KATs value

[HeHateMe]

Not sure when/if KAT comes back but it would be nice to see him contribute to a deep playoff run. Would help his value.

I think his value will remain high.. he had a good season (when healthy). He can help a team that wants more talent... Wolves pivot to Naz and break up KAT's big contract to build around Ant, Naz and Jaden.

yep. they can sell hope. pretty sure they're going to pivot from him. too many injuries. they don't have to get "full value" for him. with the younger core you can start planning for a run with rudy and conley and then a potential run after them. rudy might have a lot of tread left on the tire too.

100%

[shuttlesworth]

Some Wolves stats for the entire season and for the 11 games since KAT went down:

Offensive Rating:
Entire Season: 114.7
Since KAT Injury: 114.9

Defensive Rating:
Entire Season: 108.1
Since KAT Injury: 108.5

Net Rating:
Entire Season: +6.6
Since KAT Injury: +6.5

Turnovers:
Entire Season: 14.1 (22nd)
Since KAT Injury: 11.1 (4th)

Assist/Turnover Ratio:
Entire Season: 1.88 (22nd)
Since KAT Injury: 2.43 (5th)

Rebound %
Entire Season: 51.0% (8th)
Since KAT Injury: 48.7% (24th)

True Shooting Percentage
Entire Season: 59.3% (9th)
Since KAT Injury: 57.2 (16th)

Three-point Percentage
Entire Season 38.8% (3rd)
Since KAT Injury: 38.0% (6th)

Three-point Attempts:
Entire Season: 32.5 (23rd)
Since KAT Injury: 34.7 (16th)

Seems to back up the eye test: The Wolves lose some size, rebounding, and shooting with KAT out -- but the offense itself is actually performing better, buoyed by far fewer turnovers.

[Catalyst]

.2 really tons better. Turnovers I get, but offensively we are holding our own really. I think a bigger part is Jaden not collecting so many fouls and finding his offense. Which may have something to do with how he is used since Kat went down. I think the biggest issue is Finch finding new avenues to use in the playoffs whether we have Kat or not.

[YBBR]

The rebounding % is a little worrisome. They just miss his size a bit at times. Not that Karl turns it over a ton, probably more than he should though. Switching Naz in for him bears out because Naz is so decisive on offense and very rarely makes mistakes. Especially with coughing up the ball.

The team sa a whole has been improving with TOs even with Towns in the lineup previously. At one point they were definitely 28th in TO. Which is very rough for a 1st place team. The risky/wonky passes and the forceful offensive fouls are part of his kryptonite.

[witljon]

.2 really tons better. Turnovers I get, but offensively we are holding our own really. I think a bigger part is Jaden not collecting so many fouls and finding his offense. Which may have something to do with how he is used since Kat went down. I think the biggest issue is Finch finding new avenues to use in the playoffs whether we have Kat or not.

Our offense should improve with less turnovers.

[Beef Supreme]

.2 really tons better. Turnovers I get, but offensively we are holding our own really. I think a bigger part is Jaden not collecting so many fouls and finding his offense. Which may have something to do with how he is used since Kat went down. I think the biggest issue is Finch finding new avenues to use in the playoffs whether we have Kat or not.

Our offense should improve with less turnovers.

Fewer turnovers, reduced efficiency.


More or less a wash with the samples we have.

[Beef Supreme]

The rebounding % is a little worrisome. They just miss his size a bit at times. Not that Karl turns it over a ton, probably more than he should though. Switching Naz in for him bears out because Naz is so decisive on offense and very rarely makes mistakes. Especially with coughing up the ball.

The team sa a whole has been improving with TOs even with Towns in the lineup previously. At one point they were definitely 28th in TO. Which is very rough for a 1st place team. The risky/wonky passes and the forceful offensive fouls are part of his kryptonite.

As with the team, so with Naz and Karl. Naz doesn’t turn it over as often, but Towns is more efficient. It comes out pretty even in the end.

