Rumor: Wolves Looking for a Big Man?

[eyeteeth]

Jim Souhan ‏@SouhanStrib
Wolves assistant Bill Bayno admits Love might be done for season, and thinks organization will add to roster to replace him if that's case

Via Twitter

I didn't see this coming. I was thinking 6-8 weeks max. .

Boo to Souhan.

Bayno was just on ESPN 1500 radio 20 minutes ago, and he said that he had no idea on the severity of Love's injury, and that the training staff may be able to answer that question. He said that Love was off to see a doctor in New York, and after that diagnosis, Love, his agent, Adleman and the wolves organization would decide. He did mention that he was worried about a second break of the same bone, so that surgery was possible.

I did not listen to the interview, but are you implying Souhan directly lied (or at least jumped to a conclusion) about what was said by Bayno? That doesn't surprise me, but the rest of the season for a broken hand floors me. Even with surgery, 4+ months seems crazy to me. (Full disclosure, I am not a doctor)
Regardless, we will learn more soon.

Jim Souhan's a hack.

[cpfsf]

Chuck Hayes seems like a definite possibility.

Thought about him as well.

ditto, but i don't see him being moved until they make a decision on cousins.

[shrink]

I don't know if Souhan deliberately lied, but he certainly seems to see the worse in every situation when it comes to the Wolves.

I think he should have prefaced that his statement with:

"Bayno doesn't have any more information than any of us, but" ..

"Wolves assistant Bill Bayno admits Love might be done for season, and thinks organization will add to roster to replace him if that's case."

[Krapinsky]

Via Twitter

Jim Souhan ‏@SouhanStrib
Wolves assistant Bill Bayno admits Love might be done for season, and thinks organization will add to roster to replace him if that's case

I didn't see this coming. I was thinking 6-8 weeks max. .

Boo to Souhan.

Bayno was just on ESPN 1500 radio 20 minutes ago, and he said that he had no idea on the severity of Love's injury, and that the training staff may be able to answer that question. He said that Love was off to see a doctor in New York, and after that diagnosis, Love, his agent, Adleman and the wolves organization would decide. He did mention that he was worried about a second break of the same bone, so that surgery was possible.

I'm not sure why you're railing on Souhan. Based on what Bayno said it doesn't make what Souhan said any less true.

JS: Is it possible Love will be done for the season?
BB:I'm not sure, but it's possible if there's a second break to the same bone requiring surgery.
JS: So Love might be done for the year?
BB: Yes, it's a possibility.

[shrink]

I'm not sure why you're railing on Souhan. Based on what Bayno said it doesn't make what Souhan said any less true.

JS: Is it possible Love will be done for the season?
BB:I'm not sure, but it's possible if there's a second break to the same bone requiring surgery.
JS: So Love might be done for the year?
BB: Yes, it's a possibility.

JS: Is it possible Krapinsky is a monkey that learned to type?
BB: I'm not sure, but it's possible.
JS: So Krapinsky's next post might be about bananas?
BB: Yes, it's a possibility

A reporter's job is not to write material that is unsubstantiated from a person that can't substantiate it. What BB said is certainly true in both cases .. a lot of things are possible. But a professional reporter goes out and finds out what's really happened - not what's possibly happened.

No big deal to me, but I think he should have got off his butt and interviewed the training staff or Love himself. Oh well -- gots to sell the newspapers right?

[Krapinsky]

I'm not sure why you're railing on Souhan. Based on what Bayno said it doesn't make what Souhan said any less true.

JS: Is it possible Love will be done for the season?
BB:I'm not sure, but it's possible if there's a second break to the same bone requiring surgery.
JS: So Love might be done for the year?
BB: Yes, it's a possibility.

JS: Is it possible Krapinsky is a monkey that learned to type?
BB: I'm not sure, but it's possible.
JS: So Krapinsky's next post might be about bananas?
BB: Yes, it's a possibility

A reporter's job is not to write material that is unsubstantiated from a person that can't substantiate it. What BB said is certainly true in both cases .. a lot of things are possible. But a professional reporter goes out and finds out what's really happened - not what's possibly happened.

No big deal to me, but I think he should have got off his butt and interviewed the training staff or Love himself. Oh well -- gots to sell the newspapers right?

If Love is 'possibly' out for the year, that's news regardless and worth 140 characters.
But I think you're taking twitter sports journalism a little too seriously. Souhan isn't a beat/scoop writer and doesn't pretend to be. Bayno told him Love might be done for the season and Souhan tweeted the same. Simple as that.

[moss_is_1]

Mozgov would be a good fit. Has nice size and is a decent center that's expiring. Otherwise not much is really out there.

[Esohny]

Welp with Varejao on the shelf for 8weeks and Love maybe out for the season,you guys options are shrinking by the moment.You better believe Pau Gasol is on Khan's radar.

Gasol for Kirlenko/Dwill?

