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What is up, fellow thermonuclear A
efforts. I am Dan Valley coming at

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you with another Hardwood Knox look ahead. We're onto the Minnesota Timberwolves. I

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am very excited to be joined by
who can now be called the frequent guest

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of the podcast, Derek James.
Follow him on Twitter at Derek James NBA.

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That's at d E r e K
James NBA. All of that spelt

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exactly as it sounds. After Derek, he covers the Minnesota Timberwolves for his

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own sub stack, now called by
Derek James. If you follow him on

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Twitter, you can click on that
link and subscribe. I highly recommend his

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coverage, and if you've listened to
this podcast for a while, you know

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that he's been on a few times
already and there's no one else I'd rather

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talk Minnesota Timberwolves yet with out there
the important question I will ask, though,

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Derek, how the heck are you
doing doing well? How about yourself?

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I am spectacular very excited to talk
to mittor sort the Timberwolves with you.

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Very excited to hear that you're you're
back to writing again. I know

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you came on last year and you
were like, well, I don't know

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if you still want me to come
on, because I'm not really writing anywhere

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at the moment. I was like, definitely still want you on, but

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I'm excited that you get to write
again because it seems like you missed it.

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Yeah. No, it was definitely
a great time having been back,

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and I think just I think I
was always kind of sort of figuring out

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how I wanted to do it instead
of just being you know, tied to

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a website and being accountable to an
editor or a staff as well. You

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know, I was kind of look
at it, you know, like you're

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part of a team. And I
mean, as it was, I was

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like, I'm not really interested in
doing you know, game recaps stuff like

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that. Like I feel like,
you know, I put in those times

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like I was able to, you
know, get up, you know and

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do this semi professionally for a while. But I just want to write.

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And so it's been a lot of
fun, I think you and it launched

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at a weird time, I think
during August, and but it was nice

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because there was a WNBA playoffs,
there was international ball, so it was

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good to write w NBA again and
some you know, some NBA stuff that

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came in. I you know,
I think the last one was out September,

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not September, but last Saturday.
So I'm still it's kind of an

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on time because I've worked in between
vacations, and I just want to make

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sure that I think the next one
will will probably be out soon. If

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anyone wants to follow, yeah,
I would recommend following along. And my

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feeling is this team, specifically the
Numberwolves, are gonna give you quiet a

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little bit to write about this year. And when I was putting together this

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outline, I had really had no
idea where to start because there's so many

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things I want to ask you,
and so to begin sort of generally like

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factoring in all the moves that they've
made. Are there any just theme or

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thoughts from the offseason entering this year
that are really sticking with you as we

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head into twenty two twenty three.
Yeah, So I think what really resonated

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with me was after the Rudy Gobert
trade, when Tim Connolly was talking about,

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you know, why they made this
move and why they hid the price

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that they did, was you know, wanting to take kind of that next

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step and maybe that they've sort of
maxed out that roster. You could have

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kept your picks. You could have
brought Patrick Beverley back, you know for

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another year, kept our guy Jared
Vanderbilt. But you know, it must

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you know, so Anthony Edwards and
some other guys were really going to take

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those big steps. It was he
was probably right. And so I just

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think it's incredibly cool when teams,
you know, are actually going for because

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they know that. You know,
over the years, I think, you

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know, we've had a lot of
conversations about teams not trying to win,

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not necessarily trying to lose, but
not necessarily trying to win either. So

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it's cool when these teams are going
all in on that. Even if at

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a lot like is Rudy Gobert going
to be on the roster when that twenty

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twenty nine pick conveys to Utah,
you might not even be in the NBA.

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But Cavilty thirty four, wrapping up
his career, you know, hopefully

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in Minnesota, but you know,
but it could very well be elsewhere too.

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But it's you know, you you
want to see a team like this,

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you know, get back to the
playoffs, you know, steal a

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couple of games. I mean,
they very well could have won that Memphis

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series. It wasn't for a couple
of good adjustments. But just see that

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and go, well, you know, we're we came this far, you

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know, how do we get even
further? Like I think them going on

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and taking that next step is pretty
cool to see for a team that you

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know, really has not mattered for
the bulk of their existence. You know,

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for a lot of those KG or
even I mean KG was the reason

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they mattered. So I just think
that I think the big team there is

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sort of taking that next step forward
and not just hoping to get lucky and

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you know, repeat the success of
last year, just get back to where

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they were, but a team that
aggressively, you know, look to take

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that next step. And that was
my initial reaction because I do, and

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I just want your thoughts on like
the actual cost they paid to get Rudy

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Gobert, But when you look at
what the Timberwolves gave up for Gobert,

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when you look at what Atlanta gave
up for Murray and then Cleveland for Dono

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Mitchell, the fact that it was
these three teams from you know, they're

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all like good markets in their own
sense, but like their non flagship markets

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and the fact that they were this
aggressive. As a fan of whatever team,

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you should want that, because you
should want more than a handful of

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teams to act this aggressively, and
you should want the sort of you know,

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mysterity that comes with holy shit,
Cleveland came out of left field and

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just traded for Donovan Mitchell or Minnesota
was flirting with the idea of giving up

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a lot less for Miles Turner and
then said, fuck it, let's give

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up everything for Rudy Gobert. I
want teams. There's a conversation that we

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had about the opportunity cost and the
fit, to be sure, but I'm

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a fan of teams going for it
like that's at the end of the day.

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I don't think you need to be
championship or bust all the time,

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but the endgame is to be one
of the best teams in the league,

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contending for, if not winning a
title, and that's what the Timberwolves were

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angling for with this move. And
I think, regardless of how you feel

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about the fit, there's at least
a pathway to that happening now that didn't

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exist before this trade happened. Yeah, and I think you know, I

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look at like and I think you
just talk about like how much it excites

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these fans that especially in Minnesota,
that have not been you know, that's

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excited and so long. But then
you know, like you think, like,

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I'm not gonna sit here and tell
you that Lebron James going to the

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Lakers was bad for the NBA.
It's probably been great for the NBA.

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They also want a title like,
so actually, undoubtedly good for the NBA.

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But it's also great when these non
traditional markets have something, you know,

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fun to be excited about. I
you know, I don't really know

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the last time that you know,
a team like the Cavaliers, you know,

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we're in independent of Lebron exciting,
you know, but now they are.

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I don't know. Yeah, I
think Mark Price was probably still on

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the team like it wasn't when you
know, overweight Sean Kemp was on the

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roster. Still No, but yeah, I think you're right. In general,

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it's cool when all these you know, different fan bases from these teams

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that were not as familiar with are
given something to be excited about, and

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you know, it just adds intrigue
to the rest of the lead. And

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so ultimately, like what did you
just make of what they actually gave up

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to get Rudy g Golbert? Did
that take you back? Like were you

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taken aback at all when you first
saw the report? And even now we're

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two plus months later or whatever it
is that you had time to digest it,

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is it still like you what are
just your impressions of how much they

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the opportunity cost of making this happen. Yeah, so I mean this is

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definitely just about all the pieces they
can give for now. So I know

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my initial reaction to the Timberwolves are
acquiring you know, Rudy Gobert, It's

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like, shit, what's like this
team doesn't do that. The Jimmy Butler

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trade might have been the previous biggest
trade, and you know before that,

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I don't know, like this is
not a team that does this sort of

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thing. So that was interesting.
And then I know, I was talking

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to some people on Twitter like before, waiting for you know, the field

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to come out, more detail about
the deal to come out, and it's

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like, Okay, the players like
Malie Beasley kind of useful but frustrating,

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and I'm not upset that I don't
have to watch him and aunt on a

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two on one look up Aunts treaking
to the basket to pull up for a

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jumper, Like I don't, I
don't, I don't need to see that

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again. But you know, he's
just fo rotation player. Jared Vanderbilt.

