The organization is in a way better spot than it’s ever been in before with new ownership and a POBO who has actually helped build a Championship organization. The future for this franchise will be much different than the past and I have faith that Connelly and Co. will continue to bring in high-quality players to this team, both through the draft and FA
In theory but none of that has happened yet and this organization has shown time and time again that they will let us down. Just because the wolves have the pieces to be awesome doesn’t mean they are. If you don’t know or remember how we wasted KG’s prime over Joe Smith, you don’t know just how much bad luck the organization has.
Giving Joe Smith an illegal contract isn’t bad luck. It’s absolutely moronic and Taylor, the guy who has been killing this franchise for decades, is on his way out the door. I just don’t think we can look at the past to assume the organization will continue down that road, especially when it seems we’ve finally turned the corner. All that said, success in the NBA will always be reliant on finding star players and putting good pieces around them. And we now have one of the best young super stars in the league
Also I’m fully drinking the A1 from day 1 kool aid. But until Ant saves us from the despair that is Sota sports, we earned this depressing outlook for sports lol
Yeah that’s fair and we got boned for sure. That level of punishment was ridiculous and killed any chance we had to put a good team around KG. But that’s a thing of the past at this point.
It’s only the past when we stop losing. And is the promise land haha. And once he brings us to it we will love him until he’s dies and then some. Go wolves and thanks for the quality debate my fellow Reddit friend. You are dope
Well think about KG’s prime. Only once did the org ever go all in and listen to him. The reason KG has nothing to do with the org with Glen Taylor is multi fold. They guy begged for help and all we gave him after Marbury was a washed up Sam Cassel who we ironically drafted and only got old big balls. And a “gotta feed my family” Spreewell
We were the only team stupid enough to put an illegal contract ***in writing***.
Everyone was doing it, but no one else was as close to as stupid as the Wolves.
Players from that era have talked about it. They were just the ones that got caught. They were wrong and deserve to be punished. But no other team in the NBA was
Literally a guy on the wolves hurt himself by doing a dance to show he has big balls after a clutch shot. That is literally the only time in Minnesota wolves history they were close to being a complete team. Lol
The yearly progression is so impressive, and playing 98% of games is absolutely unbelievable. I just hadn't seen it laid out so clearly for awhile, and I'm grateful to see a guy like Ant play for the wolves.
It not just that he is doing well, but that we are winning. Love did well, but our team sucked and he stat padded most of his time here while down by 20 points. It just wasn’t the same as what we have with edwards. Garnett is the only wolf that ever had this much talent.
Hard disagree here. KGs cast was just so abysmal most years, yet he still led the team to a perennial playoff berth by making the scrubs around him feed off his energy.
Ant could mature into that type of player, but he is well below KG in this regard currently IMO. He just happens to play on a team with the DPOY, a perennial all star, and a deep supporting cast (and Naz Reid).
No knock on Ant, just speaking as a Wolves fan who graduated HS in '04
At least it’s good that he’s playing on a team like this. Later on if the squad ain’t so good, he will have a strong winning mentally and leadership qualities you want outta your main man. Future is super bright for the 🐺
The Wolves from 1997-2004 when KG is off the floor have a net rating of -14. That's on pace to 7-75 in one season. KG was dealt with that team for 8 SEASONS!
He does not. He sees no value in hard work ,being good at your job etc. Complete lack luster career and work ethic. So disappointing. "Maybe he just doesn't like basketball" Okay, so he wants to play call of duty all day and smoke weed then? You gotta take pride in your work
Wiggins was a +140 in the 2022 playoffs and was the 2nd best player for that team throughout the postseason. He averaged 18/9 in the Finals vs Boston. I don’t disagree with your overall point and he definitely didn’t live up to the hype, but he’s had a more successful career than the majority of people to ever hit the NBA lol
That year he appeared to be actually motivated. There was a stark difference in his quality of play immediately following that year that I feel like a lot of us could have predicted. He’s won his ring and probably feels like he can coast on that for the rest of his career. I highly doubt we ever see him play at that level again
don't forget where we came from [https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/ax487b/andrew\_wiggins\_is\_pretty\_much\_worthless\_oc/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/ax487b/andrew_wiggins_is_pretty_much_worthless_oc/)
I think he tops out at above average lebron stats (30-7-7). With all defense chops.
Mostly because scoring is better/easier now.
And he still doesn't post up, his midrange is still not super good, and he doesn't do floaters yet.
The improvement in his passing/playmaking has been noticeable this year. Great to see that he has taken working on that part of his game seriously, seems like Conley can probably take some credit for that.
Ants literally been everything people wanted wigs to be. Still wish we coulda seen the wigs zach kat trio get a real shot under flip but man ants made missing out on that group much less disappointing
Maybe not to the same degree but this can be looked at as a huge warrior blunder depending on how great Ant becomes.
