The Minnesota Timberwolves Are MAKING A STATEMENT in Schedule Gauntlet | The MN Basketball Party

The Minnesota Timberwolves Are MAKING A STATEMENT in Schedule Gauntlet | The MN Basketball Party

Welcome to the basketball party I’m Sam extrom of lockdown Sports Minnesota the best in the west takes on the best in the East tonight in the NBA we’re talking about that on today’s Minnesota basketball party this is locked on Sports Minnesota podcast it’s endless Minnesota Timberwolves talk with the

Diverse voices of your local experts it’s time for the Minnesota basketball party on the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome in everyone it’s Wolves talk every Wednesday here on lockdown Sports Minesota I’m Sam extrom you’ll meet the rest of the crew in a second we are

Streaming on lock on Sports Minnesota’s YouTube channel and the 247 live stream hopefully you find us there hopefully you listen to us as well in the locked on wolves audio feed whever you get your podcast Amazon Fire Roku serus XM alternate ways to watch and or listen to

Us so many ways to consume locked on Sports Minnesota thanks to our every dayers who tune in all the time let’s meet the crew I’m Sam extrom we’ve got our opening tip let’s go around the circle well I’m Ron Johnson former Gophers wide receiver and NFL wide

Receiver but I want to talk about the Minnesota Timberwolves Anthony Edwards a noow but the Timberwolf still pull it off I’m Reggie Wilson from k 11 and uh I also want to talk a little bit about ant no show but I don’t think for long we got the second of a

Backtack I’m Ben Beacon host of the lockdown wolves daily podcast and I’m going to talk today about how actually feel better about the Wolves after uh this this stretch where they’ve arguably struggled but against really good competition I feel better now about the Wolves than I did a month ago I’m Jack

Bman editor-in Chief at CIS hoopus and instead of talking about my Michigan Wolverines winning the national title I’m going to talk a little bit to you guys about why the blueprint is there for for Carl Anthony Town success for the rest of the season if you start talking Wolverines you’re going to get

Tony reallied I’m going to mute you like around the horn so don’t even try it I’ve Got The Power I can do that uh today’s show is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with a $5 bet that’s

150 if you bet five visit fanduel.com locked on to get started so much to get to today the Wolves route the magic Celtics coming up tonight they’ve got one game left in their schedule Gauntlet before it eases up how do we feel about the Wolves after seeing them against

Playoff teams for the last month trade deadlines a month away what are we thinking about that about four weeks out and Ricky Rubio retires what is his legacy so much to get to on today’s show but let’s start with last night and Ron Johnson saying Anthony Edwards the no-

Show some foul trouble he just wanted to stay fresh Ron he wanted to stay fresh for the Celtics game tonight but it didn’t matter the Wolves led by 30 at halftime against the magic and they win handily uh cruising to the Finish Line big win for Minnesota last night Ron

Yeah I mean that’s the big thing when you look at getting out early on teams uh putting your foot on their throat and keeping them down you know Anthony Edwards wasn’t needed now I kind of joked around no show but here’s the thing we’ve seen Carl Anthony towns not show

Up we’ve seen Rudy goar not show up and every time somebody stepped up and this was another great sign of of a great team I think Reggie is probably gonna hit on this a little bit but this is this is the key like he deserves every

Once in a while to have somebody else carry the load if he has to go 35 in 10 every single night they’re not going to be able to be sustainable down the stretch because playoff teams as you alluded to Sam they’re going to eventually say you know what let’s let’s

Step Curry let’s treat him like Steph Curry when he gets the ball let’s get the ball out of his hand and let somebody else beat him and what last night what they put on film the big thing was yeah if he is off if he is in

Foul trouble if he’s not playing as much we still got jadeen McDaniels we still got Carlin D towns Rudy Gober can give us points if needed if we need to go to him because I love that Rudy goar is playing his role because I think he

Could be a 20 and 15 guy every night Rudy goar could go 20 points 15 rebounds every single night if you fed him the ball like when he was with the Jazz well now you have Anthony Edwards currently the town so he has to play his role um

But but Anthony Edwards not showing up it’s not it’s not an alarm for me at all it’s is actually kind of a bat signal to say who else is gonna step up and we found out like they do have other pieces Mike connley picked up the slack Kyle

Anderson Nas Reed and so when you’re thinking about that whole bench you know we’re saying like what eight to nine players are going to play it’s kind of cool to see Anthony Edwards kind of be cooled off a little bit with foul trouble not playing as much but have the

Rest of the team pick it up there was no wo is me uh you know forcing shots up that’s where bad teams uh lose games when they start forcing shots up when they’re not hot and this is not what you’re seeing from the timber wolves yeah it couldn’t have worked out better

Really Reggie for the Wolves to to be able to play Conley only 31 ant 26 they win a stress-free game against a quality Eastern team on the road and this is like Ron said this is a bat signal game for ant Edwards against the east’s best

A team that hasn’t lost at home in the Celtics these are the games where ant shows up yeah and that’s why I think that tonight is going to be a fun matchup for him because it seems like whenever the competition is is higher whenever you