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We like Jared Vanderbilt, but do
I trade him? I traded him for

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Rudy Gobert every single time, Like
that's that's really a question to me,

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you know, So there's really you
know, and I know they can walk

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Kessler, but these are not guys
that stopped me from requiring Rudy Gobert,

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no question, But the pick the
picks suddenly took me back. That was

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a hard one to deal with at
first, and I looked at it,

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you know, I think, like
I said earlier, like you know,

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is Rudy Gobert going to be in
the league in twenty twenty nine, Like

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that's you know, he's in good
health, you know, knock on wood,

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but there's no guarantees in the league
in twenty twenty nine. Cat will

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be, you know, at the
end of his prime. You know,

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by the time that picks picking bays
and you know, how are you going

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to be able to supplements the talent
on this roster. But then I kind

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of look at it and I think, you know what we talked about earlier,

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like how awesome is that you know
they went all in to get to

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get better, to raise the ceiling
on this team. You know, even

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if you know they probably don't win
a championship, it's very unlikely, but

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you know, winning the playoff series
that is a notable deal for this franchise.

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Winning two would be huge. Like
you know, it's it's okay to

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be very good to great sometimes and
you know what, you stay good,

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you keep yourself competitive and a little
luck the right matchup you could find yourself,

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you know, maybe stealing a series
that you shouldn't have. I'm not

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saying, you know, they could
eventually win the championship with this site.

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Generally, I don't expect the Minneptember
Rules to be a championship team, but

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you never know how far they can
go with this sort of thing. I

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mean. And what a ringing endorsement
of the rest of the locker room too,

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where you know, as you have
a guy like Anthony Edwards, you

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know who you know that some people
might you know, could look at and

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be like, oh man, if
he was in La or New Yorker,

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Miami or we know wherever. You
know he could be, you know,

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he'd be the biggest star in the
league. And then but then for them

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to be like, yeah, we
think, we think you're gonna be so

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good right now, we are willing
to trade all this to get this guy

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to help make this team even better
because we know that you're going to be

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just as they go apart to take
that to the next level. And there's

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definitely a lot of faith too,
and some of the guys down the roster

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I think to get better. I
mean I was thinking about it before I

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came on. This is probably one
of the first iterations of the Wolves that

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have actually drafted and developed players,
Guys like nas Read and you know,

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Geordan mcgwe Offlin and Jaylen Nowell,
Like these are all guys that have been

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here four or five years at this
point. There have been stretches of time

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I've been covering this team alone where
four to five years have passed and there

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would be one guy from the start
of that period of time that was still

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on the roster. I mean,
there's been so much turnover in this franchise

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that, you know, I think
that if they were ever going to make

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a deal like this. It makes
sense for them to do it now because

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they have developed and drafted so well
for the first time in their franchise.

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At some point, you know,
I guess you got to you gotta take

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your shot. And I think there's
definitely some upsides of this. It's not

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all championship or bust, I think, but there's definitely a chance to just

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really paid off for them. I
think it was also sort of indicative of

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just like that's the cost it is
to bring in stars. Now we saw

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it with Ana Mita Free Agencies.
There's not the same type of movement and

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I, as you mentioned, I
would just echo you didn't give up any

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core players, and so that's why
the draft pick equity is so up scene

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if you want to call it that, Like you didn't have to give up

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Iffy Edwards or Karl Anthony Towns liken't
even to give Jenny McDaniels. Like you

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paid the premium to keep these guys
and get Rudy Gobert, which I respect.

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The actual fit though, let's start
on the offensive side. I think

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it's dynamite. What do you make
of the fit between not just Rudy Gobert,

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Karl Anthony Towns, which everyone will
be most fascinated by, but Rudy

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Gobert and the rest of this team
in general. Yeah, I mean,

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I think the cat one is kind
of easy to see. I think one

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other lingering thought that I had right
after what with Kat was this pretty much

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seems to be the team, you
know, saying, look, we're not

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going to ask you to play center
anymore, like we know now after how

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long has you been in this now? I mean was the seventh year,

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00:12:45,919 --> 00:12:48,360
Like we know that you're not going
to be able to play you know,

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center on the defensive end in this
league. And I mean it seems like

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that's not necessarily an indictment. But
I think maybe the team just you know,

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sort of coming to terms with that
and no longer trying to you know,

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fit a square peg into the round
hole. But the rest of the

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team, I think that, you
know, I think one of the interesting

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things that I first thought of was, oh, well, D'angela Russell.

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I mean, it kind of seems
like, you know, he's gonna be

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odd man. Now, he might
be kind of expensive, you know,

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he's kind of an inconsistent player.
I think I was talking to Brit Robinson

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on Twitter about this and he was
like, oh, man, the lobs

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that he's gonna have for Gobert,
And I think, you know, and

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I think probably on the other end, having someone behind him to clean up

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those defensive mistakes is going to be
extremely valuable too. Was actually chewing my

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puppy, was chewing a pen,
and I did not want him to get

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to all of that. So I
hope you were. I hope you were

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able to stop him. I think
though, on defense, do you think

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the like, how do you feel
about the defensive fit? Do you think

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that the Wolves are still going to
play ultra aggressive like they did a lot

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of times last year? They're gonna
be a little bit more conservative because of

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having Rudy Gobert. They're just what
do you sort of make about what this

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team should look like and be like
defensively with him? Yeah, I'm definitely

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expecting them to be a little less
aggressive because I mean I was even rewatching

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some of the Memphis series and just
how you know, how high they were

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playing, you know, how they
were getting to the ball like it was.

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It was really incredible just to revisit
them. Wow, like that that's

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pretty aggressive. Like John Morant from
thirty Ze. I mean, don't let

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him get ahead of seam, but
if he wants to pull up, by

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all means, and you know,
so I imagine that having that extra safety

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net back there. And I think
that was also you know, one thing

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we saw in that Memphis series with
how guys like Brandon Clark were able to

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just get and you know, get
inside easily. John Morant is a great

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player, but you know, there
really wasn't anyone to deter him from doing

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that. And given that this is
such a wing driven league, I think

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that just you know, even having
and Gobert back there is going to make

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such a difference. I mean,
I know that guys like Gobert are necessarily

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deterrence and sometimes I think we saw
like with Andrew Wigan. You know,

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he would seem like he would target
Rudy Gilbert is young, he would have

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been dunk on the seven foot three
guy or how Verdally is. But I

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think having someone else there, maybe
me makes them think twice or even alter

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the shot at the rim. I
think there's definitely some value in that.

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So yeah, I would definitely anticipate
them probably being a little less aggressive on

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that end and just playing a little
safer interest in you know, your multi

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time defensive player of the year.
And we'll say, given how good I

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think Ammy Edwards already, is it
just like general on ball defense, the

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idea of him maybe being able to
like his gambles, like not hurting the

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Wolves off the ball as much if
he wants to, because Rudy Gobert is

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just there to clean up things around
the basket. It kind of makes me

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just super excited. And I think
you look at this team and given how

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good Anthony Edwards already is on defense, and having Jade McDaniels there, having

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a good high IQ guy like Yil
Anderson there as well, I think this

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team could wind up being special defensively
in a way that even a lot of

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people who are considering the best case
outcomes haven't talked about just yet. And

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maybe because it's hard, I'm not
sure people understand. And maybe I don't

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understand because I don't consider myself like
this super good X's an NOS guy like

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Anthony Edwards to me is already just
a good defender, and like now you

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have Gobert and him another year into
like Edwards is now another year into his

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career, and I really like Kyle
Anderson evenough to fit on this team's a

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little bit wonky offensively, and Jane
McDaniels is still here. I just think

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they could be really special on the
that end of the floor. Yeah,

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I think there's a lot of potential. I don't think we know yet how

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good Anthony Edwards can be on that
end, because you know, he was

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so young when he came into the
league. It was clear that you know,

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before Tim Creaney probably had n't been
coached a time. I haven't remembered

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times in his rookie season when like
Jared Vanderbilt would be you know, directing

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him to his spots on the defensive
end, like he had just had no

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idea aware to be. And so
the fact that you know he's really get

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to this point, you know where
you're able to say those things about him

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now where he's no longer that liability
is you know, super encouraging. I

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think given his size, like he
should be a good defender. I think

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just you know, just showing up
on the court, you know, he

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should be physically has all the tools
to be a good defender. And I

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think, you know, learning more
and getting more experience. I think it's

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really going to help him. I
think, you know, of course,

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on both ends. And Jada McDaniels, I mean, it looked like I

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thought a picture of him that he
posted, and it looks like he's put

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on weight. And the scary thing
was even when he was a rookie and

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you know, he really had that
slender frame. He held his own against

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some big guys. So if he's
adding extra strength, I think it's only

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going to make him more formidable down
low. Do you have any concerns about

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this? I call it a dual
big setup, but just like the roster

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now in general, and I think
a lot of people have pointed to playoff

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basketball because of how targeted offense has
become and how they then might try and

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pick apart and exploit the dual big
set up in Minnesota. Is that your

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actual concern or do you have another
overarching concern about how all this pans out?