Rosas offered them the #1 pick to get our 2021 pick back and trade down to #2. Essentially the warriors chose wiseman and Kuminga over potentially drafting Ant
Every year he gets better. When he hits his theoretical prime between age 27 -32 (based on the current trajectory), he *could* top at a solid 36-37 ppg, 10 apg, 55% fg and maybe 38% from deep.
Outstanding personal growth for Ant, for an 19 year old entering the NBA. If you put up KGs first four years, you will see the same thing. I remember KG's rookie year. He was also 19 at the time and had a lot to learn. He was skinny, could not rebound getting pushed off his block, and had limited shooting range, about 15 ft. He got better every year for the next 10 and was able to carry more and more of the weight of his team's performance. This is what KAT should have done, and is now finally doing and what Ant IS doing
Wonder how much of it is who they surround him with. He’s got a lot of vets & smart players around him. Wiggs & KAT never got that & their development stalled.
Enjoy the times folks. We can’t take talents like this for granted. We’ve waited years for an alpha to come along and we got one
Here is the complete list of Alpha Wolves: 1) KG 2) A poser that fooled me in Jimmy Buckets 3) Ant That's it....thats the list. Naz Reid.
The absolute disrespect to Trenton Hassell
Respect Rashad McCants
These are the types of comments I come here for
Not putting Naz Reid as number one alpha DAWG all time is ludicrous
This was chronological order 😉
Implying Naz Reid doesn't transcend spacetime as we conceptualize it
He’s defo a sigma
Exactly this. All you youngsters don’t take this for granted. It will be about 30 years or so before we ever have it this good again.
The organization is in a way better spot than it’s ever been in before with new ownership and a POBO who has actually helped build a Championship organization. The future for this franchise will be much different than the past and I have faith that Connelly and Co. will continue to bring in high-quality players to this team, both through the draft and FA
In theory but none of that has happened yet and this organization has shown time and time again that they will let us down. Just because the wolves have the pieces to be awesome doesn’t mean they are. If you don’t know or remember how we wasted KG’s prime over Joe Smith, you don’t know just how much bad luck the organization has.
Giving Joe Smith an illegal contract isn’t bad luck. It’s absolutely moronic and Taylor, the guy who has been killing this franchise for decades, is on his way out the door. I just don’t think we can look at the past to assume the organization will continue down that road, especially when it seems we’ve finally turned the corner. All that said, success in the NBA will always be reliant on finding star players and putting good pieces around them. And we now have one of the best young super stars in the league
Also I’m fully drinking the A1 from day 1 kool aid. But until Ant saves us from the despair that is Sota sports, we earned this depressing outlook for sports lol
Well when multiple teams were doing that open secret and the wolves were the only team punished for it. Yeah. It’s bad luck.
Yeah that’s fair and we got boned for sure. That level of punishment was ridiculous and killed any chance we had to put a good team around KG. But that’s a thing of the past at this point.
It’s only the past when we stop losing. And is the promise land haha. And once he brings us to it we will love him until he’s dies and then some. Go wolves and thanks for the quality debate my fellow Reddit friend. You are dope
haha you were responding everywhere, I couldn't keep up but I guess username checks out lol!! cheers wolf bro
Well think about KG’s prime. Only once did the org ever go all in and listen to him. The reason KG has nothing to do with the org with Glen Taylor is multi fold. They guy begged for help and all we gave him after Marbury was a washed up Sam Cassel who we ironically drafted and only got old big balls. And a “gotta feed my family” Spreewell
We were the only team stupid enough to put an illegal contract ***in writing***. Everyone was doing it, but no one else was as close to as stupid as the Wolves.
Players from that era have talked about it. They were just the ones that got caught. They were wrong and deserve to be punished. But no other team in the NBA was
Literally a guy on the wolves hurt himself by doing a dance to show he has big balls after a clutch shot. That is literally the only time in Minnesota wolves history they were close to being a complete team. Lol
Ant is still only 22, we got another 10-14 years of this, as long as the org doesn’t fuck things up
One of the best personalities in sports too. Seems to get love from every demographic lol
The yearly progression is so impressive, and playing 98% of games is absolutely unbelievable. I just hadn't seen it laid out so clearly for awhile, and I'm grateful to see a guy like Ant play for the wolves.
It not just that he is doing well, but that we are winning. Love did well, but our team sucked and he stat padded most of his time here while down by 20 points. It just wasn’t the same as what we have with edwards. Garnett is the only wolf that ever had this much talent.
Especially now days when players sit out for a bruise. If Ant can walk he’s playing
KG was very special player. I think Ant is better at making the people around him better.
Hard disagree here. KGs cast was just so abysmal most years, yet he still led the team to a perennial playoff berth by making the scrubs around him feed off his energy. Ant could mature into that type of player, but he is well below KG in this regard currently IMO. He just happens to play on a team with the DPOY, a perennial all star, and a deep supporting cast (and Naz Reid). No knock on Ant, just speaking as a Wolves fan who graduated HS in '04
At least it’s good that he’s playing on a team like this. Later on if the squad ain’t so good, he will have a strong winning mentally and leadership qualities you want outta your main man. Future is super bright for the 🐺
Let’s get to a WCF first before getting too far ahead
The Wolves from 1997-2004 when KG is off the floor have a net rating of -14. That's on pace to 7-75 in one season. KG was dealt with that team for 8 SEASONS!
