00:59:20,400
rides from games with like Matt Ryan, Like I don't know if he has

984
00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:23,239
a car yet. Matt Ryan the
basketball player, not the Fordmer quarterbacks.

985
00:59:23,280 --> 00:59:27,440
So uh, a good collection of
guys, and I'm excited to see some

986
00:59:27,480 --> 00:59:30,320
of those young guys kind of develop. We've reached the cookie cutter portion of

987
00:59:30,360 --> 00:59:35,840
the podcast. Are you ready to
Yeah, let's do it. Are there

988
00:59:35,920 --> 00:59:39,159
any strengths, weaknesses, concerns,
storylines about this team flying under the radar

989
00:59:39,320 --> 00:59:43,760
that we just haven't discussed yet.
Yeah. I mean a weakness would be

990
00:59:43,800 --> 00:59:46,840
that the Minnesota Timberwolves. I mean, and they haven't never like really been

991
00:59:46,840 --> 00:59:51,079
able to maintain success, Like I
don't know, I was looking up to

992
00:59:51,079 --> 00:59:52,280
O the day. I don't think
they've had a seven game or more win

993
00:59:52,360 --> 01:00:00,199
streak since like two thousand and three. That seems impossible. They'd I don't

994
01:00:00,239 --> 01:00:02,320
win fifty games a lot, They
don't handle expectations a lot. They fought

995
01:00:02,400 --> 01:00:07,599
each other on national TV last year. But they also and this is this

996
01:00:07,679 --> 01:00:10,599
would then be like a strength,
but also maybe a weakness they're under,

997
01:00:12,239 --> 01:00:15,239
like a new ownership. It's been
a weird one, right like when the

998
01:00:15,280 --> 01:00:17,760
Suns running new ownership, it seemed
like it happened overnight. The Wolves have

999
01:00:17,880 --> 01:00:22,199
been how when I was in college, I'd buy like Christmas gifts from my

1000
01:00:22,280 --> 01:00:24,039
family, Like I would put money
down in September and then make payments every

1001
01:00:24,039 --> 01:00:27,480
month until I could go pick it
up in December. They've been on a

1002
01:00:27,559 --> 01:00:31,039
layaway plan Mark Laurie, who most
people don't know, but he's a rich

1003
01:00:31,159 --> 01:00:35,000
dude. And then Alex Rodriguez,
who I think a lot of people know.

1004
01:00:36,039 --> 01:00:38,639
That's supposed to wrap up this December. It might leak into March,

1005
01:00:38,760 --> 01:00:44,320
but the hope would be that they're
majority owners by the end of this season.

1006
01:00:44,880 --> 01:00:47,480
They have had a lot of influence
on changes made. They went out

1007
01:00:47,519 --> 01:00:50,800
and went, you know, as
they say, big game, hunting to

1008
01:00:50,880 --> 01:00:53,760
get it Tim Connolly. They also
had a large influence on the Rudy go

1009
01:00:53,880 --> 01:00:58,639
Beartrade, right like this asset we
bought made the playoffs. Things are fun,

1010
01:00:58,719 --> 01:01:01,800
let's take it to the next level
automatically. So they've done some good

1011
01:01:01,840 --> 01:01:04,559
things, they've done some bad things. They've also done just a lot of

1012
01:01:04,559 --> 01:01:07,960
good stuff behind the scenes that this
team needed to become more modern and have

1013
01:01:07,159 --> 01:01:12,280
more modern facilities and access to fans
and all that stuff. But if the

1014
01:01:12,320 --> 01:01:15,880
ownership thing for some reason falls through
mid season, I mean, the way

1015
01:01:15,960 --> 01:01:19,239
we've described it a lot, Dan
is like everything is going really really well.

1016
01:01:19,639 --> 01:01:22,000
We're not really used to that.
And like in Ricky Bobby the movie

1017
01:01:22,000 --> 01:01:24,840
when they're at Applebee's and like,
the vibes are great, the families having

1018
01:01:24,840 --> 01:01:27,639
a dinner and the dad's like,
you know what, I'm not used to

1019
01:01:27,679 --> 01:01:30,719
good vibes, Like let me mess
this up. That's what I'm concerned about,

1020
01:01:30,800 --> 01:01:32,119
is like, who's going to mess
up what is good vibes and a

1021
01:01:32,159 --> 01:01:36,800
good roster and a good coaching staff, And it could be ownership, which

1022
01:01:37,280 --> 01:01:40,480
depending on how you consume sports,
like, I think ownership is like an

1023
01:01:40,599 --> 01:01:45,480
under talked about but really important thing
because they play a big impact. So

1024
01:01:45,039 --> 01:01:50,679
if they can land the plane of
a Rod and Mark Laurie becoming the owners,

1025
01:01:51,159 --> 01:01:53,239
the first thing that I think will
translate is they'll get Kevin Garnett's jersey

1026
01:01:53,320 --> 01:01:57,800
retired. The vibes will be immaculate. They'll have him back in the fold.

