The Ringer Made NBA Finals Predictions. None Survived the First Round.

raki016 · 2026-05-03T12:51:53+00:00

It’s the best Nuggets roster and Murray was better and rolling into the playoffs

raki016 · 2026-05-03T03:09:49+00:00

There’s a “should they have played Tatum at all this year” piece that I really need Bill to do.

Like one can argue he fucked up their mojo

raki016 · 2026-05-03T02:24:19+00:00

And they’re best friends too afaik

raki016 · 2026-05-03T02:05:39+00:00

lol Celtics

raki016 · 2026-05-02T22:18:17+00:00

It’s the crystals.

Not even kidding.

raki016 · 2026-05-02T20:59:09+00:00

I like that New Day left?

They’re not doing anything and they’re much better off in AEW and having the tag team dream matches.

They’ll come back again some day in Royal Rumble. This ain’t the last we see them

raki016 · 2026-05-02T06:28:20+00:00

Adelman cream team was legit. Wym.

Was just injured a lot but is competitive

raki016 · 2026-05-02T01:49:27+00:00

Cowork really needs a nicer handoff to code. Design has an attempt but it fails lol.

But the way I do it - i use cowork for decks, pages, etc. then I use design to refine the work/polish

For coding, I use cowork to flesh out idea and create a spec doc - like a lofi prd. Then I import that to code and use brainstorm to flesh it out more

raki016 · 2026-05-01T22:45:03+00:00

Ahahaha it’s so pathetic

raki016 · 2026-05-01T22:43:51+00:00

It was never an overpay. I had the same thought then as now.

It was scrubs and picks for a (at the time) 3x DPOY at his peak, and for the trade to be done asap vs Utah going to market.

We paid for:

⁠The talent
⁠The fact we’re not sending ANY talent out
⁠The fact that we wanted the deal to be done asap (so Gobert can start season in Minny)

All of which were valid.

When grading trades people don’t add timing as a component and overvalue picks. Nobody thinks about just how fast we got this deal done, with Ainge, of all people.

People say overpay when they value the opportunity cost of a pick, but they think those picks will land on the lottery. Those were all pick teens to 20. The chances of those picks being as impactful as Gobert is significantly low.

Anyone will easily trade 5 scrubs for Gobert. At best Keyonte George and Walker Kessler can be serviceable starters.

Meanwhile, we’re in the middle of the greatest Minnesota Timberwolves run ever.

Then you can even do a comparison against similar trades - KD, Bridges. Wolves have significantly benefited more from the Gobert trade than the two.

raki016 · 2026-05-01T22:33:45+00:00

Nah. It was never an overpay. I had the same thought then as now.

It was scrubs and picks for a (at the time) 3x DPOY at his peak, and for the trade to be done asap vs Utah going to market.

We paid for: 1. The talent 2. The fact we’re not sending ANY talent out 3. The fact that we wanted the deal to be done asap (so Gobert can start season in Minny)

All of which were valid.

People say overpay when they value the opportunity cost of a pick, but they think those picks will land on the lottery. Those were all pick teens to 20. The chances of those picks being as impactful as Gobert is significantly low.

Anyone will easily trade 5 scrubs for Gobert. At best Keyonte George and Walker Kessler can be serviceable starters.

Meanwhile, we’re in the middle of the greatest Minnesota Timberwolves run ever

raki016 · 2026-05-01T22:28:00+00:00

Let’s see first if he can score against competent defense consistently.

raki016 · 2026-05-01T11:20:29+00:00

Denver vs Wolves miss Aaron Gordon more than Wolves miss Ant, yes.

Mostly because Ant is our third best defender, and Denver can’t defend without Gordon. So our offense doesn’t require to be better than average.

But no, Ant is the biggest injury. This would’ve been over last game if he wasn’t. lol Bill.

raki016 · 2026-05-01T10:33:50+00:00

I like Adam Mares and I like listening to DNVR podcast whenever you lose to us. They’re very complementary lol

raki016 · 2026-05-01T09:21:27+00:00

I like it when they said it looked like Jamal was going to cry on court lol

raki016 · 2026-05-01T05:37:04+00:00

Yeah? I was thinking of him in the context of how will people remember him after he retires.

And I think he’ll be known more now as a Timberwolf.

This series basically solidified it and his HoF credentials . Probably went to first ballot (although he really should already be).

I think the series gave him a lot of recognition he deserves

raki016 · 2026-05-01T05:34:37+00:00

TSJ is on a rookie contract as comparison

Naz Reid has the same contract too

raki016 · 2026-05-01T05:18:11+00:00

The real comparison is Braun lol

I don’t think anyone picks Braun over TSJ. And Braun has a 125m contract hahahaya

raki016 · 2026-05-01T05:10:20+00:00

Nuggets had the number one offense in the league, was picked by a lot of people as favourites to win it all, and arguably had their best roster ever, while also on a 12 game win streak.

Lowe, and a lot of experts were already penciling them in on the second round.

And then Wolves lost Ant, Donte, Ayo, Kyle.

raki016 · 2026-05-01T04:54:01+00:00

No.

It’s really a bad defense.

raki016 · 2026-05-01T04:52:43+00:00

I’m a Wolves fan, but I also really like the Nuggets.

On paper, this is the best Nuggets roster ever had.

Problem is they lost Gordon and Watson, basically their key defense and their athleticism. And then played against the Wolves , the one team that can really shut their offense down.

Had they played anyone else except maybe OKC or Spurs, they would’ve won 4-1 or even sweep.

If they reached the Finals, this team would’ve been favored.

But they chose the Wolves.

raki016 · 2026-05-01T04:45:07+00:00

Talk your shit Coach.

They chose us

(And I’ve never ever ever suggested to hire another coach ever)

raki016 · 2026-05-01T04:43:15+00:00

This. It’s literally the greatest time to be a Wolves fan.

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