Chris Finch on Rudy Gobert, KAT tandem: Both bigs need purpose at the same time on the court together

Ant is playing for Team USA this summer, Rudy is playing for France and last year he came back and didn’t practice too much early on. Do you anticipate that being an issue in training camp? Finch: I trust our guys to come back in the right frame of mind. We do like it because they should be in shape. It’s the mental piece that’s the hardest for them. They have to start a new season all over again, and they got to be locked in. We can’t go into preseason looking for opportunities to rest our guys, because we got chemistry to build that we were never able to build last year. That’s a priority for all of us. -via Minneapolis Star-Tribune / July 8, 2023

What did Mike Conley really change about your offense when he came in, and what are you looking to build on with him? Finch: The single biggest thing he changed is he elevated Rudy’s impact in it. His ability to play pick and roll with him and get everything out of it. Not just for Rudy, but for others as well as himself. That was something we were never quite able to maximize. We needed him to score. After about a handful of games, the gravity of D-Lo’s scoring, his shooting was gone. Teams were not respecting Mike as a scorer, even though he can score it. We needed him to be more aggressive. He did that. -via Minneapolis Star-Tribune / July 8, 2023

Clutch Points: “I’ve talked to each of them. The advice that comes up the most is just to stay myself. I know they trust me and everything is gonna go well as long as I stay true to myself.” Victor Wembanyama on advice from Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum, and Rudy Gobert. (via @TomerAzarly) pic.twitter.com/dq0iHZMulb -via Twitter @ClutchPointsApp / July 8, 2023

Which player has flown under the radar in free agency but will be a big storyline come February’s trade deadline? MacMahon: There has been some discussion about Towns, but it shouldn’t be a surprise if that gets much louder as the trade deadline nears. The face of the franchise for the Timberwolves has transitioned to Edwards, fresh off signing a new potential supermax extension. If Minnesota is going to make another major change, it would need to be by trading Towns. -via ESPN / July 7, 2023

Dane Moore: At Naz Reid’s contract extension press conference, Chris Finch said Reid’s role will be as a backup 4 and a backup 5, but that he isn’t ruling out playing Reid, Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert all at the same time. -via Twitter @DaneMooreNBA / July 5, 2023

Karl-Anthony Towns: 💰💰💰 @theantedwards_ -via Twitter @KarlTowns / July 3, 2023