1027
01:01:58,159 --> 01:02:00,559
That'll help with free agent signings,
keeping guys around, because you'll have

1028
01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:06,159
the best player in franchise history in
players ears and around the facilities. So

1029
01:02:07,079 --> 01:02:09,760
that's that's for weirdos and nerds.
But I mean, I didn't even that's

1030
01:02:09,760 --> 01:02:13,199
not even something I just considered it
about. I'm sure it's been written about

1031
01:02:13,199 --> 01:02:15,039
and I just missed it. Which
is like the fact that the ownership regime

1032
01:02:15,159 --> 01:02:20,719
James would facilitate like Kevin Garnett just
coming back. Yeah, And I mean

1033
01:02:20,840 --> 01:02:23,159
if you think about the Wolves,
everyone knows that Kevin Garnett is the best

1034
01:02:23,199 --> 01:02:25,360
player of all time, in one
of their only good players of all time.

1035
01:02:25,360 --> 01:02:30,159
But yeah, he won't he just
won't he That jersey retirement won't happen.

1036
01:02:30,159 --> 01:02:31,960
I mean, it's embarrassing. It's
truly embarrassing as a Timberwolves fan that

1037
01:02:32,039 --> 01:02:36,079
he had his jersey retired by the
Celtics before the Wolves. And I know

1038
01:02:36,159 --> 01:02:38,960
he won a title with the Celtics. But he will, he will,

1039
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:43,320
you know, his shrine or whatever
will have a Wolf's jersey on. So,

1040
01:02:43,719 --> 01:02:46,280
but it won't happen until they're very
old. Owner Glenn Taylor, who

1041
01:02:47,000 --> 01:02:51,280
does get credit for keeping the team
in Minnesota during some tumultuous times, but

1042
01:02:51,440 --> 01:02:54,320
like just is not forward thinking.
He's a he olwns like newspaper companies and

1043
01:02:54,360 --> 01:02:57,639
stuff, so he's more of an
old school guy. They got to get

1044
01:02:57,679 --> 01:02:59,920
him out, they gotta get kg
in. They got to land this plane.

1045
01:03:00,079 --> 01:03:02,360
And then that'll just emphasize I mean, whatever you think about Tim Conley,

1046
01:03:02,760 --> 01:03:07,360
he's beloved by the players. He's
good with relationships, he's good negotiating

1047
01:03:07,400 --> 01:03:10,079
with agents. So I like a
lot of the stuff they've done. But

1048
01:03:10,159 --> 01:03:14,280
if they can't make their final couple
of payments, it's you know, we're

1049
01:03:14,280 --> 01:03:16,119
gonna be at Applebee's and our dad's
gonna be making a scene, so it's

1050
01:03:16,159 --> 01:03:21,719
gonna suck. Uh. So you
had mentioned that the it feels like there's

1051
01:03:21,760 --> 01:03:24,119
nine rotation spots locked and that if
we're gonna go deep into the to the

1052
01:03:24,199 --> 01:03:28,559
ten man, I apparently when I
was filling this out forgot Troy Brown Junior

1053
01:03:28,639 --> 01:03:30,679
existed. Maybe I'm still salty that
Torrian Prince isn't here, but like,

1054
01:03:30,880 --> 01:03:35,639
is there just if you're trying to
predict the top ten most players who play

1055
01:03:35,679 --> 01:03:38,239
on this team, Like, is
it just it's Aunt Conley, Jade McDaniel's

1056
01:03:38,320 --> 01:03:43,400
cat Rudy, Nas Kyle, Gnaw, Shake Milton, and Troy Brown Junior.

1057
01:03:43,440 --> 01:03:45,079
Like, are those ten spots just
unlock? Yeah? No notes,

1058
01:03:45,320 --> 01:03:47,599
but that's it, Like you you
did it better than I could. I

1059
01:03:47,639 --> 01:03:52,960
think. Again, back to that
inflexible starting five, like I can't imagine

1060
01:03:53,000 --> 01:03:57,760
they would ever I mean politically or
just imagined on NBA Twitter if like there

1061
01:03:57,840 --> 01:04:00,800
was an announcement that the Wolves were
not going to be starting towns anymore like

1062
01:04:00,840 --> 01:04:03,559
that, they would get just crushed
for that. So Mike, Aunt,

1063
01:04:03,719 --> 01:04:06,119
Jayden, Carlin, Rudy is going
to be what they start as many games

1064
01:04:06,159 --> 01:04:10,440
as possible. Obviously, Mike might
only give you sixty games. I hope

