Mods if you need to take this down I understand

I am a Denver Nuggets fan with a hopeful future as an NBA analyst and I’ve recently started a basketball focused YT channel. I was hoping I could get some insight on your team as I’m covering them for an episode on my show. I’ve watched them all week like they were my team and I’ve been checking any podcast or sports blurbs covering them. Just wanted to get more of a fan sense and what to look out for as a TWolves fan. If this sounds interesting I’d love any feedback.

My main questions were

  1. What is something about this team that you guys understand that the NBA fans/media don’t

  2. If there are any stats that you guys think does a good job of explaining who this team is or just something fun that other fans would find interesting

Thank you guys! Take care of TC for us. He’s a Denver treasure

  • Slim-TicketBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    - I don’t think non-Wolves fans understand that KAT is the secret sauce to the defense - his size, rebounding and help defense is what allows Rudy to roam or fully contest out in space.

    - I also don’t think people fully comprehend how high Jaden McDaniels’ ceiling is and that he is more than a 3&D player. The Wolves coaches and FO realllly believe in him and see him developing into a “Scottie Pippin-esque” player. They also gave up 2 extra picks bc they desperately wanted to keep him out of the Gobert trade and “talks had a significant stalemate” because of him. This is a great article talking about it. 2 picks before Jaden even made his defensive leap last year, the FO might value Jaden even more now.

    - Based on this article with interviews with the FO, it seems there was a lot more thought that went into the Gobert trade then people (even Wolves fans) might realize. It wasn’t just “owners want to make a splash”. Sachin Gupta (who created the Trade Machine and is a analytics whiz and our assistant GM) did a lot of statistical projections to show why getting Gobert would help. They went through different schemes, counters, white boarded out the X&Os. They stopped talking to the Jazz and looked at other trades when the Jazz kept asked for McDaniels, but ultimately kept coming back to Gobert. It seems they REALLLLY believed Gobert is what this team needs and were excited that they could get him and keep their core. Connelly pulled the trigger after Finch said “we’ll stay big even when they go small” and it’s because of KAT - they think KAT is why getting Gobert will work, even against smallball. That article is really helpful to understand how they made the decision.

    1. I think Dane Moore and Jake Paynting (Howls and Growls) are great reporters/writers/analysts to know about Wolves stats and lineups. They have great podcasts and short videos.

    Something fun is Naz Reid. The billboards in Minneapolis that simply say “Naz Reid.”, the Naz Reid shower curtains and the jeopardy contestant who named her cat NAZ REID (in all caps). He is religion here lol. An undrafted overweight player who transformed his body and with hard work now is one of the best backup bigs in the league; his story is probably the best developmental story in our history.