What are your suggestions for this team?

[Busch Legion]

I want a FO blow up. This is obvious imo.... failure for so long. I like Hoiberg, keep him. Wittman fired as well.

We need roster changes. Al/Love will not work. We need athleticism... and we need Al to play the 4.
We need a legit Center, which I hope we can get in next summers draft.

We need a PG, which I also want done through the draft... then Foye can focus on scoring.

Gomes needs to come off the bench... he's not a starter on a championship team... hes a perfect bench guy.

Carney needs burn.... we lack athleticism, and yet we don't play our most athletic guy? WTF?

[Klomp]

Trade some combination of Telfair, McCants, Gomes, and Smith for a true Center.
Fire Wittman

[Krapinsky]

Front Office:

This team needs a fresh set of eyes. Mchale has to go. We need an experienced GM who can come in, evaluate the assembled talent, and then decide which players he wants to build this team around. We also need a GM that is a better evaluator of young talent. Chris Mullin would be a good choice in my opinion. I'm not sure who esle is out there.

Coach:

We need a veteran coach that our players will respect and listen to. It's evident that everyone is already tuning out Wittman. Van Gundy or Avery Johnson are out there, as it Flip. My vote is for Van Gundy.

Roster:

Too many tweeners, too many players playing out of position.

We have the worst collection of centers in the NBA. Actually, our only center on the team is Collins and he does not belong in the NBA. Love cannot play center. Neither can Al. Why'd we draft Love then? I have no idea. In hindsight, Lopez would have been a perfect fit.

We have the worst collection of small forwards in the NBA. Actually, we do not have a small forward on the entire roster. Gomes is a 3/4 tweener. Brewer is a 2/3 tweener. Carney is a 2 who can't shoot.

We have the worst collection of true point guards in the NBA. Our only true point guards are Telfair and Ollie. Foye is a 1/2 tweener who should not handle the ball full time. If Foye needs the ball he should be the 6th man.

Our team is drastically undersized. Love, Smith, Gomes, McCants, Foye, and Telfair are all undersized for their nore natural respective positions. Basktball is a tall man's game. If you don't have height, you better at least make up for it with quickness and shooting ability, which our players do not.

Going into the last offseason we needed a 5, a 3, and stability at the 1. Now? We still need a 5, a 3, and stability at the 1.

With an eye on 2010, I think we should try to reshape the roster like this:

FA = Free Agent; #1 = 2009 or 2010 First Round Pick; Trade (Player) = Player Received in Trade

C - #1, FA or Trade (Love or Jefferson)/Pekovic
PF - Love or Jefferson/Smith/Gomes
SF - #1, FA or Trade (Love or Jefferson)/Brewer/Gomes
SG - Miller/Foye/#1
PG - #1, FA, or Trade (Love or Jefferson)/Foye


Here's just an example:

Haywood/Pekovic
Jefferson/Smith/Gomes
Thad Young/Brewer/Gomes
Miller/Harden
Duhon/Collison or Lawson

Here, I traded Love and Foye for Thad Young. Not sure if either team would do it, most wolves fans, I'm positive would moan. I just want a balanced roster and this is an example of the type of trade I think will have to be made. Then I used our 2010 cap space to sign Duhon and Haywood for a combined $10-$12 million a year. Harden (our 2009 pick) and Collison or Lawson (Miami's 2009 pick) fill out the roster. I realize it doesn't look all that great, but we'd have a shot at the playoffs and a real chance to improve around the young talent on the roster (Young, Harden, Collison or Lawson, Pekovic). Vets Duhon, Miller and Haywood would provide leadership. Jefferson remains the centerpiece. McCants walks. Telfair gets traded for a 2nd rounder.

[AQuintus]

Here's what I would do:

Fire McHale - I think this one is obvious
Fire Wittman - Another obvious one.
Hire Jeff Van Gundy - I don't know how good he is at developing young talent, but I seriously doubt that he could be worse than Wittman. Also, he's a guy who would preach defense and demand the respect of the players. Two things that the Wolves desperately need.

Trade 1: MEM GETS: Randy Foye, Jason Collins, and Rashad McCants
MIN GETS: Mike Conley, Darko Milicic, Javaris Crittenton, and a protected 1st

Reason: I like Foye, but this team just flat out runs better with a pure point out there. Conley would be able to run the pick-and-roll game with Jefferson, the pick-and-pop game with Love, and the drive-and-kick game with Miller, all while playing better D than Foye. On top of that, we would get back big body to start at Center in Milicic, another young combo guard in Crittenton, and a future first. This trade also opens up some big minutes for Carney, so we can see if he has a future in Minnesota.

Trade 2: LAC GETS: Craig Smith, Kevin Ollie, and Calvin Booth
MIN GETS: DeAndre Jordan, Kevin Hart, and increased protection on the 1st we owe them

Reason: Craig Smith just doesn't fit on the team. The 6'11, atheltic Jordan might. On top of that, we also open a roster spot to bring Chris Richard back in.