1065
01:04:10,679 --> 01:04:13,280
he only gives you sixty regular season
games. You can kind of keep them

1066
01:04:13,280 --> 01:04:16,239
fresh for the playoffs. And then
what I think, and again I know

1067
01:04:16,320 --> 01:04:19,480
I have a bias, but when
you look at who their four kind of

1068
01:04:19,559 --> 01:04:23,079
core bench pieces are, Shake,
Milton, the Keel, Kyle, and

1069
01:04:23,199 --> 01:04:27,119
Nasried, I think that's a really
well balanced amount of like some guys that

1070
01:04:27,159 --> 01:04:30,800
can score, some guys that can
defend, some guys that can playmake just

1071
01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:33,559
some guys that are crazy like nas
Reids. So it's the best bench they've

1072
01:04:33,559 --> 01:04:36,320
ever had, which obviously makes sense
because I said they're super deep, but

1073
01:04:36,519 --> 01:04:40,639
uh yeah, and then Troy Brown
Junior, you know, his shot has

1074
01:04:40,719 --> 01:04:44,480
fallen in the preseason, so maybe
he is another guy that you can throw

1075
01:04:44,519 --> 01:04:46,159
him out there and just stretches the
floor. I also think he could have

1076
01:04:46,280 --> 01:04:50,400
nights with just dnps. So I
think it's a firm ten and even firmer

1077
01:04:50,519 --> 01:04:55,599
nine. And then as I call
like the third stringers the Butler brigade,

1078
01:04:55,920 --> 01:04:58,840
those guys are rarely gonna play,
They're gonna crush in Iowa, and then

1079
01:04:58,920 --> 01:05:01,599
maybe during a weird week in February
you'll pull one up. But yeah,

1080
01:05:01,639 --> 01:05:05,039
I think I think it's easy to
predict who the Wolves rotation would be.

1081
01:05:05,119 --> 01:05:09,760
It'll just come down to minutes and
how they get allocated on a night by

1082
01:05:09,840 --> 01:05:13,679
night basis. You mentioned inflexibility when
it comes to the starting five. Is

1083
01:05:13,719 --> 01:05:15,760
there that same level of inflexibility when
you're looking at what will be their most

1084
01:05:15,880 --> 01:05:19,280
used crunch time unit or could we
see them maybe futs and fiddle depending on

1085
01:05:19,400 --> 01:05:23,639
certain matchups. I don't know,
Man, this pot's gone pretty well.

1086
01:05:23,639 --> 01:05:27,000
I don't want really think about that
because that comes into like the politics of

1087
01:05:27,039 --> 01:05:30,360
it is like ye. I keep
coming back to, like, what if

1088
01:05:30,719 --> 01:05:33,480
every other five man lineup on this
team is awesome, but the starters,

1089
01:05:33,800 --> 01:05:36,679
I mean, the Wolves have been
dealt with that before. It's like are

1090
01:05:36,719 --> 01:05:41,800
you able to close? You know, the politics thing of like not starting

1091
01:05:41,840 --> 01:05:44,880
a guy as big and everyone will
make fun of it online, but it

1092
01:05:44,920 --> 01:05:46,719
will also get made fun of if, like for a whole week you don't

1093
01:05:46,800 --> 01:05:50,639
close with Rudy, but like,
we'll Finch be empowered enough and it's a

1094
01:05:50,679 --> 01:05:54,440
really I think he has the most
ingredients, but I think he's got one

1095
01:05:54,440 --> 01:05:58,840
of the toughest kitchen jobs in the
league, of like are you empowered enough

1096
01:05:58,880 --> 01:06:01,239
to make those moves? He does
control that locker room. The guys love

1097
01:06:01,320 --> 01:06:05,079
him. But if you don't close
with Carl for back to back games and

1098
01:06:05,119 --> 01:06:09,119
you lose those games on buzzer beaters, like it's called gon be like,

1099
01:06:09,159 --> 01:06:10,920
well, you know what the hell, man, you should have closed with

1100
01:06:11,000 --> 01:06:15,400
me. So I have a gun
to my head. I know who they're

1101
01:06:15,440 --> 01:06:17,440
starting. Gun to my head.
I have no idea who they're going to

1102
01:06:17,519 --> 01:06:20,320
close with, because I think you
can do so many different things. They

1103
01:06:20,400 --> 01:06:25,559
always close with Kyle because he was
so good in late game situations of just

1104
01:06:25,679 --> 01:06:30,519
like getting you a good shot and
not allowing Ant to like just go super

1105
01:06:30,599 --> 01:06:31,679
io, which he's good at,
but that's not how you want to win

1106
01:06:31,719 --> 01:06:34,880
basketball games. And if you're gonna
close with Kyle, who are you not

1107
01:06:34,960 --> 01:06:39,880
going to close with? Right?
Like maybe Mike? But uh I when

