KAT to the Knicks, Randle and DiVincenzo to Timberwolves [TRADE FINALIZED]

[daboywonder2002]

A lot of his playmaking constitutes of him throwing grenades to his teammates once he finds himself unable to get a shot off.

It’s happened frequently in this series.

He gets stonewalled in the paint and then just launches the ball out to the nearest teammate. There rarely ever is any rhyme or reason to his playmaking. He’s not actually creating scoring opportunities.

That's how Allen Iverson used to play and how he would get his assist. But when I watch Randle I'm not seeing that at all. He's moving the ball looking for open teammates not just waiting until a double team comes

 

[CHICAGO]

People are now saying this trade worked out for both teams.

Maybe.

Though you could argue that if Steph Curry was healthy this series would look very different and maybe people wouldn’t be praising Randle as this Timberwolves savior/stalwart.

Randle has always been good about getting his. But that doesn’t mean he’s this team-elevating player.

IF STEPH WAS HEALTHY
THEY WOULD BEAT THE KAT TIMBERWOLVES TOO
SO THIS ARGUMENT MAKES NO SENSE



​

 

[daboywonder2002]

Randle looks better than he was in New York playoffs. That version of Randle was legitimately one of the worst NBA playoffs performers of all time. He was scared of getting to the basket I believe in Miami series few years ago.

KAT is a better player than Randle. He did his part in New York taking two wins against a healthy Celtics in Boston. That's more impressive than beating teams like Lakers and Warriors who have no front court.

Now whether it's OKC or Denver in conference finals....if Randle has a really great series against those front courts, then he'll deserve more props. Other than that, he's better than he was in NY, but KAT is doing great things himself.

KAT always picked up dumb fouls. Or if he had a smaller player couldn't take advantage. Losing the ball trying to drive or just falling out of control. Randle got the better handle and actually plays like a big

 

[Remote]

IF STEPH WAS HEALTHY
THEY WOULD BEAT THE KAT TIMBERWOLVES TOO
SO THIS ARGUMENT MAKES NO SENSE



​

Not to you.
And I’m not surprised.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

yooo @Gil Scott-Heroin you my homie 50 grand and all but you sounded very salty the last few pages, he is playing well and brings things KAT doesn't bring that helps Minny... right now it is looking like a good trade and leave it at that, lets people celebrate their wins man

I can understand how it seems that way, but it's the reality of the matter.

KAT would be eating against GS right now too, even more so. Even your average starting PF would be looking a lot better than they'd typically perform as well. I think some of y'all are completely overlooking just how bad this GS team is without Steph, especially under these circumstance when they've already played seven games in the 1st round and Jimmy is still banged up by his ass contusion.

Even lottery teams would be beating up on GS.

The Kings, Mavs*, Hawks, Bulls, T'Blazers etc would be able to not only look good against GS in a series, but they'd beat them too.

Didn’t really answer my question….

I thought I answered your question in complete detail. Because it's less about the actual frontcourt he's playing and more about the balance of a team.

 

[Verbal Kint]

People are now saying this trade worked out for both teams.

Maybe.

Though you could argue that if Steph Curry was healthy this series would look very different and maybe people wouldn’t be praising Randle as this Timberwolves savior/stalwart.

Randle has always been good about getting his. But that doesn’t mean he’s this team-elevating player.

Randle has essentially been the primary playmaker/ hub for the Wolves offense since he came back from injury with like 30 games left. Not a perfect player but he’s absolutely been elevating the Wolves as a team and had really been a better fit as a #2 guy than KAT was because of the playmaking element and the ability to get tough buckets when the offense bogs down. This version of Randle is better than KAT has ever been in the playoffs. Donte has been pretty bad this postseason but still part of the rotation, and they got the Pistons 1st round pick after the world freaked out about them supposedly not having any picks after the Rudy trade. Plus they’re not locked into a $50 mil contract for a #2 guy for the next 4 years. Wolves definitely are happy with what they got from that trade.

 

[Verbal Kint]

Minny has gotten extremely lucky they've played two teams without frontcourts, and then one of those teams had their best player go down. GS would've packed them up in 5-6 games if Steph was healthy, and we wouldn't be talking about the trade the same.

Lol. Like who? Houston couldnt best GS despite their frontcourt. And the Wolves are one of the biggest teams in the league so not really getting where somehow a frontcourt is their kryptonite.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Lol. Like who? Houston couldnt best GS despite their frontcourt. And the Wolves are one of the biggest teams in the league so not really getting where somehow a frontcourt is their kryptonite.

It's all about balance.

If you don't have a frontcourt, then it kills the rest of your team (we saw it happen with the Lakers). Even more so for a team like GS missing Steph which creates an imbalance that it's impossible to play under. Someone like Jimmy has been great on defense since the trade, particularly through what he can do in help situations, but with no Steph now, he's using all his energy on offense that he can't do anything on the other end.

I watched him be a complete sieve on defense yesterday. He wasn't the Jimmy I've seen over the last few months.

That forces more stress on the likes of Looney, Dray, TJD and the smaller wings/guards, who're already under stress of trying to create for themselves on offense (without the aid of Steph).

Now you have this flow-on effect and it destroys the identity and ability of the team where they end up being a shell of their former selves.

 

[Verbal Kint]

Not much point bringing up GS defense after the Jimmy trade when they’re not the same team without Steph.

Their defense is predicated on Steph anchoring them on offense, to help them control the game and tire out the opposition (look at all the energy Minny has for offense now because they’re not running around trying to defend Steph and then recover to defend other players). Steph opens up open scoring opportunities so his own teammates don’t need to exert energy creating buckets for themselves, that allows them to conserve energy for defense. It also generates momentum and forces the opposition to counter that, leading to bad decisions/shots.

