The Dane Moore NBA Podcast

On today’s podcast, Britt Robson of The Athletic joins the show to discuss his column on how the joy of Anthony Edwards is coming to redefine the blueprint of the Minnesota Timberwolves — both in the present and into the future. Britt and I discuss: The theoretically cumbersome fit of Malik Beasley and D’Angelo Russell once they return from injury and suspension in the coming weeks. Does Gersson Rosas need to consider trading one of Beasley, Russell or Ricky Rubio — perhaps at the deadline — so as to adjust to this new version of Edwards and his seemingly prolific pairing with Karl-Anthony Towns? If no trade is made, does someone need to move to the bench? If so, who? How does Edwards’ 19 year-old personality compare to Kevin Garnett’s personality at 19? Do the Timberwolves need a “savior” to keep the franchise in Minnesota? Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the second night of a back-to-back in Phoenix, the Timberwolves’ offense came up flat when Anthony Edwards had an off-game. On today’s pod, we go into why Karl-Anthony Towns leaning into his step-back 3 could be a solution to the Wolves’ problems that they could get to whenever they want. How Phoenix shifted their defense to take away Edwards on Friday night after Edwards went for 42 on Thursday Why Edwards can’t necessarily be schemed out, but why he can be schemed inefficent How defenses would not be able to scheme KAT and his step-back at the top of the key out of the Wolves’ offense KAT’s historical numbers off the dribble from 3 versus in catch and shoot situations What the impact of KAT’s step-back 3 would have on the surrounding Wolves players if the shot was activated and effective Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns Show has arrived. The Minnesota Timberwolves just beat the Phoenix Suns, furthering that this is clearly the weirdest team ever. And weird can be good! On today’s pod we discuss: Towns and Edwards both going off for a combined 83 points, building off of each other How the Wolves have gone 3-2 since the All-Star break against real competition How Chris Finch has used Towns in a way that allows Edwards to explode Is the plan on defense just more offense? What even constitutes solid defense for this group within this style of play? How do Malik Beasley and D’Angelo Russell fit back into this KAT and Ant-led reality? Just gasoline on the all-in on offense strategy, right? My prediction for who the Timberwolves new starting power forward will be Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Timberwolves are now four games past the All-Star break and have four more until the trade deadline. Tuesday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers is a good time to take stock of what has improved since the first time the Wolves played the Lakers this year and what still needs to be addressed — both within the current roster and outside of the roster via trade. Today we discuss: The Timberwolves continued problems in transition defense. And how their inability to finish at the rim on offense is impacting how they get back on defense (with audio from Ricky Rubio) How Rubio has begun to emerge since being inserted into the starting lineup 16 games ago (with audio from Karl-Anthony Towns) A John Collins film review in advance of the trade deadline (because why not?) Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sunday night was The Anthony Edwards Game, and the Minnesota Timberwolves are now 2-1 since the All-Star Break. On the backs of their No. 1 overall pick, the Wolves are currently floating on a good vibe. So we discuss: How Edwards looked like a dunking Luka Doncic for a night With Karl-Anthony Towns double-teamed, Edwards needed to score effectively and defended for the Wolves to win — and he did both. The similarities between Edwards and Carmelo Anthony and the value of a volume shooter in the analytically-driven modern NBA Shot distribution between KAT and Ant Will the KAT double teams go away once the roster is healthy? How much value is there in the Wolves broadly having the same roster for 12 months? What impact is roster continuity having on this group a year since Gersson Rosas cleaned house? Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Minnesota Timberwolves defensive scheme is officially changing under Chris Finch. We saw the early signals of change in the first game after the All-Star break against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday and saw a whole new level of change against the Portland Trailblazers on Saturday. On today’s pod we get into the breadcrumbs of the change and why it’s important. The Wolves history of awful team defense in Karl-Anthony Towns’ career Finch believing a “bend but don’t break” defensive philosophy is not best for this roster (audio included) Finch’s willingness to use KAT as a perimeter defender and how that shifts the Wolves defensive balance KAT’s excitement level for doing something defensively he’s always felt he could do but has never been asked to do (audio included) Juancho Hernangomez and Jaylen Nowell making cases to be a part of the rotation going forward 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 podcast, Dane is joined by Britt Robson of The Athletic to discuss a Timberwolves for what feels like the first time in what feels like forever. After getting blown out by the Hornets and then blowing out the Pelicans, how has the way we view this team evolved? We discuss: How the Jaden McDaniels and Jaylen Nowell Show carried the Wolves over the Pelicans Drafting the Wolves prospects from the last three draft classes. Where do Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Jarrett Culver rank in the Wolves’ youthful hierarchy How would John Collins’ skillset fit on the Wolves? And what might it cost to acquire him? What might the Timberwolves’ offense begin to look like all-in on Karl-Anthony Towns? How might that impact KAT’s defense? Embracing the first good vibes in a long time Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After entering the All-Star break with a 33-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets, naturally, the Minnesota Timberwolves started their second half of the season with a 30-point blowout win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night. On today’s pod we get into why the Timberwolves are going for it — trying to win in the second half of the season — in spite of their 7-29 record at the break. We discuss: How I’ve been hearing the Wolves are “trying to win” during the second half and are “buyers” entering the trade deadline Why they can pursue wins while simultaneously dancing around the elephant in the room that is their 2021 lottery pick Jaylen Nowell, Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid refusing to miss as the Wolves second-unit propelled the victory Our first glimpse at KAT embracing Chris Finch’s KAT-centric offense Sign up for Dane's Patreon ($5 a month) at: Patreon.com/DaneMooreNBA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the halfway point of the season, Jace Frederick of The Pioneer Press joins the pod to discuss what happened in the second quarter of the season and what might lie ahead after the All-Star break in the third quarter of the year. Today’s topics include: What players individually stood out during the second quarter of the season — for good or bad — and what should we take from that production? Jaden McDaniels numbers falling off; Ricky Rubio’s shooting improving; etc What players might stick out during the third quarter of the season, and what can we estimate the rotation might look like? How will the trade deadline impact who is and is not playing over these chunk of games? -Why might the Karl-Anthony Towns trade talk be premature? Looking back and laughing at our preseason predictions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's pod, Britt Robson of The Athletic joins the show to take stock of the first half of the Timberwolves season. Robson discusses what has unfolded in the first 36 games and what may transpire leading up to the trade deadline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices