[Windhorst] “Ant just hit the SuperMax. Towns is on a $250m extension. Gobert is eligible for an extension. McDaniels just signed for $130m. Glen Taylor would have to pay more Luxury Tax next season than all previous seasons combined, probably double. Can they afford to keep this team together?”
by AashyLarry
45 Comments
Not only Glen Taylor. As minority owners A-Rod and his partner are on the hook for 40% of that tax money, too. If they can’t afford to pay, they lose equity.
KAT makes the most sense to move with the emergence of Naz Reid
Is it valid for me to say that Ant and KAT are just too dumb on the court to ever win it all
McDaniels got fried by Luka, the sad truth. Not a patch on what Dort did to him. He got in front of him far too easy in the PnR leading to easy buckets either in the midrange or the lob over Gobert.
I suspect KAT could be sacrificed, but he was the only one who could check Jokic, the one who makes two bigs viable in the modern NBA and also their #1 pick. He’s still an all star level player too.
The halfcourt offense was the problem all year. You’d probably be seeking a Conley replacement as he isn’t that valuable to the defense if you wanted to make any changes. But who? They tried Russell and it was ass
Trade Towns, Naz Reid has ascended
I say the Wolves should trade everyone and tank until the 2028 – 2029 season
It’s definitely far more possible than people realize that this is the best team they have
Yes Ant is young but the supporting cast was extremely important to getting as far as they did and it won’t be easy to keep that together as this post mentions
They’re definitely making big moves. Taylor-GANG is infamously cheap. Plus the other minority owners are some of the poorest in the league.
According to Windy, Gobert is also eligible for an extension this summer.
No idea what’s going on behind the scenes but that’s a definite no in my book, so does that mean Gobert is gone too? Cause I’m assuming he’d want his money but who’d give it to him?
On top of all the luxury tax talk as well.
And agreed, I’d look to maximize what I could get for KAT, he’s good but not 35 million+ (13 million on top of that due to criteria met this season too) good.
For that amount of money, better to spread it around and either get a better #2 or a few good players.
The answer to every “Can this billionaire afford X?”-question is always yes.
KAT making 50 million a year is not ideal for the Timberwolves to say the least. At least from a basketball perspective if they do trade KAT they have Naz Reid to fall back on who is like a poor mans Towns making way less money.
They probably run it back to start the season and see where they sit at the deadline before doing anything crazy. I don’t think you can underestimate the confidence boost that a playoff run like they just had can have on a young core
KAT truly does make the most sense to move but I would be so sad
Trade Gobert
Windy stealing Shams flow with the kiss of death article and turning it to a kiss of death death video.
If ant’s the second coming of Jordan and Kobe then he either needs a great perimeter player with him or a great big man if he wants to win titles.
Edit: you can’t have 2 bigs making that much money together with ant. Pair him up with another great player, maybe not now maybe down the line, he’s still 22. But the path the other 2 took was 2 man game with great role players. KAT just ain’t it for me as a sidekick to win a ring
Even if they can afford the tax, the second apron is projected around $190 million, and they’re already on the books for roughly $185. There’s gonna have to be some tough decisions unless they truly believe all this squad needs is another year and are willing to take the financial and competitive penalties that come with that second apron
I’d take Kat we have the cap space but have nothing Minnesota wants
Probably not. I have no idea what they’re going to do, but we know this: Gobert changed the culture, so I can’t see them getting rid of him unless they think he’s going to drop off next season and want to sell high. Ant is untouchable, obviously, since he’s already being compared to MJ at age 22 and clearly still ascending. Naz Reid is only 24 years old and he was low key one of the most important players on the team on both ends of the floor *coming off the bench*. Jaden McDaniels is only 23 and showed that he is a great defensive-minded player who can turn it up offensively from time to time. Mike Conely is old, but he’s not expensive, and he’s very consistent and good for the locker room.
