AROUND the NBA: ATL Jumps from #10 to #1 in Lotto| Pistons Mull Firing GM

[Knutsen]

I remember everyone was saying Minnesota was crazy for giving up all that draft capital for Gobert. You can't play two bigs together. It took a while for them to mesh, but it's paying off big time now. They smoked the champs, and Gobert didn't even play. People forget GM Tim Connelly was the architect that built Denver. Now he's reinvented Minnesota in the same way.

And the same way we have been profiting from the more physical refereeing style since the allstar break it plays right into the cards of the Timberwolves with maybe the most physical roster in the league. They didn’t know this was coming when they traded for Gobert, but it helps them big time with their style of play. Will be interesting if the Celtics with Porzingis can hold up for example.