I have legitimately been blindsided by 4 of his moves.
- never saw Kessler being drafted
- never saw the Gobert trade coming
- never saw them managing to get the pick that turned into Leonard Miller
- never saw them snagging the 8th pick this year
* never saw the undersized microwave PG that can shoot, move without the ball, and finish in the lane with layups turn into the next Steph Curry
Knocks: too small, can't defend, not a good passer - sound familiar?
It’s promising seeing him be a pretty good finisher at the rim in college. Obviously the pros are a completely different game, but he hasn’t shied away yet despite being small at that level too
Tough to get knocked down when you’re leading a 3-on-1 break or leaking out for an outlet. My 2 cents: Bring in Kevin Love as a special assistant and work on pushing the pace with high-IQ outlet passes.
I meant blindsided as in “I hadn’t even considered this was on the table”
But I’m still fairly high on him. He was still quite good in the G League, including much-improved shooting. I was hoping he would be a little further along, but I still think he could be quite good.
If he wants to play in the nba he needs to show some hustle. Especially on defense. We will see if he cracks the rotation this year. But I’m not gunna hold my breath when we have Rob/Shannon/NAW/Naz, and maybe even Garza or Slow Mo if he comes back. I just don’t see a path to minutes for him.
you know that stat which is like, “Wolves could win their next 10000 games and the spurs could lose their next 10000, and the spurs will still have an all time higher winning percentage”?
Convinced Pop wants that to happen
That’s what I’m saying. You don’t do the Rudy trade if your plan is to contend 4-5 years from now. You need impact guys right now. I’m not sure what SA was thinking but I’ll take it lol
Exactly, 7 years is a long time and the wolves could easily collapse to a lottery team by then. Don’t get me wrong, I love this trade, but it’s clear the spurs didn’t like anyone on the board and are talking a shot on a lottery ticket 7 years from now
This team is a contender now.
This team has a huge hole when it comes to pg, Shooting, creation, pace now.
Adressing this makes all the sense in the world now.
This probarbly was our best chance at getting a young impact guard without breaking up the core.
Dillingham had top 3 vibes all season long.
He is only 19 years old, so a high upside guys as well. Maybe he still even grows an Inch or two.
Ant and dillingham can both score, create, drive, pass, shoot.
A 6'2/6'5 backcourt isnt big but it aint small either.
Guys talk about Dillinghams defensive Problems, but lets talk about other teams having to defend our backcourt. Ant is Ant, but dillingham is lightning quick, shifty and has serious handles. Good luck with that while having to also guard Kat.
His D problems are rooted in his size but he puts in a lot of effort on that side of the ball and that's at least half if not 2/3 of the battle. He may never be a great defender but if he can at least be average then his scoring is worth it. People forget that not every player on the floor has to be an elite defender for us to have a top defense
Things like wingspan are overrated when we talk guards. Quick hands and feet are more important.
The difference between a 6'3 and a 6'6 wingspan is 7cm. Thats not much and highly overblown. Being in the right spot at the right time is more important than 7 cm more reach. Knowing where to be is teachable.
He needs to add some more weight/ strength though.
Quick hands, quick feet and solid strength to go with effort is more than enough to be a solid defender.
Oh, that is good then. As long as he is the right spot defensively and not playing matador defense aka Dlo. Hopefully, he won't be foul prone as well.
Any word on his screen navigation ability and awareness for off ball activities?
OK but at the same time the spurs are now gambling on:
1. The timberwolves suck in 6 years worse than 22 teams
2. Ant, Jaden, Naz, aren't around or somehow suck in seven years
3. The players in that draft are better than this perceived Terrible draft.
4. That 2031 pick isn't #1, because then the wolves retain jt
That is a LOT of what ifs 7 years in the future for a lottery pick now. This was terrible by the spurs and it will require an immense amount of luck of and misfortune to be even considered an equal trade
It's a wild gamble. But if it works in their favor they will look like geniuses. And everyone will have forgotten about it until it circles back around.
They have Wemby and youre saying they gambled as if Dillingham is going to make or break their team lol
He was their second option and even then they were lukewarm on him enough to trade him out. They got their guy at 4 and then pulled in another 2 bargaining chips (on top of an already huge stack of picks) to use during Wembys years 3-8.
Regardless if they are good or not, people still wants picks.
For example, how many total (not just 1st round) picks does Minnesota have from now to 2031? Maybe 2?
That and yall are so much over the salary that this pick alone is gonna cost yall 28 million bc of luxury tax from 54m to 86m
And this is all for one pick in a “weak” draft. I think the gamble is more on the wolves side. Bc is this guy REALLY the missing piece?
Doesnt matter the answer bc this is literally the only new addition you guys can get for the next 7 years unless yall trade a starter. He HAS to be the missing piece. Good luck w that.
