Your expectations for the next season

[FinnTheHuman]

Barring some crazy development from one of our young players or getting a dynamic star in return, I don't not see how anyone thinks we could make the playoffs without Love.

Well, maybe it magically turns out that an improved bench and better rim protection from the starting PF is just what we needed in order to get to the PO.

Maybe Rubio runs a lot of pick n roll with Pek which he couldn't do under Rick, and which opens up better looks than we had last season, which compensates for Love's offense.

All I know is that Nash and Gortat got to the playoffs a couple of seasons ago just by running PnR all day while Pho generally played not much more than solid D. Why couldn't Rubio pull a Nash, and why couldn't Pek pull a Gortat? Why wouldn't we be much better than Pho that year? We'd have superior pieces acquired in the Lovetrade.

[shangrila]

I could see us having a similar record as this season without Love, depending on what they get back. But I think playoffs are unrealistic. The West is too good.

[Calinks]

In reference to playoffs, maybe... but I don't even know about that? Who is our star? Who is going to get 20+ points every night? I think its highly unlikely we are a realistic playoff team without getting a go to guy back. We would need massive improvement amongst the players we have, we would need top quality synergy though out system and team chemistry, and we would need great coaching.

In that Lamb Ibaka deal, Lamb would need to be come a star. Lay Thompson is good but he will have to better. Lee is a poor man's Love but less durable. I think its a lot more likely we will be seeing a couple of lottery's after a Love trade more than anything else. We are still in the west and half the teams we are looking to trade Love to are teams in the west. We still have to worry about being better than Memphis, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, and the LA Lakers.

A lot has to go right for us to have a decent shot at the playoffs. It is possible we could find a great combination that works but the odds of it happening this season are not in our favor. How many teams with one star trade that star away and make the post season?

[Worm Guts]

. KLay Thompson is good but he will have to better. Lee is a poor man's Love but less durable.

A lot has to go right for us to have a decent shot at the playoffs.

You're getting 2 starters for 1 and possibly another rotation player that could improve our depth, which was our biggest weakness. I also don't think the West will be as good next year, mainly because 49 wins to make the playoffs is flukish. We definitely wouldn't be a sure thing to make the playoffs, but close enough where we could if things go right.

[FinnTheHuman]

In reference to playoffs, maybe... but I don't even know about that? Who is our star? Who is going to get 20+ points every night? I think its highly unlikely we are a realistic playoff team without getting a go to guy back. We would need massive improvement amongst the players we have, we would need top quality synergy though out system and team chemistry, and we would need great coaching.

Well, look at Nuggets 57 win team last year. Their top 2 scorers were Lawson with 16.7 and Gallo with 16.2 PPG. Then there are W. Chandler and Iggy with 13 PPG. And they were 5th in ORtg and 1st in PPG. And who coached them? Karl. He's a good coach, but he ain't top coach.

Why couldn't we have Klay, Lee and Pek scoring ~16 PPG, CBrew ~12 PPG, Rubes ~10, Martin if he stays who knows how much, Dieng, Chase and Martin also contributing? You don't have to have a 20+ PPG guy to have a good offense. I understand that it's not a sure thing, but we could be even a better offensive team, especially if Rubio improves his durability and starts playing better in back-to-back games.

[Calinks]

Fair points. I feel like the playoffs are pretty out of reach after the trade but it certainly isn't impossible. Looking back at some the more recent star trades.

We already know what happened to us after the KG trade

Magic were one of the worst teams in the league after the Dwight trade

Hornets were one of the worst teams after trading Chris Paul

Grizzlies had several non playoff years after trading Gasol

On the flip side, the Nuggets were still a good team after the Melo trades although they had been a strong playoff team for years.

We can hope we get the right players and enough vets to compensate but the odds are not in our favor and being the wolves you know few breaks ever go our way. This thread is about individual expectations though and I respect yours on the subject. I just feel like, without Love, we are staying in lottery land for the foreseeable future. I don't have a lot of faith in out ability to sign free agents either unless some players really develop like Rubio.

[mondry]

oh common @Mondry don't be so pessimistic.
Until everything falls apart stay positive.
Post your thoughts, i would like to read them. (predictions or wishes like i did).

hahaha, alright I'll give it a shot, just for you buddy! I think it'll have to be wishes because I just have no idea when it comes to predictions. My overall thoughts and ideas would be to surround Rubio with as many 2 way players as possible and focus on FIT and synergy more so than stars.

Wishlist #1 - we hire Dave Joerger - This will probably be in every wishlist so you get the idea.

K.Love for Ibaka + Lamb (maybe a pick?) - This probably isn't the best value for Love of all the trades going around, nor do we know if OKC would be interested but for me personally I want Ibaka. This starts the push for removing 1 way players on the team and Ibaka is a beast. Durant is obviously their best player but to me ibaka is the glue that holds them together and his offensive game still has room to grow. If Dante Cunningham was REALLY REALLY GOOD he'd be serge ibaka and even Dante in his limited time as a starter (due to injuries) looked better with Rubio than he ever did with Barea. That means I think Ibaka has more upside offensively once he gets out from the black hole that is westbrook.

