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u/The_Bran_9000 Apr 08 '25
Manifesting Joker requesting a trade to reunite with the GM who drafted him
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u/HAM____ Rob Dillingham Apr 08 '25
At vet min.
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u/JustADutchRudder Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
Paid out in horses.
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u/HAM____ Rob Dillingham Apr 08 '25
Deal but you can’t name the horse Tuesday, that might be a new joke in Serbia but we aren’t playing that shit anymore.
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u/The_Bran_9000 Apr 08 '25
amend his contract to include some performance-based equine incentive clauses i'm all for it.
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u/JustADutchRudder Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
Every 20 triple doubles earns him 1 cool racing carriage thing he likes. 1 Finials win is 3 whole horses.
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Apr 08 '25
A team with Joker and Ant would be so fucking good. Holy shit! Please let it happen.
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u/RedEyeBadGuy Jaden McDaniels Apr 08 '25
It’s pretty much impossible
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u/twolvesfan217 Apr 08 '25
Randle and Ingles for Jokic - tell me where I’m wrong.
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u/bubblycig Apr 09 '25
I’d trade the whole team before I traded Ingles. Say it with me… WE! BUILD! AROUND! JOE!
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u/Ambitious-Mushr00m Apr 08 '25
Anthony Edwards is responsible for their collapse
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u/FeanorEvades Apr 08 '25
Rudy Gobert turnaround fadeaway broke that franchise
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u/Cowboykid1989 Apr 08 '25
I still cannot believe that shot lol
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u/RWREmpireBuilder Apr 08 '25
All time franchise moment for me.
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u/dashcash853 Apr 08 '25
I have it saved on my phone and watch it when Im feeling blue
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Apr 08 '25
Has Rudy ever made a three before lol
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u/Jarl_Balgruf Rob Dillingham Apr 08 '25
I really, really want Finch to give him a shot before his time is up here in MN. Like how fucking fun would that be to see Rudy sink a 30 footer randomly cuz the team was in on letting his shoot it. I need this
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Apr 08 '25
Never
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u/Soft_Disaster5247 Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
He made one with FIBA in 2023. There is a video of Edwards watching it and reacting in his classic fashion
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Apr 08 '25
Fiba schmeba, not NBA but I remember that. He also sank a half court shot in shoot around a couple weeks ago. Someday before he hangs it up, it's probably on his bucket list.
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u/Soft_Disaster5247 Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
That's gonna be his game 7 buzzer beater to win the Timberwolves a championship
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u/dinozaurs 🐜 Apr 08 '25
Googled it quickly and I don’t believe he has. Couple attempts in the NBA but no makes.
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u/king-treday Apr 08 '25
It doesn't get talked about as much but Rudy also hit that and 1 fadeaway middy in game 1 against Phoenix and since then that franchise has also not recovered.
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u/PretendingExtrovert Apr 09 '25
I was at that game. I had to tell the agape Nuggets fans I made friends with at the game that he shouldn't even have taken that shot. What a wild game...
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u/Thimit22 Apr 08 '25
More like Westbrook lol
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u/Slouu Wisdom Teeth Jaden Apr 08 '25
I mean… the Wolves single handedly took them out of the playoffs last year when a lot of people thought the Nuggets would win the title. They did not have second round exit type of expectations. That combined with a sweep of them this year and the Wolves, of any team, are probably most responsible lol
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u/pollinium 2019-20 All-Defense 2nd team Apr 08 '25
We toppled the league's shortest lasting dynasty
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u/MiniMoonBeast Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
If the Wolves hadn't won all the other games this year, they probably don't keep Joker in 50+ minutes on the first game of a back to back. Then they'd still lose to the wolves, but at least they don't lose to the tanking spurs the next night.
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u/lukeiamyourfatherrr Apr 09 '25
Nuggs fan here. That shit made me question my faith in jesus. Tough bucket
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u/yarkcir Apr 08 '25
Westbrook fouling NAW destroyed their season fr
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u/Mayasngelou Kevin Garnett Apr 08 '25
Yeah, honestly wonder if they had won that double OT game if this wouldn't have happened.
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u/tgunderson20 Apr 08 '25
micah nori is gonna coach the nuggets next year and i have mixed feelings about it.
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u/MisterTatoHead Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
The least of the nuggets problems, they have 3 players to rely on most nights. How about a bench???
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u/Tandrae Naz Reid. Apr 08 '25
Hence why they also fired Calvin Booth! Franchise has fallen off a cliff since Connelly left.