Draft: Thabeet and whoever is better/available between DeRozan and Harden.

09-10 Trade: PHI GETS: Corey Brewer and Mike Miller
MIN GETS: Andre Iguodala

Reason: Philadelphia needs shooting, and Minnesota needs good, young talent.

09-10 Roster:

C - H.Thabeet,D.Jordan,D.Milicic
PF- A.Jefferson,K.Love,M.Madsen(I)
SF- Iguodala,R.Gomes,B.Cardinal(I)
SG- D.DeRozan/J.Harden,R.Carney,W.Ellington(I)
PG- M.Conley,S.Telfair,J.Crittenton

This team is (a) young, (b) super athletic, and (c) very good at defense. If nothing else, it would be entertaining to watch the fast break potential of this team compared to the crap we have now.

[Krapinsky]

Pretty much same idea as me. I might be wary of Conley though. He's played very poorly thus far. I have no problem bringing in someone like Igoudala, but it would be a shame to give up Miller in the same trade. You've surrounded Jefferson with three players that can't shoot and pretty much remade the Philly roster but only worse for the time being. (Thabeet = Dalembert, Jefferson = Brand, DeRozan < Young, Conley < Miller).

[AQuintus]

I'm a little wary of Conley as well, but I take his play this year with a grain of salt because he's been playing in a really poor offensive system in Memphis, and he's been forced to play off the ball waaaay more than he should because of OJ Mayo. That said, he is a good defensive player, he has experience passing to a dominant big man, and he isn't a terrible shooter.

The thing with Miller is that I don't think that he'll resign in 2 years. And quite frankly (with Stephen A. Smith), I'm not entirely sure that I would want him to. He's going to demand a 10+ million a year contract, and so far his production and impact in Minni (and in Memphis, for that matter) just doesn't warrant that kind of money. Iggy, on the other hand, is locked into a fairly long term, fairly reasonable deal, and he's young, athletic, plays defense, and can still has potential to improve.

I definitely see the comparison to Philly, and I was actually considering mentioning it in my original post. The thing about that comparison is that Philly is underachieving right now not (just) because of a lack of 3-point shooters but because of a lack of chemistry. My thought process is that by getting these guys so young, the team can grow up together, and great chemistry would come with that. On top of that, while Iggy, Conley, and Derozan are poor 3-point shooters now (Harden seems to have a good shot), they're all still young enough to improve.

[Klomp]

Iguodala is to Philly as Jefferson is to us. We would need to put together a much better package.

[shrink]

Iguodala is to Philly as Jefferson is to us. We would need to put together a much better package.

Actually, I was surprised to hear that they are very down on him over on their boards calling his new contract one of their biggest mistakes ever.

Andre Iguodala
2008-09 11,300,000
2009-10 12,200,000
2010-11 12,345,250
2011-12 13,531,750
2012-13 14,718,250
2013-14 15,904,750

They are enamored with Thadeus Young and Speights, and the majority realize Dalembert is a bad deal too. I don't know if the front office shares any of these feelings though.

[Foye]

Here is what I would do...

Firstly fire McHale and especially WITTMAN

We can blame McHale for not being able to be a playoff team....but there is no way we could blame him for sucking as we do. This team needs a new coach. Wittman is the worst coach in the nba.

I hope McHale didn't rub off on Hoiberg. Otherwise we would have a mediocre team again because of Hoibergs decisions ^^

In case of our roster I would try to get rid of the following players:
Madsen: most D-League players are probably better than him I hope he won't be resigned xD
Cardinal: as Madsen but I'm sure he won't be resigned, could be a valuable trade asset in 2010 when teams want to clear salary
Collins: maybe we can also get something in return for him if a team is looking to improve in the 2009 FA market and wants to free salary
Carney: I like this guy either we have to find a way to use him or we have to trade him
Booth: I still don't know why he is on our team?
Telfair: not even as a back up useful

I would think about trading the following players to get rid of the players on top and bring young prospects to the franchise:

Jefferson
Miller
Gomes
Foye (only if we somehow manage to get a Derrick Rose type point guard)

Why trading Jefferson? Right now I have the feeling he is developing into a rich mans Zach Randolph...nice offense but bad defense. With Love we have a player who won't be a superstar but he will easily be a starter on most nba teams. If we can get a player in return for Jefferson who has superstar qualities I wouldn't pass on him. I'd be willing to trade Jefferson for Derrick Rose or a great Center prospect (which I do not see coming...this would have to be a real force and the only one I can think of right now is Dwight Howard. Greg Oden maybe, too, but he is injuried way too often and I still don't know whether he will be really as good as projected.) I know most of you wouldn't but I doubt Jefferson is the no 1 option of player we need. He would be a perfect second option but we have no first one.

