The next steps: Moves to make from here going forward

[AirP.]

1st: Offer wiggins for a top 5 pick. I dont really need anything else. Pick Trae Young.
2nd: Trade Teague to open space for Tyus.
3rd: Trade G and OCK pick for a competent wing backup (ideally 3&D).
4th: Resign Bjellica
5th: With the open space from Wiggins and Teague, sign a starter 3.
6th: Win 10 more games next season.

Which team would give away top5 pick for Wiggs? Regarding Teague, if he plays in playoffs like the way he played in last 2 games, then I am totally fine with him

Orlando or Phoenix? They have the capspace and their rebuilds are far from ideal. As for Teague, I dont think he really helped the team so far this season. Tyus has been better by any metric and he havent entered his prime yet, while Teague is going to be declining for the next 2 seasons.

Does Sacramento say no to Hield, Sac #1 and Shumpert(filler) for Wiggins? Minnesota could end up with Donic, Porter, Bagley, T.Young or trade down for more assets. Of course it can't officially happen till July 1st(when the PPP status from Wiggins' contract is over).

You move Butler to SF, add your deadeye 3pt shooter Hield to the starting lineup(Bogdanovic has leapfrogged him) and then watch teams regret doubling Towns or Butler and have Teague being able to attack the basket more with better spacing. Not to mention shedding Shumpert's contract and the ability to go over the cap to resign Hield(and Shumpert for depth if he's cheap).

Orlando may be interested also with their history of just drafting nearly complete busts and possibly wanting to offload some contracts they don't want to move forward with.

As much as I don't think Wiggins will be a "superstar", he does have the ability to become one because of his athletic ability and skill so it's probable someone else thinks they can unlock that ability in him, toss in a GM may be nervous about missing with a high pick and knowing that Wiggins has the mindset to be a 20+ ppg scorer(some/alot fans don't care about efficiency).

[Klomp]

Buyout market talk....

As for the Wolves, Taylor talked about some players who could be bought out, such as Shabazz Muhammad, who reportedly told the team earlier this month he wished to be traded or waived.

“Shabazz hasn’t gotten out on the floor to play very much, so he’s disappointed,” Taylor said. “He would like to get with a team that he could put in more minutes and show his skill-set. We have given the OK that if he finds such a team he can go to and wants to walk away, [he can] get out of our contract.

“My goal is I wish he could get out there, he just hasn’t had the year he anticipated or that we anticipated. Because of that, and we’ve had so many close games, it’s hard for us to find the minutes for him. I still like him and think our fans like him. He has a different style of playing than anybody else. But on the other hand, if he can find another team that I think tells him he can get on the floor for sure, I think we’ll cooperate.”

Taylor said Muhammad would have to get the deal done through his agent because the Wolves can’t talk to other teams.

On that same note, Taylor said the Wolves haven’t had any plans for point guard Derrick Rose joining the team now that the 2011 NBA MVP is a free agent.

“If we could find the right person to fit into our team and have some ability to play, get out there on the floor, we are certainly going to look at it,” Taylor said. “We kept one slot open all year long just in case that possibility occurred. But as of today we don’t have anybody in mind.”

http://www.startribune.com/nba-team-values-continue-to-soar/474241313/

[post0115]

If Shabazz is let go, I didn't see until now that Rashad Vaughn was released after his trade. I would definitely take a flier on him.

[minimus]

If Shabazz is let go, I didn't see until now that Rashad Vaughn was released after his trade. I would definitely take a flier on him.

Yeah, I'd give a chance to Vaughn, Troy Williams. I'm okay if Thibs thinks that Rush is garbage, but Allen or young players might be worth a chance.

[Mech Engineer]

It will be interesting how Thibs approaches post all-star break. Will he get a few more vets or will he give time to some G-league guys?
Is he comfortable with a 4th/5th seed or he wants a higher seed? In Chicago, he was after the top seed to get HCA against the Heat.

Watching Thibs, he is a very competitive man. He will not give up games. But, how much of the cap-space stuff is impacting his coaching is the question?

[minimus]

If we compare our roster to two teams which made biggest progress this season Houston and Toronto I can see a big difference. They went after defensive specialists and cheap 3pt shooters to surround their stars with players who fit and dont need ball to he effective. Let me explain.

