From standing pat at the deadline, Layden and Taylor made clear two things: they want to make a playoff push and they want to test Ryan Saunders in the remaining quarter of the season. The Wolves couldn’t ship off veterans with expiring contracts like Taj and Rose. Tolliver did have a market, but the offers received from OKC, Toronto and Dallas had the same structure: 1 more expensive (or with player option included) contract than Tolliver + 1 second round pick.

The Mavs trade package was interesting: Barea (expiring) + 2nd round pick (their own in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), but acquiring an injured player that will never be available for the last 28 games wasn’t that appealing for Layden.

Wolves are 2-1 since the trade deadline has passed, what’s in store for them if they want to remain in a playoff race?

8TH SEED CHANCES*

*Wolves playoffs odds are slightly increased after the last two wins. If we’re assuming that for reaching the 8th spot in the Western Conference 44 wins is the minimum threshold, these would be the Wolves chances to make it in the postseason.

And here comes the bad news. While the Kings got one of the easiest schedules for their 25 games left, the Wolves have to face the 5th most difficult one in the league.

One side note: in the previous face-offs against their toughest opponents, the Kings are 2-1 vs. OKC, 0-2 vs. Golden State, 1 win vs. Phila, 1 loss to the Bucks.

Let’s try to sort out the Wolves games left by difficulty.

1ST TIER (Denver x2, Golden State x2, Milwaukee, Toronto)

The Wolves are currently 0-6 against their toughest opponents left this year. Toronto and Milwaukee have been a nightmare matchup with Lowry’s high screen and rolls and the Bucks 3 point shooters on the corners.

Hedging Raptors ball screens didn’t turn as a good defensive strategy. Towns had some issues in recovering and anticipation.

Also Warriors freelance basketball did a lot of damages.

Some of these shots are not even in the script of a specific set but are created on second-chance opportunities. Rose is floating around instead of trying to stay on Curry.

The two losses against Denver are a different story. Minnesota has lost both meetings by less than 5 points margin, the bigs matchup is on the Wolves side, Taj did an excellent job in single coverage on Jokic (he scored just 7 on 26 from the field goal in the two games combined), Towns drew a lot of fouls near the rim, attempting almost 4 more free throws than his season’s average. If the next two games are going to be so balanced and on the line as the first two, maybe the Wolves can get a win. The only downside is that both will be away.