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It's certainly a possibility. I also
don't think that Golbert has had anyone

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like cat next to him. I
mean, Derek s favors Is, you

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know, was a fine player in
his day. He was an NBA starter

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for years he has no Carl Anthony
Towns. There was no Carl Anthony town

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So, I you know, I
think having a player that where his skill

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sets kind of sort of compliment supplement
Gobert's in a way could help their case

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there. But yeah, I mean, of course there is I mean cats,

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you know, I had to struggles
on that end. Gobert has also

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been sort of played off the floor. I know people hate when they say

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that, but there's there have been
issues with teams attacking Gilbert for one reason

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or the other, you know,
in the playoffs. So yeah, I

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think there's definitely possibilities of all that
there. It's definitely not a certainty.

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But I think my thing is going
just get to the playoffs, you know,

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Like I think that's the big thing. He's like, well what about

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this or that. It's like,
I think, get there, Like that's

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that's the big thing. I think
they will figure it out. I think

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that early on Chris Finch showed a
lot of attitude of working these these things

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in. I know, like I
felt very different about watching D'Angel Russell under

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Chris Finch than I did watching him
under Ryan Sunder and just the way that

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he sort of just seemed to sort
of rain in some of his plow tendencies.

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So I think that there are ways
for you know, I think this

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will be, you know, just
another tool for him to work with.

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I think, you know, I'm
both ends too, you know, Rudy

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Gobert, I think, you know, he's not a player. I think

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that people tune in to watch I
think, you know, it's not He's

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not a guy like, oh yeah, Rudy's Rudy's on the court, like

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we gotta watch this until he goes
the bench. No one's doing that.

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But the things that Rudy Gobert is
good at, he's very good at.

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I mean I was even watching him
with France, you know, this summer,

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and you know, he's so strong
when he catches it inside and he's

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so big that it, you know, and it's an incredibly efficient shot.

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And I was, you know,
writing about Sylvia Fowls is the retirement from

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the w NBA, and I was, you know, thinking about the time

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that Sheryl Real was talking about how, you know, her team was settling

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for too many jumpers and she was
talking about sat down there, that's seventy

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00:20:18,799 --> 00:20:22,599
percent. Sylvia Fowls is a seventy
percent shooter. She get everything at the

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rim out there that's not seventy percent, you know, And so to that

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point, and it's kind of the
same thing with Gilbert. You getting him

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down there sixty seventy percent, and
that's valuable. He'll get those shots at

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the rim, you know, almost
any time. And I think, you

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know, when you have a guy
like Cat who can help spread the floor

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and you know you're are you going
to help off a cat to double Gilbert

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in the post? I wouldn't think
so, because you know, you give

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him open shots on the outside and
he'll still gladly take those. He doesn't

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have to do that dirty work anymore. So I think that's really going to

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benefit him too. And I think
the other thing with the playoff concerns specifically,

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well, I guess it's two things
is Gobears just never had this level

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of defensive athleticism in front of him, and you taught like between Anthony Edwards

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Jade McDaniels, and then I'm not
calling Kyle Anderson athletic, but like to

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have that bigger body who's really smart
using with his positioning they can right and

333
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that there's it's a like a prime
Joe Ingles esque thing of the way he

334
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,839
defends, and to have that on
top of just the raw explosion athleticism of

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Anthony Edwards and Jade McDaniels being there, I think helps. And also there

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are probably very few teams like there
has to be an extremism to the way

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they play for it to be a
true problem for the Wolves. And I

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look at the West. You can
go into the East and with Boston maybe

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they're on there. But I look
at New Orleans and then the Clippers as

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teams that are like, if they
really wanted to try and cause matchup problems,

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they could for Minnesota defensively, and
then maybe Golden State just because the

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00:21:53,839 --> 00:21:56,359
Cavan Looney, Draymond Green like both
of those guys, and if you go

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Draymond at the five. So I
actually don't think I do think it could

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go belly up. Don't get me
wrong. I just think it's less likely

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when you look at like the teams
that they're trying to go through. Yeah,

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I mean I think even like you
look at the Clippers. I mean

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the thing about you know the NBA
is you know you have to defend to

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defend the other guys too, And
I think you've run into the Clippers.

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I mean beyond a visa Zubas unless
they add someone else like that is there

350
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that is the real center. I
mean, PG and Choir obviously problems on

351
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the outside, and you know they
got Robert Coving team can play up front,

352
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but that's not that's not a ton
of size relative to what the Timberwolves

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have, and I mean that's a
that's a matchup onto itself and the Wolves.

354
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I think you know these you know
before they had always even when they

355
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weren't supposed to, they had always
seen to stick with the Warriors pretty well.

356
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And maybe because there wasn't as much
of a I don't want to say

357
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not a system, but that's Curry
is kind of a system. I knew

358
00:22:51,519 --> 00:22:56,440
himself with those sort of things where
it was also free flowing, and it

359
00:22:56,759 --> 00:23:00,359
seemed like the Wolves can sort of
sort of grasp that a little. But

360
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yeah, that's just so much experience
anyways, were even if you look at

361
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those guys and you're like, oh, yeah, well they're they're older now,

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it's like, well, they've also
had all the time together and they've

363
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had a lot of success doing it, where I would anyway just not be

364
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upset about losing to the Warriors.
I think even though it's a healthy Clippers

365
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team, I would not be upset
about the So karl Anthy Towns gets a

366
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four year, two hundred and twenty
four million dollar extension, then they also

367
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trade for someone who makes a ton
of money, give up a ton to

368
00:23:30,279 --> 00:23:36,039
get him, and he plays what
was karl Anthony Town's position beforehand. Is

369
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there like extra pressure on him to
make this work given that in the same

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offseason, it feels like the Wolves
paid him because he's a superstar, but

371
00:23:45,079 --> 00:23:48,319
also sought to cover up for stuff
that he has just inherently not been good

372
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:52,640
at. Yeah, I think that's, you know, like I was saying

373
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earlier, the Gobert trade ultimately seems
to be like that sort of acknowledgement of

374
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what Cat is and what Cat isn't. I think the biggest pain points with

375
00:24:02,759 --> 00:24:07,000
him we're as him, you know, as a center. I think a

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big part of watching him last year
was, oh, kar Anthony Towns,

377
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you know, early in the second
quarter as three fouls, you know,

378
00:24:14,799 --> 00:24:18,039
is Chris Bench gonna pull him,
you know, like this again and again.

379
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So I mean, if this even
helps him stay on the floor more

380
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so that he can do more at
any position on the court. I think

381
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that's gonna make a big difference the
So forgive me for boiling it down to

382
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this, but we have to talk
about Anton Edwards and by the end of

383
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,480
next season, Anton Edwards, if
you could complete the blank in this sentence,

384
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:45,160
will be a top what player in
the NBA? Man ESPN has I

385
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:51,519
was gonna say he's about twenty three
right now? Yeah, I'll say fifteen,

386
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:53,880
only with the hope that it's it's
gonna be Oh no, he's actually

387
00:24:55,119 --> 00:25:00,039
top ten. Now I think it's
it's it's a it's a range of possibilities.

