What players should remain in Minnesota in 5 years

[deeney0]

Hawes doesn't own anybody anywhere.

[PeeDee]

Just Brook.

[GopherIt!]

The Great RC said:

I know I'm a Craig Smith lover(No homo)

come on RC don't lie, we know you that girl in your avatar was/is just a front...lol

[Worm Guts]

Brook is a bit more athletic but Hawes owns Lopez in the post and in passing. Lopez is going to get exposed in the league, and I don't think he can evolve past it.

Brook is bigger, more athletic and better defensively.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I like Craig Smith lots too, but he's a bad match for the team because he can only play PF, and he's a poor compliment to Big Al because his main talent is as a scorer in the paint.

[drummerrob26]

Great read in the press today and really sheds what could be nice insight into what the team is thinking of doing. Gomes seems to be a for sure grab, really seems that Richard and Craig Smith could be here to stay. We plan on keeping im guessing one of Snyder and Telfair and apparently it is based on who we draft which makes sense.

[C.lupus]

Great read in the press today and really sheds what could be nice insight into what the team is thinking of doing. Gomes seems to be a for sure grab, really seems that Richard and Craig Smith could be here to stay. We plan on keeping im guessing one of Snyder and Telfair and apparently it is based on who we draft which makes sense.

Some of McHale's quotes were downright frightening to me. He still seems to think this team is close to competing and he should lock up all of his mediocre role players. Did he learn NOTHING from KG's tenure?

A 20-win improvement is within reach, according to McHale, the club's vice president of basketball operations, who said his team isn't that far away from being a much more competitive team.

To get there, McHale won't need to acquire superstars Kobe Bryant or LeBron James. He believes these Wolves can make that type of significant improvement. He acknowledged the team didn't play to its potential this season, losing too many close games, but he sees reason for optimism.

Wittman sounded a bit more realistic. At least there is one voice of reason there.

Wittman and McHale agree that the Wolves need more perimeter shooters to punish defenses when they double-team franchise player Al Jefferson in the post. And the team has to improve on defense. The Wolves' perimeter players gave up penetration too easily, and Jefferson didn't guard well down low.

"We need a little bit of everything," Wittman said. "When you're (at) 22 wins, you've got some deficiencies. I just think we've got to continue to build our (overall) talent."

Gomes seems a lock unless someone offers an extremely unreasonable contract. Smith, Telfair, Richard, and Snyder should all be low-priority signings IMO. The last thing this franchise needs is to lock up more mediocre players to long, untradeable contracts. We need talent.

[deeney0]

They're all good players, but they've all got the potential to be overpayed. Keep the players who will sign reasonable contracts.

It's not only O.K. having Craig Smith to backup Al even though he could start on some teams, thats a GOOD thing, provided he's paid like a back-up. I see Craig as the least likely to get a too-large offer from another team, which makes me think he should be kept. Gomes or Bassy get $5mil/per offers? Let them walk.

[shrink]

I want to compliment Telfair on his season, because when he got here, I never thought he could do enough to make keeping him even something that could possibly be considered.

If Taylor is right, that we'll probably only have 6 or 7 guys back this season, I think management's view would be to keep:

1. Al -- no question - big extension at a discount. He's the future.
2. Brewer -- young and trade value too low
3. Foye -- Management needs to hope he excels, since they traded Roy for him
4. McCants -- maybe the most likely of the six to go, but management has waited a long time on his potential, and he's shown glimmers of it
5. Madsen -- great personality, small contract - I just wish he could play basketball
6. Jaric -- ringworm is easier to get rid of

I think all 6 of those are more likely to be here than Gomes, who could also be gone simply because he gets such a big offer we can't match. That would really be a shame, because I think he was the wolves second best player this season, so I hope we bring him back.

[deeney0]

I think the way some of the people on this board feel about McCants isn't that far off from how some of the people on the Celtics board felt about Green. "He'll get it eventually, just give him a chance. All he needs is a chance." This season was his chance. I for one am ready to move on.

[theGreatRC]

Who would you draft with the 3rd pick?

Mayo. Not only is he the third best talent in the draft, but his hype surrounding him since High School would be followed by the Media into his career, thus giving us more National Coverage(TNT, ESPN, etc. - I hope).

[deeney0]

I don't see how they can only return 7 players. Add three draft picks (despire rumors that they won't have both 2nd rounders on the the roster next year) and that's up to 10. Gotta carry 13, so this team is going to go out and sign 3 players? Even breaking apart the MLE, those are basically minimum contracts. So Wolves are going to go into the season with 7 returning players, 3 draft picks, and 3 D-league scrubs? I don't see it. I think they've got to return 8 or 9.

[theGreatRC]

I like Craig Smith lots too, but he's a bad match for the team because he can only play PF, and he's a poor compliment to Big Al because his main talent is as a scorer in the paint.

Floater brothers, man. Remember those times?

[Devilzsidewalk]

I don't want Craig to languish on the Wolves bench for 15 minutes a game, he could start for a couple teams I think. Sixer and the Kings. Rockets maybe. Cavs definitely, he'd be great for Cleveland getting lots of easy looks around the basket. He'd have 17 ppg without a single play being called for him.

[deeney0]

Isn't that all the more reason to keep him if he'll take $3mil/per? At the very least, he could be a trade asset down the road.

[cpfsf]

all Smith can do is make points in the paint. He does not pass and he is too small and I don't think he will improve much over the next few years.