What are your suggestions for this team?

[lewdog]

Well we would have to let a few people go. Maybe it would go a little something like this:

12:00 – Call in McHale. Give him a $25.00 gift certificate to Cabelos and
tell him it’s time for that permanent hunting/fishing trip.

12:01 – Call in McCants. Tell him to get a new tattoo, “I was traded for a late second round pick”

12:05 – Call in Wittman. Tell him that if he wins tonight’s Powerball then he can keep his coaching job. Otherwise …

12:06 – Call in Cardinal, Madsen, Booth, Collins and a couple of clowns and ask the question, “remind me again, which of you are the professional basketball players?”

12:15 – Call in the guy that designed these new Wolves’ uniforms. Take a stick of dynamite and blow up his/her sewing machine.

I wish I had Glen Taylor’s $$ and power, cause doing the above would sure be fun to do.

[Krapinsky]

Would anyone do McCants/Smith plus the Miami pick for Warrick/Conley?

It looks like the Miami pick will be in the 13-17 range and this year that probably wouldn't amount to much. Warrick would add some much needed athleticism to our front court. We could also still try and package the Utah and Boston picks and try and move up to the mid-first.

I'd do that.
Shoot, the way Utah's injury situation is going, their pick might not be that different than Miami's anyway.

I believe the Utah pick is top 23 (or 24?) protected.

[C.lupus]

Oh that's right. I forgot. I'd still do your trade.

[GopherIt!]

Whoa. Take it easy everyone. No reason to get all worked up.




I'm a little perplexed with the tone of this thread. I get the feeling some of you guys are hoping I get fired...




What? It's true? Well come on! Bring it!




Little do you know - I play LAIRE and I am actually a vampire! Yes, a vampire! I will suck the blood out of you like I did my basketball team! Hahaha!!




Psst. Next time we play, can I be one of these guys???

http://www.laire.com/photoalbum/details ... ge_id=1131

[PeeDee]

Meh, I think you could get a PG with Miami's pick that could produce just as well as Conley. Just because he was the #4 pick doesn't mean you should give assets that may prove to be more valuable in the long run.

Lawson, MIlls, Calathes, Collison, and Curry are all pgs that figure to be available at that pick or would be attainable by using that pick in conjunction with another.

[Duncanfan]

Hey guys.. and avid NBA watcher here. Thought I'd put my 2 cents in:

You guys have enough fire power and athleticism to score tons of points and be a decent enough defensive team.

COACHING:
This team is young, it needs a coach who nurtures them and at the same time knows how to handle younger players and has a track record of demanding and developing players. Lets face it, JVG, Saunders and Johnson are not going to come to a bottom dwelling team. They are big name coaches who want to coach a contender or a near-contender. Minny isn't at that stage, yet. I think Sam Mitchell would be the best option. The guy has a track record of working well with big guys and help them develop not just into better players but solid leaders as well. A hardnose coach who, surprisingly, works very well with younger players, demands accountability and has the patience to let them grow. His Minny connection helps too and he would bring instant respect and toughness to the lockerroom.

SCORING OPTIONS:
Big Al is a very good young player who could potentially become a true great with proper mentoring and coaching. He's a great fit for a half-court team and thats where he'll succeed. He needs to become more assertive on both ends of the floor and needs to become more unselfish with passing the ball out to the open man whenever he is doubled team. The offense needs to run through him but at the same time he needs to give the ball up when someone has a better opportunity to score.

Kevin Love, at this point, is a hustle player. He will get his points off offensive rebounds and open J's. Doesn't have the inside game to demand the ball.

Foye needs to develop his J. Shooting horrible percentages isn't going to cut it. Also, he needs to play the scorer's role at SG spot and needs a pure PG playing alongside him.

Mike Miller. I am shocked to see how under utilized Miller has been this year. He is the perfect compliment to Al's inside game. When a player like Al commands so many double teams all the time, its just a shock the Miller hasn't been getting open looks. Moreover, he is a slasher as well. He needs to be given the ball and needs to be allowed to create on his own.