Know you expect him to to rise to the occasion he does because it’s like he’s a he’s a gamer man he like lives for for moments like that if if Tatum and brown are are trying to go off and do their thing he’s like that’s all right I’m

Gonna come back down heat check you you know sometimes you know he gets himself in trouble with some of these like ill advised uh shots but I think you know especially with what he had going on last night I I could see him coming out aggressive and getting some points and

Leading the the wolves in points in that first quarter so I think he probably reverse his course tonight and this is a really good test against a really good opponent tonight despite you know who may play who may not play and I I just think this is the wolf’s chance to to

Kind of get a little bit more of that that national attention nobody is talking about him I have NBA today on in the background like every day as I’m like getting ready for work and nobody is talking about the Timberwolves and so you know not that that that’s important

But this is a a way to to kind of wake people up like hey like uh yeah this team sits at the top of the the West like can you maybe pay attention a little bit I know the Clippers are surging I know it’s popular to talk

About the Lakers all the time Denver is the the defending Champion so you have to talk about them but you know what the wolves are doing this season is impressive and I don’t know that anybody necessarily was expecting this level of them just leading the West like this um

For as long as they’ve had as long as they have so I’m I’m interested to see how they how they play tonight I think ant has a a nice bounceback game yeah uh Ben Beacon let’s toss it to you your thoughts on the Magic win last night yeah I think what was most

Impressive is it was it was dominant from the start I mean they were up 11-0 Magic The Magic didn’t score until the 850 marked in the first quarter and uh it’s I mean the magic obviously short-handed missing some rotation guys uh and and specifically um uh fron

Vagner but um I mean they had a great plan against poo banero defensively and offensively the Wolves did what they couldn’t do against Dallas earlier in the week which was punish M mismatches punish a short-handed much smaller team uh Magic were also missing Wendell Carter Jr they just were were missing

Some front Court guys and they were also switching a bunch of things they tried some Zone and Rudy and Cat did a really good job of getting into the paint um and punishing mismatches which the wolves do not consistently do and it sounds a lot easier than it actually is

In practice against good defensive teams which Orlando is a good defensive team which was the other thing even though they were short-handed like it’s a well- coached strong defense and uh the Wolves had their way with them throughout the game and on the other side of the floor

They held Orlando to 36.2% shooting they held him to 92 for the game and for a little while until late in the third quarter when the Wolves started turning the ball over you know a lot more frequently and the magic got a few easy buckets it looked like they were going

To hold him to you know 85 or less like like I started looking up you know what are the least points scored in a game over the past couple I mean the magic had like what like 40 points at halftime or something like that so this7 yeah

Yeah 37 yeah so um this was a a complete dominant performance for Minnesota easily could have been a bigger win um and actually it was more to me that the magic getting back within 20 is points was really more about them actually playing hard to the Finish I was

Impressed with the fight that Orlando showed I don’t think Minnesota necessarily let the foot off the gas at all I just think Orlando decided to start playing hard toward the end of the game which was you know impressive if you’re a fan of the magic um but overall

This was just a strong performance um and hopefully the Wolves got you know with ant in a little bit of foul trouble and and you know a few less minutes here and there for the starters when it was all said and done hopefully they can uh

All all be able to play in Boston on Wednesday night and play their regular minutes Jack yeah I was really impressed with with pretty much everything that that Ben laid out there in terms of what we saw from the Tim rolls defense last night but um specifically I think my

Biggest thing was was the way Carl Anthony towns got it going early uh was the most important thing to me from this game mostly because of the way that he did it um so Carl Anthony towns hasn’t really played in the corner a whole lot this season um just because I think

Chris Finch and and Carl Anthony towns both would probably agree that he’s a lot more than just a guy that you know you can put in the corner um but but with how good of a shooter he is and how much frankly he can get in the way of

Some of the other things that are going on the floor like Mike Conley and Rudy goar pick and roll or Anton Rudy pick and roll um you know or some of the the kind of handoff stuff that we see at top the key putting him in the corner just

Gives a Timber roll’s offense so much more space to operate at times and so I was pleased that he was in the corner um you know to kind of start the game with the starters a little bit and made a couple of three-point shots started two

Of two and then um you know really used that to get his pump and drive or pump and go game going where he’d you know pump F three on the perimeter and then start driving to the rim and it open things up for him um you know had that

Huge poster dunk on M Vagner which was huge um and then from there he just divers Diversified you know his scoring game really well from shooting threes to um you know taking a dribble or two inside the arc and shooting from there uh had a couple of really nice left box

Post-ups on goou pazi um and so I think the more that he can kind of diversify what he’s doing um but have that all be rooted in three-point shooting and starting the game off as a three-point shooter um I think it was really important I me he scored 28 points and

11 of 19 shooting uh it was five of five from deep I had five assists three of them to Rudy goar uh he’s now tied with Mike connley for most assists to Rudy goar of any timber wolves player this season I believe with 36 um and had more

Steals than than turnovers uh had three Steals and two turnovers so pretty complete game for Carl um and and I certainly think one that um the Timberwolves are going to need him to replicate um moving forward especially you know down the stress there season where Anthony Edwards is going to see