Why trading Miller? I'm not a fan of trading Miller because he can help our team get back on track but in reality he won't be the real deal for the Wolves once our future begins he will be less effective.

Why trading Gomes? Gomes is a nice guy and would make a solid contributor on a contender but he is not the player we need. He has reached his ceiling what we need is starters not backups.

I would built our team around the following players...
C:
PF: Kevin Love
SF: Corey Brewer
SG:
PG: Randy Foye (unless we can grab a superstar point guard prospect which I doubt)

As said earlier, I think Love will be a nice PF in this league all we need to do now is get a dominant C and someone who can make plays for them...I'm a big fan of Ricky Rubio I hope we can get him somehow...
Since we have to decide between Love and Jefferson some day I keep Love and use Jefferson to bring in a superstar (Jefferson is a proven player and there may be the chance to get in exchange a #1 or #2 pick and some other players...)
Also with Foye as a PG we have no SG...hope we can get a decent one in draft or we will have to go on with Miller I still believe Brewer can develop into a Bruce Bowen or Shane Battier if he keeps working (i hate that he is injuried) and such a player is needed on a contending team...

conclusion:

right now...we are just above the point zero....we are mediocre but at least we have some fundamentals to change our bad situation...

but I doubt our situation will change...

[deeney0]

I hear Las Vegas is lovely this time of year.

[PeeDee]

I'm not in favor of giving up on Jefferson/Love at this point. Jefferson is 23 and Love is 20. I think they can work well together but it'll take time to develop.

What I am in favor of is getting another effective big to put in the rotation with them. Perhaps Pekovic? I don't know, but I not ready to give up on it, not by far.

Players I am ready to give up on:

Smith, Telfair, McCants, Gomes, Miller.

I would trade Foye and Brewer if a deal came around I couldn't pass up. The rest of the roster are only filler for salary purposes, some more valuable than others.

This upcoming draft is imperative to our future. We MUST come away with 2 or more tremendous assets. Whether that's draft choices or assets gained in a trade, I don't know. At least one of those assets MUST have star potential. NO MORE ROLE PLAYERS.

I build around of core of

Jefferson, Love, Brewer and Foye.

Adding a guard like Brandon Roy (I'm not complaining here, just making a point) or a forward like Paul Pierce would solve SO many of our problems. A wing with a nose for the hoop, playmaking abilities, defensive understanding and a knack at drawing fouls is what I'm talking about here, folks.

In fact, I'd like to upgrade the SG and SF positions the most. If were doing it strictly by the draft, right now I'd zero in on James Harden AND Al-Farouq Aminu.

Then roll with a core of:

Bigs: Jefferson, Love, Pekovic,
Wings: Aminu, Brewer, Harden, Foye

If we can't land two elite prospects in the draft, target someone like Luol Deng in a trade.

I'm also in favor of bringing in Avery Johnson to coach.

[funkatron101]

I don't want Jeff Van Gundy, and I doubt Van Gundy would want to coach here. He is a coach that only chases teams that are close to success, but he never has the tools to make them win it all. He is over-rated, and if he were to come here, it would end ugly.

[C.lupus]

Sack McHale, Babcock, and Wittman
I’d be willing to give Hoiberg a chance but it would be nice to get a veteran FO guy to mentor him (not sure who that would be)

I’d call up Boston and see if Thibodeaux is interested in a head coaching job. Otherwise, Van Gundy would be good.

My keepers would be:
Jefferson
Love
Foye
Miller
Brewer

Send some package of Gomes/Smith/late first to Memphis for Conley

Draft Thabeet (MN pick) and Collison (Miami pick)

2009-2010 roster
Thabeet-Jefferson
Jefferson-Love
Miller-Brewer
Foye-Miller
Conley-Collison

It’s still not the most athletic team but it is a team that can kill in the halfcourt. We would have a huge shot blocking/rebounding center, two PGs that could play the pick and roll (pop) with Al and Love, and two 3 pt threats. A defensive-minded coach like T.T. or JVG would turn this franchise into a young Utah or San Antonio.

Shoot for Joe Johnson in 2010 FA?

[kandiking]

Fire Wittman. Hire pat summit. More minutes for Love, Madsen, Ollie, Carney. Less for Gomes, Telfair. Buy out Booth, replace with David Harrison or a D-League 10 day contract. Start Cardinal, Love, Madsen, Miller and trade for Blake Ahearn or Steve Blake so we can have a whitewash. Just F***king Tank.

