The February edition of the Zeitgeist Player Power Rankings is back! An all-star, a big time trade, an All Star Weekend MVP, and an endless all defensive team hype train. There is plenty to discuss.
- Anthony Edwards
There remains no doubt who’s at the top of the zeitgeist for the Wolves. Ant is fresh off his appearance at all star where he shot 6-8 in 17 minutes. I’m assuming there was nothing particularly remarkable about his game since there was absolutely nothing notable about the game at all, which I made sure not to watch. But there’s been a solid week where Ant has been (nearly) the only accessible Wolf in the news. And he never disappoints.
And the trade for Mike Conley was partly about putting pieces to fit around Rudy better, but it’s also a remarkable vote of confidence in Ant. If we’re talking about Timberwolves that can reliably create their own shot in the fourth quarter, for now on the Wolves it’s Ant and ……nobody. Conley’s past that point in his career and that’s just not what McLaughlin does. Jaylen Nowell had a nice game against a depleted Jazz team but let’s not pretend he’s anything other than a turnover machine in crunch time. Say what you will about DLo, but he was the one other player the Wolves could go to in those moments.
And boy did it show against the Wizards when Ant was dealing with multiple defenders in the fourth quarter, passed out of the double team, and nothing happened. Or even more often he was dealing with multiple defenders being thrown at him and took an ill advised shot because he presumably didn’t trust the options around him. The hope is with KAT coming back (soon I hope?) teams will get punished if they do that to the Wolves again. But while the Wolves got older and went more in on Rudy with the Conley trade, it was also a trade designed to put the ball in Ant’s hands more often and increase the Wolves reliance on him.
As if all that wasn’t enough (it definitely is) he also goes and calls out basically every other single player at the all-star game for load management. Sure, there are times when it seems like Ant is engaging in load management when he’s on the court for a weekend afternoon game, but you still have to love the verve here.
He keeps the top spot in the ZPPR and he’s not going anywhere.
2. Jaden McDaniels
Even though Kyrie lit the world on fire in that fourth quarter against the Wolves Jaden’s stock continued to (justifiably) rise.
It was a genuine moment for him and Ant, for people to see that the Wolves have not just one but two exceptionally special young wings. Jaden has occupied the second spot in the ZPPR for most of the year and reassumes it in February. The Wolves hype train (such as it is) is rolling to put Jaden on one of the all-defense teams. His advanced defensive stats are great. There’s no player on the Wolves that passes the eye test on defense better than Jaden does either.
It will be interesting to see whether Russell’s departure will get McDaniels more consistently in the 10-12 field goal attempts per game instead of the 7-9 range where he normally is. Obviously KAT’s return is where a lot of those shots might end up, but the Wolves will need McDaniels to shoot and keep creating his own shot more often, which he’s shown he can do this year. Despite more freelancing on offense his efficiency numbers are way up.
3. Kyle Anderson
Slo-Mo stays in the top three almost by default. He hasn’t played exceptionally well as of late though he had a solid game in a loss against the Wizards. With Conley coming in one has to think his playmaking role is going to diminish significantly, since that role often defaulted to him since DLo was more of a shooting guard than point guard anyhow. It also remains to be seen how well he’ll fit once KAT comes back from his injury. Finch can get away playing Anderson next to Rudy, but next to Rudy and KAT? That lineup would be way too susceptible to getting attacked by quick ball movement. Too many open 3s.
But for now Slo-Mo remains essential. He understands how to play defense. He is reliable on both sides of the ball whether it’s the first quarter or fourth quarter. And he can effectively create shots and hit the occasional three.
4. Luka Garza
Now hear me out. I know what you’re thinking. How can he put Luka in the top four? He hasn’t played two minutes total in the Wolves last three games! But give me a chance to explain myself. I have something to say about this. Everything I’m doing is well thought out and I can’t wait to show you.
Ok, so the case for Garza is somewhat a case against everyone else right now. The “trade KAT this summer?” banter is getting louder and louder. Conley went 0-6 against Washington in a way that looked repeatable in future games, not just bad luck. I’m not emotionally prepared to put Rudy this high in the ZPPR and may never be. McLaughlin hasn’t done enough since he came back yet.