Two guys defending him at the point of attack uh above the break on screens and so the more the ant can kind of use the pass to get past that front line of defense I think that Mor’s going to open up the backside of the defense and

Provide some some really wide open shots for Carl whether he wants to take those threes or or drive it to the rim and you know and and dunk on anyone that that has a late close out to him so uh great blueprint game for Carl and hopefully

Something we we see continue as as early as tonight yeah the Carl Anthony towns lull kind of coincided With The Wolves lull but you get him going again makes this team look a whole lot more dangerous also quick plug you can hear Jack Borman reacting to tonight’s game

And every game with Luke Inman on the lockon Wolves postcast catch that here on lockon Sports Minnesota uh let’s toss it to Ben Beacon I want to ask about this schedule gauntlet wolves are 15 of 16 games into this stretch where they play Nothing But playoff teams they’re

Nine and six they’ve lost some games against some some healthy Powerhouse clubs um and we’ve had some questions about them but ultimately nine and six that’s a 600 winning percentage against playoff teams with one game to go the cherry on top game maybe the best in the

NBA tonight against the Celtics to close out this Gauntlet but how do you feel about the Wolves now uh versus before this stretch began I would say slightly better I mean I think um you know I all along I just kind of fig you figure you’re playing 16 playoff playoff teams

Right I think 11 of No 11 of them are on the road they played two back-to-backs uh you know over this course all of them are above 500 teams they’re all likely playoff teams almost certainly playoff teams and only a couple will probably even fall into the play in like these

Are all legitimately good teams and I mean if you have a a above 500 winning percentage against those teams that’s a positive thing um I think the most impressive thing about it is they never lost more than two games in a row no matter what happens in Boston like they

For the first time this year they lost two in a row the first week of January but to play this many good teams in a row and not lose three or more in a row I talked with this on lockdown wolves the other day like you go back and look

At you know and at I’m sure at some point in the second half of the Season they’ll have a three- game losing streak because it’s a long season but like remember Denver last March they lost like four games in a row twice they had like six out of nine losses or something

Like that in March and everyone thought the sky was falling for the nuggets and they end up winning the title like teams have these stretches during the course of the season and go back and look at some of those like I I did this I went

Back and looked at the last five seasons and looked at like the winning percentages of you know the top seeds and the wolves are still above where usually the one seed lands um you know usually one of the two one seeds has a worse winning percentage where the than

Where the Wolves sit right now they’ve already done the toughest stretch in their schedule um go back and look at the Denver stretches last year they lost to some bad teams in there because that happens in the ba so we can expect the Wolves to have some more bumps in the

Road but the fact that they’re going to come out of this thing either 10- six or – seven against legit really difficult competition um is really impressive and and it’s a testament obviously to the players to you know um to to keep the foot on the gas but also to the coaching

Staff to make sure these guys are prepped and also that things haven’t spiraled and and honestly like that magic game last night it it I don’t want to be too you know over dramatic about this but if they ended up losing that game or like barely winning against a

Short-handed Orlando team on the front end of a back-to-back in Boston and then you lose in Boston and now you’re talking about three straight losses and five out of six losses like this whole stretch feels very different and so I think the result in Orlando and the way

That the Wolves went about winning that game was super important and it makes us it makes me look at this whole stretch where they’re nine and six a lot differently and now obviously you gotta you got you know I say you got to finish we not even halfway through the schedule

But the rest of this month looks really soft except for like an OKC game in there there’s a couple you know clippers but I mean they haven’t played Portland yet they haven’t played Detroit yet uh they haven’t played Washington yet you got all those guys in the schedule you

Get Charlotte again you get Brooklyn you get San Antonio again um this is a real opportunity for Minnesota to give themselves a little bit of Separation in the west if you can beat the Thunder in there and and hold the tiebreaker over them um it’s it’s really impressive that

They’ve gone nine and six over the stretch and I I I don’t know that you know I I saw recently Michael Malone was complaining about Denver’s back-to-backs and the Wolves not playing backto backs and uh OKC not playing back-to-backs and it’s like I don’t think they’ve played 16 straight playoff teams like this

Hasn’t exactly been an easy stretch for Minnesota uh with 11 of 16 on the road as well yeah I mean and the wolves are also a thre minute meltdown against Dallas from being perfect on this road trip too I mean they they played a game against Dallas that could have been uh

Victorious but Jack I want to I want to pick your brain on the six losses in that subset so we’re obviously we’re very pleased with the winning percentage rep pleas with the 9-6 record but in those losses I guess have you learned about where the Wolves might be

Vulnerable or the teams that have beaten them how they’ve beaten them what have we taken away from sort of the difficulties yeah absolutely but first uh Michael Malone the Timberwolves Thunder and Nuggets I’ll play 12 back-to-backs this season so it’s coming for the Timberwolves and thunder um but

But as it relates to the defense yeah um the Timberwolves I I think a main theme is kind of you know occurred in some of these losses and that obviously um you know when you look at uh the two losses to New Orleans a loss to the Knicks a

Loss to um you know Dallas all these teams have really impressive star players when you think about Zion Williamson Jaylen Brunson uh luuka donic and Kyrie Irving both went bananas but for me it’s more about the other end of the floor um defensively uh for these other teams going against the Wolves