I also love the fit with Pek OR Dieng, but especially Pek. IMO, Pek defends other big men very well and Love is the weaker of the two in the paint. Putting Ibaka next to him is close to no brainer status for me which is good because we need pek's scoring. If Dieng's offensive game develops further then I'm fine with Ibaka and Dieng down the road too and that would be an insane amount of shot blocking and rim protection and hussle / effort.

Man I just wrote 2 paragraphs of Ibaka <3 and didn't even get to lamb. My idea for him would be to start off in a 6th man role. You'll see about that later.

Okay so I'm not an expert, I'll need some help with this trade, I want Arron Afflalo, but what is the best we can do? I want to do Kevin Martin for him and that "works" straight up in trade machine but I see no reason for Orlando to do that. I've seen #13 and Barea for him as being plausible, but it would be huge if I could get out from Martins contract, do they shut down #13 and Martin or is that too much from the minnesota side of things? I want Lamb to be my backup SG with upside and Afflalo my starter so I don't have much room for Kevin Martin.

Anyway, Afflalo should be pretty obvious at this point but he's just a good all around player and probably one of the better SG's (that fits the 2 way player description) that can be obtained with our assets.

I'm keeping Brewer in the starting lineup because I think he's actually capable of being a really solid starter for us in his new expanded role. Now that we don't have the big mouths of Kevin Love and Kevin Martin on this team, more balls will come his way and MJ Brewer is back baby! He's the type of athletic slasher that I feel was stifled by Adelman and of course the lack of opportunity but fits well with Rubio. His defense isn't the greatest but he brings a lot of energy and with Ibaka in the paint I feel better about his gambles.

Sign Greivis Vasquez for backup PG, again I don't know the full details on cap space but we could use the MLE or whatever right? I'd like to get rid of Barea and Moute for a better backup PF option but don't have a lot of ideas on how to do it.

Rubio / Vasquez / Shved
Afflalo / Lamb
Brewer / Buddinger
Ibaka / Mbah A Moute
Pek / Dieng / Turiaf

No true star power and I'm not completely sold on that bench yet but with some good coaching and a system that just let's rubio go wild with freedom and creativity I could see this team being really effective and in the playoffs. For once, I think all the pieces fit and bring quite a bit to the table. Defensively we should be able to keep teams in the low to mid 90's and offensively we shouldn't have that hard of a time getting to 100. Kind of like those nugget teams that had no true star but still competed and got EVERYONE involved.

PLUS (and this might be the best point of all...) with no true star we don't have to worry about them leaving us all the damn time.

Flame away!

[Feilong]

hahaha, alright I'll give it a shot, just for you buddy!
...

You have no idea how refreshing is to read a good post after tons of nonsense (trades involving FAs Cunningham or Hummel, trade Love for Dragic and using him as SG etc etc).
The Ibaka trade i thought it was plausible a couple of months ago. Then it was the Durant's MVP speech and i thought it will never happen, they will keep their core together and now after seeing SAS vs OKC games i think it has slim chances to happen.
I like it. Even better, I love it.
P.S1 Go Go Spurs, Westbrook do your rambo things, drive everyone crazy in OKC and maybe they will shop Ibaka.
P.S2 Be careful when you use trade machine because it still uses last year contracts.
P.S3 Thanks.

[Calinks]

Guise! I just saw the future! My expectations have changed!

We goin all the way!

[minimus]

Guys, do you think Budinger will regain same athleticism (his ~40 inch vertical)? I can't remember him dunking on alley oop nor in transition nor with autority this year...

[Devilzsidewalk]

oh common @Mondry don't be so pessimistic.
Until everything falls apart stay positive.
Post your thoughts, i would like to read them. (predictions or wishes like i did).

hahaha, alright I'll give it a shot, just for you buddy! I think it'll have to be wishes because I just have no idea when it comes to predictions. My overall thoughts and ideas would be to surround Rubio with as many 2 way players as possible and focus on FIT and synergy more so than stars.

Wishlist #1 - we hire Dave Joerger - This will probably be in every wishlist so you get the idea.

K.Love for Ibaka + Lamb (maybe a pick?) - This probably isn't the best value for Love of all the trades going around, nor do we know if OKC would be interested but for me personally I want Ibaka. This starts the push for removing 1 way players on the team and Ibaka is a beast. Durant is obviously their best player but to me ibaka is the glue that holds them together and his offensive game still has room to grow. If Dante Cunningham was REALLY REALLY GOOD he'd be serge ibaka and even Dante in his limited time as a starter (due to injuries) looked better with Rubio than he ever did with Barea. That means I think Ibaka has more upside offensively once he gets out from the black hole that is westbrook.

