MIN - NJN

[shrink]

NJN GETS: Love + Pekovic

MIN GETS: #3 + #27 (DAL)

Why for NJN: This quickly gives NJN a three-man rotation with Brook Lopez. It makes them a more attractive locale for LeBron, and it does so cheaply. The new Nets owner Prokhorov and possible Russian GM will be more familiar with Pekovic and likely to value him more highly.

Why for MIN: Favors has a higher ceiling. Favors is two more years on a rookie scale. Love and Favors will cost about the same, but MIN doesn't need to use up cap space on Pekovic. I've been disturbed by many oif Love's comments about the Wolves. #27 is a pick we could add to one of our picks to move up a little and get the specific guy we want when the valuaes are similar.

[Dewey]

I've been disturbed by many oif Love's comments about the Wolves.

Huh?

[Devilzsidewalk]

sure, Love comes back from injury last year and we beat Utah twice in the first week he's back and everybody adores him, then Rambis starts throwing him under the bus when the team quits on him and everybody blames Love, traitors!

[post0115]

You could actually turn this into a 3 team trade with Miami.

MN gets Devin Harris, #3, James Jones, #18
MN gives R. Gomes ($1mm guaranteed), Flynn, K. Love

NJ gets K.Love, M. Beasley, J. Flynn
NJ gives Dooling ($500k guaranteed), Devin Harris, #3

Mia gets R. Gomes, Dooling
Mia gives Beasley, #18, James Jones

[Devilzsidewalk]

don't forget to get Chicago in on this and swap Jefferson for Deng

[cpfsf]

I've been disturbed by many oif Love's comments about the Wolves.

Huh?

I get the same feeling too sometimes. He makes it known to everybody that doesn't like coming off the bench and playing 28 mpg. It's not anything that could be considered a real distraction, but it's easy to see he isn't happy.

[Dewey]

yeh, he does have to learn to use some tact.

As far trading high draft picks, I struggle to get overly involved unless we end up with Turner. If that's not happening, then I have to think we may actually look to trade down a spot or two if someone is hot after Favors or Cousins (since I'm not real interested in either).

I'm also a little bit concerned that Kahn/Rambis may not have a real good plan on where to go from here ... the poor luck at the draft lottery will force us to burn a quality asset just to improve our positioning in the draft and/or free agency.

The big question still remains unanswered: How would the 2010-11 season go if we had just ONE goto SG or SF? Can we make an assumption that Love/Jefferson/Milicic/Pekovic combinations would be consistently more production with a legit perimeter player? People keep saying our big men can't play together, but with our perimeter, I'm not sure which ones could ...

[Worm Guts]

I'm also a little bit concerned that Kahn/Rambis may not have a real good plan on where to go from here ... the poor luck at the draft lottery will force us to burn a quality asset just to improve our positioning in the draft and/or free agency.

You can only plan so much. The plan was to have a lot of flexibility the summer, but you only control what you control. You can't force teams make trades or players to sign with you. I think the only plan right now is to attempt to have all our moves this summer work with each other.

The big question still remains unanswered: How would the 2010-11 season go if we had just ONE goto SG or SF? Can we make an assumption that Love/Jefferson/Milicic/Pekovic combinations would be consistently more production with a legit perimeter player? People keep saying our big men can't play together, but with our perimeter, I'm not sure which ones could ...

The reason our bigs don't work together is defense. On offense Love and Jefferson work together fine and are very productive.

[Dewey]

The reason our bigs don't work together is defense. On offense Love and Jefferson work together fine and are very productive.

How about we acquire a couple FA's to upgrade our perimeter defense? Our bigs rebound well, but are not exactly fleet of foot ... they struggle to help like the other "more athletic" players. Milicic has better feet but still on the slower side overall. Bottom-line: Our perimeter defense this past season was sad and I'm trying to conclude if our interior players were exposed much more than I (we've) realized.

Are we best off to pool our resources and work on acquiring one specific player to help our perimeter ... or bring in 3-4 players and hope 1 or 2 can have an impact?

[Worm Guts]

It would help to have better defensive wings, but interior defense is more important than perimeter defense. A great interior defender can do more to help poor defending perimeter players than vice versa.

[Casperkid23]

I think NJ needs more incentive.