But as mentioned, Towns is the superior rebounder and (as strange as this is to say) the better defender.


I really hope he makes it back and contributes. I’ve said this , but having the two towers + Naz off the bench is what separates this team from other good teams in the league. If we lose towns or Gobert, we’re still a good team (as evidenced by our 9-3 without Towns), but we lose something unique and something really hard for other teams to match up with.

And with how the refs have started calling the game differently and how they usually let teams play more physically in the playoffs, having that size could be really a huge advantage.

[witljon]

The rebounding % is a little worrisome. They just miss his size a bit at times. Not that Karl turns it over a ton, probably more than he should though. Switching Naz in for him bears out because Naz is so decisive on offense and very rarely makes mistakes. Especially with coughing up the ball.

The team sa a whole has been improving with TOs even with Towns in the lineup previously. At one point they were definitely 28th in TO. Which is very rough for a 1st place team. The risky/wonky passes and the forceful offensive fouls are part of his kryptonite.

As with the team, so with Naz and Karl. Naz doesn’t turn it over as often, but Towns is more efficient. It comes out pretty even in the end.

But as mentioned, Towns is the superior rebounder and (as strange as this is to say) the better defender.

I really like Naz, but he definitely doesn’t attract the double teams that Towns does.

[Beef Supreme]

The rebounding % is a little worrisome. They just miss his size a bit at times. Not that Karl turns it over a ton, probably more than he should though. Switching Naz in for him bears out because Naz is so decisive on offense and very rarely makes mistakes. Especially with coughing up the ball.

The team sa a whole has been improving with TOs even with Towns in the lineup previously. At one point they were definitely 28th in TO. Which is very rough for a 1st place team. The risky/wonky passes and the forceful offensive fouls are part of his kryptonite.

As with the team, so with Naz and Karl. Naz doesn’t turn it over as often, but Towns is more efficient. It comes out pretty even in the end.

But as mentioned, Towns is the superior rebounder and (as strange as this is to say) the better defender.

I really like Naz, but he definitely doesn’t attract the double teams that Towns does.

Right. And with the doubles Edwards has been seeing lately… pretty hard to double them both.

[Style]

I still think the homerun trade for KAT is Dejounte Murray.

[SO_MONEY]

I still think the homerun trade for KAT is Dejounte Murray.

I think we need draft capital in any trade and probably a good "youngish" player. I think the team is good without KAT and we need to add multiple pieces in any trade that are younger to keep pace with teams like OKC.

[somuchyummy]

Houston apparently is looking to move Sengun or Green or both to make a big splash trade. I love Sengun, but unfortunately he's probably just a C and doesn't make sense here as well as Rudy's been playing. The other problem in a trade with them is coming up with the matching contracts. Adams makes a good bunch - but then we're adding Sengun AND Adams to Rudy? Really doesn't make sense - unless a third team gets involved. All in all, i agree with the notion of adding a really good young player and draft capital. Again, a problem - most REALLY good young players are on rookie deals making squat, so getting something to match is difficult.

how's this look? The Pelicans, I believe, have a bunch of draft capital at their disposal - multiple first rounders - plus they are seeing the end of Jonas Valanciunas' contract this summer, he'll be an FA. So there IS a C spot to populate. Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr. and a first or two for KAT. Not always a good idea to trade with another team in the conference - and having KAT's gravity away from the basket opens things up much more for Zion and CJ than what they had with Valanciunas. But from our end, it would get us a first(s) back, and Ingram would absolutely replace KAT's scoring plus give us another shot creator. Rudy/Ingram/Jaden/Ant/Mike ain't bad. And we'd still retain Naz. The hitch in the whole thing is that Ingram (and Nance) both would become FAs after the 2025 season - so something would have to be worked out to retain him. Or maybe that's where multiple firsts come in.