Offense all these teams are able to switch one through five and can play zone defense really effectively and that’s uh you know kind of produced more isolation basketball from the Timberwolves offense uh and frankly outside of Anthony Edwards maybe Nas Reed there aren’t a whole lot of guys

That that you really want playing isolation ball um especially Off the Bench I think we’ve seen a lot of that from from guys like Kyle Anderson um and kill Alexander Walker at times which has been problematic um and overall it just results in less ball movement from the

Timberwolves offense um which which to me equals a less effective bench and a less effective brudy goar um just because goar is obviously a guy that needs other people to help get him involved um and so I think the the biggest thing for the Timberwolves is

Going to be a you know coming up with a solution for how they can you know navigate playing offense against teams that are really long um can switch can make like difficult for them uh can play a lot of different styles of Defense I think it’s pretty rare in the NBA that

That you’re able to play you know two three four five different you know styles of Defense pretty effectively um but the Pelicans Knicks uh uh Mavericks and and even the Sixers are all capable of doing that um and so I think that’s why those losses I think uh came the way

They did I think New Orleans especially as a team that I would circle is you know onea or one b in terms of toughest playoff matchups for the Wolves along with the Clippers which we’ll see I think on on Saturday night here so yeah um so that’s something to keep an eye on

I you know I had this or and I said this with Luke on the on the postcast after the Dallas game is that know Dallas switches a ton they can go small or Orlando which is a ton can go small Boston can do that uh and the Clippers

So the timber rules would have some opportunities here to try to write the ship and and put some good things on film that they can refer back to in the playoffs against that you know switching or zone defense um and it was just unfortunate that the magic had so many

Guys down um and weren’t really able to to play their schemes all that well but but the timber wols did play really well against the the magic Zone last night like like Ben mentioned did a good job of getting the ball inside and uh and dunking on some smaller guards that that

End up having to check Rudy and Carl so that’s obviously a plus and and something that that we’ll see tonight against Boston if if Drew holiday plays they like to put him at the at the bottom at in the center spot of a two3 Zone and then once the ball gets to the

Middle of the floor switch to a man defense kind of all at once it’s it’s incredible to watch one of the coolest defensive Concepts I think I’ve seen all season from any NBA team um but he’s questionable uh with with an elbow sprain so we’ll see if if he’s able to

Go but um yeah switching and and and uh in zone defenses have troubled the wolves and and hopefully they can you know find some some Sustainable Solutions that they can take with them into the second half of the season and and hopefully the playoffs kind of broke

It down in seven game series and so if you think about the first six they would have won those you take the grizzle you can take the Grizzlies out of there because that that that was no jamama rant so I’m not going to count that one

So if you start there they went 4-2 in that first six game stretch so they won that seven game series with those teams you look at the next stretch got little got a Harry they were three and three and then won they went they won that

Another one they went four and three in that seven game stretch and now they’re one and one and they’re headed to play the Celtics even if they lose to the Celtics being one and two same down the stretch and what that means is if you look at a playoff team that’s where a

Lot of people question some of these playoff teams is can they what can they do in the seven game series like can they hold on and close teams out can they not panic and get these wins and I and I think Ben bought this up that they

Haven’t lost two you know more than two games in a row and I think that’s key like that mindset going through if they finish finish uh I think you know I think we were all saying like 52 wins or less than that you know 55 wins maybe

You know a bold bet was I think 56 wins this team I mean this is a team that could potentially at this moment win 60 games and if they were to go 58 to 60 games again going into a a playing against whoever makes in the play in

Could be the Lakers could be who you know the the the NBA might try to rig it but when you think about how they’re going to do it it’s winning these seven game stretches and and they’re doing it like and they’re getting it from different people it’s not always Anthony

Edwards like we just saw this last game before that we know Nas Reed had stepped up before that we know jadeen MCD has stepped up uh you know it it’s been different guys stepping up whenever one of their three bigs does not make a play

And so to be in this stretch I mean if you add the Grizzlies they’re 10 and six they’re 10 and six and in in that stretch with the Grizzlies in there I I’m I’m I’m pretty you know I’m good with that I’m good with that stretch of being 10 and

Six reg put a bow on this conversation The Gauntlet Ends Tonight yeah I I think um if you’re a wolves fan you’re encouraged especially because you know they do sit at the top of the West still um with all these games that they’ve played against some of these you

Know top upper tier opponents um I think that is a very encouraging thing and look the NBA season is long so you don’t expect them to just win every game or bulldoze everybody I think Ben said earlier I mean it’s it’s the NBA like sometimes even the best teams like the

Nuggets last year they lost to some bad teams and so you know it it happens just because like it’s just kind of hard to just get up for every game every night you know you you want to bring it but you know sometimes the shots just don’t

Fall and you know cat’s been he he’s been victim of of the slump at times and so you know it was encouraging to see him play as well as he played last night you just you hope for a little bit more consistency uh from him in that regard

Because of how talented of a player he is and so I think there are a lot of different things that are encouraging you know continuing to figure out the rotations and playing through some of the slumps that they’ve had offensively those are things that encourage you um