[Krapinsky]

I'm noticing some unrealistic trade ideas here. We are not going to bring in talent by dumping our scraps. Gomes, Telfair, Smith, Mccants, and Brewer (although most want to keep him) have pretty much zero trade value. Memphis is not going to take Smith and Gomes for Conley for the same reasons we want to get rid of Smith and Gomes. Jefferson can not be traded for Rose or Howard. Howard might be untouchable except for James (w/ extension). Rose is probably untouchable except for James (w/ extension), Howard, Paul, Wade (w/ extension).

Truth is, if we really want to improve the roster we have to either trade some of our players that actually have trade value - Jefferson, Love, Miller, Foye - for players that better reshape the roster, or best hope that Love becomes an all-star and Foye becomes a more consistent player. If we hang on to our players and neither of the latter happens, Foyes and Love's trade value will take a hit, and the Wolves will pretty much be screwed for the foreseeable future. The fact that the next two years are supposed to be very weak drafts isn't helping any.

[Calinks]

Sign Courtney Simms. Win multiple Championships.

[C.lupus]

I'm noticing some unrealistic trade ideas here. We are not going to bring in talent by dumping our scraps. Gomes, Telfair, Smith, Mccants, and Brewer (although most want to keep him) have pretty much zero trade value. Memphis is not going to take Smith and Gomes for Conley for the same reasons we want to get rid of Smith and Gomes.

I disagree. You said yourself that you would be wary of Conley as he has performed very poorly up till now. Some MEM posters were ready to trade Conley straight up for Foye before Foye started hitting his shots. They already have Lowrey and Crittendon. Gomes and/or Smith would balance their roster. Gomes would be a nice backup for Gay. Smith would give them some scoring from the PF position. They don't have a Jefferson that makes Smith a bad fit here. Gomes has value. Smith has value (a very cheap 10/5 guy). Utah's pick has value. I don't think it is unreasonable to combine a couple of those for Conley.

[4ho5ive]

I think the next few drafts are weak depth wise. You arent going to get a player in the 20's and 2nd round that you could this past draft. But i think the Lotto bound players can really help us this year.

A realistic scenario would be to use our pick (pretty much a Top 5 lock bar a drastic change in the FO/coaching) to grab James Harden. Use the Miami pick and Utah/Bos pick to try and move up to grab Thabeet (this would be the hardest part, using 2 non lotto picks to try and move back into the top-10) and finally using a combination of Brian Cardinal's then expiring contract, Craigers expiring, Gomes and the remaining 1st rounder to try and move up and attempt to grab Ty Lawson.

I know most dont want to get younger, but i think this can give us a solid team moving forward, a team that can grow with one another

Thabeet/
Jefferson/Love
Miller/
Harden/Brewer
Foye/Lawson

[Krapinsky]

I'm noticing some unrealistic trade ideas here. We are not going to bring in talent by dumping our scraps. Gomes, Telfair, Smith, Mccants, and Brewer (although most want to keep him) have pretty much zero trade value. Memphis is not going to take Smith and Gomes for Conley for the same reasons we want to get rid of Smith and Gomes.

I disagree. You said yourself that you would be wary of Conley as he has performed very poorly up till now. Some MEM posters were ready to trade Conley straight up for Foye before Foye started hitting his shots. They already have Lowrey and Crittendon. Gomes and/or Smith would balance their roster. Gomes would be a nice backup for Gay. Smith would give them some scoring from the PF position. They don't have a Jefferson that makes Smith a bad fit here. Gomes has value. Smith has value (a very cheap 10/5 guy). Utah's pick has value. I don't think it is unreasonable to combine a couple of those for Conley.

Fair enough. I don't see Gomes/Smith as an upgrade over Warrick/Arthur or a long term solution to Memphis' problems. I think if McHale could have made a trade like this he would have done it a along time ago. Conley was what-- the fourth pick two years ago? He's maybe 20? I find it hard to believe they wouldn't want more in return. In comparison, Wolves posters wouldn't have moved Brewer or Foye 2 years after their respective draft classes for anything close to such a package as was proposed by you.

Where I do agree with you is giving Conley a shot. I'd be wary-- with a Foye/Conley swap-- but for what you offered I would do that in a heart beat. Somehting in between is probably more realistic. I really think Conley would benefit from playing a half court game like he did at OSU and that is why I am slightly optimisitc.

Would anyone do McCants/Smith plus the Miami pick for Warrick/Conley?

It looks like the Miami pick will be in the 13-17 range and this year that probably wouldn't amount to much. Warrick would add some much needed athleticism to our front court. We could also still try and package the Utah and Boston picks and try and move up to the mid-first.

[C.lupus]

Would anyone do McCants/Smith plus the Miami pick for Warrick/Conley?

It looks like the Miami pick will be in the 13-17 range and this year that probably wouldn't amount to much. Warrick would add some much needed athleticism to our front court. We could also still try and package the Utah and Boston picks and try and move up to the mid-first.

I'd do that.
Shoot, the way Utah's injury situation is going, their pick might not be that different than Miami's anyway.