June 30, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode of The Grind, Tim discusses the rebranding of the podcast and the Minnesota sports scene, particularly focusing on the recent contract extensions of Naz Reid and Julius Randle. He reflects on the significance of these contracts, the challenges faced by the Timberwolves, and the ongoing championship drought in Minnesota sports. Tim emphasizes the need for the Timberwolves to evolve and improve, rather than simply running it back with the same roster.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Grind, a Minnesota sports podcast. Welcome into the show today.
My name is Tim and I am the host of
The Grind, a Minnesota sports podcast. This past weekend I
put in hours of work and a fall rebrand. We've
(00:22):
got a website mnsportsgrind dot com, the podcast The Grind,
a Minnesota sports podcast, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Everything is updated.
The website is updated, the podcast is updated. Thank you
for making this podcast part of your day. Make sure
(00:44):
you hit that subscribe button if you're watching this on
YouTube or listening somewhere else. And I want to talk
about real quick because there are some big things we
need to talk about today. Why I called it the Grind.
What is the inspiration behind the Grind? Well, if you
(01:05):
take a look at the logo The Grind, a Minnesota
sports podcast, and the website, it is about reaching the pinnacle,
reaching the peak on top of the mountain. We have
(01:25):
Jack Morris and Kirby Puckett, two dominant players in the
nineteen ninety one World Series. And then as you pan
out or look at other places in the picture, you've
(01:46):
got Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson trying to climb the
mountain and Unfortunately I could not get this part on
Twitter because the picture was too big. But you look
even further down the mountain and then you've got Kevin
(02:08):
Garnett and Randy Moss watching Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson
try to reach the peak and the purpose behind the grind.
It's been twelve thousand, three hundred days, or over thirty
(02:31):
three years since the Minnesota sports scene has produced a
champion in one of the four major sports, and right
now that is the record across the sports platforms. The
(02:52):
Minnesota sports has number one, has the number one spot
right now in teams that have not produced a champion
that have four major sports teams. Also, my life has
been a grind to get to this point, to work
the job I'm working, to do the things that I'm
doing this podcast is a grind. So the title really
(03:18):
encompasses the grind that Minnesota sports teams have been on
and my life, the work, the intensity, the fight that
I've needed to showcase when I lived in Washington, d C.
(03:39):
For three years, and when this podcast has begun to
try to get it to a place where it's sustainable
and producing the thing that I wanted to produce. So
a little bit of intel behind the purpose of the
Grind Minnesota Sports podcast. But as far as that goes,
(04:04):
let's talk about something else. Because nas Red and Julius
Randall signed contract extensions worth one hundred plus million dollars,
so we're gonna talk about that. I'm going to deliver
my take in just a second, but I need to
tell you about five Star Bess Solutions of Minneapolis first,
(04:26):
because they transformed our bathroom in forty eight hours, and
that's their promise. It will not take eight weeks ten weeks.
Don't wait three months for a project to get done
when it can get done in forty eight hours and
it can get done right. My wife and I, we
didn't want to sacrifice only having one bathroom and crambing
(04:48):
into our tiny bathroom in the basement of our house
where we had to get ready for work, our kids
trying to get ready for the day. Maybe you have
that situation where your kids are trying to get ready
for school, trying to get ready for work. You don't
want to sacrifice and have to go down to one
bathroom that stinks. Five Star bath Solutions of Minneapolis will
(05:11):
remodel your bathroom in forty hours a full remodel. Our
prior bathroom had a blue floor, a blue step, handrails,
a moldy shower, a brown vanity, an ugly countertop, one sink,
and a mirror that was disgusting. And then five Star
(05:31):
Bath Solutions came in and remodeled everything. New floor, new tub,
new surround, new vanity, new countertops. We went from one
sink to two sinks, which is our favorite bathroom feature,
and we got a new mirror. All in forty eight hours,
and we had our bathroom back in two days. Five
(05:51):
Star Bath Solutions of Minneapolis Contact them today, free consultations,
affordable payment plans. Five Star Bass Solutions of Minneapolis. All Right,
naz Reid first, he was the first domino to fall
for the Timberwolves. On Friday night, Shams from ESPN reported
(06:15):
just in Minnesota, Timberwolves Nos Reed intends to sign a
new five year, one hundred and twenty five million dollar
contract to stay with the franchise, including a player option.