[SO_MONEY]

Houston apparently is looking to move Sengun or Green or both to make a big splash trade. I love Sengun, but unfortunately he's probably just a C and doesn't make sense here as well as Rudy's been playing. The other problem in a trade with them is coming up with the matching contracts. Adams makes a good bunch - but then we're adding Sengun AND Adams to Rudy? Really doesn't make sense - unless a third team gets involved. All in all, i agree with the notion of adding a really good young player and draft capital. Again, a problem - most REALLY good young players are on rookie deals making squat, so getting something to match is difficult.

You have to make a projection on any young player you hope to be really good, but good is different, good is proven, good isn't great or even really good. Good is typically on a contract around 20mil staying in the youngish parameters. The most important thing is if we trade KAT it has to be before the draft, if you wait until the following season's salary a trade will be nearly impossible and we are likely keeping him long-term until more contracts are signed under a higher cap to make matching easier.

Taking ATL as the example, Murray probably isn't the best target...my ask would instead be something like Hunter, Bogdon and multiple picks.

There are likely teams with better options and even a rookie scale guy to target. The only guys on ATL that might fit the bill is Bufkin and Gueye?

[somuchyummy]

I just pitched the KAT for Ingram deal to Son of Yum, and he gave it a thumbs up. Never does that for my ideas. Odd i didn't know this till I pitched it and looked it up, but Ingram and KAT are ranked one to two spots apart from each other on a number of Top 100 lists. One last thing I discovered I was wrong about - I think I thought of him coming into the league as a pretty boy more interested in the spotlight than maybe basketball. And now I think he's just pretty much a baller thru and thru.

[Moses Scurry]

I just pitched the KAT for Ingram deal to Son of Yum, and he gave it a thumbs up. Never does that for my ideas. Odd i didn't know this till I pitched it and looked it up, but Ingram and KAT are ranked one to two spots apart from each other on a number of Top 100 lists. One last thing I discovered I was wrong about - I think I thought of him coming into the league as a pretty boy more interested in the spotlight than maybe basketball. And now I think he's just pretty much a baller thru and thru.

So, how does he slot in, in between Jaden and Edwards?

[somuchyummy]

that's a question yeah. he's listed as a SG/SF/PF. I imagine he's spent the least time as a PF, but am not sure about that. Just checked - Basketball Reference has him listed as a SF every year except one - when he apparently spent most of his time at the 4. He's got a 7-3 WS - so plenty of length - and I think having Rudy's massive presence in the post mitigates some of the concerns. Biggest concern would be rebounding - although we've seen an uptick of that lately both with Ant and Jaden, and Rudy of course is a league leader. One thing for certain, he can get his points - and I think in creating something out of nothing, better at it than KAT. Which in end of game situations would give us two players with that skill - Ant and Ingram - to our advantage. I would guess we would be going with a two "forward" lineup with Jaden and BI. What are your thoughts?

[Beef Supreme]

I like Ingram just fine.


He’s a free agent after the 2024-25 season. How much would he command to keep him at that time? I don’t believe he’s ever been all-NBA, but I could be wrong.

[HeHateMe]

I still think the homerun trade for KAT is Dejounte Murray.

I think we need draft capital in any trade and probably a good "youngish" player. I think the team is good without KAT and we need to add multiple pieces in any trade that are younger to keep pace with teams like OKC.

OKC.... Wallace/Dort/picks... are they under the cap next year and can absorb some of KAT's contract?

[Style]

I still think the homerun trade for KAT is Dejounte Murray.

I think we need draft capital in any trade and probably a good "youngish" player. I think the team is good without KAT and we need to add multiple pieces in any trade that are younger to keep pace with teams like OKC.

I don’t agree picks should be our primary target. We have Rudy in his prime and Ant playing like an All-NBA guy. Why cut it down? Build on those two. Plus we only owe Utah three more 1sts. Hardly crippling. Connelly is showing his ability to work the margins. If we can grab, say a 2029 1st in a KAT deal, bonus.

Murray is 27 years old and locked into a $24M, $26M, and $28M dollar deal for the next three seasons after this one. He’s a sound two way player. He’d be able to play with Ant, Jaden, and Rudy seamlessly. Also Conley. He’s half the cost of KAT at a more premier position and a much better defender. He’d allow Conley to age gracefully.