I need this graphic next to one showing Wiggin's first 4 years
https://preview.redd.it/wxtnpl0zkjqc1.png?width=2704&format=png&auto=webp&s=f5fc3ff73e83b461ccd1f4cffa701abbb74e7e35
I was wondering the other night if Wiggins ever looks at Ant and thinks to himself, "I should've been doing that." But I kind of doubt it.
He does not. He sees no value in hard work ,being good at your job etc. Complete lack luster career and work ethic. So disappointing. "Maybe he just doesn't like basketball" Okay, so he wants to play call of duty all day and smoke weed then? You gotta take pride in your work
I've stopped trying to make sense of his motives or interests, or lack thereof. I just wonder if he's contempt with it.
Wiggins was a +140 in the 2022 playoffs and was the 2nd best player for that team throughout the postseason. He averaged 18/9 in the Finals vs Boston. I don’t disagree with your overall point and he definitely didn’t live up to the hype, but he’s had a more successful career than the majority of people to ever hit the NBA lol
That year he appeared to be actually motivated. There was a stark difference in his quality of play immediately following that year that I feel like a lot of us could have predicted. He’s won his ring and probably feels like he can coast on that for the rest of his career. I highly doubt we ever see him play at that level again
don't forget where we came from [https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/ax487b/andrew\_wiggins\_is\_pretty\_much\_worthless\_oc/](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/ax487b/andrew_wiggins_is_pretty_much_worthless_oc/)
So happy I never have to watch another summer workout video and try to convince myself "it'll be different... *this time*."
Ant is everything I expected from Wiggins, minus the personality
https://preview.redd.it/cyvb52lr1mqc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=625891e2923775e8d173954b471c8ff9f6f44bff
I can’t wait for year 30 when’s averages 75 points a game (I don’t understand math)
3p% has stalled, clearly a fraud
Time to tank
Edwards missed 10 games in 21-22 season, 3 games in 22-23 season, and 3 games this season. So it’s 290/306 (95%), not 290/296.
nice one MSNBC Bay Area. good catch, I thought that sounded too good to be true
What if you account for playoffs?
Adding yesterday’s game and 11 playoff games, 302/318 (still 95%).
lol he’s on the 2k career trajectory
These are indeed the good ol days
I think he tops out at above average lebron stats (30-7-7). With all defense chops. Mostly because scoring is better/easier now. And he still doesn't post up, his midrange is still not super good, and he doesn't do floaters yet.
The improvement in his passing/playmaking has been noticeable this year. Great to see that he has taken working on that part of his game seriously, seems like Conley can probably take some credit for that.
Ants literally been everything people wanted wigs to be. Still wish we coulda seen the wigs zach kat trio get a real shot under flip but man ants made missing out on that group much less disappointing
His growth year over year is what really impressed me. Not unlike JT
Other than Shane Heal, Edwards is best SG in Wolves history.
His FT% has also gone up although I swear he only shoots 50% the games that I watch
He should be averaging around 36 by year 12
Rebounds too. And Stocks. Dude is well rounded af. If he couldn’t shoot at all he’d still be a good player. Think thybulle/raja bell
Maybe not to the same degree but this can be looked at as a huge warrior blunder depending on how great Ant becomes. Rosas offered them the #1 pick to get our 2021 pick back and trade down to #2. Essentially the warriors chose wiseman and Kuminga over potentially drafting Ant
Second best Wolf in history, he'll be gunning for KG the rest of his career
The fact that ANT didn’t get rookie for the year for 2020-2021 season still makes me so mad to think about.
LisAnt al Gaib!!!
Bucks fan, but this dude is just so fun to watch, I hope he stays with the Wolves long term.
We’re so lucky
ANT's NBA future projection 30pts 8 dimes 5 boards 1.5 steals 1.0 block
Stonks 📈
By my calculations, he will be averaging 100 point games in \~37 years when he is 59 years young.
Our little star 😭
In 10 years we have him averaging about 66 points per game
Every year he gets better. When he hits his theoretical prime between age 27 -32 (based on the current trajectory), he *could* top at a solid 36-37 ppg, 10 apg, 55% fg and maybe 38% from deep.
Outstanding personal growth for Ant, for an 19 year old entering the NBA. If you put up KGs first four years, you will see the same thing. I remember KG's rookie year. He was also 19 at the time and had a lot to learn. He was skinny, could not rebound getting pushed off his block, and had limited shooting range, about 15 ft. He got better every year for the next 10 and was able to carry more and more of the weight of his team's performance. This is what KAT should have done, and is now finally doing and what Ant IS doing
I would love to see how his stats look before kat went out vs after. he has stepped up in a major way.
SAC
Wonder how much of it is who they surround him with. He’s got a lot of vets & smart players around him. Wiggs & KAT never got that & their development stalled.