Moving forward through the rest of the season that they’ll continue to do what they need to do to to get a good position in the playoffs and and surge um and hopefully make it out of that first round this time you know it’s it’s been a long time coming um but this this

Team looks looks well equipped to to do some some special things and and hang in there with some of the best in the league less than a month to the trade deadline do our guys have any suggestions for that and we’ll look at Ricky Rubio’s Legacy as a timberwolf as

He announced his retirement that’s all coming up on the Minnesota basketball party and our show is brought to you by FanDuel the NFL regular season wrapped but there there’s still time to get in the action with the playoffs beginning you can get into fun at FanDuel America’s number one sports book right

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Well as Ben Beacon’s daily shows there where he’s covering the Wolves for a half an hour five days a week check out the postcast with Luke Gman Jack Borman and uh find us potentially streaming on the 247 YouTube live stream here at lockon sports Minnesota Please Subscribe

All right guys trade deadline less than a month away it is February 8th I believe let’s start with Reggie Wilson do you have one suggestion for the Wolves could be just a position you want to address a concern are you okay with this team standing Pat what do you

Think I think if anything maybe I would maybe suggest a minor upgrade at at point guard um behind connley but honestly I think the best part about this wolves team is the depth and I’ve said it on this show several times and so you know maybe maybe you do that but maybe you

Just continue to stick with with guys like shake and and n and just continue to just you know make it work but I think one of the biggest things is is they are figuring out these rotations and they are you know relatively healthy JM is back and so I think those are

Those are some things that that kind of make me say a little bit more on the side of I don’t think they necessarily need to make a move I think as long as they can be healthy with the that they have I think they could they could be

Fine with with the guys that they have yeah Ben let me toss it to you and let me also ask this question so the Wolves obviously don’t have a lot of money to throw around so they can’t really acquire someone like Zack LaVine unless they’re trading a big salary to to get

Them uh do you think if the Wolves acquired does that mean they you think they need to ship someone like Kyle Anderson off uh to make the money work there like how do you think a trade would work yeah I mean KY Anderson’s really the only expiring contract that that it’s

It’s really he’s the only trade ship that makes sense from obviously you’re not trading you know at this stage no matter what anyone says you’re not trading Carlon towns right now you’re not trading an obviously you’re not trading Jade McDaniels you’re not trading Rudy so Kyle Anderson’s the like

In that sweet spot where he holds value he’s a rotation player no matter what team he’s on and he has a relatively large expiring contract so he’s still he is a tradable asset if the wolves do make a move it’s going to have to be slow-mo and you know maybe something

Else going out um but as you said they can’t take on a whole lot of future salary because of their their cap situation anyway um so I you’re right he’s the piece that would have to move I think it’s unlikely um this kind of feels like hey you’re first in the west

Why would you move one of your top you know I know slmo hasn’t played as well this year as he did last year but you know why move a top seven eight rotation guy top seven rotation guy um and rock the boat for what could potentially be a minor upgrade um I know

It’s popular to talk about the Wolves needed shooting I I mean sure it’d be nice to have more shooting you could always use more shooting but they’re fifth in the league in three-point percentage it’s just the volume needs to increase they need to shoot more threes

In general and that that’s going to make a big difference and and of course the reason why they’re so they’re high volume guys are also the guys that make a lot of Threes right towns and ants specifically shoot a lot of Threes And they make a lot of Threes that helps

Your overall percentage some of the guys that are lower volume like Ander Walker and and McDaniels you know he was around 38% but he had that 0 for five from three in Dallas the other night that dropped him down a little bit if those guys could be more in the 37 38 39%

Range that’s a big difference than 35% um and there’s reason to believe they can do that so I don’t know that this team my my advice would be you know at some point play Shake built a little bit more see if he’s a viable option to give you another ball handler somebody that

Can give you some offense you can turn to in a series and be like hey man our offense isn’t moving like go score some buckets right be that that six-man type Off the Bench you have to figure out whether or not that’s viable I I I hear

The point about having a backup point guard I just would be surprised because if you acquire somebody like tus Jones another name that’s come up a bunch um and it’d be great to have tus Jones on the team he’s awesome he’s he would be the best backup point guard in the

League but are you gonna have the minutes for tyus Jones and does his profile I think I think he’s in some ways a super version of Jordan mcclaflin right so he would take on that role but he needs to play more than 12 14 minutes a game and then you’re pulling minutes

From one of your rang Defenders like can you Alexander Walker and so you know it’s it’s not a zero some game here like there or it is a zero some game really like there’s only so many minutes to go around so I’d be surprised if they made

A move um I mean any shooting you bring in would also have to provide you with something else I think they’re better off having a well-rounded team player like a Kyle Anderson then I mean they had a guy who’s a 40% three-point shooter in theory and Matt Ryan and let

Him walk because like there’s other stuff that matters too and given where they are at first in the west if they were fifth in the west you know maybe they try and make a move but I’d be surprised if they did something especially something significant heading into the

Deadline um I don’t want to skip over Jack will get right back to Jack but I think Ron did you Circle tus were you on the tyus Jones bandwagon to bring him in I was I was I I only reason I say that I mean it’s it’s a pipe dream but I’m

Looking at if they were to go to his agent uh you know if they trade for him then talk to him about hey if we trade for you we can’t we can’t afford your contract so here’s what we can do and offer him like here’s what a future

Contract will like or a trade and resign and say let’s put him on a long-term deal because we know Mike connley we need a secession plan for him maybe tus Jones looks at you know what’s the value of being on certain teams and making more money and being unhappy like Jordan

P or being with a team like the Timberwolves Anthony Edwards him uh Rudy goar and Carl D towns for another two or three years where they have a chance to compete for a championship maybe two or three years tus is a champion when you think about playing at Duke and he has a

Champion mindset when you think about playing at Apple Valley High School in Minnesota like he’s always been a champion and so you give him those pieces he’s back home you can sell even I mean they’re already selling but you can sell even more of a dream to motans

Of like hey we brought you know Hometown favorite Tyas Jones back you know when you look at turnover to minutes he’s one of the the most efficient guards in the NBA I I just feel like and he he never takes a bad shot it feels like like he

He’s a true he’s a consant team player where he’s willing to feed Anthony Edward willing to feed cing the towns and that’s the one reason why I say I I would I would love to see Ty Jones come back to Minnesota yeah I I I’ll hot take

Hot take alert look out I would be more fired up about tus Jones returning to the Wolves than I was for Ricky Rubio gasp gasp I would love it um Jack what do you think wet blanket 0 perc chance that happens but I support you guys in

Dreaming um and and I love tus Jones you know I’ve known tus Jones I’ve been been around him since like I was a freshman in high school sophomore in high school he’s an awesome dude um love him got a great family would love him back here there’s just a Zer perc chance that

Happens and they can’t afford it beyond the season either but um yeah I think the the thing you got to sus out at the trade deadline is there’s kind of two different pools that you’re dipping your toes into it’s the trade market pool and then there’s the buyout pool which is uh

Something that Tim roles are certainly going to be a factor in this season considering that they have one of the most well-liked Executives in the league in Tim Connelly uh they have a number one player that I’m sure there is a long list of players who would like to play

With in Anthony Edwards um and a team that has a legitimate shot at at contending in in a wide open Western Conference I’m not going to say they have the best chance but uh certainly one of the the three or four teams in the short list and so um that’s a factor

And uh I’d actually push back a little bit against what what Ben said and that Kyle Anderson is your only trade chip that you have you have Shake Milton has five5 million and pretty much expir expiring in money um and they have Wendell Moore Jr and Josh Minot who at

This point if they’re not playing they’re probably not going to ever play for the Timberwolves um and so I think the Wolves would be more than uh okay with including those guys in the trade to uh to make the salary match um in a deal for for a guy that’s making you

Know10 million doll or less could get you there and they also have five second round picks that they can play with uh one of those incl is going to be the the less favorable of the Washington or Memphis second round pick this coming draft um which is undoubtedly going to

Be one of the first seven or eight uh picks of that second of that second round which will be a pretty valuable piece and so um you think about guys like St Bay who they had noted interest in at the trade deadline last year and

Almost made a move for as a four million $4.6 million contract this year as a restricted free agent after the season uh no Monte morres hasn’t played at all this year because of a quad injury in Detroit but he’s a guy that Tim Connelly loved in Denver um and then that’s a guy

You might have to move Anderson for potentially then another one in Alec Burks with the Pistons as well as a 38% career three-point shooter that can provide some of that scoring Off the Bench that you were talking about uh Ben with uh with what Shake potentially

Could do but and then buyout guys I think that’s where they might address the shooting need um just because I think there’s going to be more Shooters available on the buyout whether you on the buyout Market whether you look at you know Doug McDermot who uh you know

Plays for the Spurs but does really fit their timeline at all considering he’s getting up there in age and then Joe Harris as well as a 44% career three-point shooter um who is pretty much out of the rotation at this point for the Pistons and I’m sure would be

Willing to cough up some of that $17 million salary um to to be bought out and go play somewhere else um and he’s got plenty of playoff experience between the Cavaliers and the Nets as well so those are all guys that i’ I’d keep an

Eye on but but I think that uh I I I agree that I would be really surprised if they moved Kyle Anderson but I would would be shocked if they did not make uh a trade and I would also be shocked if they did not also acquire a player in the buyout

Market uh that’s a great take um good stuff guys on that I’m about to get real unsentimental about Ricky Rubio coming up next on the basketball party this episode is sponsored by better help uh around New Year’s we like to make resolutions we like to change things in our lives sometimes we maybe

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Time for no additional charge celebrate the progress you’ve already made visit betterhelp.com lockon NBA today get 10% off your first month betterhelp HP betterhelp.com lockon NBA all right guys Ricky Ruby announces his retirement uh obviously longtime beloved Timberwolves point guard and it sounds like his retirement is is comes

In sort of the Shadows of of tough mental health struggles for him and a rocky end of his career he lost a parent a few years ago so uh we wish him certainly the best I for one am am a little surprised I guess at the sentimentality around Ricky Rubio um

A player that people kind of rever as if he was Pete marovich a little bit um but ultimately he didn’t really oversee any success in Minnesota as their point guard in fact I thought somewhat of an underwhelming career um and some people have alluded to like retiring is number and and we’re all

