Timberwolves Off-Season

[vagelis]

Better locker room guy? After all that drama with the spurs sure jan.

J. Butler and a filler for Kawhi Leonard would be good.
Leonard is a better player, better locker room guy and younger.
But I doubt that Popovic would do that. I think he would prefer a younger player with higher potential

I think that Leonard never had a problem with any of his teammates. He seems to be a good teammate and low profile guy.
That means for me that he is a good locker room guy. The issues with SA front office and his injury are a separate story.

[minimus]

Better locker room guy? After all that drama with the spurs sure jan.

J. Butler and a filler for Kawhi Leonard would be good.
Leonard is a better player, better locker room guy and younger.
But I doubt that Popovic would do that. I think he would prefer a younger player with higher potential

I think that Leonard never had a problem with any of his teammates. He seems to be a good teammate and low profile guy.
That means for me that he is a good locker room guy. The issues with SA front office and his injury are a separate story.

The issue is that he does not speak for himself and let other decide his destiny. I would not even try to get a player who wants out of SAS, Pop. It simply means that basketball is not the most important thing for him. Going to LAL after SAS? You gonna be kidding me.

[jfg]

Pop always seemed to be a players coach even though it's still Pop's system. Players seemed to really like him and he's stood up for his players and players around the league as well. But, with Kawhi and Aldridge both having issues over the past year I wonder what's going on there. Tough to tell.

[LibertyPrime]

Man too bad Leonard doesnt have us on his list. Would be game over if we could move Wiggins and assets for him. Butler/Leonard wing combo would be right there with the best of them. Defense would on lock down.

I would seriously just risk him walking, Minnesota has to at the very least try.

I'm thinking the most likely and straightforward reason for the circus surrounding Kawhi this past season is that his injury is far worse than anyone outside his camp knows, and he'll simply never be the same player he was again.

They know this, and so they've kept him from playing by any means necessary, until some team signs him to the maximum allowable contract.

I haven't yet heard anyone provide me with a story that makes more sense than that. I certainly don't have any inside info - but I think that's the only explanation for all the things that have happened in the past year. I don't think he suddenly developed an aversion to playing for an incredibly successful franchise and for a coach who's gone to great lengths to do well by his players.

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but I have a bad feeling that anyone who trades for Kawhi is going to regret it.

[Domejandro]

Man too bad Leonard doesnt have us on his list. Would be game over if we could move Wiggins and assets for him. Butler/Leonard wing combo would be right there with the best of them. Defense would on lock down.

I would seriously just risk him walking, Minnesota has to at the very least try.

I'm thinking the most likely and straightforward reason for the circus surrounding Kawhi this past season is that his injury is far worse than anyone outside his camp knows, and he'll simply never be the same player he was again.

They know this, and so they've kept him from playing by any means necessary, until some team signs him to the maximum allowable contract.

I haven't yet heard anyone provide me with a story that makes more sense than that. I certainly don't have any inside info - but I think that's the only explanation for all the things that have happened in the past year. I don't think he suddenly developed an aversion to playing for an incredibly successful franchise and for a coach who's gone to great lengths to do well by his players.

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but I have a bad feeling that anyone who trades for Kawhi is going to regret it.

San Antonio offered him the designated player max extension (over 200/5) and he declined.

[Bucketgetter]

So if the season started today, our lineup would be -

Teague / Tyus
Wiggins / Okogie
Butler / KBD
Taj / Patton
Towns / Dieng

I like it. Maybe try to dump Dieng to a team that strikes out during FA and has cap space, and then resign Bjelly.

[Klomp]

Going into free agency, there needs to be a decision on the Jones/Rose dynamic. Keep one or both, I don't really care. But it will impact who to target in FA. Similarly, they need to decide if they want to move Dieng and just overall resolve the backup PF/C spots. I doubt it right now, meaning I'd look more PF/SF than C/PF in free agency if that's a target.

It's definitely nice adding two guys with positional flexibility on both ends of the floor. Could go a number of ways.

[Neeva]

What are the chances the wolves sign hood or Bradley?

[Grits n Gravy]

Hypothetical situation:
The Lakers strike out on free agents this off season and plan to go hard in the summer of 2019

Hypothetical question:
If the Lakers come to us and want to exchange Deng for Taj to get off his contract one year early. What would be the minimum you would want back given that the Lakers are probably the biggest rival to sign Jimmy away and Taj is important to make playoffs.

[shrink]

I would seriously just risk him walking, Minnesota has to at the very least try.

I'm thinking the most likely and straightforward reason for the circus surrounding Kawhi this past season is that his injury is far worse than anyone outside his camp knows, and he'll simply never be the same player he was again.

They know this, and so they've kept him from playing by any means necessary, until some team signs him to the maximum allowable contract.

