GustavBahler wrote:

Uptown wrote:Towns had a really good year for us...was 50, 40, 80...3rd team all NBA. His concentration wanes at times and he has lapses in judgement that makes you want to throw your remote through the TV, but this is a trait most players share that are all stars but not hall of fame worthy. I suspect most fans that had a problem with Kat, especially when the trade was announced were Randle fans...

If anyone gets Towns to put more effort on D, fewer dumb fouls, Im guessing it will be KAT's teammates, not his coaches. Not letting him drift mentally, encouraging him to keep his head in the game. He took some flak from the TNT crew over his stupid fouls. What bothered me is that KAT didnt seem all that bothered about it himself.

I remember Dirk's defense wasnt up to snuff back when he was with the Mavs, rarely took it to the rim. But Carlisle got the job, Dirk's D improved, was playing more physical D. Didnt just rely on fall back jumpers.started taking it to the rim more.

I still think KAT's teammates will be the ones to get him to play smarter,but maybe a new coach will also help him play with more focus.

He’ll be 30 in November. I think the most significant changes to his game we can expect will be more nagging injuries.

ToddTT wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

Uptown wrote:Towns had a really good year for us...was 50, 40, 80...3rd team all NBA. His concentration wanes at times and he has lapses in judgement that makes you want to throw your remote through the TV, but this is a trait most players share that are all stars but not hall of fame worthy. I suspect most fans that had a problem with Kat, especially when the trade was announced were Randle fans...

If anyone gets Towns to put more effort on D, fewer dumb fouls, Im guessing it will be KAT's teammates, not his coaches. Not letting him drift mentally, encouraging him to keep his head in the game. He took some flak from the TNT crew over his stupid fouls. What bothered me is that KAT didnt seem all that bothered about it himself.

I remember Dirk's defense wasnt up to snuff back when he was with the Mavs, rarely took it to the rim. But Carlisle got the job, Dirk's D improved, was playing more physical D. Didnt just rely on fall back jumpers.started taking it to the rim more.

I still think KAT's teammates will be the ones to get him to play smarter,but maybe a new coach will also help him play with more focus.

He’ll be 30 in November. I think the most significant changes to his game we can expect will be more nagging injuries.

Dirk was 32-33 when the Mavs won a chip'. Became a more complete player in his 30s. Stoudemire developed a legit post game in his 30s. It was too late to make a difference, but it shows that players can expand their games at any stage in their careers.

Larry Johnson couldnt move like he used to because of chronic back issues. So he became primarily a post up player with the Knicks, instead of trying to take defenders off the dribble. He was surprisingly good at backing down seven footers and pivoting away from his defender.

David Lee used to play "jazzhands defense" with the Knicks. With GS he learned to play respectable D, and it helped them win the first chip' of their dynasty.

Players can improve or modify their games, starts with determination.

Philc1 wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

ToddTT wrote:

GustavBahler wrote:

Uptown wrote:Towns had a really good year for us...was 50, 40, 80...3rd team all NBA. His concentration wanes at times and he has lapses in judgement that makes you want to throw your remote through the TV, but this is a trait most players share that are all stars but not hall of fame worthy. I suspect most fans that had a problem with Kat, especially when the trade was announced were Randle fans...

If anyone gets Towns to put more effort on D, fewer dumb fouls, Im guessing it will be KAT's teammates, not his coaches. Not letting him drift mentally, encouraging him to keep his head in the game. He took some flak from the TNT crew over his stupid fouls. What bothered me is that KAT didnt seem all that bothered about it himself.

I remember Dirk's defense wasnt up to snuff back when he was with the Mavs, rarely took it to the rim. But Carlisle got the job, Dirk's D improved, was playing more physical D. Didnt just rely on fall back jumpers.started taking it to the rim more.

I still think KAT's teammates will be the ones to get him to play smarter,but maybe a new coach will also help him play with more focus.

He’ll be 30 in November. I think the most significant changes to his game we can expect will be more nagging injuries.

Dirk was 32-33 when the Mavs won a chip'. Became a more complete player in his 30s. Stoudemire developed a legit post game in his 30s. It was too late to make a difference, but it shows that players can expand their games at any stage in their careers.

