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Young athletic wing player that has had some good moments in Toronto the last two years but doesn't seem to be in their long term plans due to his duplication of Derozan's skills and not being a good fit next to him.

They spent quite a lot of time trying to force him into playing SF next to Derozan at SG which really put Weems at a disadvantage as he doesn't have the size to handle many of the leagues SF and the Raptors provided almost no protection for him defensively.

The Raptors (in limited minutes admittedly) actually had a positive +/- when he played at SG of 104.3 to 100.6 and more than a few Raptors fans I know were actually pretty vocal about him being the more complete SG prospect between himself and Derozan due to better ball handling and passing skills and although also not a three point shooter himself he has shown progress in that area and at least has the confidence to take them unlike Derozan.

He also has two years of data showing that he plays much better basketball when he has a stable role between either 25-35 minutes a night. He isn't turnover prone, he has reasonably good handles, has size and athletic ability is suited to playing a faster tempo and his price tag should be reasonable.

He also looks to me like he could fit reasonably well with anyone from Wesley Johnson, Martell Webster, Michael Beasley, Derrick Williams, etc next to him at SF and other then Ellington it doesn't seem like he couldn't fit next to anyone.

The year before he was more effective and his plus minus stats were ok, I think mostly because he was allowed to play his natural SG position for more often. Again he was far more effective at SG then at SF that season as well.

With the Raptors needing a SF and C it might be possible to lock the kid up at a very reasonable number through his prime years with say a 5 year $15 million contract by offering the Raptors Nikola Pekovic in a sign and trade to keep them from matching the offer, hell throw in a second rounder or Heyward or Ellington.

The upside could be as high as the kid developing into a solid starter or very good back up SG on a team that is likely to need to swing its starting SG (wesley) to SF to get the most out of him. The downside is they get stuck with him staying what he is now but getting to play his natural SG position instead of out of position at SF at roughly $3 million a year for half a decade.

Not an awful lot of downside in my opinion as I think his actual play the last two years when actually at SG has been worth three million a year.

I like him, but think the only wings he's better than are Ellington and Hayward. The most I'd trade for him are one of Ellington, Hayward, or Pekovic.

Klomp wrote:I like him, but think the only wings he's better than are Ellington and Hayward. The most I'd trade for him are one of Ellington, Hayward, or Pekovic.

I'd agree although i'm sure you can figure out whom else i'd be willing to deal for him. I would of course want more then just Weems if Beasley was included like say Bayless or a 2012 pick and i'd still want to dump Pekovic in the deal but my phone call if I'm Kahn would simply be to offer Pekovic and Heyward in a sign and trade.

He could be an option... for the 2012-2013 season. Weems signed for Zalgiris some weeks ago and doesn't have an exit clause if the lockout ends.

I don't really expect we are going to have a 2011/12 season anyway so that shouldn't be an issue. If we have a season its going to be 50 games again at best in my opinion.

I hope you're wrong. Anyway, i don't think Weems is or will ever be starting material in a decent team.

He's not better than Johnson, Beasley, Williams or Webster, so there's not much point.

shangrila wrote:He's not better than Johnson, Beasley, Williams or Webster, so there's not much point.

Exactly what I'm thinking. You guys are suggesting we trade Beasley away for about as much as we got for him.

I'm not sure he can't be a quality starter at SG but my idea to sign him is because i'm fairly certain he can be a quality backup SG that is more then capable of stepping into the starting lineup should an injury require it.

His numbers when he plays between 20-29 minutes a night are very solid. When in a role that has him playing 24 minutes his per game averages have consistently been around 11/4/1.5 on reasonable efficiency and low turnovers.

I would think he would also benefit from playing with Rubio as he is athletic and can finish at the rim. At the very least if they could get him locked up on a reasonable deal (5y15M) they would finally have a stable guard rotation. I think a lack of roster stability has been a bigger factor in thing not improving here then people think. Its just non-sensical that perhaps the biggest constant of the post KG era has been Telfair at PG even though he left once.

