Quote:
Originally Posted by onedollaratatime
Even with how they are playing, this still can be true.
Its not. Ainge got fleeced by Connelly in both trades he made with us.
In the deal for Rudy, we gave up a bunch of pennies, nickles and dimes for a dollar. Yeah, maybe one of the later 1st round picks (lottery tickets) will strike gold, but its far more likely that all those picks will be in the 20s and lower, and Kessler is a nice player, but he is not that good. The other players we gave up would probably not even be in the rotation on this Wolves team right now.
Gobert should be a legit MVP candidate. The dude is a monster. He's clearly the best defensive player in the game and its not close this season. He's for sure the team's MVP right now, and this is the best team in the NBA right now.
I love the new fake stat that someone (maybe Sean Grady?) made up - "never minds". Some player on the other team beats his man off the dribble and heads towards the lane, only to see Gobert there. The guy almost always sees that and thinks, "never mind", then he backs out or passes to someone else. If those guys try to shoot, it almost always either gets blocked or is way off target. Stats don't show when that happens. Gobert just bends the offense of the opponent in ways that no one else can. Size matters, as shown by his 7' 9" wing span, and he also has quick feet and a high BBIQ.
I am having a lot of fun watching the Wolves just destroy other teams offenses lately. We probably need Big Mac and ANT to come back healthy if we are going to go far in the playoffs. But right, even without them, it just feels like we are a much better team than whoever we play lately.
Fun stat: The Wolves have 5 players in the top 19 in the NBA in
defensive win shares. And #12 ANT has missed almost 4 games due to injury, and our 2nd best defensive player, Big Mac, is not on the list because he has missed most of the season so far due to injuries. Here's the list in order:
Rudy!
Anthony Davis
KAT! - "tOwNs DoEsN't PlAy DeFeNsE derp derp!!"
Mobley
Barnes
James
Tatum
SGA
Holmgren
Banchero
George
ANT! (despite missing significant time due to injury)
Jokic
M Robinson
K Leonard
F Wagner
Senguin
Mike Conley!
Kyle Anderson!
Connelly anticipated the end of the LeBron and Curry era and the rise of the Jokic era, and he has quickly built the Wolves into Jokic's kryptonite.
I knew the Wolves had a legit shot to be very good this season, but they are exceeding my expectations. I was in Vegas last August. I looked around at futures odds. Circa has the best odds anywhere. I got the Wolves at 42.5-1 to win the Western Conference, and 85-1 to win the NBA title.
This team is so fun! GO WOLVES!!