Larry Johnson couldnt move like he used to because of chronic back issues. So he became primarily a post up player with the Knicks, instead of trying to take defenders off the dribble. He was surprisingly good at backing down seven footers and pivoting away from his defender.

David Lee used to play "jazzhands defense" with the Knicks. With GS he learned to play respectable D, and it helped them win the first chip' of their dynasty.

Players can improve or modify their games, starts with determination.

A player as big and talented as KAT will continue to be effective well into his 30’s we saw that with Ewing the guy had terrible knees and could barely move yet still outplayed Alonzo Mourning in the 2000 playoffs.

So you are saying KAT, in his 30’s, will be able to outplay Mourning? Can’t wait.

As much as like Randle and felt he deserved a shot to run with a much improved squad. One which I feel would have done what this year’s squad did, KAT is a solid player and better than Randle.
Still think not that much better or worth $60M but think he is a solid piece going forward. But the question for me has always been is he the last piece. And at $60M, he definitely is suppose to be.
So being able to play okay with busted knees is not that.

Panos wrote:

BigRedDog wrote:

Nalod wrote:Nalod told you guys recently it would happen and you would not like it.
Did not think Donte would be in it but it makes sense because they don't need Mitch.
This completes Minny.
This trade don't get done without Mikal coming first.
Deuce is ready. Y'all said as much. It also makes the trade able.
I loved Donte, don't get me wrong. But when I said Mikal without Randle being traded makes it "clumsy".
Donte off the bench was not crazy. Its were he started last year.

Kat is soft? Well, give the man a chance. He played nice last year. Randle has not exactly been a rock for us. Love the guy, but he too keeps breaking. Its a good trade for Minny, He makes sense next to Rudy and Naz Reid as well. Jules has been getting smaller and can play some three with Mcdaniels at 6-10.

Do I love it? Maybe it makes us balanced now. Shocking right?

Sure its not perfect, but basically we traded two guys we got via free agency.
I have faith Leon and Thibs are down with this. On paper the logic is there. Will it execute? Tune in!!!!

I agree. I hate losing Donte but we were overloaded at guard. Trade makes us much more balanced. We needed size. Give Kat a chance here with the team that we have surrounding him. Randle also was due a big raise soon. Randle was getting hurt quite often too. Randle never seemed to fit in with the team concept of basketball, always trying to do too much himself. Kat makes a ton of money but he is only 28 yrs old.

Randle resigned with the Wolves for $33M per year. https://www.nba.com/news/julius-randle-timberwolves-contract-extension-2025
Above are two misconceptions justifying the trade of Randle + DDV for KAT. Both where wrong. We 100% did not have an overload of guards. We needed 2023-24 DDV coming off the bench to score. With that we didn't need either CAM nor Shamet.
And Randle got a reasonable contract extension especially considering what KAT is making and the bag that OG got. Randle is much more value contract than either of KAT or OG. I'm never going to understand the $40+M for OG.

Panos wrote:

Nalod wrote:We forget about Randles lapses of concentration already?
The market priced OG as did Randle. Do you think if Randle was offered 40plus he would not have moved to another team?
Think kmicks over paid or OG understood the market? Would it have been ok for him to walk?

If you don't understand or don't want to thats on you.

Oh THANK YOU, oh SAGE Nalod for condescending to explain the nuances of a Market Economy to me. You are gracious as you are wise!

Whatever it is you think you know about the market and what offers OG and Randle did or didn't get, I'd way easily prefer Randle in my starting lineup than OG. And I REALLY doubt anyone was lining up to bid up OG to the contract we paid him.

They probably would have gone higher for him as an UFA to snatch him from the Knicks. Cause it would have been worth it. OG was a super hot commodity.

ramtour420 wrote:

Panos wrote:

BigRedDog wrote:

Nalod wrote:Nalod told you guys recently it would happen and you would not like it.
Did not think Donte would be in it but it makes sense because they don't need Mitch.
This completes Minny.
This trade don't get done without Mikal coming first.
Deuce is ready. Y'all said as much. It also makes the trade able.
I loved Donte, don't get me wrong. But when I said Mikal without Randle being traded makes it "clumsy".
Donte off the bench was not crazy. Its were he started last year.