1108
01:06:39,920 --> 01:06:43,440
they kicked or tip off a week
from now against the Toronto Raptors, who

1109
01:06:43,519 --> 01:06:45,360
they close with, who they close
with against the Heat a couple of nights

1110
01:06:45,440 --> 01:06:48,320
later, like that would probably be
the number one thing I cannot wait to

1111
01:06:48,360 --> 01:06:53,480
see because you're not going to show
those cards against Macabee, you know,

1112
01:06:53,679 --> 01:06:56,440
team from Israel last night, or
against the MAVs in Abu Dhabi. But

1113
01:06:56,480 --> 01:06:59,559
you're gonna show those cards the first
night. So that is the number one

1114
01:06:59,599 --> 01:07:01,000
burning quies for me is how do
they close? Not? How do they

1115
01:07:01,079 --> 01:07:06,519
start? Lighter? Fair? Is
there a weirdo unconventional? Maybe they won't

1116
01:07:06,559 --> 01:07:09,719
try it. They probably won't try
it, but they should try it.

1117
01:07:09,800 --> 01:07:12,760
Lineup, you'd like to see them
roll out well, I mean just like

1118
01:07:13,280 --> 01:07:15,639
a weird I just again, size
matters, like it'll be cool to see

1119
01:07:15,679 --> 01:07:18,960
a weird they can they have so
much length, it's not just side or

1120
01:07:19,159 --> 01:07:25,920
hype, but like they could play
Nakiel Aunt Jaden, Josh Maynott Rudy like

1121
01:07:26,000 --> 01:07:30,880
they could that team could maybe have
an extremely awesome defensive rating and only be

1122
01:07:30,920 --> 01:07:34,320
able to score because Ant hits thirty
five footers on offense. But I hope

1123
01:07:34,480 --> 01:07:38,039
early on, as much as we
think, or at least in the fan

1124
01:07:38,119 --> 01:07:41,360
base, we think this team could
is built to win a lot of regular

1125
01:07:41,400 --> 01:07:44,800
season games. It remains to be
seen if they can handle the postseason pressure,

1126
01:07:44,880 --> 01:07:48,920
but I don't. I hope that
early on Finch is open to like

1127
01:07:49,079 --> 01:07:55,000
trying different things and not emphasizing like
we have to win that game on November

1128
01:07:55,079 --> 01:07:57,840
third, Like let's just let's get
weird, right, Like let's get weird

1129
01:07:57,880 --> 01:08:00,920
for a little bit, because I
think the depth will really come into play

1130
01:08:00,039 --> 01:08:02,920
after Christmas, when you know this
cover in the league, there is a

1131
01:08:03,000 --> 01:08:08,079
real, you know, inverse Bell
curve of when teams just kind of start

1132
01:08:08,159 --> 01:08:11,440
to not care for a while because
it's cold everywhere they go and they're tired.

1133
01:08:12,159 --> 01:08:14,800
I think that team should use their
depth to win those games, and

1134
01:08:14,920 --> 01:08:17,119
early on, like maybe give Leonard
Miller a shot, right, or just

1135
01:08:17,279 --> 01:08:20,920
try these little things. But I
really think that they have so many veterans

1136
01:08:20,960 --> 01:08:25,800
and high paid guys that you're just
basically the minnesot Chimboles will basically have nine

1137
01:08:25,840 --> 01:08:28,840
and a half players that you watch
this year, and the rest of them

1138
01:08:28,880 --> 01:08:32,720
you'll have to tune into the G
League. You convince me to change mine

1139
01:08:32,760 --> 01:08:35,399
by talking about Leonard Miller. So, and there's no way that they'd ever

1140
01:08:35,479 --> 01:08:38,920
have almost eighty million dollars worth of
bigs on the bench. But give me

1141
01:08:39,039 --> 01:08:43,520
nas Reed, Leonard Miller, give
mkhel and Jade McDaniels, so give me

1142
01:08:43,600 --> 01:08:45,479
that. I just want to see. I just want to see what happens,

1143
01:08:45,560 --> 01:08:47,479
even just for a little bit,
I would love to see it.

1144
01:08:47,840 --> 01:08:51,640
I'm totally with you. If anyone
listening to me ramble about this team that

1145
01:08:53,239 --> 01:08:57,359
has been a bottom dweller for three
decades. If you take anything away from

1146
01:08:57,359 --> 01:09:00,439
this, just watch Leondard Miller highlights
weird Doo plays weird. But he might

1147
01:09:00,520 --> 01:09:03,439
have a chance to just truly,
I don't want to say this because I'm

1148
01:09:03,439 --> 01:09:05,159
a fan, but I think he's
a chance to kind of be special.

