Better Rebuilding Situation...

[Scalabrine]

If you were a coach or GM and these teams all called you and asked you if you wanted the job to rebuild this team into a championship contender which one would you take?

Memphis Grizzlies
Darko Milicic(22)/J.Collins(29)
Hakim Warrick(25)/Cardinal(30)
Rudy Gay(21)/Miller
Mike Miller(28)/Navarro(27)/Crittenton
Mike Conley(20)/Crittenton(20)/Lowry(21)
Expiring Contract: Kwame Brown (26), Jacobson(27), Andre Brown(26)
Average Age: 24.8
Draft Pick: Top 5, Late 1st Round (projected at 27 right now)
Total Salary Next Season: $44,024,061
This team is one of the new age young teams that we keep seeing around the league where there is no real size but alot of athleticsm. They are crowded at the 1 and 2 and even 3 but they really have no viable options at PF (Warrick is a natural SF) and Darko is there only bigman other than Jason Collins. They are young but they still need some tuning

Minnesota Timberwolves
Jefferson(23)/Richard(23)/Madsen
Smith(24)/Madsen(32)/Walker
Brewer(22)/Walker(31)
McCants(23)/Snyder(24)/Buckner(31)
Foye(24)/Jaric(29)
Expiring Contracts: Michael Doleac(30), Sebastion Telfair(22), Ryan Gomes(24)
Average Age(current): 25.9
Draft Pick: Top 5
Next Year Salary: $55,124,864
They (like the Grizz) are extremely thin with front court depth. The difference between the two franchises is the Wolves have a sure big man to build around in Jefferson, Memphis has a decent big man but hes certaintly nothing a GM would want to build off of but they do have an extra first round pick (does Boston owe the Wolves a pick this year?).

What I would like to come from this thread is a discussion on
what team you would choose to coach/gm?
What type of moves would you look to make?
Give a quick draft board on the type of player you would take with the pick(s)?
What type of window would you want fromt the owner to build the team to a contender?

If this goes well we can do other teams after...

Go!!

[penbeast0]

neither team has the pieces in place to do much more than be .500 with help. Therefore I look at the top and wonder who has better ownership because eventually that will tell out for good or bad.

[NO-KG-AI]

If I could choose either, I'd take Minnesota no doubt, Al Jeff is a beast, Randy Foye is showing great signs, and they have a lot of good complimentary players that are going to fit well with a star draft pick.

[Jemini80]

Both are going to suck for awhile, but Memphis is stacked at the PG position which will allow them to trade one or probably two of them. Mike Miller is huge tradebait as well. Minny is tied down with Jaric and Walker's contracts. I see Memphis going with Jordan in this draft though and that worries me for them. I think Memphis's tradeable assets and not having McFail outweighs Al Jefferson. Rudy Gay has to learn to pass and not chuck up shots though.

[TheSheriff]

I'll take the t-wolves: Big Al and a high draft pick, this team is in great shape.

If Brewer and Foye develop a little they can be good. Or they can make a move and get a superstar to go along with Al and whoever they draft.

[Cammo101]

I like Conley and Gay as a core better than Al and Foye. I also like Darko and miller more than Minny's supporting cast. A lot will depend who each team takes in the upcoming draft. Lopez is a guy both teams could really use.

[MVP16]

It's not that far apart, but I would probably choose Minnesota. They have the best player out of both teams in Al Jefferson IMO. Rudy Gay is a very talented player, but a big who puts up 20/10+ is easier to build around. Conley and Foye are pretty much a wash right now. The other young players like Brewer, Crittenton, Smith, McCants, Lowry etc. are also not that far apart although I would give the Minnesota "supporting cast" a slight edge. Both teams also have multiple picks in the next few years.

Memphis does have Mike Miller who they could get something valuable in exchange for, so that gives them some points although seeing how much they got for Gasol, I don't know what they'll be able to get for Miller.

Memphis seems to have a huge advantage in their salary cap situation, but they're not going to sign anybody good unless they overpay because Memphis is not a hot spot for NBA players. It might be easier for Minnesota to get a player by trading Walker's expiring contract next year along with some youngsters and picks.

[Cammo101]

Minny may have Al...but Memphis has more money to spend in free agency and more depth of good young players. Also, Memphis has a true PG and a true C, Minny has neither.

