Comments from the Telfair conference

[theGreatRC]

http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/te ... esser.html

The whole article is good, but i'm just nit-picking

His contract is three years, player option for the third year.

Bassy comments that I liked:

Q: On his general reaction to re-signing with the Wolves:
Telfair: I'm happy it's done; I'm excited about that. Coming into the summer a free agent was a big thing for me, but the most important part was coming back to Minnesota. I got a great opportunity to play last year. I built a good relationship with the organization and the coaches and I really wanted to continue and play here. Mac and those guys believed in me and I appreciate it. I'm back to do my job and hopefully go in and have a strong season together.

Q: On how much better the Wolves can be next season:
Telfair: A lot better. We were in a lot of games and we got a couple of big wins last year. I think what we were missing was a guy like Mike Miller who is a veteran, who has been in games and can spread the floor a little bit for us.

Interesting Mchale comments:

Q: On the prospects of getting Gomes signed:
McHale: We hope so. When I started off this summer, I said I wanted to sign Craig, Sebastian and Ryan. We're two-thirds of the way there. 'Till the deal is done, it's very hard for me to comment on anything. We're making headway and trying to get something done.

Q: On Chris Richard:
McHale: Chris right now is under a tender. He's actually tendered for us and at any point, he can sign the deal and go to camp with us. Technically, he's under contract with us. He can go out there and sign another tender and we'd have he right to match

[Klomp]

I'm starting to think that we are done making moves this offseason, other than our own free agents. I predict that Gomes will resign with us. The only question mark is Richard. If he signs the tender, we're done. If not, I think thats the only way we'll sign a combo guard or one of the points from summer league.

That would make our depth chart.

Foye / Telfair / (Combo/Summer Leaguer)
Miller / McCants / Carney
Gomes / Brewer / Cardinal
Jefferson / Smith / (Richard)
Collins / Love / Booth


*I know lots of people want/think Love should start, but I think that he'll start the season coming off the bench.

[Klomp]

Heres some more stuff from the STrib Blog: http://ww3.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/

“I’m going to come in and work to do whatever Coach Wittman needs me to do,” Telfair said at a Target Center news conference on Wednesday. “If that’s as a starter, I’ll definitely go out there and do what a starter does. If that’s a backup, I’m going to come off the bench and give us a spark.”

McHale said he’d like to add a combo guard who can serve as a third point guard, but said he doesn’t currently consider it a pressing issue. He said he’d consider one of the team’s summer league guards — Blake Ahearn looked most like a combo guard from a group that included Drew Neitzel, Pooh Jeter and Bryce Taylor — for that spot when those players decide in the coming weeks whether they will play in Europe or the United States.

“Maybe we can try to get my little brother be that third guard,” Telfair said.

His brother, Ethan, is a 13-year-old point guard back in New York.

“He’s too young now,” Telfair said. “But maybe next year we can get him in the draft.”

McHale said he is making “headway” in negotiations with restricted free agent Ryan Gomes.

[casey]

Q: On the years of the contract:
McHale: It's a three-year deal, there's a player option after two.

Q: On the chances of carrying 15 guys on your roster all year:
McHale: If you carry 15, I'd like to have three of them down in the D-League. We want them to play. When you're not playing it's hard to get better. We'll see what happens

[TrentTuckerForever]

I know lots of people want/think Love should start, but I think that he'll start the season coming off the bench.

Agree. Collins will protect Al on defense, and he's not completely inept on O (he used to have a useful 15 foot jumper in New Jersey.) I like him a lot as the starter, with Love getting his minutes against backups at first.

[karch34]

I know lots of people want/think Love should start, but I think that he'll start the season coming off the bench.

Agree. Collins will protect Al on defense, and he's not completely inept on O (he used to have a useful 15 foot jumper in New Jersey.) I like him a lot as the starter, with Love getting his minutes against backups at first.

Agree as well. Plus, when have we ever started a rookie right out of the gate? Foye, McCants and Brewer didn't start. I don't think Wally ever did and I know Marbury didn't.

[TrentTuckerForever]

Q: On the years of the contract:
McHale: It's a three-year deal, there's a player option after two.

Q: On the chances of carrying 15 guys on your roster all year:
McHale: If you carry 15, I'd like to have three of them down in the D-League. We want them to play. When you're not playing it's hard to get better. We'll see what happens

I'm with you on the contract, Casey. Is Telfair ever going to have a better opportunity to play than last year, when Foye was out so much? I guess a year of familiarity will help some, but I am not a fan of a third year, especially at his option.

On the 15 guys thing - Richard and a summer-league point guard could use time in the NBDL. So could Madsen... they need cheerleaders there too, right?

[Klomp]

I think the thing hes confused about is that I think theres a max of two players that can be in the DLeague, though I'm not sure about that.

[shrink]

Q: On the years of the contract:
McHale: It's a three-year deal, there's a player option after two.

:nonono:

Again, it depends on the size of the contract.

The fact that they wouldn't offer the QO in a one-year deal makes me think that the third year was a compromise for a low number. It certainly isn't going to be a T-Hud type number.

[MN Die Hard]

I know lots of people want/think Love should start, but I think that he'll start the season coming off the bench.