Atlanta, stuck on the treadmill, might be intrigued by a Trae/Johnson/KAT trio.

[SO_MONEY]

I still think the homerun trade for KAT is Dejounte Murray.

I think we need draft capital in any trade and probably a good "youngish" player. I think the team is good without KAT and we need to add multiple pieces in any trade that are younger to keep pace with teams like OKC.

I don’t agree picks should be our primary target. We have Rudy in his prime and Ant playing like an All-NBA guy. Why cut it down? Build on those two. Plus we only owe Utah three more 1sts. Hardly crippling. Connelly is showing his ability to work the margins. If we can grab, say a 2029 1st in a KAT deal, bonus.

Murray is 27 years old and locked into a $24M, $26M, and $28M dollar deal for the next three seasons after this one. He’s a sound two way player. He’d be able to play with Ant, Jaden, and Rudy seamlessly. Also Conley. He’s half the cost of KAT at a more premier position and a much better defender. He’d allow Conley to age gracefully.

Atlanta, stuck on the treadmill, might be intrigued by a Trae/Johnson/KAT trio.

We need picks or we lose ANT. Rudy is not in his prime. If you trade KAT you are looking forward and hoping not to take much of a step back because the team is already good without KAT. This team becomes its best by adding multiple pieces to it over time or why bother long-term when OKC is just as good or better and they will grow and grow. We need picks to be completive long-term. Target immediate depth, could be a starter even, add to a team with good players that might actually improve the team then have flexibility in your back pocket to grow.

[salamander]

Some Wolves stats for the entire season and for the 11 games since KAT went down:

Offensive Rating:
Entire Season: 114.7
Since KAT Injury: 114.9

Defensive Rating:
Entire Season: 108.1
Since KAT Injury: 108.5

Net Rating:
Entire Season: +6.6
Since KAT Injury: +6.5

Turnovers:
Entire Season: 14.1 (22nd)
Since KAT Injury: 11.1 (4th)

Assist/Turnover Ratio:
Entire Season: 1.88 (22nd)
Since KAT Injury: 2.43 (5th)

Rebound %
Entire Season: 51.0% (8th)
Since KAT Injury: 48.7% (24th)

True Shooting Percentage
Entire Season: 59.3% (9th)
Since KAT Injury: 57.2 (16th)

Three-point Percentage
Entire Season 38.8% (3rd)
Since KAT Injury: 38.0% (6th)

Three-point Attempts:
Entire Season: 32.5 (23rd)
Since KAT Injury: 34.7 (16th)

Seems to back up the eye test: The Wolves lose some size, rebounding, and shooting with KAT out -- but the offense itself is actually performing better, buoyed by far fewer turnovers.

[somuchyummy]

the more i think of it, the Pels might be a very reasonable target if TWolves brass does decide to deal KAT this summer. They have zero Centers under contract going into next season. Edey or Clingan could be options at the 14th pick - but they certainly don't give them the spacing that KAT would. Another possibility might be Kyle Filipowski - but 14 seems like a reach.

And when you look at the Pels - 6th place in the West, never really done much in the playoffs - meanwhile Zion is in his fifth year, Ingram in his 8th year and CJ in his 11th year. It's kind of not working and they might want to shake it up with a new recipe.

[twolves31]

I think we need draft capital in any trade and probably a good "youngish" player. I think the team is good without KAT and we need to add multiple pieces in any trade that are younger to keep pace with teams like OKC.

I don’t agree picks should be our primary target. We have Rudy in his prime and Ant playing like an All-NBA guy. Why cut it down? Build on those two. Plus we only owe Utah three more 1sts. Hardly crippling. Connelly is showing his ability to work the margins. If we can grab, say a 2029 1st in a KAT deal, bonus.

