Transcription
The Timberwolves made their first Conference Finals in 20 years last season. So obviously, they made a trade to fundamentally change the team. Of course, what else would you do? They traded a franchise cornerstone to save money. Well, now they're about .500, fallen from third place to basically out of the playoffs. Oh, it's early, but the tension is obvious.
The other night in Toronto, tied late, Rudy Gobert calls for a pass from Julius Randle with Scotty Barnes guarding him—obvious mismatch. But Randle just refuses the pass, so Gobert mopes out of the paint, getting a three-second violation turnover. Wow, Anthony Edwards was pissed. "What was that, Rudy?" They crumbled after that, losing to a team trying to tank. But this ain't the only issue.
A YouTuber named Daniel Lee pointed out two other issues in their first game in LA. Gobert is screened by LeBron; Gobert tells Randle to switch onto Davis, but Julius says, "You fight through the screen." He's visibly upset while AD takes an open triple. Next game, Randle with the ball this time passes to Rudy. Randle points to a wide-open Mike Conley in the corner, but Gobert stupidly tries a contested hook shot that misses. I think Julius is to blame for what happened in Toronto because it was weird not to obviously feed Rudy on a mismatch. I understand why Rudy pouted, but that was childish.
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For some reason, guys just don't like Rudy Gobert. He is the most disrespected player, not just by the media, but by other guys in the league, and it's got nothing to do with his COVID scandal where he touched all the microphones. This goes way beyond that. Shaq called him the worst player of all time; Draymond literally choked him and said he didn't regret it. People hate him because he's got near zero offensive game but has a max contract and four Defensive Player of the Year awards. Guys know he is going to the Hall of Fame someday, and they think, "But I'm better." How can a guy who fumbles almost every pass and cannot catch a lob get traded for five players and five first-round picks? Plus, there's something about his attitude. Two years ago, his own teammate, Kyle Anderson, got in his face; Rudy punched him. Like Kyle "Slow Mo" Anderson—not exactly known to be a trash talker. If he can't stand you, something's up. But this all goes away if the Timberwolves win.
So far, the chemistry on the court is an issue. Minnesota made the Conference Finals with two things: a decent offense but a dominant defense last year—the 17th offense but number one on D. This year, ninth offense, 14th defense. Is that why Randle resents Gobert? No. Rudy is actually good; everyone else is the problem. But I thought Karl-Anthony Towns was bad on D. He is, but at least they knew how to play team defense to hide KAT. Now Randle and Jaden McDaniels changes everything.
So why did they make the trade after the three seed? They were the ones to knock out the defending champion Nuggets in the playoffs. KAT regained his All-Star status after missing the year before. But the main reason is ownership. There is a fight right now over who owns this team, and we got a huge update recently. But with Ant making All-NBA, it's a $30 million pay raise. Gobert got an extension. Naz Reid… they couldn't afford KAT's money, plus dude just had a great year—perfect time to trade him. I mean, just look at Brandon Ingram; he wants a max, but no one wants to touch him because of the new CBA. You cannot have bad contracts anymore. So Minnesota figures, "Dude, this might be our only chance to deal KAT. If he regresses a little bit or gets injured yet again, we're stuck with him forever." So the Knicks came calling, offering Randle and Jaden McDaniels. They were like, "See ya!" That saved them $9 million in salary but $50 million in taxes. That is how the CBA punishes expensive teams. Now the Knicks have to deal with a 32-year-old KAT at some point making $61 million. Randle can just be a free agent off their books.
The new guys on the Wolves worked on paper, but in reality, it's not good. Now the two bright spots start with Rob Dillingham, who is the one player who consistently lifts this team off the bench. He's just 19 years old but put up 14 points in just 15 minutes against the Celtics' defense, which is top 10. He gives them a change of speed, and it'll be really cool to see him grow with Ant in the backcourt. And speaking of Ant, his rise is amazing. The kid has gone from a below-average three-point shooter to maybe the best in the league. Career average: two threes made per game on below-average efficiency; now taking 11 threes on 44%. No one is better.
For the rest of the team, Ant said the number one thing: "We just don't play hard. We came out and played hard against Boston. I mean, we make mistakes, but the reason we're able to overcome those mistakes is because we played hard the entire game." Why? Because after that long playoff run and the intensity of those fights, it's just hard to get up for a regular season game in November. But if the Wolves cannot get on the same page, what does that mean for the West? Last year, Minnesota grabbed the third seed, just one game behind OKC for first place. This year, OKC is still near the top, but with Golden State and Houston right there… yo, we thought someone was going to get knocked out with the Grizzlies' comeback, but the Rockets are in the mix. There are only eight playoff spots. The worst part of this is Wolves fans have had 20-plus miserable years waiting for a good team, and right when it happens… were they a fluke, like the Pacers making the Conference Finals last year? No, they felt so much more legitimate than that—no offense to the Pacers. No way; Ant is way too big a star, and they have great role players, but something isn't clicking.
I don't seriously think that the Wolves are going to miss the playoffs this year, but it must be tough when there's so much chaos at the top. We just got an update on who owns this team. Glen Taylor has owned them since 1994. He agreed to sell to Mark Lore and Alex Rodriguez three years ago at a $1.5 billion valuation. Then immediately, team prices went up; the Wolves are now valued at over $3 billion. So that was a mistake, and they're actually good for the first time in 20 years. So how does Taylor get out of this? A dirty trick. A-Rod and Lore agreed to buy the team in chunks: first payment, $600 million—good; second payment, $600 million—good; third payment on Adam Silver's desk for approval. When the time ran out, Taylor was like, "Oh, time's up; no more sale." That is such a cheap trick. So now they're going to go to a panel who will decide; everyone makes their case, and then case closed. It's happening in December, and it seems obvious what's going to happen, right? No. If Taylor wins, no sale. But if A-Rod and Lore win, it goes to the other 29 owners, and they need 23 of 29 owners to vote in their favor. Will they get the votes? Maybe not, because the other owners don't want that kind of crap to happen to them if they get in trouble. Honestly, I think the Wolves will be just fine.
Julius Randle has a history of acting out when things don't go his way, but just like the Mavericks, they are having a hard time competing after an exciting playoff run. But one guy who is in trouble right now is Tyrese Haliburton. Yes, he had a great game against the banged-up Pelicans the other night, but overall his season has been bad. A lot of people say it's a mystery, but actually, we know exactly what's going on with him.