Sources tell ESPN critical agreement between the Wolves and Reed's agents,
Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports. Now this
(06:38):
becomes the first major move in the Alex Rodriguez and
Mark lori Era because people were wondering where nos Reed
would potentially land, because the most obvious thing in the
world was that nos Reed was going to opt out
of this fifteen million dollar player option because he knew
(07:00):
he could receive more either with the Timberwolves or on
the open market. So really this boiled down to the
negotiation that nas Reed and his agency would have with
the Timberwolves or if they wanted to drive that price
up and test the free agency waters. Nas Reed is
(07:21):
only twenty five years old. Now, this is a lot
of money for a player coming off of the bench,
getting over twenty plus million dollars per year. With Rudy
Gobert still on the roster and with Julius Randall signing
(07:42):
his three year deal. The city does love nos Reed
and has loved him for years, with signs everywhere the
nos Reed t shirts, the nas Reid excitement because he
brings energy, he brings us, he brings a spark plug
(08:06):
to the organization, and nos Reed's story is cool. From
undrafted to the G League to earning regular minutes on
the Timberwolves, nas Reed has been the underdog story that
people love to cheer for because they can feel for
(08:28):
nas Reed. Nas won the sixth Man of the Year
award in twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four. But here's
where we need to be careful, and here's where nas
Red and Timberwolves fans need to have a sense of
awareness because now that nas Reed got the extension that
(08:53):
he's been looking for five years, one hundred and twenty
five million dollars. Now that he has the hype and
the cash, nas Reed is going to be asked to
deliver on a nightly basis, or the fan base that
has grown so much to love him will quickly give
(09:16):
him a cold shoulder and rename their children because Nasrid
has been fascinating over the last few years. And there
is no doubt that people have named their baby nas
because of nos Reed. I guarantee you there are more
nas Reeds or nass in the great state of Minnesota
(09:40):
than there has ever been in the history of Minnesota
because of nos Reed. But the overarching point, now that
nas has earned the one hundred and twenty five million
dollar contract, the moments like he had versus the Oklahoma
(10:02):
City thunder where he couldn't handle the ball, he couldn't
make a shot. He really couldn't produce anything for most
of that series, are going to be much more criticized
than ever before because he has the dollar. And that's
what the dollar does to sports fans. Once you earn
(10:27):
a contract worth one hundred and twenty five million dollars
and now you put yourself in a place where you're
among the elite of players coming off the bench or
players playing in general, then you are going to be
much more criticized. That's what comes with the dollar. That's
(10:49):
what comes with the money. And it's so interesting to
see the narrative switch on players. You see it all
the time and sports. You see narratives switch from this
player being a good player, We love this guy, he's awesome,
and then the narrative changes to, oh, he kind of stinks.
(11:12):
Why do we pay him all this money? I guarantee,
this is my Nosried guarantee. I guarantee that at some
point next season, when Nasrid goes through that weak stretch
where he sucks, can't make a shot, turning the ball over,
dribbling off his leg, Timberwolves fans will start to question
(11:39):
whether or not nas Reed was worth the one and
twenty five million dollar contract because nas Reed, this is
the player he is and the reason why he comes
off the bench. Nos Reed is inconsistent. There are moments wins,
(12:01):
literal moments where nas Reed looks like an All star
NBA basketball player, knocking down threes, crossover, step back threes,
little jump hook in the lane, defending guys on the perimeter,
because he has the quickness to do so. Nas Reed
sometimes looks like an All Star. But then he will
(12:25):
have this week or two stretch where nas Red looks
like a player that should be riding the bench, And
that's the player nas is, and that is the player
he was during the playoffs. Nas was largely inefficient in
the playoffs last year, but he had fourth quarters versus
(12:49):
the Lakers and Warriors where he knocked down massive threes
to finish off the game, which completely changed the narrative
of nas not showing up for an entire game to
nas not showing up for three quarters but then delivering
in the fourth quarter. So it's something to be aware
(13:13):
of this narrative shift for naz Reid because he is
the fan favorite. He is beloved by the organization and
the fan base. Nas Reed, but if he does not
deliver and show that he's worth the bag, then Timberwolves
(13:36):
fans will shift really quickly and say he wasn't worth
it all right, Julius Randall, he signs a big deal,
three years, one hundred million dollars. Randall had a deadline
that he needed to make a decision on and it
(13:57):
was his player option. Is he going to opt in
for thirty one million dollars a year for a one
year deal or is he going to opt out, maybe
test the free agency waters like nas Reed, or sign
an extension or resign a deal with the Timberwolves. And
with Randal being the age that he is, Randall, what
(14:21):
is he thirty years old? This is his last opportunity
to make a contract like this, to make money like
this in the NBA, because players that are thirty one
thirty two are not going to get the contract that
Julius Randall got When you have a career like Julius Randall,
(14:42):
if you're an elite player, that's a different story. But
if you're Julius Randall, this is probably the last time
he'll make a contract over one hundred million dollars. And
he knew that his agency knew that Randall played sixty
nine games nice for the Timberwolves, averaging nineteen points a game,
seven rebounds in five assists. Now the Randall's story becomes
(15:06):
interesting because through seventy five percent of the NBA season,
the Timberwolves roster looked like a mess. It looked awful.
