Report: Wolves pulling out all the stops trying to get Pau

[dockingsched]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ap-source- ... --nba.html

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Minnesota Timberwolves are pulling out all the stops in an effort to land Pau Gasol.

If they have to part with the highest draft choice in franchise history after just one season, the Wolves appear ready to do it.

That much became clear leading up to the NBA draft on Thursday, when Minnesota offered Derrick Williams to the Charlotte Bobcats for the No. 2 pick as a vehicle to help them land Gasol from the Los Angeles Lakers, two people with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press.

The deal never came together before the draft began, and the Bobcats stayed at No. 2 and took Kentucky forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. The people requested anonymity because the talks were meant to remain private.

The Timberwolves were expected to continue their pursuit of Gasol in hopes of putting him with fellow Spaniard Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love on a revamped roster aimed at getting the team back to the playoffs, and beyond, for the first time since 2004...

[dockingsched]

yesterday there was a report that kahn was offering williams to every team with a top pick trying to snatch one up. i assume now it was to flip it to the lakers.

[stunnar0b]

Can williams even play the 3 full-time..

[dockingsched]

Can williams even play the 3 full-time..

i assume he'd play the 4.

[stunnar0b]

At 6'7" i dont think i want

[yitur]

Next to Bynum he could be a great stretch 4.

[dockingsched]

he's not 6'7", and his size is fine i think.

http://nbadraft.net/nba-draft-combine-m ... t-analysis

Derrick Williams - Williams' standing reach of 9'0, 7'1.5 wingspan and 6'8.75 height in sneakers were all positive numbers. For all those that questioned his size at the position, it's time to reconsider as those measurements are very good for a power forward. He also appeared to be moving extremely well during the athleticism testing at 248 lbs. Many players are not able to retain their quickness with that sort of weight. His 9'0 standing reach is an inch bigger than Michael Beasley and 3 inches bigger than Blake Griffin measured.

[lazfa199]

Next to Bynum he could be a great stretch 4.

a stretch 4 that cant shoot...

[Anklebreaker702]

Iamworthy will have a stroke if his boy is not here

[One Love]

I don't like Minny's pieces outside of Rubio & K Love... Sign and trade Hill for Beasley...

[Jetset]

They better pull out all the stops to get Charlotte to trade Kidd-Gilchrist then, they have nothing else and Derrick Williams just simply isn't enough.

[Twolfboy21]

As a Minny fan, we don't like giving up our 21 year old guy with a ton of potential for your old, declining, overpaid Gasol. He obviously does not help your team now so he won't help ours either. I would rather use our cap space to sign a SG then trade for Gasol.

[Gek]

Pau playing on the post with loves mobility and ricky's passing will rejuvenate his career.

[desertlakerfan]

Williams still has alot of value to GMs, and is a much better prospect than some fans here are giving him credit for. Don't just look at his averaged stats, Minny screwed themselves by not giving him a set role to allow him to play through his rookie mistakes as well as the majority of his PT being with their second and third unit. I said it when they drafted him, they already had a logjam at PF which is his natural position so they were going to kill his confidence as the #2 pick burying him on the bench and playing him some at the 3.

This guy would be perfect playing PF next to Bynum as he had a great outside stroke in college, was hit and miss last season but playing next to Kobe and Bynum could really turn his early career around. Of course salary wise it's not even close to Pau's, but Minny has quite a few mediocre role players making around 5 mil per to include. This is so far the best "officially rumored" offer for Pau as far as getting us youth, and depth.

[Kilroy]

As a Minny fan, we don't like giving up our 21 year old guy with a ton of potential for your old, declining, overpaid Gasol. He obviously does not help your team now so he won't help ours either. I would rather use our cap space to sign a SG then trade for Gasol.

Well your GM does, so

I'm with Jetstro... Williams alone doesn't get it done.

They don't have a lot of big salaries either so in order to trade for Pau they'd have to include a bunch of players to make it work...

Something like Miller/Williams/Barea/Johnson for Pau would work, but I don't think they'd do it.

[MAMBAEMD]

Derrick Williams had a lot of promise when he came in but he had a very dissapointing rookie year.
I wouldn't trade Pau for him. The only reason to do this is to dump salary, and make us even less relevant in the West, unless some other pieces come with him.
I think a package with Williams, Beasly, and a pick might start the conversation.

[Draper]

As a Minny fan, we don't like giving up our 21 year old guy with a ton of potential for your old, declining, overpaid Gasol. He obviously does not help your team now so he won't help ours either. I would rather use our cap space to sign a SG then trade for Gasol.

http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/thanthen.html

Makes a difference.

[Draper]

I'd rather have Josh Smith or Iggy than Williams. But obviously the trade doesn't work straight up so there'd have to be other pieces involved.

[crazyeights]

To me the article reads as if we don't want Williams so Minny was trying to pry MKG for us. If we wanted Williams it appears we could've had him (that is if there's any truth to the article).

[Jetset]

To me the article reads as if we don't want Williams so Minny was trying to pry MKG for us. If we wanted Williams it appears we could've had him (that is if there's any truth to the article).

Possibly, and hopefully. Or it could be that we were so fixated on this years #2 pick that we've yet to have discussions about trading for Williams.