Dane Moore

Today's show w/ Chris Finch - What the summer has looked like for Finch and the Wolves as a team - The addition of LaMelo Ball - Anthony Edwards becoming a leader and moving back to shooting guard, "where he belongs" - Coaching Rudy Gobert and the Wolves team trip to Paris this summer - Finch on being an "outsider" as a coach and betting on yourself

The Wolves had a $7.7M 4th-year team option decision to make today on Cody Williams for next season, and opted to turn it down. That’s a significant salary cap hit (3x the minimum). And it’s a bigger number because these salaries are tied to the rookie scale, which scales based on how high you were drafted. Williams has a relatively large rookie scale contract and 4th-year option because he was a relatively high draft pick (10th in 2024). A good comparison is to Terrence Shannon Jr., who was a late 1st round pick (27th in 2024). Shannon’s 4th-year team option was for $5.1M . The Wolves also had to make that same decision on Shannon today, and decided to opt into his $5.1M option on Shannon. This doesn’t preclude Williams returning to Minnesota next season. We’ve seen teams opt out of team options and sign a player to a number below where the team option was set at. And from what I can gather, there is intrigue in Williams from both the Minnesota coaching staff and front office. Finch spoke on Wednesday of Williams being one of the players that could find his way into the rotation in the absence of Anthony Edwards.

About to go live

Doing the Friday pods this season with @KyleTheige as live streams on YouTube at 1030am CST. Link to the stream: youtube.com/live/tqoDhOk8nEg… Our plan for these Friday shows is to recap the last week. A sort of "what happened this week in Wolves?" episode. And @CoopCarlson will be in the chat compiling questions of yours for us to answer at the end of the episode. If you miss the live, these will also be podcasts after the fact.

Got our first look at this season's Wolves team without Ant last night. @JonKrawczynski, @Gaardsy and I will be be live talking about it at 10am CST. Link: youtube.com/live/UE_ESH9DjFE…

Gotta play fast or efficiently in the halfcourt. And they've been nowhere near either of those things.

Chris Finch when asked about the mentality of the group following the Anthony Edwards injury news. "I think it was kind of a bit of a shock to everybody last night. Certainly unexpected at that point... We talked a little but about it, what it might looked like for us going forward. Drawing on some experiences where we've played without him, won some big games without him. Certainly guys are disappointed for him and us, but nothing you can do."

Bones Hyland on Anthony Edwards scoring 47 in his last game before being shut down with his knee injury. "He went out like a warrior. That's something I feel like a lot of players would have sat out around the league... But Ant, he's a basketball junkie. He wants to play all the time."

Bones Hyland and Ayo Dosunmu figure to be two players who see a growth in the size of their roles in Anthony Edwards' absence. Asked Hyland about what he and Dosunmu can bring in that role. "I can't wait, man. Electricity, electric. Just goin out there and playing with a lot of passion, fun, swag, igniting the crowd. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Lotta up and down, fast-paced basketball. Like twin turbos, for sure."

Bones Hyland when asked about Minnesota playing without Anthony Edwards. "We loaded, bro. We got a lot of talent on the team, lotta guys who can step in. Last year when we played the Nuggets, guys sat out from injuries and we stepped up."

Here's Tim Connelly addressing the media this morning on Anthony Edwards' knee injury. - Will have an arthroscopic procedure in the next 24 hours - Not a meniscus injury; just an arthroscopic clean up of his knee - The most recent imaging of the knee changed after the game in Cleveland on Monday -- different than the imaging they took in last season's playoffs and different than even a month ago. - Edwards wants to play tonight, but this is what's best for his long-term health - No timeline set for recovery until after the procedure. Don't think it will be something that costs him the season - Connelly says Edwards should be good as new after recovery. This is not something they're concerned with long-term.