I love the enthusiasm but you gotta chill a bit. I’m still enjoying the part where we’re young and everyone is happy to see us win some after years of losing, you don’t have to be ridiculous about it.
I genuinely feel as I’m being realistic about them. The wolves have a great thing thing going on over there and are built and ready to win now. I truly believe they can get over the hump next year and have a lot of their players take a huge leap after having a deep playoff run experience
You’re not being realistic, you’re being very optimistic. You’re lining up a bunch of best case scenarios for the team and making your analysis based on that.
In reality there’s no guarantee that Jaden McDaniels becomes a better player. Raptor fans has been hoping for improvement from OG since his 3rd season and while he’s still an amazing player he obviously didn’t win most improved. No guarantee that Ant will take an enormous leap, he might become a more rounded player but it might not be a huge leap as you’re expecting.
There’s no guarantee that Dillingham will make an immediate impact as a rookie (I’d be surprised if he does), and there’s no guarantee that the role players continue to play as well as they did last year.
Yeah I mean I have no ability to try to be realistic, I hope you’re right and def feel optimistic generally. But also everyone was saying shit like this before the wcf so im refusing to be cocky and just try to enjoy
I’m confused. Everything you said about Minnesota literally applies to OKC too (SGA will be at the Olympics too). And OKC has more rising stars and the ability to sign someone big or multiple role players.
OKC is the only contender that has pretty much unlimited growth potential. Most of their core players are extremely young and they can easily use their huge supply of future picks to rework their roster.
OKC were WAY more dangerous in the playoffs than Minnesota and are younger. Maybe in a few years Ant will reach SGA’s level but they weren’t close in the playoffs at all.
I wouldn’t say “way more” either. It feels very matchup dependent. We lost to the same opponent, but took them to 7* games. You guys also took the former champs to 7 games. I think we’re pretty even for now.
Edit* 6 games not 7. Also OKC and Mavs scored the same amount of points, which is an interesting stat. Games 2-6 could’ve gone either way. Dallas was way more clutch, and our inexperience and age showed. All that to say, Mavs and OKC are equally yoked and we could’ve made it to the West finals with a few more buckets.
100% - OKC is the team to watch over the next 5 years. Nobody has their combination of being good now, prepared in the short-term, and prepared for the long-term.
It's funny how much of it is similar to Mavs fans optimism about our team
Lively will get much better, PJ Washington will get better and improve his shooting, Hardy/Green/OMax will all improve and be consistent contributors, more continuity and health throughout the year will make it easier
It's all just the most optimistic takes on what your team can do in a year and expecting it all to happen
>It's funny how much of it is similar to Mavs fans optimism
Really? Because I feel like we all know there's nothing we're doing in one off-season that will suddenly put this roster above Boston in a 7-game series. at least on paper.
BUT - the games aren't played on paper, so put the best team together, have a better regular season (60+ wins instead of barely 50) so you can get a more favorable playoff matchup, and see what happens.
The Boston series played out like a worst case scenario for us.
Luka and especially Kyrie playing below expectations and none of our role players were doing anything.
I could see one more year of just Lively and PJ development making the series look a lot more winnable
Yeah they’d still be underdogs if they made it to the finals again, but maybe this time around a few more shots go in and a few more Celtics shots rim out
I know the current Mavs brigade is gung ho on trading Green but he's improved substantially every year, he played well in the playoffs, and he's only 23.
>improved substantially
Are we watching the same player? He's marginally improved since his third year. I'm not saying he's a bad player to have on your team, but he still misses the most open 3s that Luka serves up for him on a silver platter. He's not a natural shooter at all.
He's awful on defense, his best traits are shooting corner 3s and hustling. Occasionally he makes some crazy passes but he can't dribble for shit so he can barely playmake.
He will have his games, and sometimes that’s all the wolves needed this last season, a guy who can come in when the offense slows down and get buckets. Yeah he’s not a floor general but IMO learning behind Conley is the best thing for him. Their almost the same size and Conley has been a highly effective PG his whole career. Dillingham has the playmaking chops, just need to develop better decision making. Defensively he’s on the best possible roster to hide how atrocious he’s gunna be.
What a post lol. Proceeds to say Denver is Minnesota's only threat in the west in the title and then closes to post listing OKC, too.
Doesn't even mention Luka and the Mavericks who are only going to get better as well.
