POLL: Trade a PG Now?

[shrink]

I think the Wolves original plan had been to keep Ridnour and Barea around until Rubio got back, but Shved's recent play may rush them off the team. Shved had been playing 15-18 minutes a game, except in the 20 point loss to TOR where he got 22. Last night, with Roy missing the second half and Barea the whole game, he got 21. Shved still makes rookie mistakes, but he has lots of great plays as well, and unlike Derrick Williams, Adelman looks like he's becoming comfortable giving Shved minutes in crunch time.

Anyway, I think this opens up the option of veering from the original plan to bring him along slowly. In the hunt for minutes to develop Shved, the Wolves may decide that they aren't going to wait until Rubio gets back in December before they trade either JJ Barea or Luke Ridnour. But does are faith in the young Shved mean we're comfortable with that - now?

If we dealt Ridnour or Barea now, it could be good for the Wolves, because

1. both have played well so far and would have good trade value
2. teams may be willing to deal now before their season gets away from them
3. it provides security that they have the finances to stay under the lux next year
4. it helps develop Shved as fast as possible, so he's ready when Rubio returns

However, it's risky. Shved is young, and Roy's health will always be an unknown. We don't want to jeopardize our good start, without Love and Rubio to be a safety net.

Your thoughts?

[Steve_Holiday]

I'd definitely wait until Rubio gets back, especially with Roy battling injuries off and on. The team is playing well as currently put together. While Shved looks good in the time he has played, I don't know if he's ready for a big increase in minutes.

[Steve_Holiday]

What is the market for these two?

[shrink]

What is the market for these two?

Listening at the trade board, I'd say that it's not bad. They are both worth a little more than their contract, so they both have slightly positive trade value.

It's difficult to accurately gauge their trade value from posters over there because people want to attach them to Derrick Williams. While I think there is a good chance that they would be paired in a real life trade, the fact that posters differ so much on what Williams is worth now makes it very hard to read. Also, I don't think the wolves havea good feel for whether his trade value will rise with Love gone, so I think they may wait on dealing DW.

This morning I started a thread over there to try to remove that factor, suggesting that people make an offer for Ridnour or Barea in this format:

Ridnour or Barea .. for .. worthless expiring + "minor value piece"

I would guess that "minor value piece" could be a Top 20 protected future 1st, a prospect drafted in that range, a pair of seconds, cash, or some combination, based on how much production we could get for the expiring. Still, I'm curious to watch the offers come in.

[theGreatRC]

The thing I like about our PGs is that they bring something new to the table and compensates for what the other guy lacks.

Rubio is the play-maker, the true point guard that sets the table and makes everyone better. Plus is in an above average defender and a leader.

Ridnour is the shooter. He is a better shooter off the dribble going right or left and his a nice running floater in the lane. Can't make a layup worth a damn, though.

JJ is the penetrating guard. He gets to the lane at will is a top 10 PG at finishing at the rim. His vision has been great this season and has also taken the leadership role.

If you pointed a gun to my head and told me to trade one, it would be Luke, only because I believe Shved can take that role as a shooter and shooting is the easiest replaceable skill.

I would wait until Rubio comes back, we have 4 players down already and JJ has been in and out of injuries since he's been a Wolf.

[Klomp]

Neither guy can stay healthy themselves. We need to keep both for now.

[[RCG]]

I voted keep both but:

Some ideas:
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=a8m5vdk
Wolves: Calderon
Cavs: Barea
Raptors: Ridnour & Casspi

Calderon can start at PG, he is a massive expiring which gives us a lot of $$$ to re-sign Pekovic & Budinger.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=auaeem9
Wolves: Afflalo
Magic: Barea & Williams

Doesn't free up much $$$ but when Rubio & Love comes back: Rubio-Afflalo-Kirilenko-Love-Pekovic is one heck of a starting line-up.

Hornets and Suns could both use a PG. Ridnour or Barea for Xavier Henry(+) or Kendall Marshall.
Henry is more of a $$$-saving move while Marshall saves a little $$$ and can be groomed behind Rubio.

[Wolves21]

I love the idea of Williams and Barea or Williams and Ridnour for Afflalo.I think once Rubio and Love comeback we should look to trade two of the three in Williams,Ridnour and Barea for a starting caliber SG.Which I think is the only weakness on the team.Plus once Rubio is back theirs not going to be the minutes for Ridnour,Barea and Shved same goes with Williams.

[eyeteeth]

Look, people. There only reason it makes sense to think about trading somebody is because of what you get coming back. The idea that we should trade one of Ridnour or Barea has been floating around here for as long as they've all been on the team, and I think that a huge part of the subconscious reasoning involved is <i>because we can</i>. Just because we have an apparent surfeit of point guards does not mean we should trade one of them. I have been saying for a long time here that there are very good reasons to keep all of our point guards. Quite simply, they bring very different skills to the court. Keeping all three point guards gives Adleman more options. When we are in a playoff series and playing the same team 3, 4, 5 games in a row, having 3 different (4 if you count Shved) PGs who all bring a different feel and different talents to managing the team on the floor will be a huge advantage.

The other part of the equation that too often gets left unexamined is whether or not we need something. We have so long been in a place where we have no competent wing play that we simply assume we need to go and get an Afflalo type player. I love AAA's game, and would love it if he were our starting 2. That said, we are 4-1. We are doing something right, here, and the guys are getting really great confidence winning different types of games against different types of opponents. But it's important to realize that this is an early chemistry that can be easily f'd up with a precipitous trade. Let these guys keep doing what they're doing, for (Jim) Pete's sake!