The chemistry, the cohesiveness was terrible. But then Julius Randall
found his rhythm late in the year after he came
back from his injury with the new group and started
(15:28):
to play like an all star. Versus the Lakers and
versus the Warriors, Julius Randall had his way, driving to
the paint, making threes. Randall was a phenomenal player in
the first two rounds of the playoffs and was a
huge part of the Timberwolves making it to the Western
(15:50):
Conference Finals in back to back years. When he is
under control and composed, when he stays within himself, he's
an all star level player. But when Randalls faces adversity,
when he faces toughness like he did versus the Oklahoma
City Thunder, then you often see Julius Randall crumble, and
(16:16):
not just crumble offensively or defensively, but you see the
air literally falling out of the tires. You see Julius
Randall's energy drop and that's why he was benched for
a fourth quarter versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now it
appears that the Timberwolves are content with running it back.
(16:41):
And it's interesting because Gobert has a big three year deal,
Randall signs a big three year deal, nas Reed signs
a five year deal. All of these things possible because
Carl Anthony Towns is not on the roster, and that's
why they traded him. They trade town so that they
could have salary cap and roster flexibility moving forward. But
(17:09):
it appears that they're running it back, and I think
that's a mistake because as fun as the run was
last year in the playoffs to the Western Conference Finals,
this is where the objective mind takes over from tim
from me. This is where my objectiveness steps in because
(17:37):
I'm not a Homer fan, and I hope you get
that through this podcast. The Timberwolves beat the Lakers in
Round one. Lebron is forty Luka. Doncic was slow and
the Timberwolves finally exposed it. They swept him four games
to zero. It wasn't even close. The Lakers were clearly
(18:00):
an opponent that could not withstand the athleticism of the Timberwolves.
Huge advantage Timberwolves. Round two. The Timberwolves are down early
in Game one and Curry goes down with an injury,
(18:20):
and that paves the way for the Timberwolves to win
that series. Now, I hate people that come with the conclusions.
It's a pet peeve that say, well, the Timberwolves would
have lost that series if Curry was playing. We don't
know that the Timberwolves still could have won that series
(18:42):
even if Stephan Curry was playing, So I'm not going
to make a generalization and say the Timberwolves would have
lost that series. However, the series would have looked completely
differently if Stephan Curry did not get hurt because that
(19:02):
took the wind out of the sales of the Golden
State Warriors offense, and their offense completely relies on Stephen
Curry making place for himself and for teammates. So huge
advantage Timberwolves. And then the Timberwolves get annihilated versus the Thunder.
It wasn't even a series. So the way I look
(19:24):
at it, as fun as it was for the Timberwolves
to make the Western Conference Finals, again, the way I
look at it is they were still nowhere near the
NBA Finals because they got blown out in five games
against the Thunder, a series that wasn't even close, not
even competitive. So even though there were only one series
(19:46):
away from making the NBA Finals, they had a cakewalk
through the Lakers through the Warriors, reached the Western Conference
Finals and got blown out. If the game or series
went seven against the Under, I would have a different tone.
But the Thunder had their way with the Timberwolves, and
(20:07):
the Thunder barely escaped versus an Indiana Pacers squad whose
best player was injured for the final few games of
the series. So the Thunder were a beatable team with
the right formula, and the Timberwolves did not have the
(20:29):
right formula. So that's my big concern with running it back.
I highly doubt the Timberwolves will make it to the
Western Conference Finals again next year or the NBA Finals, because,
let's face it, the Western Conference Finals has to stop
being the goal. You mean, it there two times in
(20:50):
a row. If you make it there three times in
a row and you lose again, and then it becomes
a problem, and then it becomes why at the Timberwolves,
led by Anthony Edwards, get over this Western Conference Finals hump.