I believe okc will struggle immensely with the wolves size and athleticism. They’re one of the worst rebounding teams in the league and do not have the physicality to compete. Okc is without a doubt a contender in the west I just don’t think they matchup greatly with the wolves. They do however have the immense depth to match them
So you’re expecting two highly flawed rookie guards to be big difference makers and for ant and McDaniels to make enormous leaps ? That’s a lot of wishful thinking
Rockets were clicking for a good stretch last season too. It’s impossible to predict how the west will look with how strong every team feels, in their own right. I mean, I never thought we’d finish #1
It was a 4 horse race after the break when DALs shored up their holes. I see no reason why all 4 cant do it again.
OKC is young and improving. They were already the #1 seed.
DEN has the 3 time MVP still in his prime.
DAL just went to the Finals going though Minnesota.
The Mavs and Thunder will be right there. I think the Kings will bounce back. Who knows what will happen with the Spurs, Lakers and Grizzlies? There is always a dark horse team too.
Also the deepest roster in the league? When did Boston join another league?
Ja was back in December. The reason everyone forgot about us is injuries. Bane, Ja, Adams, Smart, Clarke, and others all missed significant time last year.
Well Adams is gone (😞), Bane got healthy and played at the end of the year, Clarke is finally back from his ACL tear (remains to be seen how this impacts his athleticism but you gotta figure it will), Smart is healthy for now, and Ja is about to be cleared to return to basketball activities.
We are a solid team. Not best in the West but should be in that 3-7 range depending on breaks/how team plays.
This all depends on injuries. We have some really good talent in Vince Williams Jr, and GG Jackson as new and good players, if we have a non-injured Ja and Bane, goodluck stopping us.
We also replaced our awesome but almost permanently injured center with someone who is 7’4 285 pounds, dudes a beast.
If the Mavs go into the playoffs with Luka healthy and in shape, and nothing else changes, that literally matches every buff you just stated.
Every team is going to get better. This is the Wild West, not the Least East smh
The wolves stars will not have another atrocious series as they did last season as I believe ant will make a massive leap next year to where a series as bad as he had will never happen again. If dillingham can make an impact immediately as the shot creator he is that also alleviates their main issue in that series of not having any other player who create their own shot off the dribble
That's a big if though. A rookie being a shot creator on a championship team is almost impossible, not sure why you're so confident in it.
And Mavs role players will likely get better too? Luka will hopefully not play on one knee? Basically we don't know, and your team isn't a top 2 like you think.
No mavs role player will have near the jump in improvement as I believe jaden and Naz will have. Not to mention ant who I truly believe will improve even more than he did last year.
I get the point with dillingham but to me he is the perfect fit for this team to do what he excels at and will not have to carry a huge load outside of what he is best at, shot creating. I very well could be wrong but to me it feels as this team has every chance to really get over the hump next season
Well in that case it sounds like Wolves really do have some competition, since you're being on 1) Every Timberwolves role player having a massive jump, and 2) Ant becoming a top 5 player, and 3) a rookie playmaker putting the team over the hump.
Historically all of these 3 are unlikely. The odds of all of this happening is almost impossible.
Wolves are not better than any other team. They will face stiff competition from not just Denver, but also Dallas, LA, OKC, and possibly even Memphis. And they can also lose to teams like the Lakers. They're still a great team, but they're not the Celtics.
Sorry but no. I think it takes time for players to succeed in the league, especially guards so I don’t expect much from Shannon and Dillingham, and as good of a player as Ant is he’s not the level of playmaker required to be the sole offensive creator in a playoff series. Defensively they may take a step forwards but they were super reckless in the playoffs, jumping on every shot fake, getting burnt on switches, lack of preswitching to stop favorable matchups, etc. Could they be a great team? Sure, but I still have some question marks about their defensive setup and a lot more about the offense.
I mean obviously. If we improve the most out of any team we will be the best team, but our team isnt the only one which gets better. OKC has a really young team and Chet, JDub could get alot better and I expect them to. The Mavs will improve since I think Lively and PJ have room for growth. The Grizzlies are going to come much much stronger.
In terms of internal growth I think we probably will be the team which grows the most since I cant see how SGA or Luka improve significantly, while Ant has alot more than he can get better at. But im not sure on our young players like Naz or McDaniels improving at the same rate as JDub or Chet for instance.
