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00:00This year, a sixth seed who climbed up thanks to an incredible second-half run
00:09because the initial parts of the season were nightmarish
00:13and it felt like they had handedly lost the Randall-Catt trade,
00:18all of a sudden eliminates the Lakers in five,
00:22roll Golden State with home court advantage in this series,
00:27which, with the Steph injury, didn't garner a ton of credit, really, nor should it have,
00:35but left us heading into the conference finals with Minnesota going,
00:39they made it back. They have no chance.
00:42Yet, despite year number one losing as the favorite
00:47and year two losing as a monstrous underdog,
00:51it is the year two performance that feels significantly more disappointing
00:55and leaves a lot more questions around the Minnesota Timberwolves and what's next.
01:02So, J.Y., what's next?
01:05I think it's interesting because when you look at them,
01:10you have to find where you're going to have, with a team with Anthony Edwards,
01:16more scoring punch.
01:17They made a decision to trade Cat over Rudy.
01:24One, because was it that they value Rudy's rim protection over Cat's shooting
01:28or the fact that they were going to get more for Cat than they would for Rudy?
01:32I don't know.
01:32Probably some combination of both.
01:34So, when you look at Minnesota, you know, you pull up the stats
01:39and you get in the playoffs from Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley
01:45a combined 13.9 points per game.
01:49That is not going to cut it.
01:51There are times, offensively, when the Minnesota Timberwolves are playing three on five
01:58and it could be two on five if McDaniels isn't rolling.
02:03So, there is the issue of Mike, so where do you go to improve?
02:06At $35 million a year, next three years, I don't, and you just gave him the money,
02:11I don't see how you move him unless we send him to L.A. for Kevin Walsh
02:15who's at Los Angeles Lakers, which I'm sure he'll make very, very happy.
02:18Yes, I brought the Lakers in this show before K-Dop did.
02:22So, then it's Conley.
02:24And then I start looking at the roster and I say, when Kevin and I did the draft
02:30with Ben last year, they took two guards that Kevin and I were really high on
02:36coming out of college.
02:37And that's Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr.
02:40For different reasons.
02:41K-Dop probably more of a Dillingham guy.
02:43I'm probably more of a Terrence Shannon Jr. guy.
02:47But you, when Alexander Walker being a free agent,
02:50you have to get one of these guys to take a big step.
02:56Now, Shannon Jr. had the one opportunity in game three, I think it is,
03:01had 15 points, was really great, could score the ball, can defend,
03:05but he's not a point, right?
03:07So, maybe he's your backup.
03:09The guy's Dillingham.
03:11You've got to see if you can develop him because you have to admit,
03:14coming out of Kentucky, offensively gifted through the roof.
03:19Can he play the point and get you in the offense?
03:25I think he can be taught that.
03:27So, to me, you've got to get scoring points in the backcourt,
03:31which, at the point guard, which means either you've got to go get someone, Tom,
03:35or you've got to take someone like Dillingham, develop him to be a starter
03:39to play with Ant, which I think he can be,
03:41and then hope that Shannon Jr. becomes your guy off the bench.
03:44So, we were here last week, and I said to you, and I said on the show,
03:48that Rudy and Conley are just non-threats on offense.
03:52They're just legitimately non-threats on offense.
03:54One more threat on offense.
03:56Scoring six, seven points a game is just a non-threat on offense.
04:02I think the question becomes is, you know, will Dillingham step up?
04:08Can they be that offensive option?
04:10I think the answer is yes, but it's not going to be as if they flip a switch.
04:14There's going to be some significant growing pains throughout the beginning portion of the season.
04:18And, like, does that put them behind the eight ball?
04:20So, they want to develop him, and it certainly could happen,
04:24but it's not going to be a quick fix.
04:26The question becomes is, you know, as we're looking at some upcoming free agents,
04:29like, where would they go?
04:30Like, who is the answer out there?
04:33Ideally, they move off of the Rudy Gobert contract because it's atrocious.
04:36The question becomes, as you were alluding to the beginning, you know, do they trade a cat or, you know, Rudy?
04:41I don't think anyone wants to take Rudy.
04:44The contract is so bad that he only fits with certain teams to play a very, very specific role.
04:51So, they want to get rid of him, but the other side of that is, like,
04:55there's not many attractive guard options to bring in.
04:59There aren't many good upcoming guards that can fill that role.
05:03So, it's like, do they give a bad contract to an average player,
05:06or do they go through the growing pains of having young players to play alongside Ant?