1149
01:09:05,199 --> 01:09:08,920
But it might not be until,
like I don't know, three years from

1150
01:09:08,920 --> 01:09:13,479
now. As we record this,
the Timberwolves are in the vaunted forty four

1151
01:09:13,520 --> 01:09:15,159
and a half win over under a
club which feels like half the league is

1152
01:09:15,199 --> 01:09:20,279
in. Would you take the over
or the under on that? I don't

1153
01:09:20,279 --> 01:09:23,680
know how much of a March madness
fan you are, but like when it's

1154
01:09:24,359 --> 01:09:27,479
early March and they're starting to build
the bracket and they do like the blind

1155
01:09:27,600 --> 01:09:30,439
resume thing, they just take the
team names off and like this is what

1156
01:09:30,560 --> 01:09:32,319
their resume is. You don't get
to know who is who. If you

1157
01:09:32,479 --> 01:09:38,119
took Timberwolves, which is a bad
brand, off of this, I don't

1158
01:09:38,159 --> 01:09:40,520
know how you would say under.
I mean, they just have so much

1159
01:09:40,640 --> 01:09:43,000
talent. Yes, they have some
things to work on. They're like,

1160
01:09:43,039 --> 01:09:44,720
well, I don't know if that's
gonna work. Yeah, man, I

1161
01:09:44,720 --> 01:09:46,199
don't know if Chris Paul can start
with that Warriors team. Right. There's

1162
01:09:46,239 --> 01:09:49,680
a lot of like can those Lakers
stay healthy? Do the Nuggets care?

1163
01:09:50,319 --> 01:09:54,000
Or the Jazz? I heard the
Jazz or that they have like they have

1164
01:09:54,079 --> 01:09:56,359
a top ten pick. They got
to kind of play around with, like

1165
01:09:56,720 --> 01:10:00,319
are some of these teams gonna cut
bait early and try to tank or so

1166
01:10:00,079 --> 01:10:03,479
I just think this team, with
the expectations they have, with the depth

1167
01:10:03,520 --> 01:10:08,359
they have, if nothing else is
gonna win a lot of regular season games,

1168
01:10:08,439 --> 01:10:11,840
and maybe they get embarrassed to get
in the playoffs, but I'm over.

1169
01:10:12,479 --> 01:10:15,960
I know forty four and a half
represents more of like the West is

1170
01:10:15,079 --> 01:10:20,640
weird from Team two to Team I
don't know thirteen. Uh. But the

1171
01:10:20,720 --> 01:10:24,479
one thing that's been cool, and
again not everyone's seen it because it was

1172
01:10:24,800 --> 01:10:28,479
Abu Dabi and stuff, but they've
really handled the preseason like adults. And

1173
01:10:29,279 --> 01:10:32,199
I know that sounds funny because last
year everyone was punching everyone and everything,

1174
01:10:32,720 --> 01:10:38,279
but it's been a collective like mantra
for them in like public statements and like

1175
01:10:38,399 --> 01:10:42,199
media day and stuff. Is like
Kyle Anderson's been really outfront about I was

1176
01:10:42,239 --> 01:10:44,680
immature last year, and I want
these guys to be more mature. So

1177
01:10:45,560 --> 01:10:48,560
I understand the Timberwolves brand always lets
you down. No one knows it better

1178
01:10:48,600 --> 01:10:50,640
than me. They've been around as
long as I have. But uh,

1179
01:10:50,880 --> 01:10:55,359
if you take that stink away,
this roster, this coaching staff, this

1180
01:10:55,439 --> 01:10:58,520
front office, they're gonna get more
than forty four and a half wins.

1181
01:10:59,199 --> 01:11:00,920
I went over as well when we
do over under podcast, and they actually

1182
01:11:01,000 --> 01:11:05,760
might have been the easiest decision for
me. It's like that if forty four

1183
01:11:05,800 --> 01:11:09,560
and a half to feel is way
too low for this team based off even

1184
01:11:09,560 --> 01:11:12,479
the small data we have with their
five man union with Mike Conley's in there,

1185
01:11:12,520 --> 01:11:15,239
I'm just I'm still I'm so I'm
skeptical, but I'm mostly just sold.

1186
01:11:15,680 --> 01:11:18,439
And you kind of touched upon this. The West is so wide open.

