RealGM

Aside from draft talk, the one topic that seems to keep popping up on every thread is who MIN can find as a big man next to Al. It makes sense -- it's our biggest need -- but I think it would be easier to compare and contrast if we had a single thread.

Pick a name, throw it out there.

POB and Diop have been discussed pretty thoroughly, and there's a decent discussion on Okafor in several threads. Let me toss out another name to get started:

Camby

I like Camby, but it seems like he's a little old for our youth movement. He would probably be pretty expensive, too.

I really like Sean Williams. I was really hoping for the Wolves to snatch him up if he fell to the second round. NJ doesn't really seem to be playing him that much since they have Diop and a stud in Josh Boone.

I dislike that Camby thinks he is a pg and takes the ball up the court. Everytime I watch him play I find myself yelling "OUTLET PASS" at the tv. Plus he is old. I would say he is a couple small injuries away from being done.

Sean Williams would be interesting. However he has a rocky past and that doesn't seem to fit with what the Wolves have going.

After the Hornets have had a great season I doubt we could pry Chandler from them. If we could a Jefferson/Chandler frontcourt would be great.

A player that Devilz mentioned in another thread is Wilcox.

Wilcox is an interesting idea. Is he any less liked than Collison? I'd take either.

-Camby is likely too expensive.
-I'm not too fond of Diop.
-Williams will not be traded.
-O'Bryant might be a cheap option.
-I think Darko could be thrown into the mix if Memphis ends up with Lopez.
-Sacramento could part ways with Mikki Moore or Brad Miller.
-Kurt Thomas would be a good fit with Jefferson.

Camby would be tough to pry away from a division foe. George Karl has said time and time again that Camby is th eplayer most pivotal to their success. Take Camby away and the Nuggets look like a .500 team to me.

After Diop/O'bryant:

Rasho: how about Rasho? He's looked really good as of late. Granted, he's a little soft, but his man to man defense is just fine.

Etan: If I knew Etan Thomas was going to be healthy, I'd swap him for Jaric straight up, but that's a big if.

Nazr: The Bobs might be willing to move Nazr already. I don't think they would take a back court player in return though. I think his deal is a year longer than Jaric's though.

Wilcox: He's a little undersized for me, but would be a nice pickup. Something to consider is that he's only got two years left. He might not make too much sense for a rebuilding team since he's already entering his prime.

Zaza: Pachulia is done in Atlanta. He showed promise long ago, and he's still young. He's low risk @ 4 mil for 2 more years and is probably all we need in terms of a temporary stopgap while we develop a young center of our own. I think he could be easily had for Buckner. To me he makes the most sense.

In sum: Adding a player like Camby or Wilcox doesn't make a whole lot of sense right now. We need to find that young center who we can add as part of the rebuilding effort. If we don't find one through the draft this year, then we will probably get one sooner or later via next years draft or trade. In the meanwhile I think we just need someone who's competent to fill the five so we can move Al down to the four.

I agree that Camby is expensive and probably not "gettable". However, if we could pick up a project center such as Thabeet in the draft, Camby may be a nice veteran mentor that could start for a couple years and teach the youngster how to play defense in the NBA.

I still like Diop and POB as FAs if we don't draft any bigs. The two of them might compliment each other well and if they don't work out, they wouldn't be too expensive.

Rasho might be OK but, personally, I would make a rule: No former Timberwolves will be considered.

Dr.Krapinsky wrote:
In sum: Adding a player like Camby or Wilcox doesn't make a whole lot of sense right now. We need to find that young center who we can add as part of the rebuilding effort. If we don't find one through the draft this year, then we will probably get one sooner or later via next years draft or trade. In the meanwhile I think we just need someone who's competent to fill the five so we can move Al down to the four.

Chris Wilcox is 25 and younger than Diop and only 5 mos older than Pachulia.


Another Seattle guy I'd like to mention is Robert Swift. Its a risk because he's been injured, but he's athletic and pretty huge, might be a risk worth taking.

Right. But Wilcox makes 7 mil for the next two years and requires us to give up assets (ECs and a pick or young player) to get him. Diop is better suited to play the 5 and would only cost us $. Zaza is only seen as a temporary stopgap and wouldn't cost us anything.

Wilcox man defense is considered soft by many. He considers himself an offensive player.

O'Bryant is our likely guy. I would like to give him a chance to do something. Not too much money and he is still young. I would almost target him more than Diop.

I do not want to take salary on unless we lose it (like your buckner write-up. Good call die hard)

Melvin Ely? (free agent)

Steven Hunter (traded for Buckner)

Neither is exciting but either would add depth/insurance, and could be had cheaply.

MN Die Hard wrote:Melvin Ely? (free agent)

Steven Hunter (traded for Buckner)

Neither is exciting but either would add depth/insurance, and could be had cheaply.

I think that Denver would do that trade. Buckner would get playing time on their team. They are starting Anthony Carter for crying out loud.
I thought that Hunter wasn't all that great at defense. Or is it just rebounding?

*Nevermind. I just saw it on the trade board and it doesn't seem to sit well with the Nuggets.

Forgetting availability entirely, by FIT (style of game), who would be the Top Five Centers that would go best next to Al?

revprodeji wrote:I do not want to take salary on unless we lose it

I take that to mean that you don't want to add long-term salary, right Rev? I respectfully disagree. It's not like free agents are going to flock to Minny like they would to Orlando or Phoenix. And I know that cap flexibility is important, but you should expect to pay for production. I get the impression that sometimes we fall in love with potential ("we have to lose 60 games next year so we get a chance at Prospect X") over production.

I think the Wolves are ideally positioned to add a young veteran, preferably one with playoff experience. It's at a different position, but look what Andre Miller has done for Philly. If the Wolves followed that trend they'd look a lot better next year.

For me the ideal big to add would be Jermaine O'Neal. O'Neal is experienced, a solid citizen, a great defender and although he's got a ton of mileage on him, he's only 29. He'd be perfect in a secondary role next to Jefferson for the next 5-6 years. Problem with O'Neal is salary... the only stuff that works on the Trade Checker is something like:

Walker (expiring)
Buckner
Jaric
McCants

for O'Neal. If the Pacers decide to trade him, I would think they could do better than that package.

shrink wrote:Forgetting availability entirely, by FIT (style of game), who would be the Top Five Centers that would go best next to Al?

I'm not going to list strictly by the position of "Center", I'm going to put the bigs I think woudl fit best next to Al.

1.) Amare Stoudemire (his facing the basket game would work so well with Al's back to the basket game.)

2.) Yao Ming

3.) Chris Kamon

4.) LMA

5.) Tyson Chandler

shrink wrote:Forgetting availability entirely, by FIT (style of game), who would be the Top Five Centers that would go best next to Al?

if availability isn't an issue, then I'd just name the top centers, D12, Yao, Chandler, etc.


thats boring though, we'll never see any of those players.

How about the top 5 centers we could potentially trade a draft pick from 3-6 for:

1. Okafor - I had him on my first 2k8 franchise next to Al, and it was a dynamite combo. I can only assume the real combo would do just as well.

2. Kaman - sure LAC loves Kaman, but what if they could have OJ Mayo instead?

3. Biedrins - if Nelly stays, maybe we can trade for Biedrins. He only played him 27 mpg. Why have a center with limited offense when you can draft a talented perimeter player and play small ball! Do it Nelly.

4. Bogut - he hasn't broken out yet, but I think its coming, maybe we can tempt the Bucks with a top draft pick to let go of the Aussie?

5. I couldn't think of a 5th

My random thoughts:

I think Diop is a decent fit, but at the same time the money he's going to probably command isn't necessarily appealing for a 4 pt/5-6 rebound per night guy. Granted we're looking more for a defender than scorer in an ideal world, but I would think even Richard would likely be near that with 25 minutes per game.

If NJ targets Diop, I would really like to take a look at Kristic. He's more of an offensive center, but he's a decent shot blocker and rebounder.

Gadzuric and Pachulia are guys that we could probably get through a trade, but I'd want to trade someone like Jaric if we're going to take that kind of contract. Is Jaric the more productive player? Yes, but we'd be moving a small for a big and taking from a position where we have a lot of options for a position we don't, so I have no problem with that. Buckner would also be an option there, even if he's expiring so we're adding years.

I think a Noah/Varejao type guy would be a good fit next to Al. It would probably be pretty hard to pry either those players from their respective teams, but Robin Lopez is compared to those guys although I haven't seen him play.

Devilzsidewalk wrote:4. Bogut - he hasn't broken out yet, but I think its coming, maybe we can tempt the Bucks with a top draft pick to let go of the Aussie?

Bogut became my favorite non-Timberwolf when he did this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc11PUnFgkQ

It would also be cool if we could get Charlie Bell in the deal, since he apparently has a realgm account and posts on the Bucks board, which is cool.

1- Kaman
2- Biedrins
3- Nene
4- Bogut
5- Chandler

I would give up our pick (if it is not top2) plus Walker (not needed for Bogut) for any of these players except Nene. I think we could get rid of Jaric's contract if we took on Nene's (like the deal in that other thread).