It's fun to make the Western Conference Finals when you're
not expected to make it to the Western Conference Finals.
But now that you've done it and proved it twice
(21:13):
in a row, if you can't advance past that part
of the NBA playoffs, then it becomes a problem. Then
it becomes why can't you get past this hurdle? What
is holding the Timberwolves back now? To look at it
on the other side, it is possible that Anthony Edwards
(21:38):
takes his game to another level, that Jaden McDaniels takes
his game to another level, and that is what propels
the Timberwolves roster and organization forward past the Western Conference Finals.
I would doubt it, but that is possible because they
also lose the presence of Nikill Alexander Walker because they
(22:05):
focused on signing Nas Reed and Julius Randall to longer
and bigger contracts with a lot of money, and now
they can't afford to pay for Nikill Alexander Walker, which
means he is going to be playing somewhere else next year,
which is a player that will be missed from the Timberwolves,
(22:26):
a consistent player defensively could knock down the corner three
shot thirty eight percent from the three point line. He
was a good player and a player the Wolves could
rely on consistently coming off the bench. So my question
with all of the signings that Timberwolves made is what's next?
(22:47):
Is there a trade up tim Connelly's sleeve. I wanted
the Wolves to trade for Colin Sexton, but they but
they The Utah Jazz traded him to the Charlotte Hornets
for a center. So that's out the window, and the
different possibilities of trading for a player are quickly running out.
(23:13):
So it appears that the most likely scenario at this
point is going to be the Timberwolves running it back
and hoping that Anthony Edwards and Julius Randall, Julius Rondel Well,
Julius Ronald two, and Jaden McDaniels take their game to
another level and Nasried and Julius Randall earn those contracts
(23:38):
worth one hundred plus million dollars. So that's the take.
This is the grind, twelve three hundred days of championship
less sports in Minnesota. Outside of the Minnesota Lynx, the
Grind a Minnesota sports podcast. Remember far Bath Solutions of Minneapolis,
(24:02):
Free consultations, affordable payment plans. They remodeled our bathroom in
forty eight hours. They'll do the same thing for you.
Thank you for going on this podcasting journey with me,
and I hope you all enjoyed the rebrand five Star
Bath Solutions of Minneapolis. The Grind, a Minnesota sports podcast,
The Grind, a Minnesota sports podcast. Welcome into the show today.
My name is Tim and I am the host of
The Grind, a Minnesota sports podcast. This past weekend I
put in hours of work and a fall rebrand. We've
(00:22):
got a website mnsportsgrind dot com, the podcast The Grind,
a Minnesota sports podcast, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Everything is updated.
The website is updated, the podcast is updated. Thank you
for making this podcast part of your day. Make sure
(00:44):
you hit that subscribe button if you're watching this on
YouTube or listening somewhere else. And I want to talk
about real quick because there are some big things we
need to talk about today. Why I called it the Grind.
What is the inspiration behind the Grind? Well, if you
(01:05):
take a look at the logo The Grind, a Minnesota
sports podcast, and the website, it is about reaching the pinnacle,
reaching the peak on top of the mountain. We have
(01:25):
Jack Morris and Kirby Puckett, two dominant players in the
nineteen ninety one World Series. And then as you pan
out or look at other places in the picture, you've
(01:46):
got Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson trying to climb the
mountain and Unfortunately I could not get this part on
Twitter because the picture was too big. But you look
even further down the mountain and then you've got Kevin
(02:08):
Garnett and Randy Moss watching Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson
try to reach the peak and the purpose behind the grind.
It's been twelve thousand, three hundred days, or over thirty
(02:31):
three years since the Minnesota sports scene has produced a
champion in one of the four major sports, and right
now that is the record across the sports platforms. The
(02:52):
Minnesota sports has number one, has the number one spot
right now in teams that have not produced a champion
that have four major sports teams. Also, my life has
been a grind to get to this point, to work
the job I'm working, to do the things that I'm
doing this podcast is a grind. So the title really
(03:18):
encompasses the grind that Minnesota sports teams have been on
and my life, the work, the intensity, the fight that
I've needed to showcase when I lived in Washington, d C.