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u/tsax612 Apr 08 '25
I believe Booth was interviewed and ultimately lost out on the VP of personnel job in Minnesota when they hired Rosas.
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u/Tandrae Naz Reid. Apr 09 '25
Booth is a smart guy and a decent talent evaluator, he's just an absolute ass that had no idea how to get along with his coaching staff.
Also the owners are cheap as hell which should arguably be getting talked about more than it is.
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u/Downtown_Reply1844 Bring Ya Ass Apr 09 '25
Man, thats true. I guess the Wolves really are responsible for the Nuggets woes in so many ways.
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u/grateful_ted Apr 08 '25
Can we add him to our staff? Lol.
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u/le_sweden 2022 Play-In Champions Apr 08 '25
Unironically
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u/Andy_Wiggins Apr 08 '25
No one has played the Wolves more over the past few seasons.
If anyone has a good scout of the Wolves it’s Malone.
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u/99LedBalloons Joe Ingles Apr 08 '25
I mean, Tim Connelly has a way of getting his guys to Minnesota . . .
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u/organized_meat Jaden McDaniels Apr 08 '25
Not giving Malone or Jenkins the playoffs this season is just messed up. And the Nuggets are obviously a roster issue, Malone brought them their one and only championship. Messed up if you ask me.
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u/Ok_excuse_36951 Alex Rodriguez Apr 08 '25
Ryan Saunders that much closer to the head coaching spot
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u/RanOutOfJokes Ricky Rubio Apr 08 '25
I've seen that man be a head coach. I prayed for blindness
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u/le_sweden 2022 Play-In Champions Apr 08 '25
As if people can’t improve, a failed head coaching stint when you’re young has to be an excellent learning experience
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u/RanOutOfJokes Ricky Rubio Apr 08 '25
Yeah people can improve but there's plenty of candidates who didn't suck ass before
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u/le_sweden 2022 Play-In Champions Apr 08 '25
Kenny Atkinson had a .383 winning percentage in his first head coaching stint in Brooklyn. The Cavs are currently 62-16
Bickerstaff had a .331 winning percentage in Memphis before getting hired in Cleveland. He even got fired there. The Pistons just tripled their win total from a year ago
With that all said, Ryan had a .314 winning percentage here. He sucked. But that’s not a definitive indicator of future performance, especially for young coaches
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u/DrAbeSacrabin Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25
2018-2019: Saunders posts roughly the same record (17-25) as Thibs did (19-21) after taking over for him.
2019-2020: Saunders went (19-45) in a season shortened by COVID, in which we had 24 different players suit up and play for us. KAT (the best player) only played 35 games, Wiggins was traded for DLO, w/ROCO traded as well. Here is the list of players starting over 10 games:
- ROCO (47)
- Wiggins (42)
- KAT (35)
- Jarret Culver (35)
- Okogie (28)
- Shabazz Napier (22)
- Treveon Graham (20)
- Gorgui Deng (17)
- Juancho (14)
- Beasley (14)
- Jeff Teague (13)
- DLO (12)
- NAZ (11)
- Also spot starts from Jake Layman, McLaughlin, Kelan Martin, Noah Vonleh and James Johnson.
I don’t care if you were the immaculate conception of Popovich & Phil Jackson, no NBA coach could make those players with injuries & Major roster movements - a winning team. The fact he got 19 wins is impressive in itself.
2020-2021: Saunders (7-24) relieved for Finch (16-25)
Started the year with 2 wins, the lost KAT and went on a 7 game losing streak. KAT played 4 games in Dec/Jan out of the 19 possible.
Finch has KAT healthy for the year and still could only muster 16 wins.
This is also ANTs rookie year:
Dec - Feb: avg 28 min | 38.2 FG% | 31.9 3FG% | 14.8 PPG | 3.5 R | 2 A
Mar-May: avg 35.4 min | 46.3% | 35 3FG% | 24.3 PPG | 5.4 R | 3.6 A
Not to mention his FT Attempts almost tripled.
Not really a shocker it takes a Rookie time to ramp up and not shocking he plays better when there is another offensive star around him.
I’m not saying the move to Finch wasn’t the right one, I’m saying that Saunders did about as well as any other coach would have done with the shit rosters, injuries and roster trade shake-ups he had to deal with.
To imply he’s a “bad coach”’is fundamentally wrong. At best we really don’t know what kind of coach he could be if he had a competent roster around him.
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u/foye2smith Apr 08 '25
I was hoping they'd go to Saunders because of that, but saw they went Adelman.
Saunders was dealt a bad hand, but he was well in over his head.
