The Wolves three-core will total 135 million next season! Is it difficult for Li Kaier to stay in the team? The 12+9 core deserves to leave the team more than him

Achenggao

2024-05-31 12:40Posted in Shandong Sports Creators

On May 31, Beijing time, the results of the fifth game of today's Western Conference Finals are estimated to be known to everyone, the Timberwolves lost to their opponents 103-124, they failed to advance to the Finals, and the Mavericks ushered in the third Finals trip in team history, Doncic became the biggest winner, he won the MVP of the Western Conference Finals, and the data of 36 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in this game was well deserved. Curry and Jokic, the two previous players who won the MVP of the Western Conference finals, both won the FMVP, and it is unknown if Doncic can continue the tradition.

In this game, Edwards tried his best, in the first half of the Mavericks' strategy was very resolute, that is, to pinch Edwards and let other players shoot, but the other players played very badly, and they couldn't shoot when the opportunity came out, the Mavericks' defensive strategy was successful, which eventually led to the Timberwolves falling behind by 29 points in the first half, and in the second half Edwards seized the opportunity of the opponent's laxity, and he made frequent efforts, but it was too late, and the opponent's double core could always re-expand the lead when he was close to the point difference, Edwards finished with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists on 10-of-18 shooting.

Although he lost, Edwards averaged 27.5 points, 7 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in the Western Conference finals, with a three-point shooting rate of 40%, and his performance was very good, you must know that he is only 22 years old, and he is also the only player in history to score 400 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in the playoffs before the age of 22.

In his post-game interview, Edwards was not discouraged by the loss, saying: "We haven't even been as united as a team in this series, I need to train better to be able to deal with the intensity of going further in the playoffs, I don't think I did well last offseason, now I know what it takes, I'll be ready and we'll be back next year."

Downs played well, but Downs was in the game almost lost suspense, frequently killed the basket to score points, in the first half of Doncic Irving was full of firepower, Edwards was locked by the opponent, I thought Downs could stand up, but he didn't do it, this game Downs shot 9 of 20, 1 of 6 three-pointers got 28 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists, the last two games he played is indeed tougher than the past few games, which is also a kind of progress.

But Gobert's performance in this game was not very good, he shot 4 of 8 in this game, got 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal, and only played 2 minutes in the fourth quarter before being abandoned, although Gobert is the team's best plus/minus so far in this series, but this thing often does not fully reflect the role of the player, and the intuitive feeling of the game can make people see how bad Gobert is.

Edwards didn't have so much space to clash and kill when he was on the court, and he was also targeted by Irving and Doncic on the defensive end, and it is true that he has improved his effectiveness in defending small players this season, but it also depends on what level of defense the backcourt, facing Doncic and Irving, he has no way at all, so the team abandoned him. This 4-time DPOY can be said to have lost its value again in this round of the series.

The Timberwolves have a lot to consider in the offseason, Edwards' second career contract is about to be executed, next season's annual salary of Huazi is 42.3 million, Towns' annual salary is 49.35 million, Gobert's annual salary is 43.83 million, the total salary of the three has reached 135 million, plus the annual salary of McDaniels, Conley and Reed, their total salary next season has now reached 196 million, exceeding the second local tyrant line.

The Timberwolves are not big players like the Clippers and Warriors, their team is only 25th in the league in terms of market capitalization, and the team's owners and shareholders have been at odds this season, saying that they want to reduce expenses next season. In such a situation, will they be able to maintain their current squad? I think it's going to be difficult, first of all, Lee Kyle will be a full free agent in the offseason, and the Timberwolves may forgo signing him to a contract extension in order to reduce expenses.

But one thing to say, in terms of performance in the playoffs, Li Kaier should stay, he can do everything, can pass, score and defend, and his ball quotient is high enough, in the G4 team to win is by relying on Li Kaier, such a puzzle is the key to the championship, he is not only easy to use, but also very cheap, to be honest, in terms of the role in the playoffs, I think he should stay more than Gobert.

In the playoffs, he averaged 12 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1 block per game, Gobert is easy to use in the regular season, but it is not practical in the playoffs, and it will be targeted, the team keeps the three towers to play the Nuggets, and there is no advantage in the face of other teams, their three towers should be dismantled, while Gobert still has some trade value, I think the Timberwolves should dump him. Speaking of which, what do you have to say about the current Timberwolves? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.

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