The Timberwolves OUTSMARTED the NBA…

The Timberwolves OUTSMARTED the NBA…

The Minnesota Timberwolves outsmarted the NBA because instead of going out and overpaying for somebody or stretching their books a little bit too thin, they’re just going to let internal development take place. And they can do that because their superstar Anthony Edwards is still just 24 years old next season. Nas Reed will be just 26 and Jade McDaniels will be just 25. And they have a young core led by a 20-year-old Rob Dillingham, a 24year-old Terrence Shannon Jr. who per 36 was their best player in the playoffs, a 23-year-old Jaylen Clark and the new rookie Yoan Beran. Their only real cap casualty ended up being Nquille Alexander Walker who went out to Atlanta and signed a big-time deal. Four years, $62 million, and that’s really pretty much starter money for a guy that is really just a good backup in the league. He averaged not even 10 points per game, 3.2 2 rebounds and 2.7 assists on 44% shooting from the field, 38% from three. And not to knock on the K Alexander Walker, he came to Minnesota, completely revived his career as a highlevel role player, high level bench player. But Minnesota just couldn’t pay him 16 million a year. In the Western Conference Finals, this is really where he made his money. He averaged 12 points and then a little under three rebounds and three assist. Shot 41% from the field. And as a 6’5 wing with a 69 wingspan, he’s very valuable as a own ball defender. And that’s really what he was off the bench. He was their stopper off the bench along with Dante Devenzo. They had a couple of good defensive wings off the bench. But like I said, at the end of the day, they just could not afford to pay him. And they can replace him with a couple of younger guys. Terrence Shannon Jr. can replace his offensive production while Jaylen Clark can replace his defensive production. And Terence Shannon Jr. was the most underrated player of the Western Conference Finals without a doubt. In game three of the Western Conference Finals, he’d put up 15 points, two rebounds, and a steal in 12 minutes. That was kind of the theme for the entire Western Conference Finals. Terrence Shannon Jr. scoring more points than he spent time on the floor. And this was a huge game three that Minnesota absolutely had to win. In games three, four, and five, he averaged 11.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and.7 assists in 12.3 minutes while shooting 53% from the field and 38% from three. They outscored Oklahoma City during games 3 through 5. Not many people realize that, but the 40point blowout in game three was enough to outscore OKC for the next two games. Now, unfortunately, that didn’t count for anything, but in 32 games last year, TSJ put up 4.3 points, 1.5 rebounds, and an assist while shooting 48% from the field and 36% from three. He’s a guy that without a doubt will be getting a ton of more minutes this year, especially with the Nik Alexander Walker departure, which frees up some minutes. And just overall, Coach Finch doesn’t play rookies that much. And as a matter of fact, he didn’t hardly play any of these guys, although they all showed a ton of potential. And I cannot wait for Rob Dillingham to be unleashed on the rest of the league. One of the flashiest players in the league. He might be the quickest player in the association. However, he’s only 176 lbs at 6’3. So, he’s got to be an elite scorer. They gave up two future first round picks for him. Well, one future first round pick and then a future pick swap to the Spurs. He averaged 4.5 points, two assists, and a rebound as a rookie in just 10 minutes a game. Shot 44% from the field and 34% from three. did appear in more games than TSJ. And as you can see, all the signs are there of him being an elite pick and roll scorer, just an elite scoreer overall. Appeared in 49 games, can work out of the pick and roll, can work out of pretty much any system that you want him to because he is just a dynamite score. And in the future, imagine him alongside of Anthony Edwards and will have to play a lot better defense. But you also have Jaylen McDaniels or Jaden McDaniels, excuse me, to help out with that. Now Jaylen Clark who is 6’4 with a 69 wingspan. The other young guy that they had on the roster this year a little bit bigger than Nikil Alexander Walker at 210 played 40 games averaged four points per game 1.7 rebounds.7 assists and a steal in 13 minutes a game while shooting 47% from the field and 43% from three on 1.3 attempts a night. Fantastic 3 and D young wing. really excited to see what the future holds for him because like I said, he can replace Nikquil Alexander Walker’s defensive production while TSJ replaces his offensive production, but he also shoots 43% from three, which is