388
00:25:00,039 --> 00:25:03,559
I mean, like I was saying, he came in so raw and

389
00:25:03,599 --> 00:25:08,559
he has just improved so much,
and you wonder, like how much better

390
00:25:08,599 --> 00:25:12,240
is this guy gonna get? I
mean, is he or rapidly? I

391
00:25:12,279 --> 00:25:15,640
don't think he's peaked by any means, but you know, is he gonna

392
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,640
get a bit better? A tom
better? I mean, are we talking,

393
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,640
you know, a top five guy, one of the three best perimeter

394
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,279
guys in the league. I mean, it still feels like so much as

395
00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:32,680
in play for him, but also
there you know, there being no guarantees

396
00:25:33,839 --> 00:25:37,680
ten to fifteen kind of feels like
the right range he I would say,

397
00:25:38,039 --> 00:25:41,640
I don't know if I'd predicted,
but all NBA is his ceiling this year,

398
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,839
like and that's his a third year, which is wild. The actual

399
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,599
the actual question I have from not
the actual, but what are you looking

400
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:53,119
to see him improve upon most this
year? Is it the playmaking? Is

401
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,599
it? Do you want to see
him sustain like he shot I think it

402
00:25:56,599 --> 00:25:57,960
was after the All Star Breaker was
like thirty four point four percent and off

403
00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,920
the dribble threes? Is that something
you've you were sustainable? Is that something

404
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,720
you're looking for more of him,
especially looking at sort of the packing order

405
00:26:04,759 --> 00:26:08,480
of how the ball handling is going
to pan out with this roster. I

406
00:26:08,519 --> 00:26:11,839
think I think all of that because
I think that the you know, what

407
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:18,039
he was good at when he first
came into the league was being athletic and

408
00:26:18,079 --> 00:26:22,000
trying to score on guys, and
there was there wasn't really we didn't see

409
00:26:22,039 --> 00:26:26,759
a ton of early on, you
know, that sort of playmaking. Even

410
00:26:26,799 --> 00:26:30,079
the defense. I think the defense
is a big part of that, especially

411
00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,839
you know if I think that would
also really help play next to Dandel Russell

412
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,960
if he was you know, if
he also had a you know, even

413
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,079
better perimeter defender there. If I
think, really, you know, all

414
00:26:40,079 --> 00:26:44,599
those things I think would be good
to see continual improvements on. I know

415
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,160
it's kind of probably sounds like a
cop out answer sorts, but I think

416
00:26:48,319 --> 00:26:52,440
given you know, his where he
came into the league and the path that

417
00:26:52,519 --> 00:26:56,160
he's on, I think those are
all things he's going to need to do

418
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,880
more of. But I definitely think
you know, the ball handling them,

419
00:27:00,079 --> 00:27:03,000
like the scoring, you know that
that's all there, that's a problem.

420
00:27:03,599 --> 00:27:06,079
Uh. You know, it's even
you know, looking at a shot and

421
00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,960
you know how much he's improved as
a shooter and just how how good it

422
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:11,799
clean it looks too, And that's
how far he's come with that already.

423
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:17,119
And you know, you can tell
me that a reigne of outcomes for Anthony

424
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:22,880
Edwards and you know, short of
any regression, pretty much any improvement is

425
00:27:23,319 --> 00:27:27,160
believable. It probably except for you
know, top five or whatever you know

426
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:32,440
beyond that. But yeah, I
think you know, the Yeah, his

427
00:27:32,559 --> 00:27:33,759
feeling is, you know, we
don't know what his feeling is, and

428
00:27:33,799 --> 00:27:37,160
it's kind of exciting. Yeah,
And I think the thing I'll be watching

429
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:42,279
for most mostly because of how this
roster is built, where there's like him

430
00:27:42,279 --> 00:27:45,000
and duo and then I don't want
to say there's a ball handling void because

431
00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:48,640
there's a bunch of tertiary guys,
but Auntie Edwards very much needs to be

432
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,880
like the engine of this offense.
And so I just look at the playmaking

433
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:59,119
where he's so he's already good at
capitalizing on this attention that he's commanding once

434
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,359
he attacks. But is he able
to do stuff at like a slower processing

435
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,240
speed? Is he throwing something that
looks two passes away? Is he passing

436
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:08,559
guys open? Is he being proactive
more than reactive? Might be the best

437
00:28:08,559 --> 00:28:11,799
way to phrase it, because they
almost need him, maybe not immediately,

438
00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,839
but like they need him. The
way this roster's built right now, to

439
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,319
me makes me think that they believe
he can be and will be that type

440
00:28:18,319 --> 00:28:22,079
of guy. Yeah, those those
are the best. I mean, you

441
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:26,680
think what the best wings do in
this league, and they do all those

442
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:30,039
things that you just mentioned. And
I think even that this is now such

443
00:28:30,079 --> 00:28:34,480
a premier driver driven league that I
think if this I think this team reaches

444
00:28:34,519 --> 00:28:38,759
its feeling, you know it's going
to be because Anthony Edwards emerges as the

445
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:44,319
queer cut number one guy on the
roster, which isn't easy to do when

446
00:28:44,319 --> 00:28:45,640
you have Karlatony Town's on the roster. He's great. I mean, I

447
00:28:47,279 --> 00:28:48,640
might have told the story before,
but I was, you know, I

448
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,160
tweeted out I think for Anthony Edwards
was even drafted that, you know,

449
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,400
this team really needs to find a
player that's better than Karlinony Towns. But

450
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,240
someone was like, well, how
do they go do that? I like,

451
00:28:59,279 --> 00:29:03,599
I don't know. Man's tough,
Like that's the hard part. But

452
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:10,359
the reality is if you get a
wing like Anthony Edwards who can ascend to

453
00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:15,039
be even greater than Carmphony town and
among the ranks in the league, I

454
00:29:15,119 --> 00:29:18,279
think that that really opens up you
know what this team can be, not

455
00:29:18,359 --> 00:29:22,359
just this year but in the future. And yeah, again we have that

456
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:26,720
excitement of not knowing exactly you know, what Anthony Edwards is going to be

457
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:30,920
as a player, and yeah,
it's incredibly exciting and what that could mean

458
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:36,079
not just for him, but for
the team as a whole. There's this

459
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:41,920
idea that the Wolves elected to keep
Jade McDaniels rather than save more than one

460
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,119
first round pick, is the way
that I'll frame it because I don't want

461
00:29:44,119 --> 00:29:47,799
to say two first round picks out
right. Is he good enough for them

462
00:29:47,839 --> 00:29:51,559
to view him that way? And
what does he need to be offensively for

463
00:29:51,599 --> 00:29:53,519
this team? Is it just hey
you need to take more than three catch

464
00:29:53,559 --> 00:29:56,519
and shoot threes per game, and
hey you need to knock them down at

465
00:29:56,519 --> 00:30:00,359
better than a thirty one point five
percent clip. Yeah, absolutely has to

466
00:30:00,359 --> 00:30:04,759
be more efficients than that. I
think there's lots of like with him.

467
00:30:04,799 --> 00:30:07,720
I mean again, you gotta I
think when you're we're talking about how much

468
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,200
they're gonna be paying these guys and
how much have you paying Anthony Edwards,

469
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:17,480
eventually you need to be able to
keep these your homegrown guys. I think

470
00:30:17,519 --> 00:30:22,240
that's that's absolutely huge. Watching that
Memphis series, I think you know you

471
00:30:22,279 --> 00:30:26,759
saw, you know how Jaren Jackson
was used for Memphis and how you know?