1187
01:11:18,479 --> 01:11:21,319
We've talked about it so much on
this pod. How many teams,

1188
01:11:21,359 --> 01:11:27,600
which teams would you guarantee are actually
better than the Timberwolves when the regular season

1189
01:11:27,720 --> 01:11:31,960
is said and done. That's a
great question Denver, because I just think

1190
01:11:32,359 --> 01:11:35,479
I kind of like how they drafted
older rookies and stuff that can plug and

1191
01:11:35,600 --> 01:11:39,960
play. I think the Denver Nuggets
with a healthier Jamal Murray stuff, I

1192
01:11:40,039 --> 01:11:43,920
do think they will win a lot
of games. I'm not a Lakers guy,

1193
01:11:44,079 --> 01:11:46,640
but that's again think of my biases. Half their roster's former Timberwolves players

1194
01:11:46,680 --> 01:11:50,880
that used to be the Minneapolis Lakers. I pray on their demise, but

1195
01:11:51,000 --> 01:11:55,560
I also know they're really good,
So I think they have a high ceiling

1196
01:11:55,600 --> 01:11:58,520
but also a low floor. Right
if Ad drops or Lebron doesn't play a

1197
01:11:58,520 --> 01:12:01,680
bunch of games Outside that, Dan
and I know I'm wearing a Wolve's hat.

1198
01:12:01,720 --> 01:12:04,920
Basically, I don't know who I
would put gun to my head.

1199
01:12:05,239 --> 01:12:09,159
Is guaranteed to be better, right, like Golden State, the Clippers,

1200
01:12:09,560 --> 01:12:12,479
the MAVs, the Kings. I
see it from all those teams, and

1201
01:12:12,560 --> 01:12:16,359
they have a better brand amongst casual
NBA fans, But they also have a

1202
01:12:16,439 --> 01:12:18,800
ton of holes. I mean,
like the Kings, I loved watching them

1203
01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:21,520
play last year, but no team
has ever been that healthy, right.

1204
01:12:21,600 --> 01:12:25,520
I don't say that to their fans. Did you know that they invented playing

1205
01:12:25,600 --> 01:12:28,680
hurt? No, And I'm not
here to pick fights with anyone. I'm

1206
01:12:28,720 --> 01:12:31,760
just saying, like every team,
every team has a floor that could have

1207
01:12:31,800 --> 01:12:36,000
a trap door they could fall out
that it really goes bad for them barring

1208
01:12:36,600 --> 01:12:40,359
injuries. I mean, you saw
it last year. We thought call Tour's

1209
01:12:40,359 --> 01:12:43,159
achilles, and the team made the
playoffs. That's not what we're used to.

1210
01:12:43,520 --> 01:12:45,159
You know, it's because of the
depth. So other than maybe An't

1211
01:12:45,199 --> 01:12:47,600
getting hurt, which again, knock
on wood, he's been really durable.

1212
01:12:48,000 --> 01:12:53,079
I just don't see a trapdoor in
their floor. So even if something goes

1213
01:12:53,079 --> 01:12:56,199
a little awry or a rotation doesn't
work, or a guy gets hurt.

1214
01:12:56,439 --> 01:12:59,720
They just have so many plug and
play backup guys that I think this team

1215
01:12:59,720 --> 01:13:02,800
will again win forty five or more
games. I'm kind of hunting for like

1216
01:13:02,880 --> 01:13:06,439
a top four seed in the West
so they can I cannot stress you enough

1217
01:13:06,520 --> 01:13:11,279
how not fun it is to have
your favorite team tied to playing tournaments every

1218
01:13:11,319 --> 01:13:14,399
year. Like not cool, Like
just get in and we'll be fine.

1219
01:13:15,199 --> 01:13:17,239
Yeah, I don't think outside of
Denver and maybe the Lakers, I think

1220
01:13:17,319 --> 01:13:20,760
every other team in the West has
a bunch of question marks just as much

1221
01:13:20,760 --> 01:13:25,840
as they have strength. I'm very
surprised that you are way higher on the

1222
01:13:25,920 --> 01:13:29,560
Lakers than I am. I only
have it. Yeah, yeah, I

1223
01:13:29,640 --> 01:13:31,640
only have two top teams in the
West and there's all. But you're you're

1224
01:13:31,720 --> 01:13:35,359
so right about every team has like
these things that can the floor can fall.

1225
01:13:35,479 --> 01:13:39,720
Even Denver, they stretch six players
deep, and like, what if

1226
01:13:39,760 --> 01:13:43,640
this is the year Nicole Jokic isn't
asdorable? But I have them there,

1227
01:13:43,760 --> 01:13:45,399
and then I'm a big Phoenix guy. I think, yeah, that's fair,

1228
01:13:45,479 --> 01:13:49,239
that's fair. But also Kevin Durant
just doesn't play as much anymore.