I also love the fit with Pek OR Dieng, but especially Pek. IMO, Pek defends other big men very well and Love is the weaker of the two in the paint. Putting Ibaka next to him is close to no brainer status for me which is good because we need pek's scoring. If Dieng's offensive game develops further then I'm fine with Ibaka and Dieng down the road too and that would be an insane amount of shot blocking and rim protection and hussle / effort.

Man I just wrote 2 paragraphs of Ibaka <3 and didn't even get to lamb. My idea for him would be to start off in a 6th man role. You'll see about that later.

Okay so I'm not an expert, I'll need some help with this trade, I want Arron Afflalo, but what is the best we can do? I want to do Kevin Martin for him and that "works" straight up in trade machine but I see no reason for Orlando to do that. I've seen #13 and Barea for him as being plausible, but it would be huge if I could get out from Martins contract, do they shut down #13 and Martin or is that too much from the minnesota side of things? I want Lamb to be my backup SG with upside and Afflalo my starter so I don't have much room for Kevin Martin.

Anyway, Afflalo should be pretty obvious at this point but he's just a good all around player and probably one of the better SG's (that fits the 2 way player description) that can be obtained with our assets.

I'm keeping Brewer in the starting lineup because I think he's actually capable of being a really solid starter for us in his new expanded role. Now that we don't have the big mouths of Kevin Love and Kevin Martin on this team, more balls will come his way and MJ Brewer is back baby! He's the type of athletic slasher that I feel was stifled by Adelman and of course the lack of opportunity but fits well with Rubio. His defense isn't the greatest but he brings a lot of energy and with Ibaka in the paint I feel better about his gambles.

Sign Greivis Vasquez for backup PG, again I don't know the full details on cap space but we could use the MLE or whatever right? I'd like to get rid of Barea and Moute for a better backup PF option but don't have a lot of ideas on how to do it.

Rubio / Vasquez / Shved
Afflalo / Lamb
Brewer / Buddinger
Ibaka / Mbah A Moute
Pek / Dieng / Turiaf

No true star power and I'm not completely sold on that bench yet but with some good coaching and a system that just let's rubio go wild with freedom and creativity I could see this team being really effective and in the playoffs. For once, I think all the pieces fit and bring quite a bit to the table. Defensively we should be able to keep teams in the low to mid 90's and offensively we shouldn't have that hard of a time getting to 100. Kind of like those nugget teams that had no true star but still competed and got EVERYONE involved.

PLUS (and this might be the best point of all...) with no true star we don't have to worry about them leaving us all the damn time.

Flame away!

I didnt read it all, but I think it was mostly pro-Ibaka and I agree. That'd be my #1 choice I think. Lamb, Jackson, or PJ3 would all be a great addition too, if possible. I think I might actually like PJ3 of the 3 young unproven prospects. 6'11, athletic, shows some defensive promise, and 36% from 3 shows he has some range. The thought of PJ3 panning out @ SF with Ibaka and Dieng at the 4/5 is trend-settingly awesome sounding.

[Worm Guts]

I'm not trading Love to OKC. Ibaka would be irrelevant since he would be retired by the time we would be able to compete for our division.

[mondry]

I didnt read it all, but I think it was mostly pro-Ibaka and I agree. That'd be my #1 choice I think. Lamb, Jackson, or PJ3 would all be a great addition too, if possible. I think I might actually like PJ3 of the 3 young unproven prospects. 6'11, athletic, shows some defensive promise, and 36% from 3 shows he has some range. The thought of PJ3 panning out @ SF with Ibaka and Dieng at the 4/5 is trend-settingly awesome sounding.

I like PJ3 as well, he hasn't gotten much PT but like his motor / energy. We would certainly be long and able to defend just about anyone with that lineup. The paint would be a scary place to be for the other team.

[Murphs56]

Think no matter what happens, it will be a transition year. Probably going to be getting young assets

[Basti]

Guys, do you think Budinger will regain same athleticism (his ~40 inch vertical)? I can't remember him dunking on alley oop nor in transition nor with autority this year...

I'm far from a medical expert but I don't think it would be smart to apply so much pressure and stress on your knees after coming off two major knee procedures. He may regain enough strength to pull it off in a year or two but I'd rather he takes the safe route.

[FinnTheHuman]

Guys, do you think Budinger will regain same athleticism (his ~40 inch vertical)? I can't remember him dunking on alley oop nor in transition nor with autority this year...

I'm far from a medical expert but I don't think it would be smart to apply so much pressure and stress on your knees after coming off two major knee procedures. He may regain enough strength to pull it off in a year or two but I'd rather he takes the safe route.

Agreed. The better question would be whether he can play efficiently without using athleticism.

I've never seen him as a guy who uses athleticism to his advantage much, he was always a high IQ guy with floor stretching ability to me, so I think he'll do fine without it.

I think his contract a lesser problem to us than Martin, JJ, Shved if we're talking about next season. Long term, it is a bigger problem than JJ's expiring.