RealGM

Collins will get a lot of time against teams like SA, POR, PHX, LAC, LAL, UTAH, NO, HOU, and the other teams that have two quality big men. He will spend a lot of time guarding guys like Duncan, LMA/Oden, Shaq/Amare, Kaman, Gasol/Bynum, Boozer, West, Yao/Scola, etc.



.......unless you want Love Al to waste all their time and energy on defense guarding these guys.....

He's not being traded anywhere. Look like he didn't get any big offers and decided the grass isn't always greener. We also do get to see him tonight which is nice.

http://ww3.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/

So nobody is sure about the dollars, yet?

^no, but Craigers mentioned that he didn't have any other offers and the FO has been feeling stingy with these guys so it was probably pretty cheap. Mgmt seems to playing their cards very well with these latest contract negotiations.

If your thinking about Gomes I'd say that it is unlikely he'll end up in Boston or elsewhere. He was a significant piece of the KG trade and someone McHale, the FO and the fans really like. He's a very solid player with a good head on his shoulders and appears to be a great teammate to boot. I would anticipate that the Wolves will match any offer for him.

good luck on the FA hunt

GopherIt! wrote:If your thinking about Gomes I'd say that it is unlikely he'll end up in Boston or elsewhere. He was a significant piece of the KG trade and someone McHale, the FO and the fans really like. He's a very solid player with a good head on his shoulders and appears to be a great teammate to boot. I would anticipate that the Wolves will match any offer for him.

I think you might be wrong. I believe the front office does like Gomes, but probably wouldn't be willing to give him the full MLE (or even close to it) if the contract was to run more than 2 years. My hope was to lock him up long term at about $3m/year or for near MLE money for 2 years. But I'm starting to think he might get a long term offer sheet for near MLE money for somebody.

I hope the Smith signing is just the front office realizing a low risk two year deal is worth it to keep an asset like Smith as opposed to a sign that they think they will lose Gomes. We shall see.

I think you might be wrong. I believe the front office does like Gomes, but probably wouldn't be willing to give him the full MLE (or even close to it) if the contract was to run more than 2 years. My hope was to lock him up long term at about $3m/year or for near MLE money for 2 years. But I'm starting to think he might get a long term offer sheet for near MLE money for somebody. and if that happens the Wolves will match that long term offer from that team

When I look at the numbers, I don't see any reason cap wise that would make us not resign him.
We have about 11-12M to resign Gomes/Cookie/Richard and either Bassy or a cheap PG. We can afford to give Gomes 4-6M per season and likely still sign those other guys and be under the lux for 2008-09. Heading into 2010-11 we'd then have four guys under contract, $24-26M for Al/Gomes/Love/Brewer plus whatever Foye gets and then whatever draft picks we keep. The team will have plenty of room sign/resign other players and make other moves.

Boston34Celtics wrote:So nobody is sure about the dollars, yet?

No, but Zgoda suspected that it was $3.5-$4 mil total for both years.

With a deal at $2 mil/yr or less, I think that's a bargain, even if we can't play him as much as we need to. I don't think MIN is a good fit for Craig Smith any more, but at this price, he could be added in a future trade to add value.

shrink wrote:

Boston34Celtics wrote:So nobody is sure about the dollars, yet?

No, but Zgoda suspected that it was $3.5-$4 mil total for both years.

With a deal at $2 mil/yr or less, I think that's a bargain, even if we can't play him as much as we need to. I don't think MIN is a good fit for Craig Smith any more, but at this price, he could be added in a future trade to add value.

If that's true that's a great deal.