I haven't yet heard anyone provide me with a story that makes more sense than that. I certainly don't have any inside info - but I think that's the only explanation for all the things that have happened in the past year. I don't think he suddenly developed an aversion to playing for an incredibly successful franchise and for a coach who's gone to great lengths to do well by his players.

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but I have a bad feeling that anyone who trades for Kawhi is going to regret it.

San Antonio offered him the designated player max extension (over 200/5) and he declined.

Is this confirmed by Woj?

I have heard this rumor, but I've been busy this week, and never got a chance to confirm it. If this news is from a local Spurs insider, it would not be the first time Pops fed them a story to get a Spurs-friendly spin out there. Also, call me a cynic, but I am always suspicious of that when I hear about the reporting of something that didn't actually end up happening. There is no downside to the Spurs saying they tried to offer Kawhi the max deal and he declined - even if it never happened. It helps to appease their fans that are shattered by the news that Kawhi will be traded, and it improves his trade value.

[shrink]

What are the chances the wolves sign hood or Bradley?

MIN Is not going to be under the salary cap, so they are limited to offering free agents either the MLE ($8.8 mil) or more likely, the tax-payer MLE ($5.4 mil).This makes three constraints for us:

1. Great free agents may be offered more elsewhere.

2. Good free agents will get many teams also offering the MLE, and may choose them over us.

3. It's likely MIN won't use all or part of the exception, especially if they bring back Bjelica, as they try to stay under the lux this year. This saves them money this season, and more importantly, delays starting the larger lux penalties under the repeater clock, whenour roster has three max deal players a year from now.

I think Bradley will get better offers. Hood is harder to predict, but I think he goes elsewhere too. I believe we will offer Derrick Rose part of the MLE, and try to stay under the lux this year, thanks to Jamal Crawford opting out, and giving us a bit of breathing room.

[Slim Tubby]

Hypothetical situation:
The Lakers strike out on free agents this off season and plan to go hard in the summer of 2019

Hypothetical question:
If the Lakers come to us and want to exchange Deng for Taj to get off his contract one year early. What would be the minimum you would want back given that the Lakers are probably the biggest rival to sign Jimmy away and Taj is important to make playoffs.

Excellent hypothetical, grits. If the Lakers were desperate to clear Deng's cap hit, I would ask for Kuzma and Hart. The problem would be matching salaries.

LAL Out: Deng ($18.0M), Kuzma ($1.7M) and Hart ($1.7M) = $21.4M Total
LAL In: Gibson ($14.0M) and Aldrich ($7.0M) = $21.0M Total

MIN Out: Gibson ($14.0M) and Aldrich ($7.0M) = $21.0M Total
MIN In: Deng ($18.0M), Kuzma ($1.7M) and Hart ($1.7M) = $21.4M Total

[AirP.]

Now go turn Dieng into Bazemore...

By June 30th
Minn sends Dieng, Aldrich and A.Brooks for Bazemore and Plumlee(still need a proven backup center)

By waiving Aldrich, Atlanta saves nearly 14 million on these contracts(which of course Minnesota picks up). Thibs then has 3 defensive wings with some offense in Butler, Bazemore and Okogie which if Wiggins is kept, offsets his lack of defense better when Butler's not on the floor. I'd consider making Wiggins a scoring 6th man and let him have all the shots he wants instead of having to fight for shots with Towns and Butler.

I think next year giving Towns more shots while putting more defense in the starting lineup around him(Bazemore, Butler and Gibson) will start putting Towns in the MVP conversations as soon as this upcoming season. The defense could be tweaked to not funnel players as much but to just stay in front of them to no have Town's interior defense exploited as much.

[Slim Tubby]

Now go turn Dieng into Bazemore...

By June 30th
Minn sends Dieng, Aldrich and A.Brooks for Bazemore and Plumlee(still need a proven backup center)

By waiving Aldrich, Atlanta saves nearly 14 million on these contracts(which of course Minnesota picks up). Thibs then has 3 defensive wings with some offense in Butler, Bazemore and Okogie which if Wiggins is kept, offsets his lack of defense better when Butler's not on the floor. I'd consider making Wiggins a scoring 6th man and let him have all the shots he wants instead of having to fight for shots with Towns and Butler.

I think next year giving Towns more shots while putting more defense in the starting lineup around him(Bazemore, Butler and Gibson) will start putting Towns in the MVP conversations as soon as this upcoming season.

I'm personally not a fan of Bazemore but your trade idea makes a ton of sense for the Wolves.

[wolfen]

Going forward, we REALLY need to know if Okogie can play and guard SF. Rose will probably be back, and seems to be better at the 2 guard position. So Tyus, Rose, Okogie as your 1,2 and 3 off the bench? If Okogie is only a SG, then we still need to look at SF in free agency and I REALLY don't like what's out there in the SF free agent market. My guess is Rose with the bi-annual exception, Okogie plays SF, then we offer the MLE to who and what position?