Toronto has OG who has potential to guard PF/SF/SG. Siakam who is a hustle player, Norman Powell, Delon Wright are plus defenders. Ibaka is an average defender and rebounder but can hit open 3s. DeRozan is not bad defender either, and Valanciunas is a banger inside the paint. Poetli and VanFleet at least try to play defense. CJ Miles is a proven 3pt shooter and doesnt suck at defending.

Houston have Ariza, PJ Tucker and Mbah Moute to defend all positions on perimeter, Capella as finisher at rim and shotblocker, Gordon and Anderson as dedignated 3pt shooters. Nene as bruiser in the paint.

Also both teams have top5 defensive PG in the league. And all their main scorers shoots 3s and pass.

What we have in Minnesota:
Butler top5 perimeter defender in NBA. Taj Gibson who is excellent team and individual defender. KAT as shotblocker who still can't play consistent team defense and who gets pushed out by bigger bigmen. Two low effort low defensive IQ players in Wiggins and Teague. Crawford is negative defender, Bjelica is ok defender for backup PF. Jones and Dieng are hustle guys with limited physical tools.

So looking at how our roster is assembled it is not hard to understand why we have top3 offense and bottom league defense. We simply dont have enough right players to play even average defense consistently. It might change in the future, when our young players learn nuances of the game. Same DeRozan has just started shooting 3s, Ariza was a bonehead players at start of his career. KAT, Wiggins and Tyus all can improve significatly. Patton might be an another unicorn who can defend the paint, shoot and pass. MGH might develop consistent perimeter shot and get minutes in rotation. Anthony Brown was considered a solid defensive prospect before he developed in top gleague perimeter scorer. Thibs can improve this roster, but it is a decision to make. Shabazz's situation is a good example of passive behaivor. His signing was considered as a steal. But in reality it turned out as a big disappointment not about money but mainly because it took half season for Thibs to realize that he could not play Shabazz at all. It is about wasted opportunity to sign or develop someone. I'd rather give all these opportunities to MGH or same Brown. I think Ujri and Morey did an impressive work to shape up their rosters, keeping superstars and finding role players. Thibs is still a rookie here and needs to learn how to run franchise. I just hope he will not be as stubborn as GM as he is as coach.


P.S. I have just realized that Utah Jazz is a good example too. They have Sefolosha, Crawder, Ingles on perimeter. Gobert and Udoh as rim protectors. Rubio as team defender.

[Klomp]

Those teams are farther along in roster development than we are.

[minimus]

Those teams are farther along in roster development than we are.

Yes thats true. They are at least one year ahead of us. Especially Toronto who play their young players who already have 2-3 yrs of experience within same system. But Houston added Tucker, Paul, Mbah Moute, Green, Joe Johnson only this season. Utah got Jae Crawder, Rubio, Udoh, Jerebko, Sefolosha, Mitchel and resigned Ingles this season. I think that this off season will be cruicial if we want to play defense i.e. win games we need to re-shape our roster.

[minimus]

Read on Twitter

So JC was brought here to be instant scorer from the bench, because we don't we organized offense and he can create his own shot out of nothing. But obviously he is a non existing defender at this point of his career. And numbers show it. If we need to replace JC as main scorer from the bench we can go three ways:

1) find a scorer who doesn't suck at defending
2) run backup unit trough SL, pre-season so they can create some chemistry
3) make better substitution and play role players more with starters

First option is unlikely, because we don't have money. Third option is highly unlikely because of Thibs stubbornness. Second option looks promising: resign Bjelica, play Patton-MGH-Brown-Bryson unit in SL, pre-season, then add Jones as a backup unit floor general. Plus a few minutes from JB and Wiggins as scorer. I wish we can find a 3rd string PG who can defend and distribute.

[Klomp]

This will be an unpopular opinion around here, but I would strongly consider adding another big man.

We continue to get outmuscled in the paint by big men 30-40 lbs stronger than the guys we have on the roster. Guys like Jordan, Gasol, Adams, Cousins, etc. It's not really fair to place all the blame on Towns when he simply doesn't have the frame to match up with these guys. And Gibson is just too small.