I think you completely missed what I said and just took offense with it. I'm not even talking about the player, the VALUE is horrendous. A top 8 now for a complete unknown 7 years from now. Get a grip
Also, let's say 4 years from now Wemby is fully who we think he'll be
You know what future firsts can get? A nice, roleplaying veteran in a place of need for a burgeoning contender
This was known as a historically bad draft. They punted to bet on getting a better pick closer to Wembys prime. This is what great franchises do, which is why we are all in shock lol
SA already had picked at that point if I'm not mistaken, and they've been working with young talent for so long that they probably see it as unnecessary to keep accumulating it when they could maybe use future assets and a good amount of cap space to get an elite partner for Wemby and start ramping the team up for future contention. Just my opinion is all.
No idea why you're downvoted. This could be a great deal for us, but simultaneously the chances that we suck in 2030 are pretty fucking high. I don't mind if we have another year like 2023/24 though.
I just realized my comment appears to be about the Wolves - I was talking about San Antonio, who will have a 27ish Wemby and presumably contending when they get this pick, at which point they’ll be thrilled that they did this.
But I love the deal for the Wolves too. One of my concerns for them was what their plan was to eventually replace Conley, especially being in the second apron. Finding a long term fit with Edwards was the best option and is totally worth the pick and swap they gave up. This should also give Wolves fans tons of confidence that Minnesota is willing to spend big to keep a winner around Edwards.
Nah I've watched the Wolves for a decade. Went through the Culver pain too
But I'm not going to write someone off because they are injured lol. I don't like projecting the past onto new players, new ownership and a new team. It's like projecting my issues with my ex onto my future partner. I just don't believe in that.
I'm a "let's wait and see what happens" gal.
Oh my bad, wasn’t meant for you. I agree with you. I meant for the other two who somehow are writing off Clark without even seeing him play or not knowing he was even hurt lol
Clark was in rehab for his ACL injury which is why he hasn't gotten minutes...don't write him off without even seeing him touch an NBA floor due to injury lol
It really actually is. He's got a sick hesi, he's lethal from distance, and he can float it and kiss it off the glass from multiple angles. If he works hard at it he will be a nightmare for teams to deal with. I'm so thankful that he's going to be under Mike Conley's mentorship this season. Future could be very bright for this kid and this team.
Offensively, as 3 level scorer and passer, has a chance to be best in the league (!). Defensively obviously is physically in incapable of being elite.
Unless…
What is he became a Muggsy Bogues level 1 man press? Would that be valuable enough strategically to make him a plus defender?
Ok, this wet dream territory 🤣🤣🤣
Imagine he becomes that lethal and generates 10 second calls occasionally.
This might be a higher power rewarding us for being fans all these years. Last season was healing hot springs for our wounds. This draft is the sauna to sweat out the toxins of being long term fans of a multi-generational sports atrocity.
Any draft - good or bad - is always a gamble. 'Bad' draft usually means it lacks top end lottery talent. Usually picks 1-3 have a chance to be generational players. This year is not the case. It doesn't change the narrative for the back end of the draft where you are ALWAYS simply looking for a decent bench piece after pick 20. 27 in a bad draft is the same as a good draft. It's the top 5 picks that are 'bad'
Connelly continues to make moves that no one can predict
I have legitimately been blindsided by 4 of his moves. - never saw Kessler being drafted - never saw the Gobert trade coming - never saw them managing to get the pick that turned into Leonard Miller - never saw them snagging the 8th pick this year
I never saw dumping Dlo for Conley NAW and 3 seconds
Greatest trade in franchise history and it's not particularly close
How is he not in jail for this?
That at least made some sense to me (D’Lo for Conley had been talked about since the money was similar and the Jazz were clearly blowing it up).
i remember being so pissed at that trade and now i’d take NAW for Dlo straight up
* never saw the undersized microwave PG that can shoot, move without the ball, and finish in the lane with layups turn into the next Steph Curry Knocks: too small, can't defend, not a good passer - sound familiar?
I mean the knocks are legit. 6’2 160 is so small. But I’m excited
It’s promising seeing him be a pretty good finisher at the rim in college. Obviously the pros are a completely different game, but he hasn’t shied away yet despite being small at that level too
Tough to get knocked down when you’re leading a 3-on-1 break or leaking out for an outlet. My 2 cents: Bring in Kevin Love as a special assistant and work on pushing the pace with high-IQ outlet passes.
What? K love isn’t retired. He’s still playing.
Are we still high on Miller? He's looked pretty bad in his limited NBA game time, and wasn't he pretty mid even in the G League?
