Note: Just finished this column when I heard the news about Mike Conley being dealt to the Bulls, essentially for salary cap space and flexibility. The finances of the transaction and the fact that, despite the sharp decline in his play this season, Conley filled a need for a floor general, indicates that the Wolves are not done maneuvering between now and the Thursday afternoon deadline.
The column argues against going all-in on a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, which would mean sacrificing at least Jaden McDaniels and probably Naz Reid to boot. Losing Conley eases cap space for any sort of deal — a blockbuster for Giannis or a more surgical acquisition for a backcourt piece that would upgrade from 2026 Conley, Rob Dillingham and perhaps Bones Hyland.
In any case, here is the piece. I’ll have a tribute to Conley in the And One, probably tomorrow, barring any more major developments.
It is time to raise a glass of your favorite beverage and offer a toast to Gersson Rosas.
It is highly unlikely that statement, or sentiment, will be freely expressed among longtime employees of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rosas did not have a successful tenure here as the Wolves President of Basketball Operations from May 2019 to September 2021, and left under a cloud of scandal when it was revealed he was engaged in a “consensual intimate relationship” with a subordinate, creating longstanding tension among some segments of the organization.
But for all his hubris and hypocrisy (from the beginning, Rosas showcased himself as a family-first manager, at home and at work, juggling a three-year old twin on each knee at his introductory press conference), Rosas sowed many of the seeds for the Wolves’ current, unprecedented success. After whiffing on his first-ever draft pick, Jarrett Culver (he’d traded up to take point guard Darius Garland, only to watch Cleveland choose him first) in the 2019 draft, he more than compensated by agreeing to a two-way contract with a chubby, undrafted center named Naz Reid, then signing him to a sweetheart deal (negotiated by his right-hand man Sachin Gupta) less than two weeks later that paid him $6.1 million, total, over the next four years.
In the 2020 draft, Rosas garnered two more precious pieces to the puzzle. At a time when consensus was split on whether the top pick should be Lamelo Ball, Anthony Edwards or James Wisemen, Rosas nailed it with the selection of Ant. Then, much further down in the first round, he made a trade that secured the Wolves taking Jaden McDaniels with the 28th overall pick. (We’ll overlook him taking Leandro Bolmaro 23rd.)
Last but not least, Rosas made an abrupt, highly unconventional head coaching change in the middle of the 2020-21 season, negotiating the ability to filch Toronto Raptors then-assistant coach Chris Finch less than 72 hours after the Wolves had played the Raptors.
In terms of securing a solid foundation for a perpetually downtrodden franchise, Naz, Ant, McDaniels and Finch comprise some pretty admirable masonry by Rosas. For the purpose of this column, coming on the precipice of the February 5 NBA trading deadline, I’m concentrating on the most underrated members of that quartet—Naz and McDaniels.
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Trading deadlines are a time for hot takes and fever dreams, and the reported availability of Giannis Antetokounmpo — a two-time MVP and one of the top five players in the NBA — dices a bag of chili peppers into the fanciful rumors swirling in the social media vat.
Pairing Giannis with Ant would be a blatant bid by the Wolves to overwhelm opponents via their top-end talent, with precious little breadth and depth elsewhere on the roster to help carry the load. It is difficult to see how that happens without Minnesota including McDaniels — and probably Naz — in any multi-team configuration. The Wolves don’t have any first-round draft picks they can trade through 2032, and the age and narrower skill sets of superb players like Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle aren’t enough to significantly move the needle in a package for Giannis. Aside from rookie center Joan Beringer — who will be jealously guarded by a front office who thinks they stole him with the 17th pick in the 2025 draft — erstwhile youngsters Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Jaylen Clark are merely sweeteners here.
For those who adhere to a “ring or bust” mentality when building a team, Ant and Giannis together is a beguiling possibility. But the NBA is a different beast than when Kevin Durant joined Steph Curry and the Warriors to extend their dynasty, or when Lebron James and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to triumph in the year of the Covid-mandated bubble.
Grit and aggression is more apparent in terms of full-court, on-ball pressure on defense and crashing the offensive glass for putbacks. It has added a new dimension to the space-and-pace style of play pioneered by Curry’s peerless outside shooting. It favors rugged wings who blend brawn and foot speed enough to stymie dribblers, close out to the arc on three-point shooters and still possess enough moxie to credibly defend the paint, and, ideally, protect the rim. And on offense, it certainly helps if they can stretch the floor as three-point threats.
There are three players on the Wolves current roster well-suited for the gamut of these tasks — Ant, Naz and Jaden. I would argue that trio is superior to Ant, Giannis and whoever remains in delivering what is increasingly fundamental to the modern game. (And, for the record, Naz and Jaden alone wouldn’t be enough to land Giannis.)