Towns and Patton are our longterm pieces going forward, and neither projects to be a guy who can physically match up with these guys on defense. So unless we add someone in the post, it's going to continue to be a major weakness on the defensive end. A bruiser would make a solid 3-big rotation, as Towns and Patton both have skill sets to play off an interior big. The small-ball community can get a bigger SF who can slide down to PF in certain situations (Bjeli falls into this category IMO) to round out the interior rotation.

[minimus]

This will be an unpopular opinion around here, but I would strongly consider adding another big man.

I agree. But we must not overpay. It should be minimal salary guy for 10-15 minutes. See Bogut or Noah. If they are not satisfied with this role then okay, leave spot open. If we looking for FA in general it should be athletic guys ready to give up their bodies in hustle plays under the rim. See Udoh, Birch.

[AirP.]

This will be an unpopular opinion around here, but I would strongly consider adding another big man.

We continue to get outmuscled in the paint by big men 30-40 lbs stronger than the guys we have on the roster. Guys like Jordan, Gasol, Adams, Cousins, etc. It's not really fair to place all the blame on Towns when he simply doesn't have the frame to match up with these guys. And Gibson is just too small.

Towns and Patton are our longterm pieces going forward, and neither projects to be a guy who can physically match up with these guys on defense. So unless we add someone in the post, it's going to continue to be a major weakness on the defensive end. A bruiser would make a solid 3-big rotation, as Towns and Patton both have skill sets to play off an interior big. The small-ball community can get a bigger SF who can slide down to PF in certain situations (Bjeli falls into this category IMO) to round out the interior rotation.

Short term absolutely but it was reported that Minnesota said no to Bogut after he was released by the Lakers(which is odd since they were trying to sign him before the season) so at some time before the season till now the organization has changed it's view on what is needed.

[MN7725]

This will be an unpopular opinion around here, but I would strongly consider adding another big man.

I agree. But we must not overpay. It should be minimal salary guy for 10-15 minutes. See Bogut or Noah. If they are not satisfied with this role then okay, leave spot open. If we looking for FA in general it should be athletic guys ready to give up their bodies in hustle plays under the rim. See Udoh, Birch.

I don’t see how another big would play anymore than what Aldrich has (who previous to the wolves was solid limited minutes rim-protector, rebounder, not sure what happened)

It’s just hard to get minutes when KAT and Dieng are healthy

[Klomp]

I don’t see how another big would play anymore than what Aldrich has (who previous to the wolves was solid limited minutes rim-protector, rebounder, not sure what happened)

It’s just hard to get minutes when KAT and Dieng are healthy

The goal would be to find someone better than Aldrich. And sometimes deep depth isn't about finding someone to play every night, but finding someone who can step in when needed.

I guess it all depends on your view of the rest of the post rotation. Do you think Gibson is a longterm piece? Do you think Dieng is a longterm piece? Do you think Aldrich is a longterm piece? If no to all three, then there needs to be depth added.

[Mattya]

I’d look to trade Dieng, but I have no clue what a trade would look like there.

[MN7725]

I don’t see how another big would play anymore than what Aldrich has (who previous to the wolves was solid limited minutes rim-protector, rebounder, not sure what happened)

It’s just hard to get minutes when KAT and Dieng are healthy

The goal would be to find someone better than Aldrich. And sometimes deep depth isn't about finding someone to play every night, but finding someone who can step in when needed.

I guess it all depends on your view of the rest of the post rotation. Do you think Gibson is a longterm piece? Do you think Dieng is a longterm piece? Do you think Aldrich is a longterm piece? If no to all three, then there needs to be depth added.

I assume Dieng will be on the team long-term, just difficult to move any big, such a saturated position league-wide

So I don't really see any scenario where this ideal "bruiser" big gets even irregular, matchup-driven minutes with KAT/Dieng over the next 2-3 seasons

Since Wolves would only have a minimum contract for that role, or a cheap rookie contract if they drafted one, I guess why not have one

But I don't think the playing time will be there to make a difference, like it hasn't been for Aldrich.

[Narf]

Patton is the emergency backup big next year. We need to upgrade Teague more than anything.

[SBM]

Draft well and look to move Dieng even if you have to attach anyone not named Butler, Teague, Towns, Wiggins, or Gibson.

[Rookie-Mistake]

How many more years is Dieng contracted for??

[SBM]

How many more years is Dieng contracted for??

3yrs about 48 mill