The Timberwolves Are Planning Something Crazy…

The Timberwolves Are Planning Something Crazy…

So, a fresh new week has arrived. And here on this channel, that means one thing and one thing only. Every week, I try to post an episode of this series we do called Your Take, Not Mine, where I turn to you, the viewers, to give me your hottest NBA takes of this time being based on what is going on, and I then choose my favorite submissions and discuss them in a video. We’ve finally made it to the NBA finals where the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder will battle it out. So, we definitely have plenty to discuss regarding the journey to get here. In order to submit your takes, I make a community post on either the day of or the day before the video, similar to the one that you see on your screen now. So, if you want to be featured in a future episode, be sure to stay on the lookout for that. Plus, channel members get their submissions for this series included in the video guaranteed. So, consider becoming a member here as well. Before we start though, it turns out a good amount of you watching right now aren’t even subscribed to the channel. So, if you enjoy the content, consider hitting the subscribe button, as not only does it help out a ton, but it also very much appreciated. Now, with that being said, let’s begin. The first take we’ll be discussing today comes to us from Bedstey, and he says that the Minnesota Timberwolves, in his opinion, will be the surprise team that will end up trading for Giannis Ana Kmpo next year to get over the hump trying to make the NBA finals. This summer is going to turn into a Giannis Anon Dumpo dominated affair very quickly once the finals are over because he is expected to become one of the best players to ever become available on the trade market and he’s going to attract a lot of interest if that becomes the case. There are definitely a few teams leading the pack as rumored potential landing spots that both have the assets to put together a realistic offer and would make sense as a team that would want him that he would also want to play on. But the Timberwolves haven’t really been mentioned in those conversations up until this point. So, let’s actually dive in here and see if OP is on to something. The Timberwolves have made it to the conference finals in back-to-back seasons now, falling short of the finals each time. So knowing that they’re so close is definitely a strong motivator to take a swing like this. Anthony Edwards would immediately become the best teammate that Giannis has ever played with. And as a proven NBA champion that’s accomplished more with less as Giannis has. That’s reason enough for the Timberwolves to get involved here. Do they actually have enough to get a deal like this done, though? That’s what I’m a lot less sure about. Julius Randall has a $30 million player option for next season that he’s going to need to decide to opt into or not because that decision decides a lot about this scenario. Rudy Gobear could be a strong headlining piece in a Giannis tradeoffer and moving Nas Reed into the starting center spot if they were to move Gobear would both be a deserving promotion for his impressive production off the bench and it would balance out the spacing next to Giannis who is not much of a three-point shooter at all. Julius Randle’s presence in this scenario makes things a bit clunky because he’s not the kind of player who would happily embrace a bench roll, but neither he or Giannis should be playing small forward either. Plus, moving either of them to the center position, sacrifices too much defensively because while Giannis is an elite defender, forcing him to match up with centers full-time is a waste of what makes him a good defender in the first place. Of course, the next question then becomes whether the Wolves want to also ship out most of their remaining first round picks to get this deal done. Ultimately, I think the possibility of pairing Anthony Edwards and Jannisan Dakmpo for the rest of their title contending years is too good to pass up on for a win now team, but all of the clunkiness and question marks I brought up do provide reasonable hesitation. If they were to go through with it, everything else can be sorted out later, but we will see. The next take we’ll be discussing today comes to us from Gel and he says that the Thunder will not become a dynasty and one ring possibly coming this year is all they will win in the Sha Gildis Alexander era. This one’s definitely a hot take for a variety of reasons, but with them being the heavy favorite in the finals right now, one at the very least seems pretty likely. So then the question becomes whether they are built to sustain this level of success for the long term. And there are a lot of reasons to believe the answer is yes. But let’s go over everything here. For one, the Thunder are the youngest team by average age in the entire NBA right now while also being the best. So if they’re able to dominate to this degree, with most of their top contributors still not even reaching their peak prime seasons yet, then there isn’t really any reason to think they’re going anywhere. SGA is 26, Chad Holgrren is 23, Jaylen Williams is 24, and the only key contributor in their rotation over the age of 30 is Alex Caruso. The depth that this team has simply from drafting extraordinarily is unprecedented, and they have the ability to hold on to all of them for a long time. But that doesn’t always mean that doing so is realistic. Right now, the Thunder have two more good years stress-free thanks to all of this good drafting. But on the horizon, some incredibly big decisions will need to be made. And under the new CBA, keeping this level of depth flexibility is going to be nearly impossible. Shay Gildas Alexander is already playing on a max contract with two more years left on it. But when his contract is up at age 28, he may be on track to sign one of the biggest contracts in NBA history. Chad Homegrren and Jaylen Williams are both still playing on their rookie contracts. And when those expire, they will absolutely both also be demanding max contracts, too. With three gargantuan contracts needing to be signed on the horizon, they will no longer be able to hold on to some of their other key guys simply because they won’t have the money to do so. Even though they’re still going to have a championship caliber core long term, the supporting cast being as elite as it currently is just is not sustainable because of how the new cap rules work. With all of that being said though, the Thunder have always found a way to flip assets for draft capital and flexibility. And with them owning a million draft picks for the foreseeable future, they will always be able to reload through the draft when they can’t afford to keep an important role player. And because of that, I probably disagree with the original take here and based on current output would expect at least two championships from this group when it’s all said and done. And finally, the last take we’ll be discussing today comes to us from AK, and he says that he sees the Pacers taking the Thunder to a game seven in the finals because of their play style matching up well and their edge as the better shooting team. The NBA Finals matchup this year may not be what pretty much anyone expected it to be, but that doesn’t mean we are not in for a treat as basketball fans. The Pacers are probably the most slept on team to make it this far in a very long time. And even with the matchup set, they are still pegged as massive underdogs in every aspect. Whether it be from Vegas betting odds, national analysts giving their predictions, and even most fan discussion, the majority think this is going to be a walk in the park for OKC. But I just don’t see it that way and think things will be a lot more competitive in general. The Pacers have been the better offense in the playoffs and they have a massive edge in three-point shooting. Both teams play incredibly uptempo, fast-paced play styles, but the Pacers produce better in these scenarios because they keep defenders on their toes from the perimeter and in the playoffs have been the best three-point shooting team. The Pacers have also been the number one ranked halfcourt offense in the playoffs this year, which means they generate better looks when the game slows down than anybody else. And in the finals, on the big stage, that is a pretty big edge. Tyrese Hallebertton is a wizard in half court sets as an elite passer that penetrates, collapses the defense, and finds teammates for open looks better than anyone else. And when he heats up from three, there’s no stopping them. The Thunder have the league’s best defense. So, if anyone is up to the task of slowing this Pacers team down, it is them, but it’s a tall task nonetheless. I’m not going as far as to pick the Pacers to win the series because ultimately the Thunder are the better and more well-balanced two-way team and have been all year long, but what I am saying is that it is going to be much closer as a series than many realize, and I’m looking forward to the fierce battle between them. And with that being said, that’s all I have for you today. Make sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and comment down below what you think about the takes discussed. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you all next time.

Your Take, Not Mine is a series where I turn to the viewers to submit their NBA hot takes and I then select my favorite submissions to discuss in a video! Giannis Antetokounmpo, NBA Finals and more discussed

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