And most of all, Naz Reid has looked like a disaster in the fourth quarter and looks borderline unplayable at times. I’m honestly surprised the Wolves didn’t trade Naz for 2-3 second rounders or something like that which would have really opened up the door for Garza or Nate Knight. But I do think that regardless of whatever happens in the future, Garza has shot up in the zeitgeist precisely because we don’t see his flaws because he’s not playing crunch time minutes.
It’s easy to criticize Conley for looking like a ghost in the fourth quarter against the Wizards. Or Naz looking lost on defense. Because those guys are playing. It’s like the old adage about quarterbacks, often times the most popular player on the team in the backup QB. Except in the Wolves case it’d be third/fourth string center.
Now to be fair Garza is very talented. Far too talented to spend all of his minutes on the bench. He scored a career high 25 points against Utah in just 24 minutes. He was the MVP of the Next Up Game of All Star Weekend.
Did I just look up what the “Next Up” game is? Yes. But was it better basketball than the All Star Game itself? I didn’t watch it but almost undoubtedly. Does that somehow make his MVP more meaningful than Jayson Tatum’s? Sure, why the hell not.
I’m not sure if I believe Luka Garza should play more minutes, but I know that the zeitgeist would like to see us give him a chance at meaningful minutes.
Meanwhile, his performance against Walker Kessler and this clip will make me 1% less sad about the Rudy trade.
5. Taurean Prince
This one is pretty simple. Taurean Prince is not an all star but he is someone who can play 20 minutes in a playoff game and not be completely exposed on either end of the court. The Timberwolves have historically had very few of those players. Shoutout to Ryan Gomes though, who was one of those quintessential guys during one of the worst Wolves eras.
Anyhow, Tauren hasn’t lit the world on fire since he came back, averaging 7.3 ppg on 47% shooting and 33% from three. All those numbers are below his season averages. But take Taurean away and you replace his minutes with…..Matt Ryan I guess? Anyhow I’m happy Taurean is on the team.
6. Jordan McLaughlin
Here’s everything going against Jordan McLaughlin right now:
- He just got back from a two month injury and is showing some rust
- The Wolves just traded for Mike Conley, an older, more experienced player that shares a lot of skills with him that’s getting paid a lot more money
- He’s somehow shooting 22% from three while taking more per game than Kyle Anderson, who’s shooting 43%
- Since he came back from injury he really hasn’t stood out in any notable positive way
And yet he still is in the top six of the ZPPR. That’s just how much love this man has in the Wolves zeitgeist. And I suppose by extension how little love DLo had. In game 6 against Memphis last year every Wolves fan was thinking the same thing in crunch time, that Finch had to take out DLo and put in Jordan. And Finch did it. The Wolves still lost but at least they lost with their best lineup on the floor. Anyhow, that moment and series gave JMac a lot of love in the Wolves zeitgeist and he’s still cashing in.
7. Three second round picks
My favorite part of the conversation in Wolves world around the DLo-Conley trade was the much ballyhooed three second round picks. The Wolves are slowly restocking their assets for future trades! This is meaningful!
At least that’s what some said. Look, I’d rather get three second round picks than give them up. But let’s not act like three second rounders is worth even one lottery protected first rounder. The Nuggets just traded three second round picks for Thomas Bryant. Thomas Bryant is…..fine I guess? 44 second rounders were traded at the deadline. Which at least shows that some teams have some interest in them. But I think second round picks are the new crypto. People only traded for second rounders because they thought they could trade them again in the future. Their real value isn’t the picks, it’s that if you send enough away it may help the other GM save some face.
Anyhow, it’s been a great month for Wolves second round picks but they’re a lot higher in the ZPPR than they would be in my personal rankings.
8. Austin Rivers
Austin Rivers had heard that the Wolves might be interested in Patrick Beverly and then went and did this:
After this Mo Bamba got traded by Orlando. Rivers is likely to see his role diminish the next few weeks compared to what it was in January but he did just enough to keep his spot in the ZPPR.
Not Ranked but could make a comeback soon
Karl-Anthony Towns (or it could go in the other direction quick)
Mike Conley (just needs to be himself)
Nate Knight (you never know)
Not ranked and remaining in the Zeitgeist doghouse for the foreseeable future
Jaylen Nowell
Naz Reid
Rudy Gobert (closer to getting out of the doghouse than Nowell or Reid)
Anything Was Possible 
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