Ridnour Rubio
Johnson Weems Lee

I think that group would be able to grow together while still giving the Wolves a solid backcourt right away. The more I think about it with Weems the more perfect he seems to be for the Wolves, if Wesley Johnson doesn't turn a corner as an NBA SG then I think Weems is good enough to step in and give the Wolves a solid 14/5/3 and if Johnson does turn the corner Weems isn't too good to stay in a 15-25 minute a night role, since even if Wesley does turn the corner i'd imagine the Wolves would be inclined to play him at least some of his minutes at SF.

Torcher wrote:

shangrila wrote:He's not better than Johnson, Beasley, Williams or Webster, so there's not much point.

Exactly what I'm thinking. You guys are suggesting we trade Beasley away for about as much as we got for him.

Actually, even I said that my phone call to the Raptors for a sign and trade to get Weems wouldn't include Beasley and now that someone pointed out that Weems can't be signed back to the NBA until next summer he couldn't be a part of it anyway.

I'm all for trading Michael Beasley but I certainly do want to get some value out of dealing him. I don't care if that value comes from a 2012 1st rounder, a quality player that fills a need or if they just use his value to get teams to take Pekovic, Hayward, Ellington, etc off the Wolves hands.

I think the guy is a poor fit and beyond that I think he is completely expendable with Love, Williams, Webster, Johnson, Tolliver and Randolph all needing minutes that Beasley would take up. I think every last one of those players fits better then Beasley next to Love.

Ideally speaking dealing Michael Beasley can be good for everyone involved including Beasley. I agree with the people who think he is talented enough to help a team in this league with his game and his game is that of an 18-23 PPG scorer depending on the role and minutes.

I would like to get a quality C or SG for him and my main sticking point is using him to dump Pekovic who is an even worse fit here then Beasley is and has a longer deal. I'd be more then willing to include the owed picks from Utah and Memphis with him to get a meaningful player.

I don't just randomly hate Beasley, I see him as the only player on the roster with real talent that the Wolves can part with who is still good enough to entice teams to take Pekovic and either Hayward and/or Ellington.

I think dumping the trash is nearly as important to rebuilding a team as getting difference making players. I think people vastly underrate how damaging a really bad player or a few really bad players is in terms of winning basketball games. Many people grasp the concept that a great player in basketball impacts the wins and losses more then a great player in any other sport but fail to understand that for every action there is an equal and oppisite reaction.

This is the main thing that the Wolves screwed up when they dealt KG, they not only failed to insist the Celtics took the Wolves garbage like Jaric and company but they also took on the Celtics garbage in Gerald Green, Sebastion Telfair, etc.

You only get 15 roster spots and the NBA has guaranteed contracts, if you have a few bad players on guaranteed deals you are guaranteed to suck. The Wolves have four players with more then one year on their deals who are hurting them or not helping them in Pekovic, Miller, Hayward, Ellington and a fifth in Beasley that is perhaps in the way of others helping them more.

That is a fifth of the roster serving no purpose in my opinion and nearly $20 in dead cap space not even counting Darko.

Don't have too much time to think it over, but he doesn't really strike me as being some diamond in the rough character. I don't think Toronto and Minnesota are good trading partners either.

JMillott wrote:

This is the main thing that the Wolves screwed up when they dealt KG, they not only failed to insist the Celtics took the Wolves garbage like Jaric and company but they also took on the Celtics garbage in Gerald Green, Sebastion Telfair, etc.

ummm... Green and Telfair still had high potential back then. Heck Telfair is still a solid backup and actually belongs in the league. And... Jaric was salary filler that got us Love.

Every time you title a thread with "How About...." You're getting this reply because I just can't help myself.

Breakdown777 wrote:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lITBGjNEp08[/youtube]

Maybe in a year he'd be worth looking at, but I think that's way too far ahead to look for a backup SG.

Lol Sonny is a chucker and for an athletic guy does not attack the rim or draw fouls only gets dunks on the fast break