472
00:30:26,799 --> 00:30:30,400
I think it was Game two when
he just was bombing threes, like

473
00:30:30,599 --> 00:30:36,200
it was absolutely ridiculous. And I
don't think he has I'm not a shot

474
00:30:36,279 --> 00:30:38,559
doctor in it, but like it's
a push shot, Like it doesn't look

475
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:44,920
as good as you know, someone
like Jada McDaniels and Jackson shot has been

476
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,240
very inconsistent from the outside. I
mean, I think you had one year,

477
00:30:47,319 --> 00:30:49,599
third seven percent. That's just been
kind of it. But yeah,

478
00:30:49,599 --> 00:30:52,599
I think there's a lot that Jada
McDaniels could do, even if it is,

479
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:57,680
you know, just be a tough
defender inside and probably want to see

480
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:02,319
him take more shots from the outside, certainly have you certainly want to see

481
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,359
him I think become you know,
thirty seven or more three point twoter really

482
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:11,359
justify that there's that's not a lot
of pressure on him to improve. As

483
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:15,559
well. D'Angel Russell is still here
too, which I think might surprise a

484
00:31:15,559 --> 00:31:19,519
lot of people. What is one
do you think they still view him as

485
00:31:19,559 --> 00:31:23,799
part of the long term core of
this team if only maybe because well they're

486
00:31:23,839 --> 00:31:26,920
out of trade assets and they can't
sign anyone better because they punted on cap

487
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,079
space, which is that's a totally
fine decision to make. And then specifically

488
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,880
for this season, like what if
they need for him to do to fit

489
00:31:36,039 --> 00:31:41,079
to coalace with this new setup that
they have. So yeah, D'Angel Russell,

490
00:31:41,359 --> 00:31:45,119
he's still here. I was,
like I said earlier, art surprised

491
00:31:45,119 --> 00:31:49,359
at you know, but maybe he
would not be moved or who would be

492
00:31:49,359 --> 00:31:52,720
moved, but I do think that
there's you know, a lot more that

493
00:31:52,759 --> 00:31:56,519
you want to see from him.
I think then we probably haven't a past

494
00:31:56,599 --> 00:32:01,480
or a different player, you know. I think, you know, Chris

495
00:32:01,519 --> 00:32:04,599
Fincher's on a lot of good things
for him, But I don't think that

496
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,039
you want him to be so over
coached that he's not even the same player,

497
00:32:08,319 --> 00:32:13,960
or you know, production even suffers
because he's just being so over coached.

498
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,240
So you still I think there's still
that even having to be the ball

499
00:32:16,279 --> 00:32:22,039
handler, he can definitely shoot.
I think his shot flush at times is

500
00:32:22,119 --> 00:32:25,480
a is a little questionable. But
I think that having you know, hopefully

501
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:30,640
having you know, Evanthony Edwards improved, and then having krom Anthony Towns and

502
00:32:30,759 --> 00:32:35,640
you know, having Rudy Gobert at
the rim hopefully that you know, reduces

503
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,000
the need for him to feel like
he has to you know, win every

504
00:32:38,039 --> 00:32:42,799
game, you know, on every
on every shot, you know, and

505
00:32:43,839 --> 00:32:47,119
there's probably going to be a better
option available than you know, a contested

506
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,640
step back three. I mean,
even when they go in and you're like,

507
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,599
yeah, fine, but you know
you're not going to take more Yeah,

508
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,319
yeah, exactly, you're not really
happy with it. Even though it

509
00:32:58,359 --> 00:33:01,640
went in. Yeah, you know
hopefully that you know he's able to sort

510
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:06,440
of expand his play making abilities for
others, even though I do think like

511
00:33:06,519 --> 00:33:08,880
Jim he can move the ball,
he can set up others. But you

512
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:13,559
think, you know, you want
to see the just see a little more

513
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,640
of that now, especially with Rudy
Gobert on the roster. And I mean

514
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:21,359
he's not an expiring contract. I
mean I do expect that he's gonna come

515
00:33:21,359 --> 00:33:22,559
out, you know, looking to
have a really strong season. I think

516
00:33:22,599 --> 00:33:24,599
I may, of course, I
would say that anyway, but I think

517
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:30,240
there's extra incentive given the contract situation. I honestly have no idea what his

518
00:33:30,359 --> 00:33:35,839
next deal is going to look like. Yeah, that's gonna be intriguing.

519
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:39,200
I do think that this team is
built to streamline the way that he plays

520
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,680
on offense to where now that you
have Rudy Gobert, then with the threats

521
00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,400
on the outside of Anthony Edwards,
who's fine shooting off the catch, Carlothy

522
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:49,319
Towns is one of the best shooting
big men in league history. It makes

523
00:33:49,359 --> 00:33:52,920
his mid range game a lot more
dangerous. Like you said, it should

524
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:54,559
weed out the way the structure is
here, that he doesn't need to take

525
00:33:54,559 --> 00:33:58,200
those step backs. And then also
I know he had a down year when

526
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:00,839
you look, as efficiency put it
historphy, like he is shot well himself

527
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:05,519
unassisted three pointers, and so he
should technically get more of those with Anti

528
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:09,559
Edwards making the leap and then like
the gravity that Town's commands outside and then

529
00:34:09,599 --> 00:34:14,320
that Gobet commands when he's on his
rolls to the basket, and so I

530
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:19,039
almost wonder if like this is sort
of a simplification by force and that it

531
00:34:19,119 --> 00:34:22,800
ends up panning out really well for
him. Yeah, I think there's certainly

532
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:27,679
value in having, you know,
guy who can you know get to the

533
00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:30,639
mid range? No, they create
there because it's not you're not always like

534
00:34:31,039 --> 00:34:34,840
watching those playoff seriod Again, it's
like, wow, all these shots are

535
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,840
tough at the rim outside you have
to be able to score at all three

536
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:43,039
levels. And I think that if
you have a guy if Russell ken hit

537
00:34:43,079 --> 00:34:47,079
those mid range shots, I think
that's a huge advantage for them. What's

538
00:34:47,119 --> 00:34:52,119
interesting to me and maybe not others, but who's like the most important guard

539
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:57,119
behind Anthy Edwards and D'Angel Russell for
this team when they have they signed Brent

540
00:34:57,159 --> 00:35:00,559
Forbes and Austin Rivers. They have
Jaalen and Well and Jordan McLoughlin. They've

541
00:35:00,559 --> 00:35:05,679
said some pretty rosy things about Jordan
McLaughlin over the past like year or so,

542
00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:08,400
and so is it immediately him and
do you trust him to sort of

543
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:14,039
fill that role is like let's call
it the third guard or third most important

544
00:35:14,039 --> 00:35:17,760
guard on this team. Yeah,
definitely, because that's you know, you

545
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,559
think, like it's a long season. I mean, guys are gonna get

546
00:35:21,599 --> 00:35:23,639
hurt, They're going to be in
and out of the lineup. You really

547
00:35:23,639 --> 00:35:27,199
need someone that you can trust back
there. And it's you know, Jordan

548
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:30,039
McLoughlin. I think he did really
well in the playoffs. I think you

549
00:35:30,039 --> 00:35:32,400
know, like him and fail in
a well like I don't know, I've

550
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:38,800
always associated them together, I think
in their entire time. I think probably

551
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:45,239
because they came up together in the
team at the same time. Like,

552
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:51,679
but you know, having that backup
point guard is huge. I think having

553
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,440
someone I mean, Jordan McLoughlin doesn't
have a ton of sides, but we

554
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:59,559
saw effectively he can run an offense. Uh. She had one post that

555
00:35:59,639 --> 00:36:01,239
touch what we're rock team today.
I'm like, oh yeah, I mean

556
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:05,360
I knew we could shoot a little
bit from the outside, but his footwork

557
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:07,559
inside you on, on a mismatch, you know, look good too.

558
00:36:07,639 --> 00:36:12,639
I mean, you know, he's
a very skilled player, I think getting

559
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,440
you know, Jalen Nowell didn't play
much in that series, but I know

560
00:36:15,559 --> 00:36:20,519
that, you know, he's us
a little bit differently typically, but he

561
00:36:20,519 --> 00:36:22,320
also brings a little more side.
So I mean, I think any one

562
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,039
of those two guys, but I
think there's also you know, the potential

563
00:36:25,079 --> 00:36:30,639
for Austin Rivers to be so that's
stabilizing the veteran in there as well.

564
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:36,079
But you know, I might not
really answer your question too much, but

565
00:36:36,159 --> 00:36:39,559
I've had to say it would probably
be George McLaughlin or Jalen Nowell, one

566
00:36:39,599 --> 00:36:45,880
of those two guys. Uh,
Kyle Anderson siding. I loved it from

567
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:49,679
a value perspective. His fit on
offense here, depending on who's on the

568
00:36:49,679 --> 00:36:52,719
floor, feels pretty complicated. And
so how do you feel about that And

569
00:36:52,800 --> 00:36:54,440
is it going to be sort of
a matter of well, when they stagger

570
00:36:54,519 --> 00:37:00,559
Gobet and cat like, we're just
gonna tie Anderson and Karl Anthia his minutes

571
00:37:00,599 --> 00:37:05,239
together. Yeah, that's that's definitely
idea. I think even just watching him,

572
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:08,159
I think the nice thing is he
doesn't really need the ball, I

573
00:37:08,199 --> 00:37:12,639
think to be effective. I mean, I just don't can't watch him dribble

574
00:37:12,639 --> 00:37:15,400
and I'm like, oh, man, Like if I don't know that it's

575
00:37:15,519 --> 00:37:19,000
bad. But I mean, he
really does live up to his nickname.