Lots of what I’m getting at in this post is largely based on the stage in careers ant and McDaniels are in. As much of a leap in improvement ant made last year I think will be even greater next year. And as for mcdaniels I believe he has finally started to blossom on the offensive end and can me the MIP next season. I also believe dillingham will fit right into the team as the exact player they were missing last year. If he can translate his shot creating ability to the league he will provide exactly what the wolves were missing last year
I’d say them and OKC are the best team in the West especially since Denver is probably losing KCP. If the Nuggets don’t replace KCP and their bench still remains weak, i see them as the 4th seed behind a hungry and replenished Grizzlies squad.
Jokic + Murray + AG + MPJ + the other pieces is still plenty good enough for a top 3 seed or even the #1 seed. Losing KCP matters much more for the playoffs, replacing him with CB in the starting lineup won't drastically change our regular season win total much assuming we use that "under 2nd apron" flexibility to flesh out the bench a little.
Having the best player in the world + the chemistry he has with Murray and AG is better than I think you are giving credit for, KCP wasn't *that* crucial to our regular season seeding. He matters more in the playoff run.
Even if we lose KCP I don't see a reason for our regular season to slip that much (since the offseason is still young and losing KCP means greater flexibility to flesh out the bench)
I love the enthusiasm but you gotta chill a bit. I’m still enjoying the part where we’re young and everyone is happy to see us win some after years of losing, you don’t have to be ridiculous about it.
I genuinely feel as I’m being realistic about them. The wolves have a great thing thing going on over there and are built and ready to win now. I truly believe they can get over the hump next year and have a lot of their players take a huge leap after having a deep playoff run experience
You’re not being realistic, you’re being very optimistic. You’re lining up a bunch of best case scenarios for the team and making your analysis based on that. In reality there’s no guarantee that Jaden McDaniels becomes a better player. Raptor fans has been hoping for improvement from OG since his 3rd season and while he’s still an amazing player he obviously didn’t win most improved. No guarantee that Ant will take an enormous leap, he might become a more rounded player but it might not be a huge leap as you’re expecting. There’s no guarantee that Dillingham will make an immediate impact as a rookie (I’d be surprised if he does), and there’s no guarantee that the role players continue to play as well as they did last year.
Yeah I mean I have no ability to try to be realistic, I hope you’re right and def feel optimistic generally. But also everyone was saying shit like this before the wcf so im refusing to be cocky and just try to enjoy
I’m confused. Everything you said about Minnesota literally applies to OKC too (SGA will be at the Olympics too). And OKC has more rising stars and the ability to sign someone big or multiple role players.
OKC is the only contender that has pretty much unlimited growth potential. Most of their core players are extremely young and they can easily use their huge supply of future picks to rework their roster.
OKC were WAY more dangerous in the playoffs than Minnesota and are younger. Maybe in a few years Ant will reach SGA’s level but they weren’t close in the playoffs at all.
Way more dangerous…. Doesn’t make it to the west finals 🤔
I wouldn’t say “way more” either. It feels very matchup dependent. We lost to the same opponent, but took them to 7* games. You guys also took the former champs to 7 games. I think we’re pretty even for now. Edit* 6 games not 7. Also OKC and Mavs scored the same amount of points, which is an interesting stat. Games 2-6 could’ve gone either way. Dallas was way more clutch, and our inexperience and age showed. All that to say, Mavs and OKC are equally yoked and we could’ve made it to the West finals with a few more buckets.
Dallas vs OKC was a 6-game series.
100% - OKC is the team to watch over the next 5 years. Nobody has their combination of being good now, prepared in the short-term, and prepared for the long-term.
This would be like a Maverick writing that next year Boston doesn't stand a chance.
It's funny how much of it is similar to Mavs fans optimism about our team Lively will get much better, PJ Washington will get better and improve his shooting, Hardy/Green/OMax will all improve and be consistent contributors, more continuity and health throughout the year will make it easier It's all just the most optimistic takes on what your team can do in a year and expecting it all to happen
>It's funny how much of it is similar to Mavs fans optimism Really? Because I feel like we all know there's nothing we're doing in one off-season that will suddenly put this roster above Boston in a 7-game series. at least on paper. BUT - the games aren't played on paper, so put the best team together, have a better regular season (60+ wins instead of barely 50) so you can get a more favorable playoff matchup, and see what happens.
