Bill Simmons may have called the Rudy Gobert trade the worst in 30 years and been desperately wrong about Jaden McDaniels. But he says he’s watching the Minnesota Timberwolves more now that D’Angelo Russell is gone, and he seems to buying in on them.
On his latest podcast, he and Rob Mahoney were pretty positive about the full-strength Wolves team.
“How about this, are we sure Memphis is making it out of Round 1 if it’s Memphis-Minnesota?” Simmons asked Mahoney.
“Ouch,” Mahoney replied.
“I continue to be impressed by Minnesota,” Simmons asserted.
“They’ve played really well,” agreed Mahoney. “I mean, they look like a real playoff team, which was not always the case earlier in the season. Minnesota is showing some impressive things, even in some losses, like really fighting their way through some games.
“And, look, I will take all of the Minnesota vs. Memphis chaos we can get. We’ve seen this playoff matchup before, it was an absolute treat. I’ll take as much as you want to serve me.”
To Simmons, it comes down to swapping out D’Angelo Russell for Mike Conley.
Here’s the thing, though, the Conley-Russell thing has been just so unbelievable for Minnesota. Conley’s kinda having a moment again. It’s a little like one of those older actors who you haven’t thought about, like Jamie Lee Curtis in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Jamie Lee Curtis, good for her!
Conley, same thing, where it just didn’t seem like he was gonna have a relevant playoff basketball moment again. Then there was stuff like he might get traded to the Lakers, who knows? But now he’s on this Minnesota team, and he’s played great.
I feel like he’s semi-rejuvenated Gobert! Have you watched some of this Gobert stuff? I think a big reason is Conley’s just looking for him and thinking about him.
And, I don’t know, man, as you know, I’m not a huge Towns fan. But those two threes he hit against Golden State, I thought that was kind of a moment. Those were really big shots, they weren’t easy shots. And I thought it was a good win. I like what I’m seeing from them.
And then the Edwards, Edwards is kinda the Western Conference [Evan] Mobley, right? Where he’s probably not ready yet, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if he laid the smackdown for two nights in a row and just swung a series.
Mahoney seemed to agree.
That’s the thing, if he’s ready in two games of a series or three games of a series, it could really swing something. But you’re right about the Wolves overall. And, look, you may not be thinking about Mike Conley, but I guess whatever the equivalent of the weirdo who has the Jamie Lee Curtis shrine in his house is, that’s me with Mike Conley.
I’m Mike Conley all day, all the time over here, so I’m thrilled to see him get this. And I think he’s looked rejuvenated, too. It’s not just a matter of helping Gobert. He’s coming up with defensive plays he really hasn’t made in a couple of years.
Conley’s dealt with injury stuff. He’s getting to a different stage in his career. He’s looked really good, he’s giving them exactly what the Wolves have needed. And on Gobert’s part, especially defensively, I think part of it is Conley is a guard who will get everyone in the right spots and just manage things differently than Russell will. I think part of it, too, is having a team that’s a little bit better equipped defensively so that it’s not just on you all of the time.
I’ve very easy as a big to just get completely dispirited when guys are getting blown by, no one can contain, everything is about your help. And Conley’s on-ball defense has been good. Jaden McDaniels is an All-Defense candidate this season. Edwards comes and goes a little bit but has really strong moments. Kyle Anderson plays really strong defense.
“Edwards has it in him,” Simmons agreed.
“He definitely has it in him,” continued Mahoney. “But overall, they’ve just been more stout on-ball, on the perimeter, containing guys. And so I imagine Rudy Gobert is thrilled with that result, given again where the Wolves started and how bad their defense has looked. And leaky at some stages in the season, both on defense and on the glass. They look like a totally different team rebounding the ball.”
“You didn’t even mention my No. 5 MVP on my ballot, Naz Reid,” joked Simmons.
“Of course,” Mahoney said in jest.
Simmons doubled down on the bit.
I’m just gonna make him, if I can’t come up with No. 5, I’m just putting Naz Reid – I’m gonna be the one guy where it’s like, Wait, who voted for Naz Reid? Oh, it’s Simmons. It’s a protest vote!
I think that Minnesota team is really freaky. And when you take out Brandon Clarke and the possibility of not having Adams, I love the Memphis top-4. But there’s history with those two teams, not an easy one.
Now, the other thing is they could lose the 7-8 play-in and go into the 8-9 play-in and end up playing Denver, where that’s a weird one because they just have a bunch of big dudes to throw at Jokic, right? They’d at least be able to, I don’t know.
“They’d be throwing them at them, but would it do anything?” questioned Mahoney.
“I don’t know,” Simmons admitted. “Maybe it wouldn’t work.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Mahoney said, laughing.
The Wolves would probably have some trouble with the Denver Nuggets, but it’s encouraging that two NBA experts believe they’d take the Memphis Grizzlies in a rematch. Simmons may still be right about the Gobert trade, and he couldn’t have been more wrong about McDaniels. But it says something that he’s coming around on a Wolves team that looked trapped in the morass before Towns returned.