This gives them four players in the frontcourt who are not top-level athletes, and only one of them could be even seen as average at this point. So even though they'll be extremely skilled, this could very well lead to them making 2nd round exits (when they get closer to their peaks) until they are injected with some athleticism. It would take LeBron to take that type of core to championship-level status, and even then it's possible it'll prove to be unsuccessful.

Favors, on the other hand, would give them far more balance.

[buckets]

You could actually turn this into a 3 team trade with Miami.

MN gets Devin Harris, #3, James Jones, #18
MN gives R. Gomes ($1mm guaranteed), Flynn, K. Love

NJ gets K.Love, M. Beasley, J. Flynn
NJ gives Dooling ($500k guaranteed), Devin Harris, #3

Mia gets R. Gomes, Dooling
Mia gives Beasley, #18, James Jones

I don't see why Mia would ever consider this. that's a joke

[Devilzsidewalk]

its the Wolves board, why would we make amicable deals for other teams? **** them

[buckets]

its the Wolves board, why would we make amicable deals for other teams? **** them

true, just have them throw in dwade in a sign and trade too

[shrink]

The MIA part has been discussed on the trade board in a similar manner to Brooklyn Bull's discussion here of "anything but Rose or Noah for cap space" appeal.

MIA would only do this deal if they had a free agent contract in place to get a third elite player, who someone like LeBron and Wade wanted to play with. MIA could add an elite, but they also have a very real chance of losing an elite (Wade). BB realized the value that cap space has if you've got the deal in place to use it, and use it right away. Beasley does use up $5 mil of cap space (actually $4.5 mil with a replacement player). Jones-for-Songalia reduces much of his negative impact in trade, and fiuts the timing better. Then you've got the concept of sign-and-trades, where Beasley may help, but both the team and the free agent need to want to come .. its a complicated situation.

Still, I'm more interested in the original. Does Love and Pekovic fit with Brook Lopez?

[Dewey]

It would help to have better defensive wings, but interior defense is more important than perimeter defense. A great interior defender can do more to help poor defending perimeter players than vice versa.

Well ... we don't have those superman types of interior defenders and I don't see one that's available as a FA. Some think Milicic is good, but he's merely better than the alternatives but still slow. If big men are THE answer defensively, then we may need to clean house and that has been brought by some. I know what your saying about an interior defender having more impact than a wing and I agree, but this team is a defensive mess all the way around - starting up top.

Our big men are average at best defending one-on-one. Add in the fact we have seives on the perimeter, expecting non-athletic big men to help and recover is unrealistic ... they simply do not have the ability. If our perimeter play improved, I'd bet that our big men would at least "appear" better as a result.

Solutions? I have little to offer, but first, I think we have to assume Rubio will hold his own. Second, exhaust all efforts to land Turner. Turner is a decent defender and we all know his presence would be a huge benefit in many ways. Third, get a veteran FA that can accept/perform a defensive role. We are young and mentally weak ... adding a couple veterans would be helpful to drive home some attitude into Brewer and especially Flynn for starters.

Rubio/Turner/Brewer >>>>>>> Flynn/Brewer/Gomes on both ends of the floor.

[Worm Guts]

It's not necessarily all or nothing defensively with our bigs. We don't need to sacrifice all the offensive and production we get from Jefferson and Love, but we may need to trade one so we can pair the other with a defensive mind player who can compensate. It sounds like you want to keep both or trade both, and I don't think that's necessary.

[Dewey]

It's not necessarily all or nothing defensively with our bigs. We don't need to sacrifice all the offensive and production we get from Jefferson and Love, but we may need to trade one so we can pair the other with a defensive mind player who can compensate. It sounds like you want to keep both or trade both, and I don't think that's necessary.

Yep ... I just don't see those interior players out there who can impact our teams interior defense. Therefore, I'm trying to determine if it's justified to use some assets in attempt to shore up our perimeter and leave the big men alone so they can work together over the off-season. Then see where we're at come the next trade deadline in February.

[Worm Guts]

There's alot of players out there who are better defensively than Al and Kevin. We don't Olajuwon and Rodman, we just need to be able to compete.

[Devilzsidewalk]

we need good defense everywhere, I don't think anybody gets a pass as a good defender. The rotations on the perimeter were just as bad as the lack of contests inside