A loaded Western Conference providing a bevy of worth challengers is the biggest current concern for Wolves fans. For a franchise that used to bemoan curses, beg for the luck of ping-pong balls and struggle to find three competent players to put on the floor at the same time — let alone an entire rotation of excellence — these are different times.

Even with distractions all around, entertaining basketball continues to be the focus of almost all the attention.

Here are four more things to know today:

— With the Gophers men's basketball season over following a second-round NIT loss, key roster questions loom. Marcus Fuller lays them out here, while I provide this caution: This does not yet seem like a team ready to compete for a secure NCAA tourney spot, even if everyone comes back. Ben Johnson needs to strike gold in the transfer portal again, have at least one freshman show he's ready to make an early impact AND retain Dawson Garcia and Cam Christie for me to feel that way.

— It's hard to find an NFL mock draft that doesn't involve a trade up from the Vikings. Here's the latest from Pro Football Focus, which has Minnesota moving up to No. 5 to take J.J. McCarthy.

— Shohei Ohtani is slated to talk to the media today, and my sincere hope for the sake of our page views is that he announces he is buying a bunch of prime property in Duluth.

— Reusse and I talked a little bit about college hockey, but there will be a lot more on Tuesday's show with the Star Tribune's Randy Johnson. He'll detail his thoughts on the Gophers and the entire 16-team men's bracket. We'll have some Gophers football talk as well.

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