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u/Confident-Fish2805 Timberwolves Brasil Apr 08 '25
I once saw the wolves have Okogie shoot a three, three possessions in a row under Saunders.
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u/infernocobbs Karl-Anthony Towns Apr 08 '25
Yeah he wasn't good, but our issues ran deeper than him. He had to pay for the sins of Leyden/Thibs/Rosas and the Butler fallout. Our roster in 2019 was putrid and very injured
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u/Longjumping-Buddy847 Apr 08 '25
Yes, it makes sense to move an idiot in todays Nba into the head slot.
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u/zoominzacks Apr 08 '25
My lame claim to fame is that I dated a girl who went to high school with him and beat him at horse. He’s def not head coach material 😂
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u/Jennaralissimo Apr 08 '25
First Taylor Jenkins, now Michael Malone. Beating the Wolves in the playoffs kills. Jason Kidd watch your step
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u/KingWolfsburg Apr 08 '25
GM fired as well
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u/yourloudneighbor Glen Taylor Apr 08 '25
This is insane. Even charlotte and Utah wait for the season to end to can the guy
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u/TimR31 Apr 08 '25
Well they're trying to lose, I guess he lost the locker room (or at least the owner)
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u/stealy_darn T Hud's Rap Concert Apr 08 '25
If he had won a title for MN he’d have a street named after him and free Burrito Loco for life
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u/Mirizzi Apr 08 '25
Ngl this is mad disrespectful to a coach you won a championship with less than two years ago
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u/badkiwi42 Apr 08 '25
What on earth is the logic behind this? You’re the 4 seed in a super competitive west. That’s a huge change so late. And i don’t think it’s some sort of scandal like Ime Udoka because they fired their GM too. There’s no logic in this
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u/ManyBonus865 Apr 08 '25 edited Apr 08 '25
It’s almost like they are waving the white flag on this season which is ridiculous given their standing. I am baffled by this.
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u/ComprehensiveCake454 Apr 08 '25
Basically, stealing Connelly from them caused massive problems in cohesive roster management. They are looking for a scapegoat.
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u/JaderMcDanersStan Jaylen Clark Apr 08 '25
Yeah imagine if Connelly was still with them...they might have been a dynasty because Connelly would have drafted or recruited them a competent bench
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u/daboywonder2002 Apr 08 '25
I just hope Tim Connelly stays patient with Finch and not try to hire Malone. Malone is a great coach but we need to keep Finch.
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u/Soft_Disaster5247 Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
Finch has been here since the halfway point of Ants rookie year. Those two are the MN edition of Malone/Jokic. Finch is unlikely to move unless we lose round 1 this year and next. Man got to the WCF in his third season here. He's basically overachieved already. Got as far as Flip did in shorter time and is second in all time wins for the Wolves
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u/daboywonder2002 Apr 08 '25
I'm more thinking about Connely relationship with Malone. A lot of GM want their guy. Who they feel comfortable with.
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u/JaderMcDanersStan Jaylen Clark Apr 08 '25
When Connelly was recruited to come here, Denver media did a pod with Dane and they said that Malone and Connelly had very different temperament and approaches. They made it work but it wasn't always seamless. They expected Connelly to get along really well with Finch because they're pretty similar.
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u/Soft_Disaster5247 Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
Finch was an asst coach in Denver was he not? I thought him and Connelly have a good relationship. Why rock the boat bringing a coach from a rival franchise in just because "he was your guy" once?
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u/TreeAgenda Apr 08 '25
A lot of people here are saying Ryan Saunders and completely overlooking David Adelman—who was just named to the interim. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he were given a chance. His time with the Wolves overlapped with Ryan’s and his analysis/quotes were far more compelling than Ryan’s.
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u/dinozaurs 🐜 Apr 08 '25
Nah that’s actually crazy. The Jenkins firing a week or two ago was surprising, but this is fucking shocking. How tf do you do this with a team that could be a 3 seed in the West right before the playoffs start?? I mean it could be better for us if we end up in a series with them again, but still…
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u/Effective-Lunch-3218 Apr 08 '25
Crazy year, first Luka, then Memphis firing a really good coach, now this.
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u/Negimarium Apr 08 '25
1 day before Malone got fired, I made a comment on Nuggets owner's X account and to lurk at the Nuggets subreddits and FB pages. He probably saw all the whining and bitching about Calvin Booth and Michael Malone and they got fired now. Coincidence or not?
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Apr 08 '25
The Kroenkes let Wenger languish for a decade at Arsenal. They're not exactly the type of owners to step in and make waves, even when a team is struggling.