Murray is 27 years old and locked into a $24M, $26M, and $28M dollar deal for the next three seasons after this one. He’s a sound two way player. He’d be able to play with Ant, Jaden, and Rudy seamlessly. Also Conley. He’s half the cost of KAT at a more premier position and a much better defender. He’d allow Conley to age gracefully.

Atlanta, stuck on the treadmill, might be intrigued by a Trae/Johnson/KAT trio.

We need picks or we lose ANT. Rudy is not in his prime. If you trade KAT you are looking forward and hoping not to take much of a step back because the team is already good without KAT. This team becomes its best by adding multiple pieces to it over time or why bother long-term when OKC is just as good or better and they will grow and grow. We need picks to be completive long-term. Target immediate depth, could be a starter even, add to a team with good players that might actually improve the team then have flexibility in your back pocket to grow.

Multiple Hornet's fans on realgm would trade the number one pick in the draft for Kat, of course it's considered a pretty terrible draft. If you are trading Kat you are hoping to pull off something like OKC did when they traded George and wound up with Shai and drafted Jalen Williams with one of the picks the Clippers traded them.

[SO_MONEY]

I don’t agree picks should be our primary target. We have Rudy in his prime and Ant playing like an All-NBA guy. Why cut it down? Build on those two. Plus we only owe Utah three more 1sts. Hardly crippling. Connelly is showing his ability to work the margins. If we can grab, say a 2029 1st in a KAT deal, bonus.

Murray is 27 years old and locked into a $24M, $26M, and $28M dollar deal for the next three seasons after this one. He’s a sound two way player. He’d be able to play with Ant, Jaden, and Rudy seamlessly. Also Conley. He’s half the cost of KAT at a more premier position and a much better defender. He’d allow Conley to age gracefully.

Atlanta, stuck on the treadmill, might be intrigued by a Trae/Johnson/KAT trio.

We need picks or we lose ANT. Rudy is not in his prime. If you trade KAT you are looking forward and hoping not to take much of a step back because the team is already good without KAT. This team becomes its best by adding multiple pieces to it over time or why bother long-term when OKC is just as good or better and they will grow and grow. We need picks to be completive long-term. Target immediate depth, could be a starter even, add to a team with good players that might actually improve the team then have flexibility in your back pocket to grow.

Multiple Hornet's fans on realgm would trade the number one pick in the draft for Kat, of course it's considered a pretty terrible draft. If you are trading Kat you are hoping to pull off something like OKC did when they traded George and wound up with Shai and drafted Jalen Williams with one of the picks the Clippers traded them.

I certainly think something like that is the target. This team probably doesn't have a problem taking back matching salary, given that itself is savings when KAT's salary bumps up and a team will probably want to shed some salary to make room. So I think a couple of good players possibly on longer-term deals that are basically neutral in value, but will add depth keep us near the same in performance or maybe even improve the team (fingers crossed) and some picks and a big swing young player who we think we have scouted and is maybe undervalued by his current team.

[LordNu]

I know this is one of those questions we would have during offseason, but say we pick the all-time Wolves side, does KG pair with KAT at C or Gobert?

[kindman]

Can you even imagine the D if you went Gobert? I don't think Kat and KG would have been that great

[LordNu]

It would be outrageous. But begs the question of who our best ever C was/is.

[Beef Supreme]

Can you even imagine the D if you went Gobert? I don't think Kat and KG would have been that great

You can make an argument about the defensive upside of KG and Gobert being too good to pass up, but the idea that KG and Towns would not have been that great together is preposterous.


Any two of the three would be spectacular. As we’ve seen.

[boxter432]

Pretty sure two extremely skilled 6’13 players who are great rebounders could work together pretty well. KG a little more low post and KAT a little more spread. A 26 year old KAT and 30 year old KG would be redonk. KG basically played center for Boston with shorter Perkins and big baby vs here with dean/rasho/kandi. KAT and KG can C or big PF all day. And KG would scream at KAT for every dumb off foul or missed play haha.

[witljon]

Any word on when Towns will be back playing?