[Fitz303]

IF Memphis can get Beasley, Id take Memphis easily. Darko/Beasley/Gay/Miller/Conley is a nice lineup for the future. Move Miller and Cardinal and make a play for someone like Iggy next summer and youre set

If Minny gets Beasley, they obviously get much better as well, but I dont think he makes the same kind of difference on Minnys roster. Minny has a nice future as well but has too many projects that they need to figure out first before you can really gauge. Foye, Brewer, McCants. If those guys all turn into what they were expected to be then theyre in great shape. But thats a BIG if. Memphis also has more money to throw at FA's here in the near future. Both have good futures, but Id go with Memphis. Even if they dont get beasley, they can turn one or two of their young PGs into good prospects around their teams needs.

[dalekjazz]

At least they are not the Sonics who don't even know where they will be playing next year. The Oklahoma City Supersonics just doesn't sound right.

[PaKwAn]

I'll take the twolves,the players that they got are somehow balanced with their positions and they got a good bigman in jefferson which is easier to build around with...

[giberish]

I like Memphis' combination of talent, future draft picks and salary structure better than Minnesota. If the ownership was equal, Memphis is the choice.

I'd still pick Minnesota though, as I don't trust Memphis' ownership not to be incredibly cheap over the next 5-10 years, sabotaging efforts to build a winning team.

[Jemini80]

Gilbert Arenas is crazy/stupid enough to go to Memphis, and i think they have the cap room to sign him. Memphis isn't a **** city like some other players, so they won't really have to overpay to get people to go there. I mean who would rather go to Minneapolis than Memphis (no offense meant to Minnesotans considering I'm a Viking fan).

[Nolan]

I like What Memphis has going they have two quality scorers in Miller and Gay, a good looking young point in Conely and Darko who is a decent defensive big man with some room to improve on offense.

[Scalabrine]

what team you would choose to coach/gm?

Memphis, both teams are lacking depth at the 4 and 5 and even though Jefferson is the better player I feel like the NBA is changing and having a go-to-guy in the post is becoming less important. Dont get me wrong I totally think its important to have a guy that you can throw the ball to down low to get points but I think a more well rounded team would do better then a team with there 1st option as a PF and no other really consistent scoring.

What type of moves would you look to make?

I would look to trade Lowry and Brian Cardinal to a team with some cap space for there 1st round pick and a contract thats a little less than the MLE or for an expiring contract and one of the Lakers future picks. Malik Rose and a future 2nd for Cardinal and Lowry and Lakers first would work for both teams with a pick may not even be necessary. I would also test the market for Mike Miller and see where his value is at, I feel like since he is a good all around talent and has a great attitude there wouldnt be any team in the league that wouldnt want him therefor I feel like they could get more talent then what they got from the Lakers for Gasol (crazy right?), but if I were the GM and had Gasol there is no way I would have done that trade in the first place. If there isnt anything really special about the deals for Miller I would keep him until something comes around, hes not the type of guy that is going to ask for a trade.

Give a quick draft board on the type of player you would take with the pick(s)?

Assuming I dont get the first pick (Beasley) I would draft Brook Lopez, if I got pick 2 (Rose) I would trade the pick to a team who has 2 picks or a team that will give a top 10 pick and a promising young player. Maybe the Clippers would part with Kaman and there pick for Rose(number 2 pick) and a guy with close to equal salary.

What type of window would you want fromt the owner to build the team to a contender?

I think in the West I would ask for a 3 year window, I think in the West you have teams whose key players will all be getting up there in age (Spurs, Rockets, Suns, Dallas, to a lesser extent Denver) and building a team with the goal to emerge as they decline would be a good plan, if the team I built hasnt made progress in the 3 years I would worry for the pink slip every day I came to work.

[revprodeji]

I now I am a MN fan, but i still take MN. Walker is an ending contract(team option) so the only bad contract is Jaric, which is not even that bad and he is an effective rotation player. They have a true young cornerstone in Al Jefferson who has a very good contract also. They have their 1st this year, plus the miami 2nd and their 2nd so that is 3 picks in the top 35. They also have good young players that are learning to gel and work together in FOye, Shad, Brewer. Also Gomes/Smith/Bassy were very effective this year and hopefully come back.