Rubio fans right I guess I would just pump the braks on Legacy talk around Rubio maybe it’s because the Wolves don’t have a lot of Legacy players so he stands out he’s second all time and assist behind Kevin but what what do you make of Rubio’s

Lasting Legacy as a wolf yeah I think that you know part of the reason why I think Ricky Rubio Sam might hold that kind of weight with some people uh is because that Ricky Rubio really I think kind of made basketball fun again and gave this fan base some sort of Hope or

Something to look forward to in the future after you know arguably the darkest time in the history of the franchise after trading Kevin Garnett away to Boston um and I think that’s part of the reason why fans will always be grateful um that that he played for

The Timberwolves um and I and I can’t really push back against that right I think you know sometimes with our teams we know that they’re not going to do very well or they’re going to have a tough season and you just want to really be looking forward to you know three or

Four subplots that you can follow for the entire season and um you know Spanish Phenom who has you know this insane passing highlight reel um and has done really awesome things overseas before coming over to the NBA is kind of this Enigma that that we don’t know how

His game will necessarily translate to the NBA uh I I think inspired hope in a lot of people and and I think that that um that was great and then when you think about all the stuff that he did off the basketball court um with his foundation and his work um specifically

Regarding um you know cancer research obviously spoke about his losing his mother to cancer was was really really hard on him um so and and then too you think about all the guys Devon Booker Donan Mitchell cat and all these guys um just saying glowing things about him as

A as a phenomenal teammate and leader and I think that um you know maybe when the basketball part is a little bit underwhelming when you look at it in its totality I think it’s a little easier to to put a little bit more of a positive

Spin on that I guess when um when you’re an awesome teammate and and guys that you played with had nothing but but glowing things to say about you that’s all fair uh Ron you have a Rubio take uh for me Rubio is always going to be synonymous with Steph Curry uh when you

Think about that draft with Steph Curry and Johnny Flynn that’s the first thing that I look at not being a Minnesotan not being completely tied into the Rubio era uh the Rubio Legacy um I wasn’t around for a lot of it I was gone to the Baltimore Ravens and so you know coming

Back and then hearing about Rubio the one thing I will say is he has set himself apart from Johnny Flynn but it’s it sucks that his his legacy will always be tied to Johnny Flynn and people will some people will always hold that as a negative like I wish they would have

Drafted Steph Curry instead of two uh guards like that it could have been a different story blah blah they could have had Rubio and Steph Curry and maybe it’s a totally different aspect of like man Rubio would have you know 20,000 assists just passing it to Steph Curry

In his career and we’d be talking about a different story maybe a a championship with Steph Curry Kevin Garnett Ricky Rubio um there there’s a lot that you can always say the wh ifs within Rubio but the one thing I will say as far as an international player he he lived up

To what you know you’re getting a lot of these International Players which is just a person that loves the sport of basketball a person that’s always going to be there uh and wants to be there every night a person does that doesn’t think business first it’s always like

Basketball first I think that’s what always stood out to me about Rubio is he was it seemed like he was always a basketball first type of guy um and truly lived up to that International level of play which is just uh very um I want to say goal oriented and very uh

Like his fundamentals were always like he always was good with the ball and and again I know there’s tons of like negative right now going on with American basketball because of a and how the practice schedule Works versus games uh but Rubio really stood up to that

Level of like man this this guy is a really good player it’s worth looking at other International Players because there’s some players that come over from certain countries and then you get a bad taste in your mouth about that country ah their basketball not might not be as

Good as we see but Rubio stood up to the uh to the test yeah and Reggie you’re another another person that came in after the bulk of the Rubio era he did have the brief one-year return which I think was also slightly before you arrived so kind of as an outsider Reggie

You come in what’s your take on Rubio you know uh I think I probably should sit this one out just because like I wasn’t here and I’m not I’m not very privy to the the Rubio times I I think um being here I have kind of seen

That so many people have an affinity for him but honestly when just from like the outside looking in back before I even even thought about Minnesota um and coming here I didn’t really think too much of him because I I just you know um not necessarily like the greatest

Shooter you know he had a lot of playmaking skills but like it he wasn’t a guy that I just was like oh yeah like that’s a guy that I enjoy watching that’s guy that I really want to tune in to see it just didn’t really didn’t

Really strike me so I I do understand that people have quite the affinity for him here in Minnesota but I don’t really know it I don’t know it yeah no I I I get it you don’t want to RI up the masses like I did being kind of mean to

Him and I even feel a little guilty about it because I know how beloved he is and a great guy a great personality he was fun uh Ben Beacon yeah I mean I think Jack and Ron both both uh said some really good things about about uh

Ricky and and I guess his um the way that people feel about Ricky and why they feel the way that they do it is it is funny I to what Jack said like he represented hope at the time and it’s still he also like even though the Wolves never made the playoffs with

Ricky Rubio on the roster which is which is I guess not surprising given how how how few and far between playoff appearances have been in the post kg era um he if you think about it he did end up serving as a bridge to the Carl

