The Timberwolves are finished in the playoffs after losing last night to the Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals. The Mavs won the series 4-1 and embarrassed Minnesota on its home court, jumping off to a big lead in the game and winning 124-103.
That thud last night and losing the series in five games doesn’t tarnish a special year. As time expired Thursday evening, fans chanted: “Let’s go Wolves!” The shout out was in appreciation for a 56-26 regular season, No. 3 seeding in the postseason and deep playoff run.
This team produced one of the best years in franchise history dating back to 1989-1990. That success has also set up an intriguing offseason. Among the drama will be the following:
Who is going to have majority ownership of the Wolves and WNBA Lynx? Arbitration and later a vote by the NBA’s owners will settle the issue. That vote will be very interesting not only because Glen Taylor has a long time relationships with the league’s other 29 owners that could favor him in the outcome. Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez are trying to close on a sales price of $1.5 billion for the Wolves and Lynx that was agreed to in 2021. With NBA franchises now valued at $3 billion and more, do the owners want to see a club sold for $1.5 billion? Prediction here: Taylor will emerge from the legal dispute with Lore and Rodriguez as the controlling owner.
President of basketball operations Tim Connelly, who took over as the front office basketball boss in 2022, reportedly has an opt out now in his contract. Will the architect who put the pieces together elevating the team from mediocre to championship contender want to leave? The push to bring Connelly to Minneapolis from Denver was led by Lore and Rodriquez but the opinion here is the valued decision maker will stay on working for Taylor and wanting to further build on his work.
How will ownership and Connelly approach an expensive player payroll that as constructed now will put them way over the NBA salary cap? Speculation is ownership will have to pay over $25 million in luxury tax to keep an expensive core together led by Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and others. Spotrac.com projects the payroll at over $190 million for next season, one of the highest figures in the league.
But if all the key players return the Wolves will be sitting on a box office and marketing bonanza with fans. Presumably they could generate revenues from varied sources to cover the luxury tax expense while driving up the value of the franchise if success duplicates or exceeds last season. Taylor, 83, has never seen his team win an NBA title and might have a “let’s go for the ring” approach this offseason.
How does this team get better? Significant improvement will come organically from a roster mostly of young players led by Anthony Edwards, 22, Jaden McDaniels, 23, and Naz Reid, 24. It requires experience to win championships and these players have big upsides on a roster that potentially has its top six guys returning.
New pieces? The Wolves need a plan that sooner or later will replace valued 36-year-old veteran point guard Mike Conley Jr. Other wants should be to add more consistent and clutching scoring, ideally from a big-time veteran or prospect (possible Towns trade?), and develop a deeper bench to go along with NBA Sixth Man of the Year Reid.
Those needs will go through Connelly’s mind in a rare NBA Draft where the Wolves haven’t mortgaged away their selections. Minnesota has the No. 27 and 37 picks in next month’s draft.
In some towns just the approaching draft, free agent signings and trades would provide the offseason focus but not here there is even more anticipation about what’s next.
Roles for U Frosh Koi Perich in 2024 Might Be Multiple
Koi Perich is the face of the 2024 Golden Gophers football recruiting class. Expectations by fans are considerable for the former Esko star and consensus four-star recruit ranked as the No. 1 prospect in Minnesota by On3, 247Sports and ESPN last year. On3 ranked him as the No. 3 safety in the nation and the No. 53 overall recruit in the country.
As a senior last fall Perich played defense, offense and special teams while leading Esko to a 10-1 record. He accounted for 27 touchdowns, including five on defense.
Perich showed he could perform not only against small town Minnesota competition but also on the national stage. Playing in the All-American Bowl against some of the better prep talent in the country last January, Perich was named MVP. He had an interception, broke up two passes, made a tackle for a loss, and blocked and recovered a punt.
Perich tantalizes fan enthusiasm beyond his talent because of his loyalty to the home state school. Ohio State, a favorite to win the 2024 national championship, put a December recruiting rush on the teenager with head coach Ryan Day visiting him. He could have not only become a Buckeye but chosen to any number of other marquee programs.
That kind of “he’s one of us” feeling fuels curiosity about Perich who also excelled in basketball at Esko and won the 2022 Class A state long jump championship. Among the questions is how soon will he play for the Gophers and where?
Ryan Burns, the recruiting authority from GopherIllustrated, predicts Perich isn’t likely to start right away. “It’s not a knock on Koi’s talent. It’s a knock on him getting here in June (summer school starts Monday). If he would have been here in January, I think the likelihood of him having a much bigger role this fall would have been exponentially higher.
“It’s just so tough for—in my eyes at least—for a true freshman that comes in in the summer to really make a giant impact in the fall. It’s not unheard of to see it happen. We’ve seen guys where it happened like Antoine Winfield Jr. . …”
As of late, there’s a developing tradition of great safeties at Minnesota. Winfield was named a unanimous All-American in 2019. Tyler Nubin was honored as a first and second team All-American in 2023.
Perich has a legacy to follow and although he may not be a starting safety in 2024, Burns sees potential roles on the field including the possibility of playing nickel on passing downs. That could have the hyped freshman on the field for 200 to 300 snaps next season.
At Esko Perich returned three punts for touchdowns and one kickoff for a score last season. Given how prolific Perich was at returning punts and kickoffs in high school, Burns would “love to see” the fan favorite have a chance at those roles with the Gophers.
“As you know, my bar for (head coach) P.J. Fleck’s return game is incredibly low,” said Burns who noted the Gophers haven’t returned a kickoff for a TD since 2017, nor taken a punt back for a score since 2018. A poor kickoff return game last year, he said, resulted in consistent bad field position and added to problems for aa challenged offense.
So, nickel back, returning punts and kickoffs, and even time at safety could be on the table for Perich. The Gophers do have to replace their starting safeties from 2023 and sooner or later that could create an opening for you-know-who.
The conclusion? No one should be shocked if Perich contributes to Minnesota’s success in 2024 with probably bigger things coming in 2025.
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