*** NBA News, The Athletic, ESPN+ Insiders Thread ***

[shoteh]

ouch for gsw

[somuchyummy]

well, can't touch kabengele for at least 10 days - not that we would anyway, but he has signed with cleveland. why does cleveland try out these guys? they aren't in the playoffs. they are going nowhere soon (like us). and they already have on their roster, bigs in jarrett allen, kevin love, larry nance jr, dean wade, taurean prince and isaiah hartenstein. but they bring in kabengele to see if he might be someone to add anyway.

meanwhile, we play okogie at the 4 again last night. both vandy and davis are obviously out of the picture. ed hasn't played in forever - and vandy now has played a total of 10 minutes in the last 8 games. but cleveland signs kabengele to a 10 day because ... apparently they can, but we can't. and this - on top of what they've seen from hartenstein since they received him in a trade. sometimes these bigs just need a chance. hardly saw the court in denver, but in 8 games with cleveland he's averaging 10.3/9.5/4.2 and nearly 2 blocks per game for the cavs. a new big doing really well - but they STILL sign kabengele. we don't because apparently our roster is loaded as is.

glen has ducktaped his wallet pocket shut. a sort of chastity belt for his money. and this from a guy who is about to sell the team for a freaking bundle. look at NY. this is a team that has not only one of the best shotblockers in the league in mitchell robinson (career per 36 of 3.2), but two - nerlens noel (career per 36 of 2.4). mitchell breaks his hand and is out. in glen's world, he'd hold pat because he still has nerlens to mind the gate. but NY - what do they do? they not only go and sign john henson (career per 36 blocks of 2.6) but also norvel pelle (career per 36 of 4.6)! this is a team who may (or may not) make the playoffs this year (and if they do, they'll immediately get stomped by philly) - but still they keep tinkering with the product, trying to make it better.

[Moses Scurry]

Can't Karl go talk to Al Horford and ask him to help us out? No clue if he has anything left in the tank though.

Al for Ricky, Culver and Davis.

DLO
Beas
Ant
Al
Karl

[UnFadeable21]

Close up and mics of the ejections last night

Kyrie’s now out vs the Wolves on Monday for “personal reasons” lol

[Philo Beddoe]

Tolliver signs with Sixers

[somuchyummy]

Close up and mics of the ejections last night

Kyrie’s now out vs the Wolves on Monday for “personal reasons” lol

kanye, excuse me, kyrie doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor.

[Mplsfonz]

Close up and mics of the ejections last night

Kyrie’s now out vs the Wolves on Monday for “personal reasons” lol

kanye, excuse me, kyrie doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor.

[somuchyummy]

woohoo. guess who just got back into the league? sort of.

former wolf james nunally has signed a two way deal with the pels.

[Hoop Dreams]

[UnFadeable21]

Jamal Murray injury

[jodaman01]

Jamal Murray injury

Hard to tell what happened, but it’s painful just watching his reaction.

I really like this kid, hope he comes out OK.

[Philo Beddoe]

Denver was in the middle of a 6 games in 9 night stretch.

Teams should have a plan in place to make sure their players are not playing in all those games

[somuchyummy]

they are already looking at signing austin rivers. but i think their year is done. that doesn't look good and he's a huge cog in their machine.

[Hoop Dreams]

Hard to tell what happened, but it’s painful just watching his reaction.

I really like this kid, hope he comes out OK.

This angle shows it better. That left knee definitely buckles.

[Mplsfonz]

Hard to tell what happened, but it’s painful just watching his reaction.

I really like this kid, hope he comes out OK.

This angle shows it better. That left knee definitely buckles.

Yeah was watching that and he went to plant and boom. He looked really hurt, and looks like it could be an ACL/MCL or both. Too bad to, Denver has no shot without him.

[Style]

Minnesota Timberwolves: Clear Priorities

Chris Szagola/Associated Press
Anthony Edwards is inefficient but ridiculously talented. He has tremendous offensive upside, as evidenced by averages of 24.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in March, his best month of the season.

Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the most complete offensive centers the league has ever seen, and D'Angelo Russell knows his way around a pick-and-pop.

Those three together should form the foundation of a top-10 offense, at worst, as long as they're together. And that bankable one-way production makes Minnesota's way forward crystal clear: The Wolves need spot-shooting, defense-first players everywhere else on the roster.

While having an undeniably obvious need makes roster construction simple in theory, the fact that every team in the league also wants those kinds of players will make things tricky in practice. It's not like 29 other teams will back off certain free agents because Minnesota needs them most.

Still, no team on this list can give the kind of simple, one-word answer Minnesota can when facing the question "What do we need?"

Defense.