I hate to say it… I think they might seriously consider trading KAT. He eats up the most salary, he’s not consistent in the playoffs, he turns 29 this year, and even though he improved his core strength and focus during the season, he’s still prone to dumb fouls that disrupt everything. His stats took a big dip this year, but not because he got worse or anything, he was actually an incredibly vital piece of the puzzle. He moved laterally this season in a way I’ve never seen, and he held his own against reigning MVP’s in the palyoffs. Dude is currently the best version of himself, and I think other teams have noticed, and probably view him as a potential missing piece. I would not be surprised if some team offered a package that is too good to refuse this season. Imagine him on the Lakers in a similar role he had with MN. AD would be Gobert, only he’d actually be able to stretch the floor. The Lakers would be extremely dangerous with KAT. But that would almost certainly require a three-team trade because the Lakers don’t have anyone (that they’d be willing to part with straight up) or enough assets. The league is filled with talented teams on the cusp, so anything could happen.
Glen gonna be the one who has to pay tax & he’s losing that case. No way that scumbag pays.
You either go for it and get fucked. Go for it Glen make people like you again.
the meta now is split big contract with shitty expiring player + good player (not as good as your big salary guy) but half the salary. boom you out of 2nd apron lol
So Glen Taylor really isn’t selling this team, huh? Haha fuck you A-Rod
Bench ate the Janitors and Admins.
They can run it back one year. Then I’d say move on from KAT and Gobert.
Keep the young trio of Ant, Jaden McDaniels, and Reid.
They started that shitstorm a bit early, let me guess Windhorst, maybe Ant can be traded to Lakers for a bag of chips and some cucumbers? That fits you? is this enough?
Rudy isn’t getting a massive deal anymore
The new NBA baby, the CBA made it to where you’re only going to be able to pay for really 2 high end players, and the rest with guys maybe willing to take a little less for a shot at a title. If you’re paying high end for 3 players, it could be a detriment for the rest of the team
Edit: the other thing being, if you draft really well consistently, your role players become cheaper because they’re on their rookie contracts. That will benefit teams in the long run now in days as well
Honestly I feel like the wolves got a solid result going all in with this core for all the ridicule they received. No doubt they’re in a tough financial position though and i doubt Taylor is just gonna suddenly start paying
i mean .. no? the new CBA says hard no unless they wanna be the Suns
ESPN: Who should they trade to the Lakers for peanuts?
DO THE WOLVES NEED TO MAKE DRAMATIC CHANGES???
I mean if you need to offload Ant we have the cap space 😉
Damn, Denver series, everyone was saying how Minnesotas big 3 were so good.. now Gobert is a liability, KAT is a bum, Ant is more Bill Wennington than MJ
Trade Towns for Dejounte Murray & DeAndre Hunter
This type of money is crazy. Guess those seats gonna cost more
Getting to the 3rd round costs money. Can’t be cheap if you want to win. And winning teams get more from tickets, merchandise, etc. They should keep the team together.
Kat is coming off the best all around season of his career and 4/7 of their top players haven’t entered their prime (NAW is 25 but he’s coming off by far the best season of his career so I’m assuming he hasn’t hit his prime). They just made the wcf after being together for a season and a half. There’s no way people think they should break it up. Glen Taylor has gone decades of paying little to no luxury tax if the old bastard doesn’t start paying it now wolves fans should boycott.
Break the team up. They couldn’t even get it done. So inconsistent.
One thing that confuses me about the new tax rules is that we’re already in the most competitive era the NBA has ever had. Conferences are 10 teams deep with contenders, and someone new wins the title every year. Was any of this even necessary?
After seeing the panel fielding the question, I no longer care.
Call me crazy but wouldn’t he kind of make sense on the thunder
They could probably dump gobert on Detroit or some other team with low salary and no hopes
But then the floor would wall out and they would quickly become a bad team.
Hopefully Kat likes Atlanta strip clubs
Kat would make the most sense to trade and get the most value in return. Ant is untouchable. Gobert, turning 32, a liability. Probably won’t get much return for him. Definitely not worth all the capital Minnesota gave up lol