Agree. Collins will protect Al on defense, and he's not completely inept on O (he used to have a useful 15 foot jumper in New Jersey.) I like him a lot as the starter, with Love getting his minutes against backups at first.

Agree as well. Plus, when have we ever started a rookie right out of the gate? Foye, McCants and Brewer didn't start. I don't think Wally ever did and I know Marbury didn't.

Marbury pretty much started from day one.

[casey]

Q: On the years of the contract:
McHale: It's a three-year deal, there's a player option after two.

Again, it depends on the size of the contract.

The fact that they wouldn't offer the QO in a one-year deal makes me think that the third year was a compromise for a low number. It certainly isn't going to be a T-Hud type number.

I'm sure it will be a reasonable number, but it's still a mistake. Something like $3mil might not seem like much, but that's about $16mil less total that we can offer a big time free agent. And that will definately hurt us. It would've been better for the team to give him a $6mil deal for two years than a $6mil deal for three years. And really, I would've rather just kept him for the qualifying offer this year. Or just not signed him at all.

[karch34]

Agree as well. Plus, when have we ever started a rookie right out of the gate? Foye, McCants and Brewer didn't start. I don't think Wally ever did and I know Marbury didn't.

Marbury pretty much started from day one.

He didn't start until a few weeks in. But you're right he's probably as close to starting out of the gate as we've had.

[mayorhoiberg]

http://ww3.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/

Bassy's making 2.3, 2.5, and then the option is for 2.7 mil.

Cookie's getting 2.3 and 2.5 mil.

Good numbers for these guys; i think.

[Klomp]

Thats definitely reasonable. Shrink, how does that affect our cap situation? I'm too lazy to check.

[shrink]

http://ww3.startribune.com/blogs/wolves/

Bassy's making 2.3, 2.5, and then the option is for 2.7 mil.

Cookie's getting 2.3 and 2.5 mil.

Good numbers for these guys; i think.

FINALLY! Thanks for posting that, mayor.

I read (and I think I mentioned it here), that owners are getting tight with their money, particularly as they fill out the roster, and that this might help us sign decent players for small contracts. These guys can have more value in a trade, as owners SWAP salary rather than ADD salary.

casey, I guess I'm just going to have to disagree with you. Telfair and Cookie for a small amount gives them each little trade value. Yes, Telfair's third year may or may not reduce the amount we can offer in the first year to a free agent. However, we have less than $16 mil on the books in 2010 right now, plus the money we'll give to Foye and/or McCants), so we can certainly offer a max deal to anyone regardless. However, Telfair's useful and cheap expiring contract would be a small benefit in a trade. A trade may also be a likely avenue for the wolves to acquire some veteran talent, since we may struggle to attract free agents.

I've got no problem with a third year for Telfair.

[karch34]

I've got no problem with a third year for Telfair.

Likewise.

I'll donate $50 to Casey's favorite charity if two years from now we lost out on a premiere free agent due to Telfair's contract.

NOTE: Legitimate charity, not the Tuition for Lapdancers Fund, etc.

[mayorhoiberg]

Honestly I am thrilled with these deals; and its sounding like the Gomes deal is going to be in the same vein.

The way I see it; 2.5 mil/year is the low end of Sebastian Telfair's "market value." When guys like Dooling are making more for producing less, we got a deal on a young, talented point guard with untapped potential and (I wouldn't have believed you if you told me 1 year ago I'd be saying this today) a great "team" attitude.

2.5 mil/year is exactly what I'd expect to pay for a spark plug matchup-nightmare kind of guy like Craig Smith. Whether he fits perfectly on this particular team is a moot point. He was a steal and he has no effect on our 2010 cap situation.

The FO is getting smart with the money they're dealing out. The Jefferson deal last summer is going to prove to be a steal. Actually, it already has proven itself with guys like Emeka Okafor demanding max money. Add these deals in, and a deal for Gomes which will figure to be less than the MLE and I'll continue to laud Hoiberg and co for their newfound savvy.

They're also getting smart with the years they're dealing out as well... Young guys typically look for longer contracts, don't they? Must be some great negotiating going on if they convinced these guys to take shorter deals at the price we got them at.

The long and short:

Wow. I'm completely on board. I hope we can continue to get our guys signed to such reasonable deals.

[BMF Jet Jaguar]

pops-440k a year>craig-2.5 a year

maybe next year

[BMF Jet Jaguar]

ha or not even that, just buy out calvin booth!!

[shrink]

I like these deals, but I'm not going to give the front office too much credit. I think the price for rotation free agents is falling throughout the league. I suppose we can be glad that McHale didn't offer bigger deals earlier, but I suspect we're going to see other deals of comparable value.

I'd also point out this is a trend, and players on older contracts are often less productive per-dollar. This is my point about developing trade assets .. we signed these guys at the right time.

Lastly, with only Foye available to play PG, I really like that we got Telfair. He knows the offense and knows the players, and just as importantly, we know him. He said he wants to be here, and I'm glad to hear that. We won't have any problems with acclimatizing Telfair to the team or the city. Nice bonus for a cheap price.