There’s nothing about the Warriors front court (aside from Dray) that screams best defense in the league.

So the defense isnt good without Steph because their offense isnt as good and we cant take anything theyve done at face value because Steph aint there but you know for a fact theyd be up 3-1 because their offense isnt Wolves played their most lethargic, lazy, uncoordinated half of basketball in a month at the start of game 1, but nothing theyve done since counts because Steph aint there, even though its pretty obvious the Wolve’s focus has been inconsistent because, again, Steph isnt playing. Got it.



Reality is the Wolves can be inconsistent because their emotional leader is a 23 year old whose intensity is still impacted by the competition. All year theyve had dumb losses to teams missing their best players because they play flat. Wolves fans were shook about that after Steph got hurt. The few quarters theyve upped their intensity level theyve absolutely handled the Warriors this series. If Steph was there GS definitely couldve won because theyre a really good team. But the effort from MN wouldve definitely been consistently higher. Theyre playing B minus games at best and have had essentially 2 20 point wins.

 

[Verbal Kint]

It's all about balance.

If you don't have a frontcourt, then it kills the rest of your team (we saw it happen with the Lakers). Even more so for a team like GS missing Steph which creates an imbalance that it's impossible to play under. Someone like Jimmy has been great on defense since the trade, particularly through what he can do in help situations, but with no Steph now, he's using all his energy on offense that he can't do anything on the other end.

I watched him be a complete sieve on defense yesterday. He wasn't the Jimmy I've seen over the last few months.

That forces more stress on the likes of Looney, Dray, TJD and the smaller wings/guards, who're already under stress of trying to create for themselves on offense (without the aid of Steph).

Now you have this flow-on effect and it destroys the identity and ability of the team where they end up being a shell of their former selves.

That makes sense for GS but not MN. All we've heard about for 2 years is about teams going small and 'playing Rudy off the floor' which anyone who's paid any attention to MN knew was stupid. Then last year they beat the best frontcourt in the league in Denver. Dallas beat them because they couldn't stop the Luka pick and roll with 2 bigs but MAINLY because both KAT and Ant shot like trash the entire series. They lost those first two games by 4 points combined with both those guys shooting like 25%. The Wolves are definitely beatable but pure size isn't a killer for them. Its teams that can bog down their offense. I think OKC will likely get them because they don't have a lot of 1-1 matchups to exploit and should be able to neutralize the Julius bully ball stuff or at least not have to double him and they'll have rim protection behind it.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

yooo @Gil Scott-Heroin you my homie 50 grand and all but you sounded very salty the last few pages, he is playing well and brings things KAT doesn't bring that helps Minny... right now it is looking like a good trade and leave it at that, lets people celebrate their wins man

Game 2 and his coach benches him for the entire 4th quarter.

He struggles at the first sign of resistance.

He's mentally weak, has a limited skillset and is reliant upon the officiating dictating how successful he is because he resorts to brute force rather than any notable skill.

That's why his flaws haven't been exposed because he's played against two teams that can't provide much resistance to big men. Any starting level PF would be eating in his place too. And it's really less about the actual frontcourts, themselves, and more about how imbalance in a squad creates fractures elsewhere, because it forces other players to overcompensate in areas that they otherwise wouldn't have to and that affects the rest of their respective games.

Because Minny have an infinitely better balance throughout their team, in comparison to the Lakers and Steph-less Warriors, it's made it easier for him to perform. He has a greater platform to play off because he's already playing with a headstart. He's barely had to defend in this series because the sheer size and deterrence that Gobert, Naz and McDaniels are imposing on GS is already enough to take them out of the contest.

Then he can come down the other end of the floor against a mentally-defeated, smaller team, get a switch on a guard/wing player (or fatigued one), or someone like Looney or TJD, and half the job is already done.

 

[Remote]

Game 2 and his coach benches him for the entire 4th quarter.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Despite all of KAT's perceived flaws, he's still legit when shyt becomes real; more often than not he will perform when given the ball. Can't say the same for that other bum.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

You know as well as I that it would've been 3-1 right now if Steph was healthy, but hey, I'll let you cook.



Don't say I didn't warn you when Julius has to play a team with a proper frontcourt.

What front courts has Randle notoriously struggled against? Granted, we haven’t seen him against Hartenstein, but Randle is literally a mismatch nightmare. Only bigs in the league that routinely gave him trouble as a Knick were Bam and AD.

He struggles at the first sign of resistance.

He's mentally weak, has a limited skillset and is reliant upon the officiating dictating how successful he is because he resorts to brute force rather than any notable skill.

That's why his flaws haven't been exposed because he's played against two teams that can't provide much resistance to big men. Any starting level PF would be eating in his place too. And it's really less about the actual frontcourts, themselves, and more about how imbalance in a squad creates fractures elsewhere, because it forces other players to overcompensate in areas that they otherwise wouldn't have to and that affects the rest of their respective games.

Because Minny have an infinitely better balance throughout their team, in comparison to the Lakers and Steph-less Warriors, it's made it easier for him to perform. He has a greater platform to play off because he's already playing with a headstart. He's barely had to defend in this series because the sheer size and deterrence that Gobert, Naz and McDaniels are imposing on GS is already enough to take them out of the contest.

Then he can come down the other end of the floor against a mentally-defeated, smaller team, get a switch on a guard/wing player (or fatigued one), or someone like Looney or TJD, and half the job is already done.

Didn’t really answer my question….

I hope your question is answered now.

 

[RickyGQ]

I hope your question is answered now.

Fight back Ju