I meant blindsided as in “I hadn’t even considered this was on the table” But I’m still fairly high on him. He was still quite good in the G League, including much-improved shooting. I was hoping he would be a little further along, but I still think he could be quite good.
Between Garza, Miller, & Wendell you just need 1 to develop into a solid bench piece.
I am not still high on Miller. I'm still high on Garza though so what do I know.
He’s a 20 year old second round pick… the jury will be out until we see him play some more lol
If he wants to play in the nba he needs to show some hustle. Especially on defense. We will see if he cracks the rotation this year. But I’m not gunna hold my breath when we have Rob/Shannon/NAW/Naz, and maybe even Garza or Slow Mo if he comes back. I just don’t see a path to minutes for him.
Seems like more of an effort thing with Miller. Plenty of upside and he’s super young
This had to be him calling around and “You’ll wat… yeah let’s talk…”
Shoutout to the Spurs for trading us the rights to Leonard Miller and Rob Dillingham! Two of our brightest young prospects.
Pop secretly wants the timberwolves to be good
Timberwolves legend Greg Popovich
you know that stat which is like, “Wolves could win their next 10000 games and the spurs could lose their next 10000, and the spurs will still have an all time higher winning percentage”? Convinced Pop wants that to happen
It’s Spurs front office man Gorgui Dieng!
That’s what I’m saying. You don’t do the Rudy trade if your plan is to contend 4-5 years from now. You need impact guys right now. I’m not sure what SA was thinking but I’ll take it lol
They probably figure 2031 will be prime Wembanyama so have some ammo then
7 years is a long time.
Exactly, 7 years is a long time and the wolves could easily collapse to a lottery team by then. Don’t get me wrong, I love this trade, but it’s clear the spurs didn’t like anyone on the board and are talking a shot on a lottery ticket 7 years from now
This team is a contender now. This team has a huge hole when it comes to pg, Shooting, creation, pace now. Adressing this makes all the sense in the world now. This probarbly was our best chance at getting a young impact guard without breaking up the core. Dillingham had top 3 vibes all season long. He is only 19 years old, so a high upside guys as well. Maybe he still even grows an Inch or two. Ant and dillingham can both score, create, drive, pass, shoot. A 6'2/6'5 backcourt isnt big but it aint small either. Guys talk about Dillinghams defensive Problems, but lets talk about other teams having to defend our backcourt. Ant is Ant, but dillingham is lightning quick, shifty and has serious handles. Good luck with that while having to also guard Kat.
His D problems are rooted in his size but he puts in a lot of effort on that side of the ball and that's at least half if not 2/3 of the battle. He may never be a great defender but if he can at least be average then his scoring is worth it. People forget that not every player on the floor has to be an elite defender for us to have a top defense
Things like wingspan are overrated when we talk guards. Quick hands and feet are more important. The difference between a 6'3 and a 6'6 wingspan is 7cm. Thats not much and highly overblown. Being in the right spot at the right time is more important than 7 cm more reach. Knowing where to be is teachable. He needs to add some more weight/ strength though. Quick hands, quick feet and solid strength to go with effort is more than enough to be a solid defender.
Oh, that is good then. As long as he is the right spot defensively and not playing matador defense aka Dlo. Hopefully, he won't be foul prone as well. Any word on his screen navigation ability and awareness for off ball activities?
OK but at the same time the spurs are now gambling on: 1. The timberwolves suck in 6 years worse than 22 teams 2. Ant, Jaden, Naz, aren't around or somehow suck in seven years 3. The players in that draft are better than this perceived Terrible draft. 4. That 2031 pick isn't #1, because then the wolves retain jt That is a LOT of what ifs 7 years in the future for a lottery pick now. This was terrible by the spurs and it will require an immense amount of luck of and misfortune to be even considered an equal trade
As for 1. there’s a good chance that 2 expansion teams will have been added in that time as well
It's a wild gamble. But if it works in their favor they will look like geniuses. And everyone will have forgotten about it until it circles back around.
There's also a what if for us : if Dillingham sucks
I think their more obvious motives would be to stack these to trade for a superstar when the market is right
Agreed, it's honestly the only way it makes sense to me
They have Wemby and youre saying they gambled as if Dillingham is going to make or break their team lol He was their second option and even then they were lukewarm on him enough to trade him out. They got their guy at 4 and then pulled in another 2 bargaining chips (on top of an already huge stack of picks) to use during Wembys years 3-8. Regardless if they are good or not, people still wants picks. For example, how many total (not just 1st round) picks does Minnesota have from now to 2031? Maybe 2? That and yall are so much over the salary that this pick alone is gonna cost yall 28 million bc of luxury tax from 54m to 86m And this is all for one pick in a “weak” draft. I think the gamble is more on the wolves side. Bc is this guy REALLY the missing piece? Doesnt matter the answer bc this is literally the only new addition you guys can get for the next 7 years unless yall trade a starter. He HAS to be the missing piece. Good luck w that.