[Esohny]

If you're doing it, I think you need to bring back someone who will actually help the team, not just dump salary.

As mentioned, I'd be all over a Williams + Ridnour/Barea for Afflalo deal. Otherwise, perhaps there's a package that could be made with one of Ridnour/Barea and other assets for JJ Redick, Wes Matthews, or someone like that. The only thing is that you'd probably want to include Roy and I doubt anyone wants to take the risk when he's possibly hurt already.

[LordBaldric]

It's hard to say without knowing what spending limit Taylor has set for the team. We might be fine just not picking up Roy's option next year if he gets hurt again and doesn't meet the criteria for it to become guaranteed.

If we have to keep Roy though, we will almost surely have to dump 1, or possibly 2 of Rid/Barea/Williams if we want to keep both Pek and Bud going forward.

My dream scenario in that case is to package Ridinour and Williams for a salary dump and a lotto pick.

[Esohny]

It's hard to say without knowing what spending limit Taylor has set for the team. We might be fine just not picking up Roy's option next year if he gets hurt again and doesn't meet the criteria for it to become guaranteed.

If we have to keep Roy though, we will almost surely have to dump 1, or possibly 2 of Rid/Barea/Williams if we want to keep both Pek and Bud going forward.

My dream scenario in that case is to package Ridinour and Williams for a salary dump and a lotto pick.

Ah, that could be nice. Ridnour/Barea + Williams for JJ Redick + orlando 1st.

[younggunsmn]

Well one of barea/ridnour/williams definitely needs to be dealt for an expiring before the deadline because we are going to need the room under the tax to sign Budinger and Pek next summer. And backup PG's are a dime a dozen. I don't think it will be as easy as you might think to move a 4 million $ backup PG.

If you can do that sooner rather than later, it's probably in the best interest of the team long term given ridnour and barea's penchant for injuries.

I like the afflalo deal, but Orlando isn't doing that. He was the key to that horrible howard trade, and unless Williams does a complete 180 his trade value is in the toilet. And he has about 2 weeks until Love comes back to turn it around because Dante has earned all the backup PF minutes.

I like Barea better as a defender and facilitator, Ridnour probably has more trade value with a smaller/shorter contract. As a contender our priorities shift though, because even overpaid backups become more valuable come playoff time I think we all remember what happened in '04 when cassell went down and we had darrick freaking martin running the point in the playoffs against the Lakers.

Is Rubio/Ridnour/Shved enough depth? Worst case, would we be alright with Malcolm Lee defending the PG and a ballhandling 2 like Roy facilitating the offense? I'd say yes because all told Lee is a much better defender than Ridnour and Barea.

Some expring ideas:

Cle Daniel Gibson 4.8
Det Jason Maxiell 5.0, Daye 2.9, Bynum 3.2
NOH Hakim Warrick 4.0
ORL McRoberts 3.1

[eyeteeth]

It's hard to say without knowing what spending limit Taylor has set for the team. We might be fine just not picking up Roy's option next year if he gets hurt again and doesn't meet the criteria for it to become guaranteed.

If we have to keep Roy though, we will almost surely have to dump 1, or possibly 2 of Rid/Barea/Williams if we want to keep both Pek and Bud going forward.

My dream scenario in that case is to package Ridinour and Williams for a salary dump and a lotto pick.

Ah, that could be nice. Ridnour/Barea + Williams for JJ Redick + orlando 1st.

And with everything I said, if you can rob a team blind, you do it.

But let's see what DW does with the rope he's been given this early part of the season, first.

[eyeteeth]

Relevant:

Darren Wolfson ‏@DarrenWolfson

Not yet, but I heard the front office has inquired about wing free agents today. RT @CruzTheSequel: @DarrenWolfson any word on Roy?

[Esohny]

Relevant:

Darren Wolfson ‏@DarrenWolfson

Not yet, but I heard the front office has inquired about wing free agents today. RT @CruzTheSequel: @DarrenWolfson any word on Roy?

Gotta wonder who they'd even be looking at. Isn't Josh Howard still unsigned? He's much more of a SF than a SG though.

[Klomp]

Relevant:

Darren Wolfson ‏@DarrenWolfson

Not yet, but I heard the front office has inquired about wing free agents today. RT @CruzTheSequel: @DarrenWolfson any word on Roy?

Gotta wonder who they'd even be looking at. Isn't Josh Howard still unsigned? He's much more of a SF than a SG though.

Gotta be Pietrus

[Esohny]

Gotta wonder who they'd even be looking at. Isn't Josh Howard still unsigned? He's much more of a SF than a SG though.

Gotta be Pietrus

I thought he had all but signed with the Pacers. Would be the guy if he's available.

[shrink]

Marco Jaric.

OK, the best remaining free agent SG's are Pietrus, Delonte West, Micheal Redd, Q-Rich, and Mo Evans.

If Pietrus can play, I'd love that guy. We may also be waiting for UTA to finally buy out Raja Bell.

[Klomp]

Marco Jaric.

OK, the best remaining free agent SG's are Pietrus, Delonte West, Micheal Redd, Q-Rich, and Mo Evans.

If Pietrus can play, I'd love that guy. We may also be waiting for UTA to finally buy out Raja Bell.

I'd go Pietrus, Bell, Evans