1229
01:13:49,479 --> 01:13:51,920
Bradley Beal's dealt with some injuries.
But is that because he played for the

1230
01:13:53,039 --> 01:13:56,319
Washington thirty five wins or because he
was actually hurt, Like, I don't

1231
01:13:56,359 --> 01:13:59,399
know. My final question to you
that I kind of just thought of,

1232
01:14:00,600 --> 01:14:04,560
is how committed are they to seeing
this season through? Like if they do

1233
01:14:04,720 --> 01:14:08,720
start poorlier, if this season goes
off the rails, is there a chance

1234
01:14:09,000 --> 01:14:11,600
I'm not even saying it needs to
be the bigs, but they are the

1235
01:14:11,640 --> 01:14:15,000
ones under the microscope. Is there
a chance there's a mid season shakeup or

1236
01:14:15,079 --> 01:14:18,560
is this more of a off season
recalibration situation if things do not go according

1237
01:14:18,560 --> 01:14:24,279
to plan, I think things would
have to go so south that they make

1238
01:14:24,359 --> 01:14:27,960
a move in season. I don't
know. I have my own perspective on

1239
01:14:28,079 --> 01:14:30,720
sometimes when I think a player like
I don't think Rudy Gobert goes for what

1240
01:14:30,800 --> 01:14:35,119
Rudy Gobert goes for in season.
I do think when you mean again,

1241
01:14:35,159 --> 01:14:38,800
you cover the team or the league
long enough and you get to know people.

1242
01:14:39,199 --> 01:14:41,520
When you get into the off season, Dan and like, not a

1243
01:14:41,600 --> 01:14:44,520
lot else is going on and these
executives are bored, I think you can

1244
01:14:44,640 --> 01:14:47,680
usually make bigger trades and recoup more
value. So if you're trying to unload

1245
01:14:47,720 --> 01:14:50,520
a Carl. I think he's probably
more valuable in July than he is in

1246
01:14:50,600 --> 01:14:56,039
February. But I don't think this
goes back to I know they paid a

1247
01:14:56,039 --> 01:14:59,199
lot to get Rudy, and I
know they've invested a lot in Carl as

1248
01:14:59,239 --> 01:15:03,800
the first overall pay I don't think
Tim Conley is married to anything other than

1249
01:15:03,840 --> 01:15:09,920
Anthony Edwards and then one be Jade
McDaniels. So I'd be shocked if a

1250
01:15:10,000 --> 01:15:12,960
move was made in this season,
even if things are a little wonky.

1251
01:15:13,600 --> 01:15:16,279
But we are also just trying to
embrace this roster and this franchise and have

1252
01:15:16,399 --> 01:15:20,199
some fun because that second Apron stuff
I don't really want to talk about right

1253
01:15:20,239 --> 01:15:24,880
now because I'm more so in denial. Is next summer, like this team

1254
01:15:25,000 --> 01:15:29,399
is going to be up against as
many others will, a financial situation where

1255
01:15:29,399 --> 01:15:31,880
it's like you actually can't do this
again, you can't run it back again,

1256
01:15:31,960 --> 01:15:35,000
you have to trade someone. So
I expect a big move in the

1257
01:15:35,079 --> 01:15:39,319
next twelve months. I don't expect
a big move in the next four months.

1258
01:15:39,800 --> 01:15:43,039
I'm with you. I just wondered
if Karl Anthony Town's is salary jumping

1259
01:15:43,079 --> 01:15:45,399
by thirteen million over the Yeah,
that's fair too. That make it.

1260
01:15:45,680 --> 01:15:47,159
And then you're talking about the second
second aprin not just for the Wold,

1261
01:15:47,199 --> 01:15:49,760
but like the teams that are interested
in towns, like are they going to

1262
01:15:49,800 --> 01:15:54,640
have the same concern? So,
Kyle, is there anything I didn't ask

1263
01:15:54,720 --> 01:15:57,760
or anyone I didn't ask you about
over the last seventy five minutes that you

1264
01:15:57,840 --> 01:16:00,840
think we need to touch upon before
I let you go? No, I,

1265
01:16:00,159 --> 01:16:03,319
like I told you before recording,
I've never gotten an agenda before a

1266
01:16:03,359 --> 01:16:06,600
podcast that was this thorough. So
that's part of the reason why this podcast

1267
01:16:06,720 --> 01:16:10,079
is so awesome. But no,
I think you know, in general,

1268
01:16:10,840 --> 01:16:14,439
if you want a good I know
Zach Low does his League Pass rankings and

1269
01:16:14,720 --> 01:16:16,279
he did eleven through thirty the other
day. The Wolves weren't on it,

1270
01:16:16,800 --> 01:16:20,159
so I didn't read it yet.
I do think the Timberwolves are a top

1271
01:16:20,439 --> 01:16:26,239
ten League Pass team. If you're
a basketball officionano that just likes to tune

1272
01:16:26,279 --> 01:16:29,840
in and watch some good games.
We all are aware locally and nationally now

1273
01:16:29,880 --> 01:16:33,560
and internationally about Anthony Edwards. I
think he's must watch TV if he comes

1274
01:16:33,600 --> 01:16:36,279
through your city. I think he's
a guy that you want to go watch

1275
01:16:36,319 --> 01:16:40,520
because at any night he could give
you fifty He could you know, completely

1276
01:16:40,520 --> 01:16:43,800
post raze a guy. So it's
really a fun time to be a Wolves

1277
01:16:43,840 --> 01:16:46,079
fan. We have scar tissue that
will never go away, but I think

1278
01:16:46,119 --> 01:16:49,840
it's about as about as again I'm
just knocking on anything that's a hard surface.