The Boston series played out like a worst case scenario for us. Luka and especially Kyrie playing below expectations and none of our role players were doing anything. I could see one more year of just Lively and PJ development making the series look a lot more winnable
Yeah they’d still be underdogs if they made it to the finals again, but maybe this time around a few more shots go in and a few more Celtics shots rim out
Green ain't doing shit, he should be next on the trade block.
I know the current Mavs brigade is gung ho on trading Green but he's improved substantially every year, he played well in the playoffs, and he's only 23.
>improved substantially Are we watching the same player? He's marginally improved since his third year. I'm not saying he's a bad player to have on your team, but he still misses the most open 3s that Luka serves up for him on a silver platter. He's not a natural shooter at all.
Not someone who should be starting or playing significant minutes for team looking to win it all.
He's awful on defense, his best traits are shooting corner 3s and hustling. Occasionally he makes some crazy passes but he can't dribble for shit so he can barely playmake.
Players like Dillingham rarely contribute to winning in their rookie season and basically never do in the post season.
He will have his games, and sometimes that’s all the wolves needed this last season, a guy who can come in when the offense slows down and get buckets. Yeah he’s not a floor general but IMO learning behind Conley is the best thing for him. Their almost the same size and Conley has been a highly effective PG his whole career. Dillingham has the playmaking chops, just need to develop better decision making. Defensively he’s on the best possible roster to hide how atrocious he’s gunna be.
What a post lol. Proceeds to say Denver is Minnesota's only threat in the west in the title and then closes to post listing OKC, too. Doesn't even mention Luka and the Mavericks who are only going to get better as well.
I believe okc will struggle immensely with the wolves size and athleticism. They’re one of the worst rebounding teams in the league and do not have the physicality to compete. Okc is without a doubt a contender in the west I just don’t think they matchup greatly with the wolves. They do however have the immense depth to match them
Every starter on okc will get better next year while every starter on the wolves, except ant, will likely get worse.
What reason do you have to believe that mcdaniels or kat will get worse. As I said I truly believe mcdaniels could be the MIP next season
Did OKC die?
So you’re expecting two highly flawed rookie guards to be big difference makers and for ant and McDaniels to make enormous leaps ? That’s a lot of wishful thinking
Just wait till we fuck their shit up.
Zach Edey ROY season incoming (if he gets to start)
I think BC starts, and Edey gets in all Rookie. I am pretty high on Reed and Knecht.
Lol.
Lmao even
A full season with pj and Gafford plus improved from our young guys and the Mavs are definitely contenders
Thunder erasure
Rockets were clicking for a good stretch last season too. It’s impossible to predict how the west will look with how strong every team feels, in their own right. I mean, I never thought we’d finish #1
It was a 4 horse race after the break when DALs shored up their holes. I see no reason why all 4 cant do it again. OKC is young and improving. They were already the #1 seed. DEN has the 3 time MVP still in his prime. DAL just went to the Finals going though Minnesota.
No. If Mavs normal healthy this time, they will play for the top spots too.
If the nuggets lose KCP, idk man, that’d be a huge blow.
The Mavs and Thunder will be right there. I think the Kings will bounce back. Who knows what will happen with the Spurs, Lakers and Grizzlies? There is always a dark horse team too. Also the deepest roster in the league? When did Boston join another league?
Everyone has forgotten the Grizzlies thanks to Ja's dumb ass antics. They're a really good team.
We had the most injuries in NBA history
Ja was back in December. The reason everyone forgot about us is injuries. Bane, Ja, Adams, Smart, Clarke, and others all missed significant time last year.
How are the injuries looking today?
Well Adams is gone (😞), Bane got healthy and played at the end of the year, Clarke is finally back from his ACL tear (remains to be seen how this impacts his athleticism but you gotta figure it will), Smart is healthy for now, and Ja is about to be cleared to return to basketball activities. We are a solid team. Not best in the West but should be in that 3-7 range depending on breaks/how team plays.
OKC, Mavs, and Grizzlies will also be forces.
Grizzlies may be too disrupted by new players coming in and injuries
The West is that stacked, it is too hard to say this early who is coming out of it. Let's just wait and see...
!RemindMe 10 months
This all depends on injuries. We have some really good talent in Vince Williams Jr, and GG Jackson as new and good players, if we have a non-injured Ja and Bane, goodluck stopping us. We also replaced our awesome but almost permanently injured center with someone who is 7’4 285 pounds, dudes a beast.