McCants. A perfect scorer off the bench. When he's the floor, he needs to have some iso plays run for him and needs to be told to attack. He's a good scoring option, if used properly.

LEADERSHIP:
Al, although a very good player, is not a leader, yet. He needs a coach who mentors him into becoming a locker room leader and light a fire under his ass to make sure the guy takes charge of the locker room. Mike Miller is another vet who should be a co-captain and play second fiddle to Al in the locker room. A coach can not and should not police the locker room. That responsibility falls on the captains and leaders of the team. Trading for a veteran would also add leadership to the young core

[Dewey]

I think we need to try and shore up atleast one position before the deadline, wether it's Center or a legit PG. Then, hope to draft the other position next June.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Biggest needs: 1.) Athleticism. 2.) Starting PG, C, and SG. 3.)Signs of Hope.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Outside of Al Jefferson, our entire roster of players are merely bench on good teams. That's the one thing that has been proven so far. Brewer has as good of value or more than any of them due to size, speed, hustle, defense, and improved shooting. If I had to keep 5 players, it would be AJefferson (most capability), MMiller (skilled for position), CBrewer (has lots of upside and is showing improvement), and KLove (we wrote the check and now we must cash it), and possibly Foye (adequate combo player). Problem ... no Center.

No matter how you look at things, the teams low intensity makes it hard to really want to keep anyone. Players need to be accountable and show some pride, but I think it's fair to hammer on Wittman all we want for this issue. Part two: we don't have enough players with capability to perform, and that has a negative affect on leadership. I'd say that's McHales responsibility. How much was Hoiberg involved in puting this team together? We all want to believe that he had very little input and have him take over as GM, but I'm thinking he was more involved than we all want to admit.

Bottomline: If we need to dump a couple players (and throw in a draft pick) to get a decent veteran, then so be it. We'll odviously be back in the lottery adding another young player, so it's time to start establishing some balance. We have raw talent, but unlike most all other teams, we have raw talent that lacks athleticism/speed. Our upside is thus limited.

[the_bruce]

Meh, I've said all along this teams defensive woes would be helped by an athletic 3/4 that can block shots. ala Josh Smith\Ak47. Al's post defense has improved this year as far as I am concerned. He should be able to defend al traditional post presence C's, what this team needs is a player who can stop a perimeter based 4\bigger 3s(you know the guys who murder gomes every night?). My moves are as follows.

Do the MM to CLE deal. (play mccants + wally at the 2 for the rest of the year)
If Utah wants to salary dump AK47 to resign boozer then do so. If not find a similar player to play at the 3 from d league.
Draft a 5 or 2 early
Draft a 2 if a 5 was drafted early and viceversa

Maybe pull the trigger on a deal with the nets for S Williams(carney swap), maybe CDR if hey wanna swap him for the BOS pick?

al
love
ak47
McCants\misc 2
foye

The team isnt using MM like he should be used anyway, might as well just let wally jack up some shots imo.

[Krapinsky]

Meh, I've said all along this teams defensive woes would be helped by an athletic 3/4 that can block shots. ala Josh Smith\Ak47. Al's post defense has improved this year as far as I am concerned. He should be able to defend al traditional post presence C's, what this team needs is a player who can stop a perimeter based 4\bigger 3s(you know the guys who murder gomes every night?). My moves are as follows.

Do the MM to CLE deal. (play mccants + wally at the 2 for the rest of the year)
If Utah wants to salary dump AK47 to resign boozer then do so. If not find a similar player to play at the 3 from d league.
Draft a 5 or 2 early
Draft a 2 if a 5 was drafted early and viceversa

Maybe pull the trigger on a deal with the nets for S Williams(carney swap), maybe CDR if hey wanna swap him for the BOS pick?

al
love
ak47
McCants\misc 2
foye

The team isnt using MM like he should be used anyway, might as well just let wally jack up some shots imo.