(03:39):
For three years, and when this podcast has begun to
try to get it to a place where it's sustainable
and producing the thing that I wanted to produce. So
a little bit of intel behind the purpose of the
Grind Minnesota Sports podcast. But as far as that goes,
(04:04):
let's talk about something else. Because nas Red and Julius
Randall signed contract extensions worth one hundred plus million dollars,
so we're gonna talk about that. I'm going to deliver
my take in just a second, but I need to
tell you about five Star Bess Solutions of Minneapolis first,
(04:26):
because they transformed our bathroom in forty eight hours, and
that's their promise. It will not take eight weeks ten weeks.
Don't wait three months for a project to get done
when it can get done in forty eight hours and
it can get done right. My wife and I, we
didn't want to sacrifice only having one bathroom and crambing
(04:48):
into our tiny bathroom in the basement of our house
where we had to get ready for work, our kids
trying to get ready for the day. Maybe you have
that situation where your kids are trying to get ready
for school, trying to get ready for work. You don't
want to sacrifice and have to go down to one
bathroom that stinks. Five Star bath Solutions of Minneapolis will
(05:11):
remodel your bathroom in forty hours a full remodel. Our
prior bathroom had a blue floor, a blue step, handrails,
a moldy shower, a brown vanity, an ugly countertop, one sink,
and a mirror that was disgusting. And then five Star
(05:31):
Bath Solutions came in and remodeled everything. New floor, new tub,
new surround, new vanity, new countertops. We went from one
sink to two sinks, which is our favorite bathroom feature,
and we got a new mirror. All in forty eight hours,
and we had our bathroom back in two days. Five
(05:51):
Star Bath Solutions of Minneapolis Contact them today, free consultations,
affordable payment plans. Five Star Bass Solutions of Minneapolis. All Right,
naz Reid first, he was the first domino to fall
for the Timberwolves. On Friday night, Shams from ESPN reported
(06:15):
just in Minnesota, Timberwolves Nos Reed intends to sign a
new five year, one hundred and twenty five million dollar
contract to stay with the franchise, including a player option.
Sources tell ESPN critical agreement between the Wolves and Reed's agents,
Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports. Now this
(06:38):
becomes the first major move in the Alex Rodriguez and
Mark lori Era because people were wondering where nos Reed
would potentially land, because the most obvious thing in the
world was that nos Reed was going to opt out
of this fifteen million dollar player option because he knew
(07:00):
he could receive more either with the Timberwolves or on
the open market. So really this boiled down to the
negotiation that nas Reed and his agency would have with
the Timberwolves or if they wanted to drive that price
up and test the free agency waters. Nas Reed is
(07:21):
only twenty five years old. Now, this is a lot
of money for a player coming off of the bench,
getting over twenty plus million dollars per year. With Rudy
Gobert still on the roster and with Julius Randall signing
(07:42):
his three year deal. The city does love nos Reed
and has loved him for years, with signs everywhere the
nos Reed t shirts, the nas Reid excitement because he
brings energy, he brings us, he brings a spark plug
(08:06):
to the organization, and nos Reed's story is cool. From
undrafted to the G League to earning regular minutes on
the Timberwolves, nas Reed has been the underdog story that
people love to cheer for because they can feel for
(08:28):
nas Reed. Nas won the sixth Man of the Year
award in twenty twenty three, twenty twenty four. But here's
where we need to be careful, and here's where nas
Red and Timberwolves fans need to have a sense of
awareness because now that nas Reed got the extension that
(08:53):
he's been looking for five years, one hundred and twenty
five million dollars. Now that he has the hype and
the cash, nas Reed is going to be asked to
deliver on a nightly basis, or the fan base that
has grown so much to love him will quickly give
(09:16):
him a cold shoulder and rename their children because Nasrid
has been fascinating over the last few years. And there
is no doubt that people have named their baby nas
because of nos Reed. I guarantee you there are more
nas Reeds or nass in the great state of Minnesota
(09:40):
than there has ever been in the history of Minnesota
because of nos Reed. But the overarching point, now that
nas has earned the one hundred and twenty five million
dollar contract, the moments like he had versus the Oklahoma
(10:02):
City thunder where he couldn't handle the ball, he couldn't
make a shot. He really couldn't produce anything for most
of that series, are going to be much more criticized
than ever before because he has the dollar. And that's
what the dollar does to sports fans. Once you earn
(10:27):
a contract worth one hundred and twenty five million dollars
and now you put yourself in a place where you're
among the elite of players coming off the bench or
players playing in general, then you are going to be
much more criticized. That's what comes with the dollar. That's
(10:49):
what comes with the money. And it's so interesting to
see the narrative switch on players. You see it all
the time and sports. You see narratives switch from this
player being a good player, We love this guy, he's awesome,
and then the narrative changes to, oh, he kind of stinks.
