Minnesota/Portland

[Bentley1225]

In light of reports Portland is interested in Budinger, ill offer this idea for Minnesota to free up cap space in 2015 and Portland to add veteran pieces.

To Minnesota
-Dorrell Wright (waive)
-Joel Freeland

To Portland
-Chase Budinger
-Ronny Turiaf
-2015 2nd round pick via Denver or Houston via Minnesota
-2016 2nd round pick via Minnesota

Why?
-This frees up roster spot/wing minutes on Minny and they add a younger big in Freeland.

Rubio/Williams/Barea
Martin/Lavine/Robinson
Brewer/Wiggins/Muhammed
Young/Bennett/Hummel
Pekovic/Dieng/Freeland

-Blazers add Budinger as backup wing and add Turiaf as greater veteran frontcourt piece.

Lillard/Blake/Barton
Matthews/McCollum/Crabee
Batum/Budinger/Claver
Aldridge/Robinson/Turiaf
Lopez/Kaman/Leonard

[Texas Chuck]

Looks okay to me. My guess is some of the Wolves fans still believe Bud to be worth his contract and not want to give the picks, but I definitely agree they should pay some incentive to move his contract.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Kind of meh to me. Portland could use a couple 2nd's to use in trades so even though it reduces their salcap space next offseason I might do it

[JasonStern]

I haven't followed Turiaf in a while. is he healthy enough to play serviceable minutes?

[moss_is_1]

I haven't followed Turiaf in a while. is he healthy enough to play serviceable minutes?

I don't think he should be in a consistent role each night, but every few games if you need him for a 10-15 minute stretch he's pretty good. He seems to get nicked up a decent amount if he plays too much.

[shrink]

I don't hate it, but if I was MIN, I'd look elsewhere

While I don't mind adding just about anyone regardless of production, MIN isn't in a total rebuild, looking to add young players (and Freeland is almost 28 already). Turiaf could be moved, but he has value to the team on and off the court, as a mentor and our most enthusiastic player. Pek can't mentor Dieng, but Turiaf fits that perfectly.

I also don't put a lot of value in second round picks, so that price isn't too high, but the main asset MIN gets back in this deal, payroll relief next year, is something they really don't need. They won't have cap space, and they won't have lux issues regardless of this deal, so the value is mostly to owner Glen Taylor. I don't mind sending out production and getting nothing back, so Dorrell Wright is a good component, but this looks like a move that weakens the bench (MIN can still use outside shooting), but doesn't really help the team in any noticeable way.

Would Budinger be a top 8 player on POR? I'm curious how bad a salary he would be compared to his role there?

Overall, this is better than 80% of the trades on here, so kudos for that. There are no red flags in the deal, and your reasoning is sound, moving players to teams where they are a better fit. Taylor may even do it.

[Narf]

I haven't followed Turiaf in a while. is he healthy enough to play serviceable minutes?

Yes, but you can't count on it for a full season. He's a pretty big upgrade over Joel when healthy IMHO.

This is an easy no for the Wolves. Minnesota pays Portland picks to downgrade at 3rd string center. Why? Cap savings?

Minnesota can give Budinger to Detroit. They need scoring wings on a bad way, and Bud is a solid one when healthy and young enough to be worth giving him a shot to stay healthy.

[GopherIt!]

Shrink makes a good point about the MN cap situation. By itself, shedding Bud's 5M doesn't do a whole lot. The Wolves would have to make additional moves in conjunction to get under the cap.

Flip resigned Bud to be a part of the future. Bud got hurt, the team added talent at his position and he subsequently fell behind on the depth chart. Flip the coach is seeking to do what's right for the player (versus burying him on the Wolves bench) while Flip the president is seeking to save the owner some gold bullion.

[Wizenheimer]

IMO, Dorell Wright is better then Budinger. I know it's debatable, but they are about even as shooters, while Wright is a better rebounder, a little better passer, and more versatile on both offense & defense. He played quite a bit of stretch-4 last season for the Blazers, and that has some value. Wright certainly has a better chance of staying healthy, and is significantly cheaper, contract-wise. With Portland's roster situation next summer, they'll view Wright and his expiring contract as a much better option.

Freeland vs Turiaf?...I guess Turiaf is better, at least he is on defense. He's more efficient on offense too. But he's missed 117 games over the last 3 seasons. That's too scary a scenario for a team with Portland's injury history.

I don't think the 2nd's are enough incentive for Portland to offset the negative components and risks with this trade

[GopherIt!]

The injury risk is overplayed.

Chase' injuries were plain bad luck. His injuries are not chronic/debilitating. He's healthy and has looked great this preseason. He has his hops back and is still a superior athlete. No reason to expect him to get hurt again.

Also, Chase is 2 years younger than DW w significantly less wear on his body. He is an intelligent, athletic, team-oriented player with a nice shooting stroke. A 24mpg .440/.400/.800 line is still feasible. The best is yet to come for him. Hopefully not in Portland. Lol

[nykballa2k4]

I don't really like this deal for Portland. I don't know why POR would want Buddinger though. So if Portland did want Chase, this is probably the best they could do.

After Brandon Roy, both of these teams should be avoiding each other and players with Knee issues.

[PDX MM]

After Brandon Roy, both of these teams should be avoiding each other and players with Knee issues.

And Martell Webster.

[shrink]

After Brandon Roy, both of these teams should be avoiding each other and players with Knee issues.

And Martell Webster.

Right! Hey, whatever happened with Kahn formally complaining yo the league that POR concealed injury info on Webster before the Wolves traded for him? I hope nothing. What a terrible precedent that would set!

[PDX MM]

After Brandon Roy, both of these teams should be avoiding each other and players with Knee issues.

And Martell Webster.

Right! Hey, whatever happened with Kahn formally complaining yo the league that POR concealed injury info on Webster before the Wolves traded for him? I hope nothing. What a terrible precedent that would set!

I think that cost us a 2nd round pick but I am not sure. Might have just been a threat of losing that pick.

[shrink]

The more I think of this, the more I think the "Dorrell Wright - waived" part was overlooked.

If a team waives Dorrell Wright, that means they have wasted $3,145,000 of their payroll for a GUARANTEED zero production. His contract is a -$3,145,000 in value.

So where is Budinger's contract? He gets paid $5 mil a year, but he won't provide zero production. Do you think he'll provide more than $6,855,000 worth of production over the next two years? I think there is a better than 50% chance that happens, in which case Budinger contract > Wright contract.

Therefore, adding Turiaf-Freeland downgrade and tossing in two second rounders on top makes this deal worse.

[shrink]

By the same logic, Jason Terry at $5.45 mil is probably about $4 mil overpaid. That makes him a worse contract than waiving Wright, and a bad move if MIN chooses to make that deal.