You've got to know what construction materials you need before you start to build. The Wolves know, beyond any doubt, what they lack.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/293 ... his-season

[somuchyummy]

Minnesota Timberwolves: Clear Priorities

Chris Szagola/Associated Press
Anthony Edwards is inefficient but ridiculously talented. He has tremendous offensive upside, as evidenced by averages of 24.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in March, his best month of the season.

Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the most complete offensive centers the league has ever seen, and D'Angelo Russell knows his way around a pick-and-pop.

Those three together should form the foundation of a top-10 offense, at worst, as long as they're together. And that bankable one-way production makes Minnesota's way forward crystal clear: The Wolves need spot-shooting, defense-first players everywhere else on the roster.

While having an undeniably obvious need makes roster construction simple in theory, the fact that every team in the league also wants those kinds of players will make things tricky in practice. It's not like 29 other teams will back off certain free agents because Minnesota needs them most.

Still, no team on this list can give the kind of simple, one-word answer Minnesota can when facing the question "What do we need?"

Defense.

You've got to know what construction materials you need before you start to build. The Wolves know, beyond any doubt, what they lack.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/293 ... his-season

if we could snag a late lottery pick, corey kispert would be a great fit for this team. he'll probably be the equal of beasley in terms of shooting, but he'll be a better defender - plus he's got better size to play both wing spots.

[Hoop Dreams]

[T_J]

Minnesota Timberwolves: Clear Priorities

Chris Szagola/Associated Press
Anthony Edwards is inefficient but ridiculously talented. He has tremendous offensive upside, as evidenced by averages of 24.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in March, his best month of the season.

Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the most complete offensive centers the league has ever seen, and D'Angelo Russell knows his way around a pick-and-pop.

Those three together should form the foundation of a top-10 offense, at worst, as long as they're together. And that bankable one-way production makes Minnesota's way forward crystal clear: The Wolves need spot-shooting, defense-first players everywhere else on the roster.

While having an undeniably obvious need makes roster construction simple in theory, the fact that every team in the league also wants those kinds of players will make things tricky in practice. It's not like 29 other teams will back off certain free agents because Minnesota needs them most.

Still, no team on this list can give the kind of simple, one-word answer Minnesota can when facing the question "What do we need?"

Defense.

You've got to know what construction materials you need before you start to build. The Wolves know, beyond any doubt, what they lack.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/293 ... his-season

We definitely need some two way players who don't need 15 shots a night and can play some D to surround those 3. Culver in theory was supposed to be one of those guys. Does Finch coach defense? It's clear he's got a decent offensive mind given the uptick since he got here in Towns and Edwards, plus his history with other franchise bigs.

I won't admit to knowing who is available this offseason, but if I was Rosas, I would be signing every Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder, Pat Beverley style guy that is available. Versatile vets who don't need huge minutes or shots to contribute, but know how to play on both sides of the court and especially can guard multiple positions. The wolves currently have guys who play offense well, no D and also guys who suck offensively and are just ok on D....it's been a theme for years.

[D_H]

Denver was in the middle of a 6 games in 9 night stretch.

Teams should have a plan in place to make sure their players are not playing in all those games

That’s just outrageous! That is way too much for a huge athletes like NBA players to take.

[D_H]

Wow terrible news. Denver is a fun team to watch now they are likely going out in round 1. Sad!

[Philo Beddoe]

Denver was in the middle of a 6 games in 9 night stretch.

Teams should have a plan in place to make sure their players are not playing in all those games

That’s just outrageous! That is way too much for a huge athletes like NBA players to take.

I get it. However there should be some load management to keep players fresh.

You invest millions of dollars in these players and the season goes right down the shitter because of one injury.

[somuchyummy]

Wow terrible news. Denver is a fun team to watch now they are likely going out in round 1. Sad!

i'm bummed because this just makes it easier for the top seeds to breeze thru. denver could have offered some very staunch resistance - not anymore.

[flexbuffchest]

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/statu ... 98505?s=19

Wow terrible news. Denver is a fun team to watch now they are likely going out in round 1. Sad!

i'm bummed because this just makes it easier for the top seeds to breeze thru. denver could have offered some very staunch resistance - not anymore.

Aren't you guys forgetting the super weapon they just traded for???

[Hoop Dreams]

[somuchyummy]

ah yes, that lovely relationship that KG has with glen. coming back to bite us in the ass. that could be KG working with mcdaniels and naz. and hell, KAT on D too.

[Beef Supreme]

Trade Towns!!

[LordNu]

Trade Towns!!

Exactly, this is all KAT's fault!

[thinktank]

Thought this Hali quote regarding moving back to the bench was funny.

“My brothers mess with me about it and stuff at home. Even my girl, she doesn’t even watch basketball and she’s like, ‘You play the Timberwolves, don’t they got Anthony Edwards?’ … I’m just coming out here trying to win basketball games.”

[Hoop Dreams]