(11:12):
Why do we pay him all this money? I guarantee,
this is my Nosried guarantee. I guarantee that at some
point next season, when Nasrid goes through that weak stretch
where he sucks, can't make a shot, turning the ball over,
dribbling off his leg, Timberwolves fans will start to question
(11:39):
whether or not nas Reed was worth the one and
twenty five million dollar contract because nas Reed, this is
the player he is and the reason why he comes
off the bench. Nos Reed is inconsistent. There are moments wins,
(12:01):
literal moments where nas Reed looks like an All star
NBA basketball player, knocking down threes, crossover, step back threes,
little jump hook in the lane, defending guys on the perimeter,
because he has the quickness to do so. Nas Reed
sometimes looks like an All Star. But then he will
(12:25):
have this week or two stretch where nas Red looks
like a player that should be riding the bench, And
that's the player nas is, and that is the player
he was during the playoffs. Nas was largely inefficient in
the playoffs last year, but he had fourth quarters versus
(12:49):
the Lakers and Warriors where he knocked down massive threes
to finish off the game, which completely changed the narrative
of nas not showing up for an entire game to
nas not showing up for three quarters but then delivering
in the fourth quarter. So it's something to be aware
(13:13):
of this narrative shift for naz Reid because he is
the fan favorite. He is beloved by the organization and
the fan base. Nas Reed, but if he does not
deliver and show that he's worth the bag, then Timberwolves
(13:36):
fans will shift really quickly and say he wasn't worth
it all right, Julius Randall, he signs a big deal,
three years, one hundred million dollars. Randall had a deadline
that he needed to make a decision on and it
(13:57):
was his player option. Is he going to opt in
for thirty one million dollars a year for a one
year deal or is he going to opt out, maybe
test the free agency waters like nas Reed, or sign
an extension or resign a deal with the Timberwolves. And
with Randal being the age that he is, Randall, what
(14:21):
is he thirty years old? This is his last opportunity
to make a contract like this, to make money like
this in the NBA, because players that are thirty one
thirty two are not going to get the contract that
Julius Randall got When you have a career like Julius Randall,
(14:42):
if you're an elite player, that's a different story. But
if you're Julius Randall, this is probably the last time
he'll make a contract over one hundred million dollars. And
he knew that his agency knew that Randall played sixty
nine games nice for the Timberwolves, averaging nineteen points a game,
seven rebounds in five assists. Now the Randall's story becomes
(15:06):
interesting because through seventy five percent of the NBA season,
the Timberwolves roster looked like a mess. It looked awful.
The chemistry, the cohesiveness was terrible. But then Julius Randall
found his rhythm late in the year after he came
back from his injury with the new group and started
(15:28):
to play like an all star. Versus the Lakers and
versus the Warriors, Julius Randall had his way, driving to
the paint, making threes. Randall was a phenomenal player in
the first two rounds of the playoffs and was a
huge part of the Timberwolves making it to the Western
(15:50):
Conference Finals in back to back years. When he is
under control and composed, when he stays within himself, he's
an all star level player. But when Randalls faces adversity,
when he faces toughness like he did versus the Oklahoma
City Thunder, then you often see Julius Randall crumble, and
(16:16):
not just crumble offensively or defensively, but you see the
air literally falling out of the tires. You see Julius
Randall's energy drop and that's why he was benched for
a fourth quarter versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now it
appears that the Timberwolves are content with running it back.
(16:41):
And it's interesting because Gobert has a big three year deal,
Randall signs a big three year deal, nas Reed signs
a five year deal. All of these things possible because
Carl Anthony Towns is not on the roster, and that's
why they traded him. They trade town so that they
could have salary cap and roster flexibility moving forward. But
(17:09):
it appears that they're running it back, and I think
that's a mistake because as fun as the run was
last year in the playoffs to the Western Conference Finals,
this is where the objective mind takes over from tim
from me. This is where my objectiveness steps in because
(17:37):
I'm not a Homer fan, and I hope you get
that through this podcast. The Timberwolves beat the Lakers in
Round one. Lebron is forty Luka. Doncic was slow and
the Timberwolves finally exposed it. They swept him four games
to zero. It wasn't even close. The Lakers were clearly
(18:00):
an opponent that could not withstand the athleticism of the Timberwolves.