576
00:37:19,559 --> 00:37:22,320
But I think that he can be
fine just sort of helping facilitate the offense

577
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:27,199
and letting it come to him.
You know, it's not like someone like

578
00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:31,199
I've talked bad about Mollague Beasley and
granted to play different positions, but you

579
00:37:31,199 --> 00:37:35,880
know, Kyle Anderson doesn't need the
ball to be effective. Beasley didn't have

580
00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:37,480
a ball, you know. I
don't think you were getting a ton from

581
00:37:37,559 --> 00:37:43,239
him otherwise. But Kyle Anderson can
help facilitate the offense, and I think

582
00:37:43,559 --> 00:37:45,480
that's probably fine. They also probably
don't need him to do a ton,

583
00:37:45,639 --> 00:37:51,400
so I think that's probably a little
bit easier to work out there. But

584
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:53,760
yeah, I think to your point
that real time him to downs, if

585
00:37:53,760 --> 00:38:00,800
I make sense, there's probably gonna
be some pretty like substantial stagger between Gobert

586
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,239
and karl anthy towns. Do you
see any when they're going with those one

587
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:07,320
center lineups where they solo Gobert or
solo cat lineups. Do you see any

588
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:12,039
like specific structure that they need disorder
cater too with those two where it's like

589
00:38:12,079 --> 00:38:15,639
I mentioned, oh, play karl
anthy Towns and Kyle Anderson together when Gobert's

590
00:38:15,639 --> 00:38:19,440
off the floor. Is there any
way that specifically you would flesh out like

591
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:23,679
those type of units. Man,
I really want to see it because then

592
00:38:23,679 --> 00:38:28,559
I feel like the ideas would just
see even clearer. But I do think

593
00:38:28,599 --> 00:38:31,519
that, yeah, there's a lot
of potential for this team to you maybe

594
00:38:31,599 --> 00:38:36,840
go even you know, maybe a
little smaller, you maybe try some ant

595
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:38,760
at the four get really weird with
it, you know, given that they

596
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:45,679
have all these guards too. Yeah, you know there's and you know they

597
00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:47,039
have these you know, some of
these younger guys too, you know,

598
00:38:47,079 --> 00:38:50,760
like the Nathan Knights that around the
rocks through it's really just good at you

599
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:52,320
know, he really just seemed like
he came in it was just a hammer

600
00:38:53,119 --> 00:38:59,679
and he's about the similar size to
Kyle Anderson too. Yeah. I kind

601
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:01,159
of want to see it, honestly
to have a better idea. But yeah,

602
00:39:01,159 --> 00:39:05,079
I think there's definitely a lot of
options that they can go and feel

603
00:39:05,079 --> 00:39:07,519
like there's probably a lot of different
ways that they can match. Okay,

604
00:39:07,519 --> 00:39:09,440
so, but yeah, I would
imagine that they would do quite a bit

605
00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:14,679
of staggering. I don't know why
you want to sit both gobert in towns

606
00:39:14,679 --> 00:39:17,360
for extended period of time that if
that happens, I don't know. Maybe

607
00:39:17,559 --> 00:39:21,119
I don't even like voul troubles.
They're both in vul trouble to the same.

608
00:39:21,519 --> 00:39:23,679
I don't know why you would ever
do. Yeah, when you zoom

609
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:28,000
out, take a step back and
look at this roster before they've even played

610
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:32,000
a game together, what is the
single biggest weakness or concern that you have

611
00:39:32,079 --> 00:39:36,559
about them? I mean, so
I think that they're so like they've obviously

612
00:39:36,639 --> 00:39:39,280
taking a step to get better.
I don't know. I think there's just

613
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:44,400
a lot of unknown and uncertainty of
you know, they go bear piece as

614
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:45,679
a big piece. I think people
have always said about how you know,

615
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:50,360
to like offensively, when he was
in Utah, he was the system.

616
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,719
He wasn't a system unto himself.
But I also don't really believe that you

617
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:59,440
can just take players from one team
moved into another and you know, have

618
00:39:59,519 --> 00:40:05,119
the exact same repeatable results, and
I think this team has built widely different

619
00:40:05,119 --> 00:40:09,760
than those jazz teams were too the
talent that's available. So I think there's

620
00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:14,920
just a lot of uncertainty and unknown
about how some of these pieces have fit.

621
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:16,679
I think that, you know,
like even your concerns about Kyle Anderson

622
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:22,079
totally warranted, have no idea how
that's actually going to look in practice,

623
00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:24,440
even though it seems like, yeah, this guy's probably a nice probably a

624
00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:29,599
nice veteran. But they also just
have so many guards on the roster at

625
00:40:29,639 --> 00:40:31,880
this point, so many, and
some of them are you know, I

626
00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:38,599
think you know, Brent Forbes and
Jordan McLaughlin, they're all pretty much,

627
00:40:38,639 --> 00:40:44,039
you know, kind of smaller guards
too. So I mean, how many

628
00:40:44,079 --> 00:40:47,119
of those guys can you have and
play, you know, consistently, you

629
00:40:47,159 --> 00:40:51,800
know, how is that going to
shake out? And you know, Wendel

630
00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:54,079
Moore, there's there's a draft picks
fit into this at all, you know,

631
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:58,400
another guy like that. So there's
a lot of pieces. I think

632
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,559
that they have to sort of figure
out what fits and what doesn't fit.

633
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:07,639
It could be a combination of guys
who maybe you know, who have been

634
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:09,960
here for a while that you know, like hey, maybe they don't fit

635
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,400
with this roster anymore, or you
know, the guy that they brought in

636
00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:16,639
that you know, they thought,
you know, would be an upgrade really

637
00:41:16,679 --> 00:41:21,719
doesn't actually make sense in practice.
So I think there's a lot of interesting

638
00:41:22,119 --> 00:41:24,599
fits there to watch out for the
uncertainties, but I think there's also you

639
00:41:24,639 --> 00:41:28,119
know, it's the potential for it
to go really well. I think that

640
00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:30,760
also at the same time makes it
exciting. One of my favorite things to

641
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:34,760
do leading into the season is look
at teams and try and identify, like,

642
00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:37,360
not that they have to have a
ten man rotation, but who are

643
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,760
their ten most used players going to
be consistently. And with the Wolves,

644
00:41:42,199 --> 00:41:45,679
I think it's kind of easy for
like the first eight spots because you have

645
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:51,039
your starting five with Delo Aunt,
Jaden Kat and then Towns, then Golbert.

646
00:41:51,119 --> 00:41:53,159
Excuse me, I wrote Anthony Edwards
twice in the outline I sent you,

647
00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:55,639
which is how high I am on
Anthy Edwards. And then I think

648
00:41:57,039 --> 00:42:04,000
Anderson mcgloughlin, Torrian Prince and maybe
even Oz Reid feel like and so like

649
00:42:04,039 --> 00:42:06,519
you're up to nine, and Prince
might be kind of important because you're sort

650
00:42:06,519 --> 00:42:09,199
of mentioning just like they have a
bunch of these like smaller guards or swingman.

651
00:42:09,639 --> 00:42:14,000
You want like actual wings on the
roster, and that's what Tori and

652
00:42:14,039 --> 00:42:16,599
Prince very much is. But so
it almost feels like they have nine just

653
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:21,719
like rotation locks, and then that
final spot will be duked out between Austin

654
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:23,800
Rivers, Bryn Forbes, and Jellen
Noel. I can't imagine. I know

655
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:28,800
Wendel Moore has some like wing size
to him, but will he even play

656
00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:31,159
as a rookie. So I'm just
curious your thoughts on that ten man set

657
00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:34,760
up in my off on anybody or
how do you view that shaken out?