So, they should trade two guys who can play PF, one of which is better than Pau at this point, for Pau's dead knees and brutal contract? Brilliant.

[thinktank]

Put me in the camp that says we don't need another big. Rubio made Stiemsma look good last night. Play Williams a ton.

Sign Gelabelelablablalblele for the rest of the year.

[Klomp]

I know Wolfson dismissed the idea of Gay, but I'd consider it.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=an648xx

Slides AK down to PF, where he's able to split with Dante, taking less of a minutes toll.

Only problem is it may affect the ability to resign guys.

[shrink]

I know Wolfson dismissed the idea of Gay, but I'd consider it.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=an648xx

Slides AK down to PF, where he's able to split with Dante, taking less of a minutes toll.

Only problem is it may affect the ability to resign guys.

I wrote this elsewhere:

I don't foresee a deal with MEM, but the fact that they would deal now - and not wait until the deadline like most teams - may be appealing.

For the sake of argument though, I'd point out that the reason MEM wants to trade is that they are a micro-market, and are $4.1 mil over the lux. CBA Rules would allow us to salary match and take on $5 mil in salary, so if our package fell in the difference there, it would have appeal to MEM. Gay or ZBo make $16.5 this year, so we'd need to provide a package worth $11.5-$12.4.

Roy + Williams = $9.9. Since we don't have an obvious player at $1.6-$2.5, I imagine MEM adds Selby and Wroten ($1.9 combined) and get Ridnour (or we off-load him to a third team). They'd probably ask for us to include the MEM 1st, but I'd resist, because it means we'd have to give our better pick to PHX. I'd try to make it fly with a 2nd and cash.

MEM GETS: Williams + Roy (exp) + Ridnour + $4.3 mil cap space + 2nd + $3 mil cash
MIN GETS: Gay + Selby + Wroten

I wouldn't hate it, but I'd prefer we look elsewhere. Gay would have been a big help in the fourth quarter last night, but I think an FC is a pretty big need too. As bad as Ridnour is as a back-up SG, I think Steimsma is worse as a back-up center. And Buddinger will be back to give us another swingman eventually - no help on the horizon at center.

[Viljanen]

Put me in the camp that says we don't need another big. Rubio made Stiemsma look good last night. Play Williams a ton.

Sign Gelabelelablablalblele for the rest of the year.

This is already known, but just in case:

http://www.elcorreo.com/agencias/201301 ... 41627.html

In that article Valencia´s coach explains that according to the contract they have with the player, Gelabale could leave Valencia´s team (he just joined in December) to go to the NBA and come later if such NBA contract expires. Minnesota is the rumored destination.

I think he could be much better than Haywood, but Minn has resigned him to a new 10 day´s contract, so I guess they might be expecting to see how Gelabale performs in Spain before taking a decision. In the limited minutes he´s played so far he´s looked good (see stats below).

The first paragraphs would be something like: (Sorry for the bad translation):

Valencia, Jan. 4 (EFE). - Velimir Perasovic coach of Valencia Basket, spoke today about the contract´s clause of the French forward Mickael Gelabale, which allows him to leave the club in January to play for a franchise in the NBA, and explained that even if he leaved, if it was with a contract for just a few days, he could return to the entity afterwards.

"We will not go crazy, if he has to go, he´ll go," Perasovic said. Perasovic did not want to give more importance and stressed that "we have assumed that possibility and that's it".

Gelabale stats so far in Spain (just 4 matches):
JOR Partido MIN. PUN T2 T3 T1 RT(D+O) ASI BRE BPE CON TFA TCO MAT FFA FCO VAL
13 Madrid - Valencia 22' 11 2/5 40% 1/1 100% 4/4 100% 4 (3+1) 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 4 2 8
14 Manresa - Valencia 18' 9 1/5 20% 1/2 50% 4/4 100% 3 (1+2) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 8
15 Valencia - Unicaja 19' 13 5/9 56% 1/1 100% 0/1 0% 3 (0+3) 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 4 1 10
16 Valencia - 26' 16 3/5 60% 0/0 0% 10/10 100% 4 (4+0) 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 5 17
Totales: 85' 49 11/24 46% 3/4 75% 18/19 95% 14 (8+6) 4 3 8 0 0 1 0 13 10 43

So in 85 minutes, he´s shooting 46% from 2, 75% from 33 (just 4 attempts) and 95% from free throw line. He´s played quite well in his previous teams…

[moss_is_1]

I would be open to trading for Gay. I think I'd be okay with trading AK for him even.

Gay isn't the defender AK is, but:

he can create his own shot at a high level
he's younger/more athletic
I think he would really thrive playing with Kevin Love/Pek. He hasn't really with Zbo/Gasol but both of those guys operate underneath for the most part, where Love provides a lot better spacing.

He makes a ton of money, but I think I'd take the gamble.