Kat is soft? Well, give the man a chance. He played nice last year. Randle has not exactly been a rock for us. Love the guy, but he too keeps breaking. Its a good trade for Minny, He makes sense next to Rudy and Naz Reid as well. Jules has been getting smaller and can play some three with Mcdaniels at 6-10.

Do I love it? Maybe it makes us balanced now. Shocking right?

Sure its not perfect, but basically we traded two guys we got via free agency.
I have faith Leon and Thibs are down with this. On paper the logic is there. Will it execute? Tune in!!!!

I agree. I hate losing Donte but we were overloaded at guard. Trade makes us much more balanced. We needed size. Give Kat a chance here with the team that we have surrounding him. Randle also was due a big raise soon. Randle was getting hurt quite often too. Randle never seemed to fit in with the team concept of basketball, always trying to do too much himself. Kat makes a ton of money but he is only 28 yrs old.

Randle resigned with the Wolves for $33M per year. https://www.nba.com/news/julius-randle-timberwolves-contract-extension-2025
Above are two misconceptions justifying the trade of Randle + DDV for KAT. Both where wrong. We 100% did not have an overload of guards. We needed 2023-24 DDV coming off the bench to score. With that we didn't need either CAM nor Shamet.
And Randle got a reasonable contract extension especially considering what KAT is making and the bag that OG got. Randle is much more value contract than either of KAT or OG. I'm never going to understand the $40+M for OG.

Two way players are better and more valuable

Are you saying Randle was a 2 way player? I hope not, he was terrible on defense.

BigRedDog wrote:

ramtour420 wrote:

Panos wrote:

BigRedDog wrote:

Nalod wrote:Nalod told you guys recently it would happen and you would not like it.
Did not think Donte would be in it but it makes sense because they don't need Mitch.
This completes Minny.
This trade don't get done without Mikal coming first.
Deuce is ready. Y'all said as much. It also makes the trade able.
I loved Donte, don't get me wrong. But when I said Mikal without Randle being traded makes it "clumsy".
Donte off the bench was not crazy. Its were he started last year.

Kat is soft? Well, give the man a chance. He played nice last year. Randle has not exactly been a rock for us. Love the guy, but he too keeps breaking. Its a good trade for Minny, He makes sense next to Rudy and Naz Reid as well. Jules has been getting smaller and can play some three with Mcdaniels at 6-10.

Do I love it? Maybe it makes us balanced now. Shocking right?

Sure its not perfect, but basically we traded two guys we got via free agency.
I have faith Leon and Thibs are down with this. On paper the logic is there. Will it execute? Tune in!!!!

I agree. I hate losing Donte but we were overloaded at guard. Trade makes us much more balanced. We needed size. Give Kat a chance here with the team that we have surrounding him. Randle also was due a big raise soon. Randle was getting hurt quite often too. Randle never seemed to fit in with the team concept of basketball, always trying to do too much himself. Kat makes a ton of money but he is only 28 yrs old.

Randle resigned with the Wolves for $33M per year. https://www.nba.com/news/julius-randle-timberwolves-contract-extension-2025
Above are two misconceptions justifying the trade of Randle + DDV for KAT. Both where wrong. We 100% did not have an overload of guards. We needed 2023-24 DDV coming off the bench to score. With that we didn't need either CAM nor Shamet.
And Randle got a reasonable contract extension especially considering what KAT is making and the bag that OG got. Randle is much more value contract than either of KAT or OG. I'm never going to understand the $40+M for OG.

Two way players are better and more valuable

Are you saying Randle was a 2 way player? I hope not, he was terrible on defense.

KAT makes Julius look like Gary Payton.

fishmike wrote:

Panos wrote:

BigRedDog wrote:

Nalod wrote:Nalod told you guys recently it would happen and you would not like it.
Did not think Donte would be in it but it makes sense because they don't need Mitch.
This completes Minny.
This trade don't get done without Mikal coming first.
Deuce is ready. Y'all said as much. It also makes the trade able.
I loved Donte, don't get me wrong. But when I said Mikal without Randle being traded makes it "clumsy".
Donte off the bench was not crazy. Its were he started last year.

Kat is soft? Well, give the man a chance. He played nice last year. Randle has not exactly been a rock for us. Love the guy, but he too keeps breaking. Its a good trade for Minny, He makes sense next to Rudy and Naz Reid as well. Jules has been getting smaller and can play some three with Mcdaniels at 6-10.