658
00:42:35,559 --> 00:42:37,000
No, I really don't think that
you're off there, and I think that

659
00:42:37,239 --> 00:42:40,079
ten spot is It's really a good
question. Like I was looking at,

660
00:42:40,119 --> 00:42:43,119
you know, the team send out
the training camp roster. I was like,

661
00:42:43,199 --> 00:42:45,960
this team is actually pretty deep.
You know, there are a lot

662
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:49,079
of years that some of these training
camp invites or you know, maybe like

663
00:42:49,159 --> 00:42:53,840
a two way guy like PJ Dozer
too, right, two guys he's on

664
00:42:54,159 --> 00:42:58,559
a training camp contract. I think
he might have been a roster Yeah,

665
00:42:58,639 --> 00:43:00,920
he might have been a roster guy, you know, three or four years

666
00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:04,599
ago out right and now that because
at such a point where it's like,

667
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:07,719
I think PJ. Dozer is an
NBA player. He's not a perfect player,

668
00:43:08,119 --> 00:43:10,400
but he's a player that I liked
watching when he was in Denver.

669
00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:15,800
You know, there's just so many
guys on this roster that you know,

670
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:17,639
it's like he's probably he might not
even get a job on this team.

671
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:22,519
Like that's that's just how deep they
are. And you know that that ten

672
00:43:22,599 --> 00:43:24,280
spot is going to be really fascinating
because I think there's a lot of different

673
00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:28,719
ways that you can go, you
know, because I mean you bring in

674
00:43:28,719 --> 00:43:30,719
Austin Rivers, you know, you
fig You're like, yeah, I mean

675
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:31,880
that's you know, if you want
to go to the better and experience route,

676
00:43:32,599 --> 00:43:37,039
that they can find a way to
get Jail into while going more than

677
00:43:37,079 --> 00:43:39,920
they did in the playoffs. I
think that was kind of not quite alarming,

678
00:43:40,119 --> 00:43:45,800
but you know it was something to
take notice of for sure. Yeah.

679
00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:46,639
I mean if look, if jail
and Will is going to shoot like

680
00:43:46,679 --> 00:43:51,159
thirty nine point four percent from three, I'd probably just pendel him in there

681
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:54,360
for everybody. So and he brings
more of that size too, right,

682
00:43:55,119 --> 00:44:00,679
Uh So this what should this team
go to? Crunch time? Unit be.

683
00:44:00,079 --> 00:44:02,440
Do you predict it's going to be
just the starting lineup or could you

684
00:44:02,519 --> 00:44:05,840
see I know a lot of people
have talked like, oh, they'll fus

685
00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:09,559
and fiddle with matchups when it comes
to Towns and Gobert and my stances you

686
00:44:09,639 --> 00:44:14,119
did not pay both of these players
to go into Crunch something like that.

687
00:44:14,239 --> 00:44:16,559
I would argue, if you're going
to fuds and fiddle, it probably happens

688
00:44:16,599 --> 00:44:22,039
like with the del spot of the
starting five members more than anyone. Yeah,

689
00:44:22,079 --> 00:44:23,920
and even that, I feel like
you're probably going to do some selling

690
00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:28,360
Todlow to get him to do that, because he fully believed that he should

691
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:30,679
be out there, and there have
been, you know, there have been

692
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,760
fourth quarters where he's actually you know, one games for the team. I

693
00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:37,599
know that he's not you know,
everyone wants every player, and I agree

694
00:44:37,639 --> 00:44:40,920
he can definitely be frustrating, but
you know, there, I think there's

695
00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:45,159
probably gonna be some selling out there
if they're even going to go that route.

696
00:44:45,199 --> 00:44:47,679
But yeah, I'm kind to stay
just to starting lineup. Is there

697
00:44:47,760 --> 00:44:52,159
a weirdo, bonkers, quirky lineup
you want to see crunch Chris finched Fry

698
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:57,920
with this team, I'm kind of
curious about some of these. Anthony Edwards

699
00:44:58,559 --> 00:45:01,960
at the four Lamp, I'm not
sure. I don't know. I'm not

700
00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:05,039
sure who the center would be in
that one. I think you can go

701
00:45:05,159 --> 00:45:07,320
either way with that. But I
think the Gobert one's especially intriguing because we've

702
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:14,840
probably seen even less of it than
we have with Edwards and Towns. I

703
00:45:15,519 --> 00:45:19,400
want to see them go like full
point guardless, which I imagine they might

704
00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:22,559
do quite often, where it's yeah, give me the two bigs, Gobert

705
00:45:22,639 --> 00:45:27,000
and Karl, Anthony Towns, Jane
McDaniels, Torrian Prince, and then Anthony

706
00:45:27,119 --> 00:45:30,760
Edwards, and then maybe you have
Austin Rivers Insteadatorian Prince. But even Austin

707
00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:32,079
Rivers might be two point guard for
me for that lineup. He's not a

708
00:45:32,159 --> 00:45:36,639
point guard, but I want to
steer clear of anyone who resembles a point

709
00:45:36,679 --> 00:45:38,880
guard and just see what it looks
like when Anne, which he's gonna be

710
00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:43,719
the day facto engine anyway, but
like, let's just let's cut out the

711
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:45,920
ceremony and just make it known that
Anthy Edwards is the point guard of this

712
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:50,239
lineup. And those are the combinations
I'm most intrigued by. Yeah, oh

713
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:52,800
yeah, I love that idea.
I think if Austin had the idea of

714
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:55,960
just not a point guard, but
this is our lead ball handler. Yeah,

715
00:45:57,039 --> 00:46:00,039
I mean I think you really forced
a team to match up with a

716
00:46:00,119 --> 00:46:06,639
guy who's built like a winebacker.
He's listed at only six to five,

717
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:09,239
and I'm not sure I believe that. Oh every time I watch him,

718
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:13,199
I'm like, he's he you know
what he plays like he's sixty seven sixty

719
00:46:13,199 --> 00:46:21,039
eight? Then so yeah, So
their current wind total as we record this

720
00:46:21,199 --> 00:46:23,639
over under is forty eight point five. Are you smashing the over or the

721
00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:27,840
under on that? And where as
of now there are still things that could

722
00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:30,679
change. We haven't played a game
yet. Where do you see them finishing

723
00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:36,119
in relative to the Western Conference?
Okay, I should have done this up

724
00:46:36,199 --> 00:46:37,679
far. I think I would go
over on the forty and a half,

725
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:42,559
but not by a ton, you
know, Jamal Murray being back, the

726
00:46:42,599 --> 00:46:45,360
Clippers being you know, full strength. I mean they're getting a little older

727
00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:52,000
now, but the talent on paper
is absolutely right there. The Warriors aren't

728
00:46:52,039 --> 00:46:58,920
going anywhere. Man's so's gonna be
rough. I will say what I think

729
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:02,320
helps them. It's just like there's
gonna be maintenance in LA with the Clippers,

730
00:47:02,559 --> 00:47:07,039
Yeah, there's gonna be. I
would assume for Jamal Murray there's gonna

731
00:47:07,039 --> 00:47:08,440
be. Maybe not Michael Porter Jr. But I would at the two of

732
00:47:08,519 --> 00:47:12,800
them like there's gonna be maintenance in
Denver. They're not just gonna be if

733
00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:15,000
they go full bore. And those
guys who are playing back to backs,

734
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,599
I'll be floored that helps them.
The Warriors don't give a fuck about the

735
00:47:17,639 --> 00:47:21,320
regular season anymore. Like they're four
titles in, they don't, they don't

736
00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:24,559
care. So I think that I
think that where I'm not saying you have

737
00:47:24,639 --> 00:47:28,880
to say, oh, the Wolves
are a better title contender than these teams,

738
00:47:29,199 --> 00:47:31,960
But regular season wise, I think
I have them in the top four

739
00:47:32,239 --> 00:47:37,079
because I'm not they should absolutely have
a home home court advantage in the first

740
00:47:37,159 --> 00:47:40,840
round. I think that's that's that's
a fair expectation I think. And you

741
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:45,079
know, like I love Phoenix,
you know, are the last couple of

742
00:47:45,119 --> 00:47:50,719
seasons, but the vibes in Phoenix
right now are so bad. I said,

743
00:47:51,960 --> 00:47:53,719
I said they were gonna have the
best regular season record again because I

744
00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,039
was just like, look, they
might not be the title contender. We

745
00:47:57,119 --> 00:48:00,239
thought they were but their regular season
machine. Then a eon is like giving

746
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:04,880
hasn't spoken Monty Williams like eight years
or whatever it is. Jake Crowder didn't

747
00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:07,599
rove the training camp and he requested
a trade. Uh that, Like,

748
00:48:07,719 --> 00:48:10,840
you're right that Robert Sarver stuff.
The vibes emanating from that team are disastrous.