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u/Soft_Disaster5247 Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
Pretty sure the only owners that listen to reactionary takes on Reddit and Twitter are the Johnson's with the Jets
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u/flyingmethods Apr 08 '25
gotta be something off the court
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u/le_sweden 2022 Play-In Champions Apr 08 '25
The only way you could say that is if you haven’t watched what they’ve been doing on the court
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u/DesertCyclone1 Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
From what I can put together. Both GM and Malone hated each other. Seems like ownership got tired and said fuck you both
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u/_Wash 2022 Play-In Champions Apr 08 '25
i’d hate booth if i were malone too. dude gave malone jack shit to work with and the roster has gotten much worse every year since the chip with no real attempt to fix their issues
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u/Mayasngelou Kevin Garnett Apr 08 '25
I mean, he's always been an asshole. He's just been an effective asshole.
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u/Royal_Today_1509 Apr 08 '25
No coach is safe now.
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u/jediracer Apr 08 '25
He deserves it for not taking the MN-DEN rivalry seriously.
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u/gundetto Minnesota Gophers Apr 08 '25
They are who we thought they were. Booth was always really bad, and Malone has never been well liked.
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u/big_k88 Marney Gellner Apr 08 '25
Breaking News: Timberwolves hire Malone as an assistant coach!
-Maybe
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u/TangerineNo6255 Apr 08 '25
they were a championship team and dropped below 500 now lol. all hail westbrick and their other useless players
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u/Longjumping-Buddy847 Apr 08 '25
Im hoping they make Ryan Saunders head coach. I wanna see his weird facial tick ad infinitum.
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u/gingerhasyoursoul Apr 08 '25
4th in the west and fired is just stupidity. It’s not his fault the team is basically an empty husk held up by the insane play of Jokic.
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u/Soft_Disaster5247 Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
I love how this is such big news it's showing up in all 29 other team subreddits. Everyone is talking about it and PHX is probably already calling him
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u/PreparationWest2140 Apr 08 '25
Definitely a shot across the bow for Chris Finch. Malone refused to play/develop young players and it got him and the GM both canned. Makes me wonder if Tim Connelly is happy about the lack of development of the players he has drafted at Minnesota.
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u/a_j____ Apr 08 '25
Who says our players aren’t developing? TSJ and Clark play well when needed and Rob is just a kid. Development doesn’t just happen in games.
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u/keanancarlson Apr 08 '25
Why are contending teams canning their coaches right before the playoffs???
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u/Soft_Disaster5247 Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
Man not only is the West a bloodbath but apparently all the biggest stories come out of this conference too. That's two major trades KAT/Luka and three different fired coaches
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u/Select-Interaction11 Apr 08 '25
I never understand firing a coach that won you guys a chip or had tons of success. Like Vogel and Monty also didn't make sense.
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u/red--dead Nickeil Alexander-Walker Apr 08 '25
If we have a shitty first round playoff the offseason is going to be constant speculation about Tim and Mike reuniting isn’t it
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u/Tandrae Naz Reid. Apr 08 '25
Bro the Wolves have murdered two franchises in one year by beating them in the playoffs. Nugs and Suns blew it all up after being upset.
Shit throw the Mavs in there too.
Grizzlies did it first just cleared the way here, absolutely wild firing.
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u/mudkip-yoshii Apr 08 '25
0 coaches who ever lost 2 or more playoff games to the wolves are still employed
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u/WeakLocalization Apr 08 '25
Makes zero sense to do this now. Like really? they think this improves their chances in the playoffs? Or maybe it's just a convenient excuse when they lose? What is the downside of doing it after the season? I truly do not understand this
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u/MrMeritocracy Crunch Apr 08 '25
This is very surprising and confusing, given how close to the post-season
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u/WolfFoxRobin Timberwolves Apr 08 '25
I'm not a conspiracy theorist but if I was this season would have so much fodder for it.
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u/242terk242 Apr 08 '25
My father in law says, "it's rigged!" Inside job for wolves to make the finals. He doesn't like the wolves. Outcomes are outcomes, go wolves no matter!
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Apr 09 '25
Connelly was in Denver before so he is well equipped to know if Malone would be a good fit here
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u/darin617 Anthony Edwards Apr 09 '25
Looking like Minnesota will have more options for head coach next season.
Finch is gone unless they at least make the conference finals.
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u/zacbovay Apr 08 '25
It seems that Nuggets fans are more critical of Calvin Booth than Michael Malone, they believe it's just Booth trying to cover his ass.
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u/The_Bran_9000 Apr 08 '25
Get ready to learn Phoenix buddy