Do I love it? Maybe it makes us balanced now. Shocking right?

Sure its not perfect, but basically we traded two guys we got via free agency.
I have faith Leon and Thibs are down with this. On paper the logic is there. Will it execute? Tune in!!!!

I agree. I hate losing Donte but we were overloaded at guard. Trade makes us much more balanced. We needed size. Give Kat a chance here with the team that we have surrounding him. Randle also was due a big raise soon. Randle was getting hurt quite often too. Randle never seemed to fit in with the team concept of basketball, always trying to do too much himself. Kat makes a ton of money but he is only 28 yrs old.

Randle resigned with the Wolves for $33M per year. https://www.nba.com/news/julius-randle-timberwolves-contract-extension-2025
Above are two misconceptions justifying the trade of Randle + DDV for KAT. Both where wrong. We 100% did not have an overload of guards. We needed 2023-24 DDV coming off the bench to score. With that we didn't need either CAM nor Shamet.
And Randle got a reasonable contract extension especially considering what KAT is making and the bag that OG got. Randle is much more value contract than either of KAT or OG. I'm never going to understand the $40+M for OG.

OG is worth is.

I would prefer Randle/DD over KAT at the same money. Its pretty close

The real comparison is Randle/DVD to KAT/Bridges

Philc1 wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Panos wrote:

BigRedDog wrote:

Nalod wrote:Nalod told you guys recently it would happen and you would not like it.
Did not think Donte would be in it but it makes sense because they don't need Mitch.
This completes Minny.
This trade don't get done without Mikal coming first.
Deuce is ready. Y'all said as much. It also makes the trade able.
I loved Donte, don't get me wrong. But when I said Mikal without Randle being traded makes it "clumsy".
Donte off the bench was not crazy. Its were he started last year.

Kat is soft? Well, give the man a chance. He played nice last year. Randle has not exactly been a rock for us. Love the guy, but he too keeps breaking. Its a good trade for Minny, He makes sense next to Rudy and Naz Reid as well. Jules has been getting smaller and can play some three with Mcdaniels at 6-10.

Do I love it? Maybe it makes us balanced now. Shocking right?

Sure its not perfect, but basically we traded two guys we got via free agency.
I have faith Leon and Thibs are down with this. On paper the logic is there. Will it execute? Tune in!!!!

I agree. I hate losing Donte but we were overloaded at guard. Trade makes us much more balanced. We needed size. Give Kat a chance here with the team that we have surrounding him. Randle also was due a big raise soon. Randle was getting hurt quite often too. Randle never seemed to fit in with the team concept of basketball, always trying to do too much himself. Kat makes a ton of money but he is only 28 yrs old.

Randle resigned with the Wolves for $33M per year. https://www.nba.com/news/julius-randle-timberwolves-contract-extension-2025
Above are two misconceptions justifying the trade of Randle + DDV for KAT. Both where wrong. We 100% did not have an overload of guards. We needed 2023-24 DDV coming off the bench to score. With that we didn't need either CAM nor Shamet.
And Randle got a reasonable contract extension especially considering what KAT is making and the bag that OG got. Randle is much more value contract than either of KAT or OG. I'm never going to understand the $40+M for OG.

OG is worth is.

I would prefer Randle/DD over KAT at the same money. Its pretty close

The real comparison is Randle/DVD to KAT/Bridges

Randle DDV Bogdonovix dead $20m salary and 6 Draft Picks to KAT Bridges.

1) There was uncertainty what Randle would be willing to sign for. Unclear if he was offered an extension and turned it down.

2) Bogs was dead money. So the Bridges trade got us a top 3&D for useless salary. Not all the picks were to add Bridges. Some were to subtract Bogs.

3) We had only Huk on the roster as a healthy center. And that was a 2 way deal before it got converted. Randle was slotted to play Center.

4) KAT is the better player. Dollar for dollar, Randle’s new contract is a value add. But we have to assume an extension was rejected by someone.

5) DDV is the biggest casualty of this trade. Caught me off guard. Pretty sure it was supposed to be Mitch. Was an awkward period for everyone.

6) What’s done is done. I think both teams won. But I don’t think KAT was used to his highest potential. I hope Brown unlocks more.