better than Nik Alexander Walker. This is a really, really nice core to have all these guys under the age of 26 currently. Nas will turn 26 next year. And then you add Behringer in there, that’s your core. They can be your core for the next 10 years if you keep them all locked up. And you have your superstar with Ant, your two other key guys with McDaniels and Nas Reed, Joyce Randle’s back. But Behringer, I’m hoping can be the replacement for Rudy Gobar down the line. He’s a good rim protector, can play drop coverage. He’s also a really, really good rim runner. He runs to the rim hard, has decent hands, and has a lot of athletic ability when he gets down into the paint. Look at the athlet that a athleticism is special right there for a 6’11 guy with a phenomenal wingspan. I believe it’s around 7’6 inch wingspan. Five points a game, four rebounds, 1.5 blocks in 18 minutes a game. Shot 59% from the field in 30 uh professional games played last year overseas. So he’s definitely a guy really high motor on him. Crashes the glass well. Like we said, a hard roller, hard cutter, hard rim runner. Those are all good qualities to have in a young big and he won’t get much PT next year. Probably a lot of G-League time, but eventually uh he is, you know, kind of the contingency plan for Rudy Goar, who yes, is a four-time defensive player of the year. So, Behringer is not going to come in next year and take over. Gobear is still going to be the starting center for the foreseeable future, but he is going to be 33 next year, and he’s on a pretty sizable long-term contract, 3 years, 111 million. So maybe after next year or the year after that you look to move on from him and get off that contract, go a lot cheaper with Behringer and then sign, you know, a short-term guy as well. But Go Bear averaged 12 points a game, 12 rebounds, 1.8 blocks in 33 minutes a game, shot 67% from the field and from the line, and is anchored backtoback top five defenses in Minnesota, something that they hadn’t done in quite a long time. He and Mike Connley are the two vets on this team, so they have a lot of say in the locker room and expect them to stick around, right? Like Mike Connley could be a guy that you look to move on from, but at this point in the offseason, I don’t think he’s going anywhere. Um, you ultimately had to choose one or the other between Nas Reed and a Alexander Walker. Chose Nas Reed. I think that is the right decision. 5 years, $125 million. Nas Reed um is proving he can develop into something special in the NBA. He’s got nimble feet for a big and can also operate on the offensive side of the ball. Although he will need to rethink all those spin moves he tried to do against OKC. 14 points a game, six rebounds, 2.3 assist, and a block per game for Nas last year. 46% shooting from the field, 38% from three. And I was expecting him to have a better series against Oklahoma City. It didn’t quite materialize, but he was still all right. And I’ll I’ll be interested to see if they run some lineups like this next year with Connley at the one, Ant McDaniels, and then Randall and Nas at the five instead of some Rudy Goar minutes at the five or maybe even some Nas minutes at the four, but they did resign Julius Randall, which I thought was a good move. Decent value contract, nothing crazy, but you know, not really a steal by any means. It’s just good to have Julius Randall back. He was a much bigger piece to what they were doing last year than people gave him credit for. Of course, Jade McDaniels will be back. He’s locked up longterm as their elite stopper on the perimeter. Dantenzo will be back. A guy that played a lot better towards the end of the season. Um, not necessarily in the Western Conference Finals, but during the regular season. Um, he played very well down the stretch before injury. And I’m really glad that the Wolves didn’t blow up their roster trying to go out and make a big splash. Um, Cough KD, they keep this young core intact. And like I showed you, they got seven guys under the age of 26 that they can keep together for the next 10 years and hopefully win at least one or two championships with that core. With that being said though, that’s going to be it for today’s video. I really like the approach the Wolves took. Y’all let me know your thoughts down in the comments section below. Make sure to hit the like button and hit that subscribe button if you did enjoy any point. And with all that being said, thanks much for watching today’s video.

This video looks at the Minnesota Timberwolves and why they were genius for keeping their young core together and not overpaying for players and letting guys like Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon play with Anthony Edwards
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