Welcome everybody to the first live chat of this new season and thank you all for stopping by. The questions are coming in fast and furiously, so I'll get to as many as I can here in the next hour.
Oops, I chose the wrong question I wanted to answer first, but since I did...That will be the most interesting spot to watch here in October. No question KMartin is the best, most accomplished shooting guard they have. That said, Sam Mitchell seems to be sincere about playing the kids, which brings Zach into the equation. And don't count out Shabazz either. There might not be a 2 guard in the league who can handle him posting up near the basket, but he has to prove he can guard that position. I'd start KMartin but I wouldn't rule out Sam going with Zach.
Now on to the question(s) i wanted to address first...
I'm getting a number of questions about Flip, including these two as a representative sampling so...
There’s no question things have changed dramatically since the team announced his diagnosis in August, back when it quoted his doctors saying the cancer was very treatable and curable. Since then there have been changes to the way his body handled the chemotherapy (and maybe how much cancer they’ve found) that have made it life threatening. Everyone involved has gone radio silent because of the family’s request for privacy and federal patient-privacy laws, etc., but between the complete silence, the lack of people visiting as far as I can tell apart from his immediate family and very inner circle while he remains hospitalized here in Minneapolis and the things I’m hearing second-hand, well, none of it is good. I’ll just say this, and this is just my own opinion, if he pulls through this: I doubt very much he’s back this year, it’s probably unlikely he coaches again just because of the stress inherent doing both those jobs and I think there’s a pretty good chance he doesn’t return full time to either job. As far as the franchise goes, that will put them in a holding pattern for some time. I can’t see Glen Taylor allowing Milt Newton and Sam to make a major decision until they know more about Flip’s future and Glen decides who will run his team for the long term. I wouldn’t assume it’ll be Milt and Sam going forward, that’s just for the short term until things become clearer.
Now that we've starting on such a sobering note, let's move on to a variety of other topics
I do believe him. We'll see. You've got those guys, I'd use one or two down the stretch many nights just to help the young guys learn what it's like to make the right decision in those situations. Sam seems adamant that by and large he's going to let the kids do it. I think by far his best chance to be a permanent head coach is here so if he and Glen Taylor have agreed that's the way to go, I think he'll be committed to it
You don't believe in Arnie Kander and his home remedies and contraptions?
Yes, I do. The guy's 21 and he probably had no business being taken No. 1 but that's not his fault. It didn't save them any cap room, btw. His $5.8M remains on the cap, it just save Glen Taylor a little more than $2 million out of his pocket. I agree on injuries. With this team, you know it's going to happen. I would have kept everybody and let them play it out in October and then made any decisions that needed to be made.
You'd probably assume Towns because of his promise and No. 1 draft status. And I'm sure everyone will. But just from what I've seen very early, Dieng, with two years of NBA under his belt, is better right now
I'll take the over, maybe low to mid 30s. That's assuming, of course, the curse stays away
They've been doing so many drills and defensive work, it's hard to say anybody's been put in any real spots yet. I would think he'll play more center than power forward to start off just because they have so many other options at power forward
No, the two preseason games that will be televised are both against the Bucks at the end of the schedule: Oct. 20 in Madison and Oct. 23 here
Milt Newton said the other day that's still their intention, that they tried to buy the operations of a team but it didn't work out. I think the day is coming when there's 30 D League team each with their own affiliate but that day isn't here. The Wolves would like one close so they can drive staff and players back and forth so Rochester would seem like the logical option eventually
Why do I have to be a tree? Can't I be a stalk of asparagus?
From what I've seen, he looks to be fine moving on that ankle. I would think so, haven't heard anything otherwise
Well, Bjelica will be interesting to follow. He's 27, NBA ready and really skilled. The Wolves might have another Rookie of the Year to follow Andrew Wiggins, but I wouldn't assume it's KAT. Could be Bjelica, even though it's kind of unfair to call him a rookie. I'd watch Shabazz too. If he can stay healthy, he might be strong and unstoppable this season
He gives them things they don't have going forward: Legit PF size, ability to shoot the 3 and alter if not block shots. They still owe a 1st-round pick for him so in order not to lose face, they'll give him every opportunity to succeed. I'm not sure I buy all this vets as coaches stuff, but he's one guy KG should really help develop
His athleticism and his shooting, and the slam-dunk contest didn't hurt any either
No, between Towns and Dieng they have a backup center. KG probably will play a few minutes there and so will Payne a little in small lineups.
Shabazz, if he can stay healthy. LaVine would be my second pick now that they'll put him at 2 and tell him go score
My hunch is most of that is driven by his agent and uninformed media people. Certainly, they'd trade him if they can upgrade there and get more of a scoring point guard but they're not trading him to make room for Andre and Tyus. That's complete, utter nonsense
I think he's still living in Portland and wants to get back into the NBA. He had been doing some teaching at NYU and writing for Bloomberg, I believe