1279
01:16:49,920 --> 01:16:54,560
It's about as positive and as optimistic
as I think any fan, even

1280
01:16:54,920 --> 01:16:58,560
Cynics, have been on this franchise
in a while. So it's it's exciting

1281
01:16:58,640 --> 01:17:02,279
time killed the turns of phrase throughout
this podcast, very like Will dropping one

1282
01:17:02,319 --> 01:17:05,920
hundred stuff. Thank you so much
earlier time you're able just to tell our

1283
01:17:06,000 --> 01:17:09,560
listeners where they can find you and
all the great work that you do.

1284
01:17:09,920 --> 01:17:12,800
Yeah. I do a podcast a
couple times a week. It's called Flagrant

1285
01:17:12,840 --> 01:17:16,880
Howls Dumb pun on Flagrant Files over
at Score North. I am on Twitter

1286
01:17:17,000 --> 01:17:20,600
at Kyle Taigi, and then I
helped produce the Dane Mormbay podcast, which

1287
01:17:20,600 --> 01:17:24,239
I think, like you said at
the Rip, is one of the better.

1288
01:17:24,760 --> 01:17:27,079
He gets it. He's a beat
reporter, but he just covers the

1289
01:17:27,119 --> 01:17:30,800
team audio rather than with written word. It is so good. The amount

1290
01:17:30,840 --> 01:17:34,279
of times I cite that podcast on
this podcast is just so it is.

1291
01:17:34,479 --> 01:17:38,199
What you guys do over there is
spectacular. I know you said you expanded

1292
01:17:38,279 --> 01:17:41,960
kind of the operations with producers and
social guys, so that's really exciting.

1293
01:17:42,079 --> 01:17:44,479
Yeah. I mean, but as
you know better than anyone, like we're

1294
01:17:44,520 --> 01:17:46,039
trying to get into YouTube. I'm
not an old person. I'm in my

1295
01:17:46,239 --> 01:17:49,000
young to mid thirties. But also, like when someone's like you should start

1296
01:17:49,000 --> 01:17:53,279
a TikTok for Dane's podcasts, like
that sounds scary. So we're on TikTok,

1297
01:17:53,319 --> 01:17:56,760
we're on Instagram, we're on YouTube. But yeah, we're a couple

1298
01:17:56,760 --> 01:17:59,680
of pods. You know, we're
just trying to cover the team from different

1299
01:17:59,680 --> 01:18:01,600
angles. What I do with Dane
is a lot more analytical what I do

1300
01:18:01,720 --> 01:18:05,680
over at score North and just a
lifestyle podcast. But yeah, the team

1301
01:18:05,760 --> 01:18:10,520
has a small market and a small
batch of people covering it. But Wolve's

1302
01:18:10,560 --> 01:18:13,560
Twitter is also a pretty friendly place. I know, you know this,

1303
01:18:13,800 --> 01:18:16,439
like other fan bases might not be. I think Wolves Twitter is a pretty

1304
01:18:16,840 --> 01:18:21,199
It might not be like the Hawaii, but it's a comfortable spot for you

1305
01:18:21,279 --> 01:18:24,840
to come visit if you want to
just hang out one night. A lot

1306
01:18:24,920 --> 01:18:28,880
of cool creative content, people and
stuff, so come Visit might not be

1307
01:18:28,920 --> 01:18:30,119
your first destination, but it's a
good spot. Just like the Wolves,

1308
01:18:30,159 --> 01:18:31,760
they might not be the best team, but I think they could be a

1309
01:18:31,800 --> 01:18:34,720
pretty solid place for you to hang
out these next six or seven months.

1310
01:18:35,319 --> 01:18:39,640
I will include the links to both
of Kyle's podcasts in the YouTube and podcast

1311
01:18:39,720 --> 01:18:43,159
description, So go subscribe and show
your support. Kyle, you gave me

1312
01:18:43,720 --> 01:18:46,960
eighty minutes. Basically, I very
much appreciate your time and rest asshured obvious

1313
01:18:46,960 --> 01:18:50,640
spamming your dms again in the future, I appreciate you. Everyone should subscribe

1314
01:18:50,640 --> 01:18:53,840
to this pod becaust a lot.
We get a lot from Dan's pot as

1315
01:18:53,880 --> 01:18:56,399
well, So Dan, you're a
legend and we'll talk again soon