Yikes. We would still have three players playing out of position (Foye/AK/Love or Al) and no cap space thanks to AK47.

[dunkonu21]

Carney lacks the ball handling to be a major factor on our team. Look at even his highlights. you can tell he can't dribble worth a ****. It's way too big of a weakness for us to play him. You have to be able to do certain things to play, just like Cants can stop shooting, Carney can't dribble.

[Devilzsidewalk]

my suggestion for the team is to get some guys on the team that use that Z-coordinate There's a whole third dimension that we're not making use of. We've got some speed and some brawn, but nobody that can get in the air. Number of alley oop threats on the team: _________

[shrink]

"Z-Coordinate" would be a great nickname for Carney.

[Busch Legion]

I see that Toronto is open for deals.... wonder if Calderon is untouchable?

[GopherIt!]

One of the reasons I was trying to make light of this thread is that
I don't think there is a whole lot the team can do (literally and figuratively.)

In hindsight it's not hard to see that this is an 18-24 win team.

We have one bona fide starter (Al) about five guys that ought to be a sixth man (Shad, Foye, Gomes, Love, Miller) and a bunch of lesser backups. Love will eventually develop into a starter. Brewer should as well. Foye needs to start on a team that doesn't run a half court system, next to someone like Mayo.

[the_bruce]

One of the reasons I was trying to make light of this thread is that
I don't think there is a whole lot the team can do (literally and figuratively.)

I disagree and agree at the same time. I think the team could make some move to improve the team this year, but oonly by taking on long term deals and extra salary. Look at the clippers for example taking on Randolph. I expect to see a move but or assets are pretty limited.

Gomes, probably the most valuable would be great on any contending team as a role player. Is BYC this year so could prove troublesome. The wolves probably won't get a player as good in return.

Shad\Carney...uh nobody wants them unless they are trading a similarly young player they hate and refuse to play.

Booth\Collins I expect these have the most value but we'd probably be forced to take in 3 year deals in return. I assume the only reason these 2 haven't been bought out yet is incase there is a deal where MN can get good stuff via expiring filler.

Miller actually the most valuable, unlikely to be traded unless its a super sick deal.

Pekovic might have some value to a team looking to ship a young center who may not fit the immediate team needs. e.g. Kaman? Cambys contract will be up about the time it is rumored that Perkovic could come over.

Brewer injured and value is low, he was starting to play pretty good too. Its a shame.

Foye I doubt we could get a similarly skilled player in return

[GopherIt!]

I pretty much agree with everything you said.

I'm not expecting anything significant Dec 15th.

[revprodeji]

I hope for nothing to happen until we get a new Gm/VP so he can mold something to his vision.

btw, Al is a starter, Brewer will be a starter, Love is a starter, Foye is a starter. You are missing one starter. Mike Miller is better set as a 6th man, but has talent enough to be a starter. Foye is a legit starter. The 6th man stuff from canis is just anti-foye/pro McCants bias.

What we lack is not talent. (*well, we do need one more legit starter) What we lack is direction and stability. We need a coach that can come in here and balance us out and get us moving on a path. Best case scenario would be for a 2nd option at the 1 or 2, but I wonder if Foye is not that guy. Right now we see an obvious need for another starter, but that would be Brew's spot if he was here.

My best case player moves is to add a vet playmaker that can start and bring Miller off the bench. Someone that can allow Foye to focus on scoring. Also, bring in a vet big that is mean. Nasty defensive vet. here is how I would see next year

Vet playmaker
Foye
Brewer
Love
Jefferson

Our bench would be based on who we keep or trade, but I would like to see that Vet big with 2 of the 3 (Gomes, Cookie, Miller) likely Bassy is still here, I would like Hardin with a draft pick. Let him learn behind the vet playmaker and be a 2/1 to Foye's 1/2.