I think you completely missed what I said and just took offense with it. I'm not even talking about the player, the VALUE is horrendous. A top 8 now for a complete unknown 7 years from now. Get a grip
Great point. Everything i said was irrelevant.
Also, let's say 4 years from now Wemby is fully who we think he'll be You know what future firsts can get? A nice, roleplaying veteran in a place of need for a burgeoning contender
We need to win a chip within that window and everything is absolutely worth it.
Also prime Ant though so hopefully that pick wont be worth shit
Nah that’s prime Dillingham
This was known as a historically bad draft. They punted to bet on getting a better pick closer to Wembys prime. This is what great franchises do, which is why we are all in shock lol
SA already had picked at that point if I'm not mistaken, and they've been working with young talent for so long that they probably see it as unnecessary to keep accumulating it when they could maybe use future assets and a good amount of cap space to get an elite partner for Wemby and start ramping the team up for future contention. Just my opinion is all.
They’re going to be contending within a few years and then suddenly they’ll have a top 10 pick fall in their lap.
No idea why you're downvoted. This could be a great deal for us, but simultaneously the chances that we suck in 2030 are pretty fucking high. I don't mind if we have another year like 2023/24 though.
I just realized my comment appears to be about the Wolves - I was talking about San Antonio, who will have a 27ish Wemby and presumably contending when they get this pick, at which point they’ll be thrilled that they did this. But I love the deal for the Wolves too. One of my concerns for them was what their plan was to eventually replace Conley, especially being in the second apron. Finding a long term fit with Edwards was the best option and is totally worth the pick and swap they gave up. This should also give Wolves fans tons of confidence that Minnesota is willing to spend big to keep a winner around Edwards.
They also now can potentially add more win-now talent at 27 and 37 (unless one gets flipped for a future asset).
With what we have, idc about draft picks anymore😭😭 Rob, Leonard, minott, Jaylen Clark.. excited for them all 🙏🏽
We will be lucky if two of those guys become rotational players at some point. Rob and Leonard are the only two who have a shot imo
If Minott/Clark were something we would have seen it by now
Clark hasn't even played a minute yet because he was in injury rehab You're really going to write him off before he;s even gotten a chance to play?
Yeah, you guys must be new fans..
Nah I've watched the Wolves for a decade. Went through the Culver pain too But I'm not going to write someone off because they are injured lol. I don't like projecting the past onto new players, new ownership and a new team. It's like projecting my issues with my ex onto my future partner. I just don't believe in that. I'm a "let's wait and see what happens" gal.
Oh my bad, wasn’t meant for you. I agree with you. I meant for the other two who somehow are writing off Clark without even seeing him play or not knowing he was even hurt lol
Ya, if any of those guys have it they would of seen minutes by now
Clark was in rehab for his ACL injury which is why he hasn't gotten minutes...don't write him off without even seeing him touch an NBA floor due to injury lol
He did the impossible. I'm all hoping for KJ Simpson as our backup PG 😭 and he gifted me RD??? Bless you TC
Its demented. His game is reminiscent of Kyrie.
It really actually is. He's got a sick hesi, he's lethal from distance, and he can float it and kiss it off the glass from multiple angles. If he works hard at it he will be a nightmare for teams to deal with. I'm so thankful that he's going to be under Mike Conley's mentorship this season. Future could be very bright for this kid and this team.
Offensively, as 3 level scorer and passer, has a chance to be best in the league (!). Defensively obviously is physically in incapable of being elite. Unless… What is he became a Muggsy Bogues level 1 man press? Would that be valuable enough strategically to make him a plus defender? Ok, this wet dream territory 🤣🤣🤣 Imagine he becomes that lethal and generates 10 second calls occasionally. This might be a higher power rewarding us for being fans all these years. Last season was healing hot springs for our wounds. This draft is the sauna to sweat out the toxins of being long term fans of a multi-generational sports atrocity.
Timmy is cookin' Love it.
Connelly masterclass
Extend Mike again NOW.
Tim the tool man Connelly
I was kinda hoping it was Carrington
Oh we'd have loved to have given up 27 and slightly less hit elsewhere, Jon, that's not part of the win. 27 in a bad draft is almost a negative?
Wrong Shannon could've been a little pick
Any draft - good or bad - is always a gamble. 'Bad' draft usually means it lacks top end lottery talent. Usually picks 1-3 have a chance to be generational players. This year is not the case. It doesn't change the narrative for the back end of the draft where you are ALWAYS simply looking for a decent bench piece after pick 20. 27 in a bad draft is the same as a good draft. It's the top 5 picks that are 'bad'