I’m not dissing Giannis — he’s one of my favorite players. He’s a defensive monster and a near-unstoppable force getting to the rim. But he’s also 31 (born 12/6/94), with 13 years and 16 playoff series worth of experience and wear and tear on his phenomenal physique. Over the past five seasons, he has missed 15, 19, 9, 15 and currently 17 games (and counting, he’s on the shelf with a calf injury). His 39.5% shooting from deep this season is a gross outlier—his full-season career high of 34.7% came as a teenaged rookie, his career average is 28.6%, all on low volume as his most prolific season yielded 1.4 makes per game.
But even with all that, I’m not arguing against a trade for Giannis because he is in decline — he’s still a beast. I’m arguing in favor of the ongoing incline, the steady improvement of a trio of players who can anchor a championship contender for the foreseeable future — and are all under contract to do so through the 2028-29 season, which would give them nine years together on the same roster. Even with a run to the NBA Finals in June of 2029, that would still make Naz (8/26/99) just 29, Jaden (9/29/00) 28, and Ant (8/5/01) 27.
Finch recently opined that Naz, who was voted Sixth Man of the Year in 2024, is having the best season of his career. The numbers bolster that argument. Despite a dreadful start (likely affected by the murder of his sister less than two months before opening day) Naz currently carries career highs in points, rebounds, steals and assists per game. He is a marksman from deep (39.3% on a career-high 6.4 attempts this season) whose rapid-fire “shrug” release makes him a deadly catch-and-shoot threat, now abetted by treys off the dribble, going right or left.
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Naz has always thrived in an uptempo environment and, along with Bones Hyland, is a big reason why the Wolves’ pace-of-play has gone up every month this season, from 22nd in October to 15th in November to 13th in December and way up to second in January. The fastest three-player lineup together on the court for more than 100 minutes is Bones, Naz and Gobert, who score 112.7 points per 100 possessions and allow just 91.8 for a gaudy +20.9 net rating in their 174 minutes.
Finally, as I mentioned in my And One newsletter last week, despite bruiting the talents of an obvious starter, Naz continues to unselfishly fulfill the role of sixth man, made all the more demanding this season by the team’s abrupt lack of depth beside him.
As much as Naz has improved thus far this season, McDaniels eclipses that growth with a remarkable coming-out party on offense. Those waiting for his jaw-dropping three-point accuracy to revert to his relatively mediocre career mean (36.1%) are running out of time. His first 25 games this season had him shooting 38-91 from behind the arc — a snazzy 41.8%. Since then? Twenty-four games, 40-80 for 50%. That adds up to 45.6%, the sixth most accurate shooting from distance in the NBA. McDaniels is also making 85.1% of his free throws, and while his two-point shooting has dipped to 54.9% on a career-high 7.6 attempts per game, it doesn’t prevent his true shooting percentage from being a career-high 62.5.
For years Finch has preached the need to get McDaniels more involved in the offense. That has happened this season in part by design and in part by Jaden himself taking the reins more often. No one on the roster sets up Gobert better with interior passes, and, like Naz, the team’s increased pace has allowed him to get out and score in transition with better efficiency.
The defense, quite frankly, has slipped slightly, but McDaniels is still the team’s top option for the yeoman task of containing the opponents top wing scorer. He may not rejoin the All NBA Defensive team again soon, but punt him from the roster and you’ll discover how much he’s missed at that end of the court.
Of course neither McDaniels nor Naz are missed very often because they have remained reliably healthy. Since becoming a starter three years ago, McDaniels has missed 3, 10, 0 and currently 2 games over the past four seasons. And over the past five seasons Naz has missed 5, 14, 1, 2 and 0 games, respectively.
There is a bond between these two invaluable role players that has been honed summer after summer in the gym at Target Center and then Mayo Clinic Square, working out with each other when others take vacations. Occasionally others will opt in — Ant and Jaylen Clark, for example — but it is this duo that bears this particular grind.
After another strong game from Jaden last week, Finch proclaimed that in his five years coaching the team, McDaniels has never been late for a meeting or practice. Minutes later in the locker room Jaden could remember at least one exception, but the point stands — he is a rock-solid component of a veteran team, universally admired by his teammates and openly dubbed “my favorite player” by Ant on numerous occasions.
Finch also has said, frequently, that a player determines his position by what he can guard. In this realm, both McDaniels and Naz are extraordinarily versatile. Almost a year ago, when injuries felled Gobert and Randle in overlapping segments, the young pair became the starting frontcourt, with either one capable of fulfilling the center or power forward slot according to matchups. It wasn’t ideal for all contingencies, but the point is, the Wolves boast two stalwart two-way players who are more transformers than Legos, who can go “big” or “small” according to situations. For example, when Rudy sits and the Wolves want to play zone, McDaniels will often toggle between perimeter defender and rim protector.
It would be a shame to uproot such an entrenched, and increasingly potent, pair of teammates for a two-year gamble on a Superteam. If it doesn’t work, does Ant stick around? It feels like there are more red flags than rings in this risk/reward proposition.
In Rosas we trust? No. But a toast to the four success stories in his legacy is earned. Or, at least, not mucking it up.
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