Source: Wolves interested in Verajao

[Grits n Gravy]

darko has done a lot that was initally asked off him when he was brought here - play defense(for the most part, check), block shots(check), box out for love(check). darko is doing pretty much everything that was asked of and expected of him defensively. he has shown he can lock up/present problems for some of the better/best offensive players at his position e.g pau gasol, tim duncan, al jefferson.

offensively he has had his moments and certainly shown reason to have patience with him. as i remember coming into this season that most peoples hope for him was a) protect the paint/block shots, b) give the team 10-12 points and 6-7 rebounds a night, he has fallen a bit short on this but has proven that he is capable, take out the hand full of games he has left in early minutes and injury games and may well be at this level.

lets not forget that darko is on an outstanding contract by nba standards, he has shown physical toughness by wanting to and trying to play through injury. mental toughness has been the biggest problem of darkos career and we are still seeing it to this day, although it has been greatly controlled this year for the most part. he has NEVER been allowed to have this many touches or feel like he can play his own game and through mistakes EVER, so obviously turnovers have been a problem for him but it is something i am sure he will figure out. darkos impact has largely been tied to his foul rate in games.

bottom line, darkos on a good contract, is still learning his role and capabilities and limitations(like many on this team) but has shown reason to keep believing in him, giving him touches and allowing him to play through his mistakes - again which he has never really had a chance to do. i think we'll see a lot of improvement in the second half of the year from him and all the guys because they have beeen given an opportunity to be human and make mistakes, which is obviously extremely important and certainly allowable for a young team with no playoff aspirations.

[Ledeni]

darko is better than perkins or verajao. this is his first season with any kind of offensive opportunity. he's arguably better than those two in any other area besides rebounding. he has also never played with a great player that doesn't play his position. getting the ball from rondo, pierce and allen is different than getting the ball from luke ridnour or corey brewer. playing defense with kg, rondo and pierce beside you is different than play d with kevin love, luke ridnour beside you. verajao looked good because of offensive attention on lebron also defensive freedom by being on lebrons team.

darko is better than perkins or verajao.

Okaaay.

Part of being good is performing consistently, not to mention having mental toughness.

except darko is mentally tough. no top pick has ever been treated worst than darko. but darko has turned his career around. i also wouldn't say darko is inconsistent. at the start of the season he was bad but since then he's been good. the only difference is when darko isn't feeling it offensively he doesn't keep putting up shots just to make him look like he had a good game when you look at the point total.

it's easy to be consistent when superstars are drawing all the defensive attention. put darko on the cavs with lebron and he would look better than verajao. put darko on the celtics with rondo, allen, kg and pierce he would look better than perkins. darko gets very few easy shots on the wolves.

I agree with this 100%.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I don't buy into Varejao being that good. He is rated as a good defender because those Cavs teams were slow as all hell so LeBron could be able to beat teams singlehandedly. Not to mention that giant contract for a "hustle" player. If he was cheaper I'd love to have him but I don't want to trade a bunch of decent players for 1 decent player who is worse at interior defense than our starting center is.

I'd like to see what Varejao would do as a defensive player on the current Cavs teams were they are getting blown out most of the time and playing at a faster pace. JJ Hickson shot over 50% with LeBron there and now is at 44%. Basically I'm not wild about having a 9 & 9 player on this team for 8 million dollars a year.

he's still a good defender. Overall I think he's more the kind of player you develop and re-sign to that type of contract after you're already good, but to give him that contract when you have no idea what kind of team you're going to be is potential suicide.

[Wolves21]

I would love for the Wolves to pick up Verajao.I really think that the Wolves are only two or three peaces away from being a playoff team and possible contender in a few years.I think the biggest weakens for the Wolves are we need a true starting SG,back up C and a starting PG.So if the reports are true that Rubio comes over next year and we can get Verajao this clears up two of our issues.

Now if the Kahn man can find someway to get Rubio,Verajao,Randolph and a old vet like Hamilton all on the squad next year I think were good to go.

Probably next to no chance of that happening but I would be willing to trade anyone on the roster besides Love,Beasley,Darko,Johnson and Rubio.Throw in the picks as well execpt the one we gave to the Clips back in the day if we get one of the top three picks.

[Klomp]

Overall I think he's more the kind of player you develop and re-sign to that type of contract after you're already good, but to give him that contract when you have no idea what kind of team you're going to be is potential suicide.

...and thats what the Cavs did. Now they are suffering the repercussions.

[younggunsmn]

Ugh. Not this krap again. Mediocre and overpaid. I'd rather have Pek for what he is making than pay a one-dimensional sideshow bob who isn't even a shotblocker. If we are talking about acquiring a freakshow C we should just take Birdman off of the nuggets' hands to save them some dough.

7 footers and major knee or ankle injuries are very bad combinations. That's why an overpaid 7-footer is always a bigger risk than an overpaid guard. Even in his best case scenario this guy isn't going to make us much better, just eat up 9 million of cap when we're going to be paying Love and Beasley 10+ each soon.

And that rubechat "source" is just an old article. It's just a bunch of crap speculation from Fox Sports Ohio.