Jack Borman

On a personal note, my conversations with Mike in the locker room taught me an immeasurable amount about basketball and I'll always be incredibly grateful for how generous he was with his time in that regard.

There is still a lot to unpack in the coming days and weeks in the aftermath of the Giannis pursuit but I sincerely hope Mike Conley gets the flowers he deserves for everything he did in a Timberwolves uniform.

Would be very surprised if this Conley deal was doing anything other than setting up a pursuit of Giannis/Harden/other star.

Clearing a few things up:

Wolves can take back more money in a trade or use an exception, but it would hard cap them at the first apron, so they couldn't take back more than $2,457,025 more than they send out.

Also can't aggregate any of the exceptions in a deal.

This deal as reported would get the Timberwolves under the first apron, which would likely be a precursor to a second, larger deal that requires them to either

1) use the NAW TPE of $7.58M, or BAE/TP MLE in a trade
2) take back more than 100% of outgoing salary

LIVE NOW:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQxI...

The Minnesota Timberwolves four-game winning streak was snapped tonight in Memphis after the team looked lost and lethargic on defense. WOLVES POSTCAST: T-Wolves LOOK FLAT vs. Memphis Grizzlies As Four-Game Win Streak Gets SNAPPED

Going live in a few minutes with Luke Inman to break down what went wrong for the Wolves in Memphis:

- Bench issues
- Emotions with refs boil over
- Stars show up, though

PLUS - 10 minutes of Giannis talk.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQxI...

Anthony Edwards responds by scoring 8 points on a 10-0 Wolves run to get within 4, 87-83.

He's just relentless and unstoppable attacking the rim when he chooses to be. Up to a game-high 25 points on 65% TS with just 1 turnover

Haven't seen a game where the Wolves lose in significant part because they can't control their emotions with the officials, but tonight would be one of them.

Giving up wide open look after wide open look because of how much time they're wasting yelling/gesturing at refs

Bench scoring: 23-7 MEM
• MIN → 7 PTS on 3-13 FG | 2-5 2PT | 1-8 3PT
• MEM → 23 PTS on 8-17 FG | 4-11 2PT | 4-6 3PT

OREBs: 18-7 MEM in 2C PTS
• MIN → 6 OREB for 7 PTS
• MEM → 8 OREB for 18 PTS → 46.2% OREB%

3PT: 30-24 MEM
• MIN → 8-20 (40%)
• MEM → 10-18 (55.6%)

Jaden McDaniels continues to play excellent basketball despite all the outside noise swirling around him being the centerpiece of any potential Giannis trade

Incredibly impressive given how trade season impacts most guys

Up to 12 PTS on 4-5 FG, 2-3 3PT in his 16 minutes

LIVE NOW:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Fn...

YouTube video by Locked On Wolves WOLVES POSTCAST: T-Wolves vs. Memphis Grizzlies | INSTANT REACTION

I'll be going live with Luke Inman for tonight's postcast after the Wolves close out the Grizz:

- Stars shine bright, recover from an iso fest
- A Naz Reid masterpiece
- Hot 3PT shooting continues
- 3s > 2s

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Fn...

Both Randle and Ant had their moments of too much iso ball early in the game, but they've each responded in a mature way to deliver excellent nights.

Randle 21 on 15 FGA w/ 7 AST

Ant 31 w/ 14 FTA, 0 TOV in a high-usage game

Great in-game adjustments from the Wolves stars

Rudy's offensive decision-making tonight has been horrendous

He, Ant and Julius have all had too many "let's make this about me" moments tonight

Ant has been grabbing his left hip/lower back for the last several possessions

May be nothing, may not be, but he does not look comfortable at all

3PT shooting through 14 minutes

Timberwolves --> 6/11 (54.5%)
Grizzlies --> 1/14 (7.1%)

Wolves are +15 on the 3PT line, carrying a 16-point lead in the game.

Julius Randle made his final 2 threes the other night and has made his first 2 attempts tonight

His 3PT shooting can take this lineup from "tough to guard" to "almost impossible to stop" with all the different options available

He/DDV started 0-8 on Thursday... 3-3 tonight

LIVE NOW:

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Mark Daigneault has pulled his core guys with 4:09 to go and Minnesota leading by 20

Wolves will improve to 2-0 vs OKC at Target Center and 2-1 overall this season

Final matchup is Sunday, March 15 -- a noon ABC game

YouTube video by Locked On Wolves WOLVES POSTCAST: T-Wolves Battle Oklahoma City Thunder In Western Conference SHOWDOWN

Stick around after the game for tonight's Locked on Wolves Postcast!

I'll be going live with Luke Inman breaking it all down:

- Jaden's big night
- Red hot 3PT night
- Dominating areas OKC normally does
- Strong Naz, Rudy, Clark games
- And more!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWUS...

One of those games that reminds you how unique of a player Naz Reid is

For a guy to be 6-10 and possess:
- incredible off-ball mover to set up C&S 3s
- shoot 40%+ on those shots
- arguably the best handle + finishing package in the NBA among bigs
- a good post-up game

is nuts

Lu Dort's jumper looks like the red "way too late" release in 2k

The Wolves have shot a ton of 3s - a good strategy on its face against OKC - but they've created tons of open looks by getting into the teeth of a stout defense and kicking it out, at times making 2-3 extra passes for great looks.

Minnesota 17-34 from 3, +33 from 3PT line

Julius Randle really taking the Chet Holmgren matchup personally like he did in the last matchup at Target Center

Getting really physical with him in a way that is clearly making Holmgren uncomfortable. Chet doing most of his damage as a jump shooter vs Gobert

Timberwolves scored 2.4 points per Thunder turnover

Those 9 possessions

1) Ant 3
2) Ant 3
3) Bones 3
4) Bones missed 3
5) Randle dunk
6) Jaden 3
7) Donte missed 2 (Clark 3 off an OREB)
8) Naz 3
9) Clark layup

Thunder in the SGA minutes in the first half

- Lost 43-28 in 15:18
- 25% turnover percentage | 1.00 AST/TOV ratio
- 87.5 ORTG
- 11.1 free throw rate

Highly uncharacteristic from OKC. SGA doesn't look right but the Wolves energy + intensity defensively has been tremendous

Donte DiVincenzo can't throw it in the ocean from 3 right now but he is competing his tail off defensively.

Giving every ounce of energy he has on that end and the crowd is LOVING it

Then Naz Reid pays off the turnover with a straight-on 3

Target Center going bananas

OKC has struggled of late on the break

Thunder are +2.1 on the season in FB PTS differential (7th) but -4.4 in L5 (22nd)

They allow just 11.6 FB PTS (1st) and 14.8 PTS off TO (2nd) this season

Wolves have 14 FB points (+7), 14 PTS off TO (+8) midway thru 2Q. Good start

Jaden McDaniels has 4 games of 20+ against OKC in the last 12 months, including 2 in the Western Conference Finals

He's been a key cog in the offense against a Thunder team that's in the gaps and swarms the paint

Already 3-3 from deep tonight for 9 points in his first 13 min