[Narf]

Rudy Gay
16.7 FGAs per game, .484 TS%

He's not a dynamic scorer. He's a low efficiency volume shooter on a monster contract.
I'll take Kirilenko's 10 FGAs and .590 TS% along with his better defense and passing anyday.

[IShotTheMaid]

I would be open to trading for Gay. I think I'd be okay with trading AK for him even.

Gay isn't the defender AK is, but:

he can create his own shot at a high level
he's younger/more athletic
I think he would really thrive playing with Kevin Love/Pek. He hasn't really with Zbo/Gasol but both of those guys operate underneath for the most part, where Love provides a lot better spacing.

He makes a ton of money, but I think I'd take the gamble.

What exactly has he done this season to prove he's worth having over AK? He's getting 18 ppg on 17 shots per game. And he's not doing much else.

And please, don't give me that "potential" baloney. He's been in the league long enough to show people he can be more than an inefficient ISO player. Plus, he's getting PAID like a superstar. 16 this year, 17 the next, and 19 the next. I guess you don't want to keep Pekovic?

AK is older but he's the perfect glue guy for this team. And the Wolves have him for a lot less than the overrated Rudy Gay.

[The J Rocka]

The problem is that we need a SG that can create, attack the rim, solid defender, and can just flat out shoot. Problem is that there really isn't too many options out there that can do all those things and the ones that can are either locked up or will be looking for big money in FA (OJ Mayo).

The qualities in Rudy Gay are what we would want in a SG (creator, attacker, long/athletic, smooth handle, can hit big shots in clutch situations, etc.). Sure he can play like a chucker at times but with a healthy Love and other options to rely on for scoring, I don't see him playing too 'freely' on offense here. Rubio would also set him up nicely as well for high percentage looks.

With that being said, he sure as hell makes a lot and think AK should stick around a bit more. If you can get him for Ridnour + Roy + Williams + pick, ponder the idea. If AK has to be in the deal, I think we can look elsewhere.

Ideally, I'd love to get Jared Dudley here. Efficient shooter with great defense on a nice contract. This is the guy Kahn should be going after.

[Dual]

Gay is not a SG, he never has been, he is a SF that can play PF at times.
I dont want Gay here, i prefer Kirilenko, i love the dinamic duo (russian connection).
Rudy's contract is excesive tbh, he is a clutch player and a good defender, but he lack good handles and he has low IQ.

Off the record: Adelman loves high IQ players..thats why i dont know why Stiemsma and Amundson are in this team, i hate them so much!!! Trade both for a 2nd round or something

[moss_is_1]

I would be open to trading for Gay. I think I'd be okay with trading AK for him even.

Gay isn't the defender AK is, but:

he can create his own shot at a high level
he's younger/more athletic
I think he would really thrive playing with Kevin Love/Pek. He hasn't really with Zbo/Gasol but both of those guys operate underneath for the most part, where Love provides a lot better spacing.

He makes a ton of money, but I think I'd take the gamble.

What exactly has he done this season to prove he's worth having over AK? He's getting 18 ppg on 17 shots per game. And he's not doing much else.

And please, don't give me that "potential" baloney. He's been in the league long enough to show people he can be more than an inefficient ISO player. Plus, he's getting PAID like a superstar. 16 this year, 17 the next, and 19 the next. I guess you don't want to keep Pekovic?

AK is older but he's the perfect glue guy for this team. And the Wolves have him for a lot less than the overrated Rudy Gay.

Gay's having his worst year shooting the ball, but for his career is a 45/34/78 guy..which is pretty solid, he's not extremely efficient...but Love/Pek both are. I just think having a player on the wing to create their own shot has more value then just numbers. AK is probably more valuable right now when you factor in his contract...but as Jrocka said, he has a lot of qualities that we need on this team. A player that can slash/play d/shoot the rock/take over a game on the wing.

[Narf]

Fair enough Moss. I painted Gay a little more negatively than he deserves, he's more like a .525 TS% volume shooter.

That said, I think Kirilenko is a .580 TS% glue guy with fantastic defense on a much cheaper contract and, at age 31, still has a good 3-4 years left.

I just don't like the idea of paying more money to downgrade.

[moss_is_1]

Fair enough Moss. I painted Gay a little more negatively than he deserves, he's more like a .525 TS% volume shooter.

That said, I think Kirilenko is a .580 TS% glue guy with fantastic defense on a much cheaper contract and, at age 31, still has a good 3-4 years left.

I just don't like the idea of paying more money to downgrade.

I can see both sides to the coin. I'm not even sure which side I would prefer. AK is a near perfect fit with Love/Pekovic, but he's a bit older then we would like. I think at the end of the day AK is a better fit and value for our team, but Gay has more "dynamic" qualities that could give our team a new dimension. So Gay is a gamble, while AK is probably the safe pick to have a bigger impact for us.