Anthony towns era and I know that cat you know is that’s a whole other conversation that cats only made the playoffs with Jimmy Butler and with Anthony Edwards and there were you know four or five years in between that they didn’t make the playoffs but still

That’s that’s a bridge for that era he returned in ants rookie season um and obviously there was that that uh the the ant Ricky relationship that that Jack mentioned that was really special um so I think it’s a combination of what he represented coming out of those dark you

Know the 2005 to 2009 years um that were really really like first it was was Al Jefferson going to save the team then it was is Kevin Love going to save the team and then Ricky was it was it was the um the excitement of the unknown right

Because we saw those highlight videos we knew what he could be and then he ended up being a really solid NBA point guard and then the volume the the longevity of him as a timberwolf you mention second and assists he’s eighth in games played all time for wolves players he’s seventh

All time in minutes played so the combination of what he represented the longevity of him being in Minnesota the joy that he played the game and then also um there’s also this element that I remember really well when he came over and even though the Wolves drafted Ricky

Rubio there was like an 18-month discourse of like is he even going to come over like does he want to play in Minnesota before the draft everyone was like oh he doesn’t want to play in Memphis in Minnesota in OKC he almost play in big markets and so even though

The Wolves drafted him there was this element of he still kind of chose to come here and motans are Territorial and people love when other people love their city right and so there was also that piece of it too and then and then combined with all those other things the

Bridge to towns I mean he’s certainly you know re TI in his numbers that’s I wouldn’t even advocate for that I’m obviously I’m a huge ribo fan as as I have the Jersey on the shelf that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me

But he’s a top 10 wolf of all time and you could put him somewhere in that category of Sam Mitchell Wally zerak Terrell Brandon right like a tier below all those Superstars you know uh kg and well kg is in his own tier but then cat

And love and wherever you want to put Jimmy Butler um but he’s in that next group of guys like you have to talk about him as one of the most important alltime Timberwolves uh which I know says a lot about the wolves franch history but Ricky really meant something

To a huge generation of wolves fans I think this is why I’m bitter I think that I was sold to bill of goods about the 20134 team which is probably one of the biggest teas wolves teams of all time they had Rubio love Derek Williams Kevin Martin uh gorgi Jen Chase buinger Corey

Brewer JJ Berea like they didn’t have a lot of high-end talent but they had a bench and they were number three in offense that year if you remember they blew a lot of teams out but they lost every close game because they had no like halfcourt game and I’m still bitter

About it I think this is why I I just can’t get on board with Rubio because that team scarred me yeah we could do a whole show on that team I mean that team was that was the Rick Adelman team that had like a point differential of a team

That was like a 47 win 48 win team and they still won 40 games and just missed the playoffs like you play that season again and they’re a playoff team no they’re still probably like a six or seven seed but that was a fun team yeah

Yeah 40 and 42 big teas uh all right in closing we got about 30 seconds each Celtics game tonight make one bold prediction for wolves Celtics Ron Johnson uh wolves Celtics I’m gonna say Jason Tatum goes off and Anthony Edwards goes off we’re g to get a show that’s my

Prediction I’m gonna say the Timberwolves win uh by probably like four points I’m here for it Reggie yeah I don’t know that I promise that Timberwolves win I mean I would like to see it you know just for all the things that I mentioned earlier in the

Show but I think I’ll go give me a 40 ball from Ant Beacon that was that that was literally mine was a was gonna have a 40-point game I’m gonna go Wolves win a close game and a goes for 45 plus Wolves win a close game just keep one uping it Jack

Go 50 go my my bullet point was a goes for 40 um oh man you guys are all I’ll give you another one ant ant cat and Jaden outscore Tatum brown and white uh ant and Jade ant and Jaylen Brown are very close both Adidas guys both from

Atlanta um ant’s gonna want to get up for it um 65 points for Anthony Edwards please come true his FanDuel over under is 27 a 70 Devin Booker do I hear 70 in Boston shout out dein Booker funny you mention that what a nice look at Anthony Edwards look at that look at

That oh that is did you buy it or they sent me some they sent me four pair of them who is they I need your people yeah Adidas hooked me up they sent me four pair while wearing a Nike shirt great job while wearing a where the Gophers

The Gophers refused to sign with Adidas shout out to Adidas basketball appreciate the love might have to hoop in those you got size 13 I appreciate they’re mine I got my 13s I got some tens and 11s and a six I got some 13s over here re okay well let let me holler

At you jack I don’t think you need those all right well if if a little birdie wants to send some uh my way too you know size 12 uh we uh we have wolves talk every Wednesday here in the Minnesota basketball party Minnesota football party Mondays and Thursdays Ron

Johnson show uh on Tuesdays and he also hosts the round table on Fridays wolves postcast tonight Luke Inman Jack Borman after wolves and Celtics enjoy the game thanks for watching thanks for listening talk to you next week

The Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Orlando Magic and conclude their 16-game gauntlet with a battle of the NBA’s best at the Boston Celtics. The guys break down the Orlando win and what we’ve learned about the Wolves during this tough stretch. Plus, should they make any moves at the trade deadline, and what is Ricky Rubio’s Wolves legacy? That’s all on the latest Minnesota Basketball Party.

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