749
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:15,039
They are catastrophic, horrible. It's
not it's not what you want to

750
00:48:15,079 --> 00:48:17,760
see. And I mean it's unfortunate
because I mean, like Devin Booker is,

751
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:21,920
you know, just you know,
getting better and better and just becoming

752
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,280
this incredible player right before our eyes, and like when he should be,

753
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:28,159
you know, getting back to the
finals again and again, there's just all

754
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:31,199
this turmoil and uncertainty. And you
know, I mean some of that too,

755
00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:34,599
Like you have Chris Paul, who
is you know, in the later

756
00:48:34,679 --> 00:48:37,000
stages of his career, and I
mean you never know, you know,

757
00:48:37,079 --> 00:48:39,320
what could go wrong with him at
this point, whether you know it's the

758
00:48:39,360 --> 00:48:44,000
shoulder or hamstring or what like.
Those things just happened to guys when they

759
00:48:44,039 --> 00:48:46,800
get older and they have this many
miles on them. So I think there's

760
00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:52,599
potential for some regression there. I
don't know, like Memphis, like I

761
00:48:52,639 --> 00:48:54,159
mean some I've heard some people say
like, oh, Memphis could take a

762
00:48:54,159 --> 00:48:59,440
step back, but I think they
don't lose. They could. I mean,

763
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:01,000
they fully good, but they didn't
lose any games with John Morant out

764
00:49:01,079 --> 00:49:06,679
last year or so. I mean, this will be the fourth consecutive season

765
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:08,920
I'm wrong on Memphis, So take
that with a metric ton of salt.

766
00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:14,119
I just they're banking too much on
internal development for me, and then you

767
00:49:14,199 --> 00:49:17,320
have the Jared Jackson junior injury sort
of floating around day in Dallas are like

768
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:22,920
my and Utah obviously now, but
like are my Big Western Conference regression Candida.

769
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:25,960
It's this season. Yeah, Dallas
is a good but then like you

770
00:49:27,039 --> 00:49:29,639
know, New Orleans probably sides up. They're a bit too. You know,

771
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:34,800
I'm so high on New Orleans.
It's filthy, it's not it I

772
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:37,599
am. I would smash the over
on this team too, though, at

773
00:49:37,599 --> 00:49:40,079
forty eight point five. And I'm
also uncomfortable about how much I believe in

774
00:49:40,119 --> 00:49:45,280
them during the regular season because this
is such a big I don't want to

775
00:49:45,280 --> 00:49:46,760
call it experiment because the way Jared
Vanderbilt was used last year, but like

776
00:49:46,840 --> 00:49:52,639
it's a big roll of the dice
there's that inherent combustibility, even if we

777
00:49:52,719 --> 00:49:54,519
can't see it. I'm just so
shure it's gonna work out. I have

778
00:49:54,639 --> 00:49:58,559
them as a title contender. They
wouldn't be my title pick, but I

779
00:49:58,639 --> 00:50:02,639
think they're in that tier of title
contenders where it's like you have Milwaukee Golden

780
00:50:02,719 --> 00:50:06,960
States there if you want to include
the Clippers. But like in that when

781
00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:08,199
we're talking about the mash of teams
that are going to be in the second

782
00:50:08,199 --> 00:50:13,519
tier, I'm just so sure that
Minnesota belongs there. Yeah, I mean,

783
00:50:13,599 --> 00:50:15,880
the talent is definitely there, and
I think you know, there's I

784
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:19,119
think, you know to that,
like you know, if Anthony Edwards,

785
00:50:19,239 --> 00:50:22,440
you know, gets leaps and bounds
better, Jada McDaniels takes another step.

786
00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:24,880
I mean, I think that there's
really the potential for a force here.

787
00:50:25,199 --> 00:50:30,679
And you know, I mean that
I think we've seen even with how far

788
00:50:30,920 --> 00:50:34,840
you know, Luca was able to
drag Dallas last year. I mean,

789
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:37,480
that's that's not not sing in the
West is tough. But I think that,

790
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:40,760
you know, when teams look at
you know, I think some of

791
00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:45,519
the discords around the team this summer
was oh what about this team and this

792
00:50:45,599 --> 00:50:46,679
team and it's like, well,
with this sort of move, like the

793
00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:51,519
Timberwolves become sort of one of those
teams that other teams now have to worry

794
00:50:51,559 --> 00:50:54,360
about too. So I mean,
that's that's kind of another boat that's been

795
00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:59,840
risen here, and I will say
I'd be shocked if they're not one of

796
00:51:00,119 --> 00:51:04,440
like the guaranteed playoff teams Like this
is just the West could be brutal if

797
00:51:04,440 --> 00:51:07,880
everyone stays healthy, they would still
even if the Clippers and the Nuggets and

798
00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:12,039
the Suns are fine, I still
think that they're very clearly in the top

799
00:51:12,199 --> 00:51:15,519
five, top six, which just
without question to me, Yeah, yeah,

800
00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:19,800
I feel like that's one of the
few times in this team's history that

801
00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:22,719
you can point to and say that, yeah, that should be an expectation.

802
00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:25,480
Is there anything I didn't ask about
this team that you think needs to

803
00:51:25,519 --> 00:51:29,960
be discussed, something that's under talked
about relative to them before I let you

804
00:51:30,039 --> 00:51:34,039
go? No, man, I
think we've I think we've covered us about

805
00:51:34,039 --> 00:51:36,039
all of it. I think this
is probably, you know, one of

806
00:51:36,119 --> 00:51:39,039
the most exciting Timberal seasons that you
know, we've we've had to look forward

807
00:51:39,079 --> 00:51:43,199
to. I don't even think twenty
eighteen when Jimmy Butler, you know,

808
00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:47,159
join the team. Was you know
this exciting, but it definitely seems like

809
00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:50,960
this team is positioned with you know
a lot of depth up and down the

810
00:51:51,119 --> 00:51:55,000
roster and a lot of star power
at the top and just to see where

811
00:51:55,039 --> 00:51:58,320
it all where it all goes,
is going to be a lot of fun.

812
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:00,840
Derek, this was great as usual. Thank you so much for giving

813
00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:04,519
me a bunch of your time in
case anyone skipped the intro. Are you

814
00:52:04,639 --> 00:52:07,880
able to tell our listeners where they
can find you and the work that you

815
00:52:07,960 --> 00:52:13,599
put out. Yeah, So in
August I launched my own sub stack newsletter

816
00:52:14,719 --> 00:52:16,559
called by Derek James, where I
just you know, write about the NBA,

817
00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:20,480
w NBI. I think I call
it just professional basketball in general,

818
00:52:20,559 --> 00:52:24,519
whatever strikes me. And so yeah, I've pretty much been doing about once

819
00:52:24,559 --> 00:52:29,719
a week so far. As think
as the season goes and we get more

820
00:52:29,760 --> 00:52:30,920
and more, I want to increase
that a little bit and you know,

821
00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:36,599
as maybe it grows into you know, podcast or too or whatever else to

822
00:52:36,639 --> 00:52:39,119
sit in there. But yeah,
it's it should be a fun time.

823
00:52:39,159 --> 00:52:45,039
And yeah, I cannot recommend following
him enough on Twitter as well at Derek

824
00:52:45,159 --> 00:52:49,599
James NBA spelled exactly as it sounds. Thank you so much, and as

825
00:52:49,639 --> 00:52:52,599
I'm sure you know by now,
I will be pasturing you again in the

826
00:52:52,719 --> 00:52:53,760
future. Sounds good then,