[KGdaBom]

Now go turn Dieng into Bazemore...

By June 30th
Minn sends Dieng, Aldrich and A.Brooks for Bazemore and Plumlee(still need a proven backup center)

By waiving Aldrich, Atlanta saves nearly 14 million on these contracts(which of course Minnesota picks up). Thibs then has 3 defensive wings with some offense in Butler, Bazemore and Okogie which if Wiggins is kept, offsets his lack of defense better when Butler's not on the floor. I'd consider making Wiggins a scoring 6th man and let him have all the shots he wants instead of having to fight for shots with Towns and Butler.

I think next year giving Towns more shots while putting more defense in the starting lineup around him(Bazemore, Butler and Gibson) will start putting Towns in the MVP conversations as soon as this upcoming season.

I'm personally not a fan of Bazemore but your trade idea makes a ton of sense for the Wolves.

I am a fan of Bazemore, but with Okogie our top pick, I am concerned that having Baze could stunt Okogie's development.

[KGdaBom]

Going forward, we REALLY need to know if Okogie can play and guard SF. Rose will probably be back, and seems to be better at the 2 guard position. So Tyus, Rose, Okogie as your 1,2 and 3 off the bench? If Okogie is only a SG, then we still need to look at SF in free agency and I REALLY don't like what's out there in the SF free agent market. My guess is Rose with the bi-annual exception, Okogie plays SF, then we offer the MLE to who and what position?

My understanding is that Okogie can play both SG and SF without difficulty. Just slightly short for an SF, but very long and extremely athletic.

[Slim Tubby]

Going forward, we REALLY need to know if Okogie can play and guard SF. Rose will probably be back, and seems to be better at the 2 guard position. So Tyus, Rose, Okogie as your 1,2 and 3 off the bench? If Okogie is only a SG, then we still need to look at SF in free agency and I REALLY don't like what's out there in the SF free agent market. My guess is Rose with the bi-annual exception, Okogie plays SF, then we offer the MLE to who and what position?

My understanding is that Okogie can play both SG and SF without difficulty. Just slightly short for an SF, but very long and extremely athletic.

Okogie has extremely long arms and one of the analysts said that even though he's only 6'4, he defends like he's 6'7. He's also very physical so I'm thinking he'll be able to guard most SF's in the league. We will see!

[wolfen]

Going forward, we REALLY need to know if Okogie can play and guard SF. Rose will probably be back, and seems to be better at the 2 guard position. So Tyus, Rose, Okogie as your 1,2 and 3 off the bench? If Okogie is only a SG, then we still need to look at SF in free agency and I REALLY don't like what's out there in the SF free agent market. My guess is Rose with the bi-annual exception, Okogie plays SF, then we offer the MLE to who and what position?

My understanding is that Okogie can play both SG and SF without difficulty. Just slightly short for an SF, but very long and extremely athletic.

So then who the heck do we offer the MLE to knowing that he'll probably be in the rotation at SF, Rose at SG? There isn't a SF free agent out there that would sign with us for the MLE that's worth a crap IMO. I can see us actually offering it to Bjelly now since he can play the 4 and the 3. I'd still like to get a 2 guard who specializes at shooting the 3 ball. MLE Bjelly, Biannual exception Rose, league min offer to Jordan Crawford, Ian Clark, Seth Curry, Bryn Forbes and whoever takes it gets it.

Teague / Tyus
Butler / Rose / S Curry
Wigs / Okogie
Taj / Bjelly
KAT / Patton

Add in Gorgs, KBD, Brown, Jefferson

That's doable...

[KGdaBom]

Going forward, we REALLY need to know if Okogie can play and guard SF. Rose will probably be back, and seems to be better at the 2 guard position. So Tyus, Rose, Okogie as your 1,2 and 3 off the bench? If Okogie is only a SG, then we still need to look at SF in free agency and I REALLY don't like what's out there in the SF free agent market. My guess is Rose with the bi-annual exception, Okogie plays SF, then we offer the MLE to who and what position?

My understanding is that Okogie can play both SG and SF without difficulty. Just slightly short for an SF, but very long and extremely athletic.

So then who the heck do we offer the MLE to knowing that he'll probably be in the rotation at SF, Rose at SG? There isn't a SF free agent out there that would sign with us for the MLE that's worth a crap IMO. I can see us actually offering it to Bjelly now since he can play the 4 and the 3. I'd still like to get a 2 guard who specializes at shooting the 3 ball. MLE Bjelly, Biannual exception Rose, league min offer to Jordan Crawford, Ian Clark, Seth Curry, Bryn Forbes and whoever takes it gets it.

Teague / Tyus
Butler / Rose / S Curry
Wigs / Okogie
Taj / Bjelly
KAT / Patton

Add in Gorgs, KBD, Brown, Jefferson

That's doable...

I think you've answered your own Question Wolfen.