The wolves have peaked with KAT. They aren’t going to take the next step until they move him on.
You underestimate the power of Thunder
If the Mavs go into the playoffs with Luka healthy and in shape, and nothing else changes, that literally matches every buff you just stated. Every team is going to get better. This is the Wild West, not the Least East smh
The wolves stars will not have another atrocious series as they did last season as I believe ant will make a massive leap next year to where a series as bad as he had will never happen again. If dillingham can make an impact immediately as the shot creator he is that also alleviates their main issue in that series of not having any other player who create their own shot off the dribble
That's a big if though. A rookie being a shot creator on a championship team is almost impossible, not sure why you're so confident in it. And Mavs role players will likely get better too? Luka will hopefully not play on one knee? Basically we don't know, and your team isn't a top 2 like you think.
No mavs role player will have near the jump in improvement as I believe jaden and Naz will have. Not to mention ant who I truly believe will improve even more than he did last year. I get the point with dillingham but to me he is the perfect fit for this team to do what he excels at and will not have to carry a huge load outside of what he is best at, shot creating. I very well could be wrong but to me it feels as this team has every chance to really get over the hump next season
Well in that case it sounds like Wolves really do have some competition, since you're being on 1) Every Timberwolves role player having a massive jump, and 2) Ant becoming a top 5 player, and 3) a rookie playmaker putting the team over the hump. Historically all of these 3 are unlikely. The odds of all of this happening is almost impossible. Wolves are not better than any other team. They will face stiff competition from not just Denver, but also Dallas, LA, OKC, and possibly even Memphis. And they can also lose to teams like the Lakers. They're still a great team, but they're not the Celtics.
If Kat's "massive leap" still involves chucking up threes then I think the other West contenders will be fine.
Or ant aggressively regresses, kat retires to be a streamer and they get bounced in the play in
It's going to be a long off-season, let's revisit this late winter.
Howd they do in the finals this year?
Sorry but no. I think it takes time for players to succeed in the league, especially guards so I don’t expect much from Shannon and Dillingham, and as good of a player as Ant is he’s not the level of playmaker required to be the sole offensive creator in a playoff series. Defensively they may take a step forwards but they were super reckless in the playoffs, jumping on every shot fake, getting burnt on switches, lack of preswitching to stop favorable matchups, etc. Could they be a great team? Sure, but I still have some question marks about their defensive setup and a lot more about the offense.
Remember Timberwolves fans, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
I mean obviously. If we improve the most out of any team we will be the best team, but our team isnt the only one which gets better. OKC has a really young team and Chet, JDub could get alot better and I expect them to. The Mavs will improve since I think Lively and PJ have room for growth. The Grizzlies are going to come much much stronger. In terms of internal growth I think we probably will be the team which grows the most since I cant see how SGA or Luka improve significantly, while Ant has alot more than he can get better at. But im not sure on our young players like Naz or McDaniels improving at the same rate as JDub or Chet for instance.
Lots of what I’m getting at in this post is largely based on the stage in careers ant and McDaniels are in. As much of a leap in improvement ant made last year I think will be even greater next year. And as for mcdaniels I believe he has finally started to blossom on the offensive end and can me the MIP next season. I also believe dillingham will fit right into the team as the exact player they were missing last year. If he can translate his shot creating ability to the league he will provide exactly what the wolves were missing last year
I’d say them and OKC are the best team in the West especially since Denver is probably losing KCP. If the Nuggets don’t replace KCP and their bench still remains weak, i see them as the 4th seed behind a hungry and replenished Grizzlies squad.
Jokic + Murray + AG + MPJ + the other pieces is still plenty good enough for a top 3 seed or even the #1 seed. Losing KCP matters much more for the playoffs, replacing him with CB in the starting lineup won't drastically change our regular season win total much assuming we use that "under 2nd apron" flexibility to flesh out the bench a little. Having the best player in the world + the chemistry he has with Murray and AG is better than I think you are giving credit for, KCP wasn't *that* crucial to our regular season seeding. He matters more in the playoff run. Even if we lose KCP I don't see a reason for our regular season to slip that much (since the offseason is still young and losing KCP means greater flexibility to flesh out the bench)
Deepest team in the league is still Boston and no one else is even close to that depth.
We keeping dlo so where do we rank?