Huge advantage Timberwolves. Round two. The Timberwolves are down early
in Game one and Curry goes down with an injury,
(18:20):
and that paves the way for the Timberwolves to win
that series. Now, I hate people that come with the conclusions.
It's a pet peeve that say, well, the Timberwolves would
have lost that series if Curry was playing. We don't
know that the Timberwolves still could have won that series
(18:42):
even if Stephan Curry was playing, So I'm not going
to make a generalization and say the Timberwolves would have
lost that series. However, the series would have looked completely
differently if Stephan Curry did not get hurt because that
(19:02):
took the wind out of the sales of the Golden
State Warriors offense, and their offense completely relies on Stephen
Curry making place for himself and for teammates. So huge
advantage Timberwolves. And then the Timberwolves get annihilated versus the Thunder.
It wasn't even a series. So the way I look
(19:24):
at it, as fun as it was for the Timberwolves
to make the Western Conference Finals, again, the way I
look at it is they were still nowhere near the
NBA Finals because they got blown out in five games
against the Thunder, a series that wasn't even close, not
even competitive. So even though there were only one series
(19:46):
away from making the NBA Finals, they had a cakewalk
through the Lakers through the Warriors, reached the Western Conference
Finals and got blown out. If the game or series
went seven against the Under, I would have a different tone.
But the Thunder had their way with the Timberwolves, and
(20:07):
the Thunder barely escaped versus an Indiana Pacers squad whose
best player was injured for the final few games of
the series. So the Thunder were a beatable team with
the right formula, and the Timberwolves did not have the
(20:29):
right formula. So that's my big concern with running it back.
I highly doubt the Timberwolves will make it to the
Western Conference Finals again next year or the NBA Finals, because,
let's face it, the Western Conference Finals has to stop
being the goal. You mean, it there two times in
(20:50):
a row. If you make it there three times in
a row and you lose again, and then it becomes
a problem, and then it becomes why at the Timberwolves,
led by Anthony Edwards, get over this Western Conference Finals hump.
It's fun to make the Western Conference Finals when you're
not expected to make it to the Western Conference Finals.
But now that you've done it and proved it twice
(21:13):
in a row, if you can't advance past that part
of the NBA playoffs, then it becomes a problem. Then
it becomes why can't you get past this hurdle? What
is holding the Timberwolves back now? To look at it
on the other side, it is possible that Anthony Edwards
(21:38):
takes his game to another level, that Jaden McDaniels takes
his game to another level, and that is what propels
the Timberwolves roster and organization forward past the Western Conference Finals.
I would doubt it, but that is possible because they
also lose the presence of Nikill Alexander Walker because they
(22:05):
focused on signing Nas Reed and Julius Randall to longer
and bigger contracts with a lot of money, and now
they can't afford to pay for Nikill Alexander Walker, which
means he is going to be playing somewhere else next year,
which is a player that will be missed from the Timberwolves,
(22:26):
a consistent player defensively could knock down the corner three
shot thirty eight percent from the three point line. He
was a good player and a player the Wolves could
rely on consistently coming off the bench. So my question
with all of the signings that Timberwolves made is what's next?
(22:47):
Is there a trade up tim Connelly's sleeve. I wanted
the Wolves to trade for Colin Sexton, but they but
they The Utah Jazz traded him to the Charlotte Hornets
for a center. So that's out the window, and the
different possibilities of trading for a player are quickly running out.
(23:13):
So it appears that the most likely scenario at this
point is going to be the Timberwolves running it back
and hoping that Anthony Edwards and Julius Randall, Julius Rondel Well,
Julius Ronald two, and Jaden McDaniels take their game to
another level and Nasried and Julius Randall earn those contracts
(23:38):
worth one hundred plus million dollars. So that's the take.
This is the grind, twelve three hundred days of championship
less sports in Minnesota. Outside of the Minnesota Lynx, the
Grind a Minnesota sports podcast. Remember far Bath Solutions of Minneapolis,
(24:02):
Free consultations, affordable payment plans. They remodeled our bathroom in
forty eight hours. They'll do the same thing for you.
Thank you for going on this podcasting journey with me,
and I hope you all enjoyed the rebrand five Star
Bath Solutions of Minneapolis. The Grind, a Minnesota sports podcast,
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