The Dane Moore NBA Podcast

The Minnesota Timberwolves are becoming Anthony Edwards team, too. Friday’s night’s loss to Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat was the latest installment of the Edwards ascension story — not only as a player but as a leader of the team. On today’s pod, we dig into the KAT and Butler spat, and how Edwards was there for his teammate. He’s becoming a leader, too. Edwards sticking up for KAT postgame after the exchange with Butler How Ant feels like the Timberwolves Randy Moss and KAT feels like Adrian Peterson — and the ways that might impact the way fans latch onto the team A technical fest that led to D’Angelo Russell getting ejected and Edwards receiving superstar defensive attention Giving Jarred Vanderbilt his flowers — and how he has become one of the Wolves most impactful defenders Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthony Edwards might have played the best game of his young career on Wednesday night. On tonight’s pod we dig into Edwards’ very-full (not empty) 42-point performance against the Grizzlies — that was completely absent of the rookie mistakes that have plagued much of the rookie’s first year in the league. Putting the 30-game run Edwards is on since the All-Star break into perspective. It’s time to remove the “inefficient scorer” label from Edwards game. The stats back it up. Looking at Edwards’ shooting efficiency compared to other high-volume shooters in the league Is the Donovan Mitchell player comp for Edwards beginning to come into focus? All KAT-DLo 2-man game down the stretch of the 4th quarter. Who gets the ball in late-game situations? D’Angelo Russell moves back into the starting lineup. Has Finch given up on DLo minutes next to Ricky Rubio? Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night, the Timberwolves are no longer on a winning streak. But they have won five of their last seven and are beginning show signs of an identity. Britt Robson of The Athletic joins the show to discuss the Wolves hot streak and the bumps that have come along the way. We discuss: What went wrong down the stretch against the Pelicans The late-game pecking order — our individual preferences between KAT, DLo and Ant, and what we are gleaning Chris Finch’s preference might be The stylistic defensive identity under Finch and how Gersson Rosas can choose to empower that style with future roster moves The increasingly likely possibility that the Wolves fall down to the 6th slot in the tanking standings — and the impact of the odds of keeping the pick falling from 40.1% to 27.6% Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With what is now a four-game winning streak, the comparison between the momentum this Timberwolves team is generating and the momentum the Phoenix Suns generated in last season’s Bubble is becoming less outlandish. On today’s podcast, we start digging through where this Wolves team’s momentum is coming from — and how it all seems to tie back to Anthony Edwards, who had 18 fourth quarter points against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. Ricky Rubio draws similarities and differences between what he is experiencing on this Wolves team and what he experienced as a member of the Bubble Suns (audio included) Anthony Edwards’ late-game mentality, and going off in the 4th quarter again Finch’s new favorite lineup: Naz-Vando-Juancho-DLo-JMac — and what the future of the sixth man role on the Wolves might look like Looking at Jarrett Culver’s future on the team after being shut down for the season on Thursday Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I’ve been toying with an idea: Is Karl-Anthony Towns playing the best basketball of his career? Better than his post-All Star break run during the 2018-19 season? Better than the first 18 games of the 2019-20 season when he led the Timberwolves to a 10-8 start? On today’s pod, we dig into that question. Also: Jarred Vanderbilt’s impact in tonight’s win over the Houston and how he might fit into the Wolves’ big picture. And then we check in on the Flab Five tanking standings. (Yes, I’m calling it that.) Is KAT in the midst of the best 25-game stretch of his career thus far? Vanderbilt’s case for fitting into the Wolves’ big picture plans as a restricted free agent this summer Chris Finch stating he won’t be resting players down the stretch of the season — and how that might impact the Flab Five tanking standings Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If the Timberwolves ever won consecutive games again this season, I promised Kyle Theige (CanisHoopus) that he could come on the pod to celebrate the winning “streak”. Is it a streak if you win two in a row? Sure. The Wolves hadn’t won consecutive games since Christmas. In Wolves World, that’s worth celebrating. We discuss: How both wins over the Jazz were a carbon copies of one another, and how the Wolves no longer feel dead in the water when they fall down by 15 points early in the game Is winning a good thing for this Wolves team right now? We (again) run through the lottery odds — and estimate the likelihood of rest of season wins for the other teams in the tank Jaden McDaniels showing real signs of a Robert Covington/Jonathan Isaac upside Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If the Timberwolves ever won consecutive games again this season, I promised Kyle Theige (CanisHoopus) that he could come on the pod to celebrate the winning “streak”. Is it a streak if you win two in a row? Sure. The Wolves hadn’t won consecutive games since Christmas. In Wolves World, that’s worth celebrating. We discuss: How both wins over the Jazz were a carbon copies of one another, and how the Wolves no longer feel dead in the water when they fall down by 15 points early in the game Is winning a good thing for this Wolves team right now? We (again) run through the lottery odds — and estimate the likelihood of rest of season wins for the other teams in the tank Jaden McDaniels showing real signs of a Robert Covington/Jonathan Isaac upside Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s pod, I am joined by Britt Robson of The Athletic to, amongst other things, discuss his column on the first 30 games of the Chris Finch Era. Ryan Saunders coach 31 games before he was let go, and now Finch has mirrored that number. Britt and I dig into how the results have largely been similar but how many of the coaching dynamics feel like they have changed. The identity Finch is attempting to install in terms of Xs and Os, but also in terms of power dynamics How Finch appears to have far more leverage with the front office than Saunders ever had Finch’s handling of player dynamics — from D’Angelo Russell off the bench to instilling defensive principles in Anthony Edwards How Britt and I see the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference’s power rankings. Plus some around the NBA talk. Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Somehow the Utah Jazz have only lost 16 games this season and two of them have come at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves. On today’s pod, we discuss Saturday night’s well-rounded win in Utah — and the parts that feel like meaningful signals for what could be coming. Legitimately good defense from everyone, including Anthony Edwards, whose defense — when it’s there — tends to inspire his offense Why the right types of wins can be more valuable than simply pursuing lottery balls Cutting around Karl-Anthony Towns versus spacing around Karl-Anthony Towns. And how Rudy Gobert and the Jazz handled the KAT chess match in Game 1 Reminding ourselves how meaningful the development of Jaden McDaniels has been this season. And how McDaniels and Josh Okogie suggest they can help balance the Wolves offensively-tilted roster Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After an absolute crumble in Sacramento on Wednesday night, I am joined by Brenden Nunes of The Kings Herald to break down what in the world went wrong down the stretch for the Timberwolves against the Kings. Looking beyond last night’s game, Brenden and I draw parallels between the Wolves and the Kings. Including: The case for Anthony Edwards versus Tyrese Haliburton for Rookie of the Year With the Wolves and Kings the league’s two worst defenses, what can they do to their rosters via trade or signing to boost themselves to league average defensively? Would the Kings trade Haliburton and their 2021 lottery pick for the Wolves top-3 pick if they are able to retain the pick? Are either of the Wolves or Kings on a path out of the dysfunction they have lived on for the past decade? Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices