Center Targets?

shrink · Post #1 » by **shrink** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:09 pm

Obviously, center is the biggest need for the Wolves, and I'm wondering who would make your list for young center targets we could pair with Big Al?

Or do you think we'll try to acquire some $10+ mil older center?

Who's in your five?

deeney0 · Post #2 » by **deeney0** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:39 pm

Is the title purposely punny? If so, I approve.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #3 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:04 pm

1. Przybilla - Jason Collins' expiring for Prz. If they feel good about Oden/Aldridge/Frye/Diogu, they might be interested in saving the money. Portland fans will vehemently disagree, but it's possible.

2. Diop - If they decide they like to play Bass big minutes w/ Dirk in the frontcourt, then we can trade something for Diop. Their swing rotation could easily flop, we might be able to help out. It'd most likely be a difficult trade with multiple BYC's involved.

3. Hilton Armstrong - price couldn't be that high could it?

4ho5ive · Post #4 » by **4ho5ive** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:26 pm

My Fave Five:
-Haywood
-Bynum
-Okafor
-Noah
-Andres Beans

Five most realistic:
-Armstrong: Like Devilz said, probably wouldnt be hard to get. Big frame though not exactly the most talented. Sorta like POB

-Zaza Pachulia: He has improved pretty well till last year when Horford stepped in and he kinda fell outta favor. 4 mil exp,

-Josh Boone/Sean Williams: I prefer Boone as he is more of a true Center than SW1, due to their glut of big men one of them is likely going to be on the outside looking in.

-Etan Thomas: We are not likely to get the younger, bigger Haywood, but that doesnt mean we cant pursue Thomas, if and when he is 100%. I like his style of aggressive play and he is a good rebounder.

-Hasheem Thabeet-Hey God, its me, Gabe....

shrink · Post #5 » by **shrink** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 8:32 pm

Good ones.

For the young ones, I used to be higher on Sean Williams, but he's starting to look like he has a lot of bust-potential. NJN fans say that they won't part with Brook Lopez, and I don't know if he'd fit either. IND fans like Hibbert too. Noah's looked bad this season, and may also be unobtainable. Hawes? Also probably unobtainable. It seems to me that with young centers, teams are unwilling to deal anyone with any potential whatsoever.

For the older ones, I'd hope that a few teams decide they are heading for the lottery, and its time to rebuild. If we're under the salary cap in 2009, we can trade straight cap space (plus some youth or picks), to make trades. CHA still seems iffy on Okafor, and vice versa. Kaman or Bogut could possibly end up in this situation if their teams stink at the All Star Break.

Realistically? I wouldn't mind doing a deal for the expiring Rasho with something like Craig Smith + Cardinal + 2nd, and ge ta look at him. His defense is supposedly much better. Maybe an expiring Stromile Swift deal along the same lines.

Post #6 » by **Klomp** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:37 am

I've always thought Camby would be a good fit next to Al. Plays good defense, and has good range. Also is a 2010 expiring. Also, even though he's popular in Indy, I've always liked Foster, but Rasho would be much easier to get. I suppose we could always throw Darko's name out there, especially if Little Gasol does well.

southern wolf · Post #7 » by **southern wolf** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:35 am

Devilzsidewalk wrote:1. Przybilla - Jason Collins' expiring for Prz. If they feel good about Oden/Aldridge/Frye/Diogu, they might be interested in saving the money. Portland fans will vehemently disagree, but it's possible.

2. Diop - If they decide they like to play Bass big minutes w/ Dirk in the frontcourt, then we can trade something for Diop. Their swing rotation could easily flop, we might be able to help out. It'd most likely be a difficult trade with multiple BYC's involved.

3. Hilton Armstrong - price couldn't be that high could it?

Yeah didn't Diop sign some ridiculously large contract after his vacation to New Jersey?

4ho5ive · Post #8 » by **4ho5ive** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:27 am

Yea, ridiculous contract.

shrink · Post #9 » by **shrink** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:18 pm

Diop got the full MLE from Dallas. Now, $5,585,000 might not seem like too much, if you compare it to our previous MLE-sized guys (Mike James, Troy Hudson?), but its a lot more than we're signing guys at now, like Gomes ($3.65), Smith ($2.5 mil) or Telfair ($2.3 mil).

Personally, I don't mind the size of the contract for a guy with the size of DeSagana Diop. However, does his length justify its length? The deal goes until 2013, the final year being a player option, at this price: $5,585,000 $6,031,800 $6,478,600 $6,925,400 $7,372,200. I understand you have to pay more for centers, but the length creates some financial risk, if he regresses or has an injury. However, with Diop, he also is still sitting on a lot of upside, and I think his fit next to Al would already be very nice. I think he's worth the contract and gamble on him.

Post #10 » by **revprodeji** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 2:44 pm

We have the multiple 1st rd picks also. I would love to see what the asking price on Noah is. Just to see. A 3 man big group of Al/Love/Noah is crazy.

prefuse73 · Post #11 » by **prefuse73** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:29 pm

Thabeet would be my ideal guy. 7'3 and athletic and can truly be a paint presence defensively (4.5 bpg). His man to man defense isn't great, but I have to think he is athletic enough to handle the C's in this league...or even PF for that matter. We may have a shot at him this year, but I would like to think we will be out of the top 5.

Noah would be my next choice. Again, not much on offense, but he has a jumper and can pass, but more importantly he is tall, athletic and will be tough defensively. With Al and Love, we don't need an offensive genius, we just need athleticism. Al/Noah/Love combo would set us up great for the long haul. Chicago needs inside scoring, so maybe a trade of Smith and a pick for Noah could actually work.

Williams, Boone or Swift would work. It seems like we are keeping Al at C and he is responding with more blocks this pre-season and tougher D so someone extremely athletic like Swift or Williams, even though only 6'9 to 6'10, would actually work quite well.

Other than that I would want to look at project centers like Sene and Aijinca. We have Collins here for this year, so Sene could learn for one more year and then take over next year.

obviously the key words here are tall AND athletic AND defensive oriented. again, I consider any offensive skill (besides put backs and 5 footers) a bonus.

Mattya · Post #12 » by **Mattya** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 3:46 pm

I don't really know much about him, but BJ Mullens? I think his name is a potential top 10 pick according to espn

LordBaldric · Post #13 » by **LordBaldric** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:39 pm

revprodeji wrote:We have the multiple 1st rd picks also. I would love to see what the asking price on Noah is. Just to see. A 3 man big group of Al/Love/Noah is crazy.

I don't know why people here are so high on Noah. As a Bulls fan who has watched pretty much every game Noah has played in the NBA, he's a nice but limited player, nothing special. Not to mention he did jack **** this offseason to improve his game, which has disappointed Bulls fans. Tyrus Thomas, who seems much ridiculed around here, is a much superior player in every way and has a much higher upside. Yet you guys clamor for Noah. Thomas is a terrific help defender and can actually generate some points. I think he would benefit the Wolves a lot more than Noah.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #14 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:56 pm

I don't mind Diop's contract. He's one of a very small group of people that won't be physically destroyed by Oden and Bynum. He can play good defense and he's very big and strong. That's worth it to me.

Downtown · Post #15 » by **Downtown** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 8:42 pm

It's extremely tough to get a team to trade a big man when he's still on his cheap rookie contract. Teams know that most young centers take time to mature and learn the position so they won't give up on them until they absolutely have to, or a no brainer of a deal lands in their lap.

So while I think a Josh Boone or Sean Williams might be a nice addition, it's more likely that a Rasho Nesterovic is more probable. Being from Canada I've watched Rasho the last couple years in Toronto and I like his game. He is pretty good at complimenting a star power forward. He stays at home and doesn't try to do too much. He has improved over when he last played for the Wolves.

4ho5ive · Post #16 » by **4ho5ive** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 12:32 am

Hows his D? thats my only issue with bringing Rasho back.

shrink · Post #17 » by **shrink** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 2:35 am

4ho5ive wrote:Hows his D? thats my only issue with bringing Rasho back.

Supposedly he's pretty good, and if you put stock in defensive rating stats (I don't), he's actually a pretty effective defender.

I'd like to do a deal where we get them some talent for doing a Rasho-Cardinal swap. It'd give us a chance to see how Rasho would work with our team, and if he wouldn't, we'd have the cap space next season to find other options. They should have the room under the cap to take on one year of Cardinal, and his deal expires along with Jermaine O'Neal's biggest deal in the NBA

Post #18 » by **Klomp** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:11 am

shrink wrote:
4ho5ive wrote:Hows his D? thats my only issue with bringing Rasho back.

I'd like to do a deal where we get them some talent for doing a Rasho-Cardinal swap. It'd give us a chance to see how Rasho would work with our team, and if he wouldn't, we'd have the cap space next season to find other options. They should have the room under the cap to take on one year of Cardinal, and his deal expires along with Jermaine O'Neal's biggest deal in the NBA

Except the fact that Rasho and Jermaine were traded for each other.

4ho5ive · Post #19 » by **4ho5ive** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 5:15 am

klomp44 wrote:Except the fact that Rasho and Jermaine were traded for each other.

Minor detail.

shrink · Post #20 » by **shrink** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 12:37 pm

klomp44 wrote:
shrink wrote:
4ho5ive wrote:Hows his D? thats my only issue with bringing Rasho back.

I'd like to do a deal where we get them some talent for doing a Rasho-Cardinal swap. It'd give us a chance to see how Rasho would work with our team, and if he wouldn't, we'd have the cap space next season to find other options. They should have the room under the cap to take on one year of Cardinal, and his deal expires along with Jermaine O'Neal's biggest deal in the NBA

Except the fact that Rasho and Jermaine were traded for each other.

LOL! That's the second time I've mentioned this in the last week. No wonder I couldn't remember the asset I threw at TOR -- I didn't set up a deal.

With Indiana, its harder to see the future finances. They just gave Jeff Foster (another player I like) a two year extension, and they are very excited about Hibbert. Troy Murphy's there for three years, and he's a PF/C too. They need the money to give Granger, their most popular player, perhaps a $12 mil deal. They may want to bring Jarrett Jack back after they get a look at him this season, though they have TJ Ford at $8.5 mil for the next two years too. I think they can afford to move the center (to get Hibbert from being third string) and I think they can afford one year of Cardinal.

If I recall, the deal I proposed was fairly well received by IND posters:

Rasho + Stephen Graham for Cardinal + Carney + $3 mil cash

Carney was a high school phenom in IND. I might have included the BOS or UTA pick, and if so, then it included Deiner.