My "Dream" Off-Season

[JohnHenryMeyer]

If you are a hardcore Timberwolves fan, like myself, you clearly understand the significance of this impending off-season. Here is what I believe our T-Pups should do, this is my dream off-season plan:

During the draft -

At this point there is nobody, excluding Kahn, that can say with certainty what the Wolves will do. In my opinion it was rotten luck for us to get the fourth pick, but also a blessing in disguise - ala the Sacramento Kings last season when they dropped three slots in the lottery and 'settled' for a man-child named Tyreke. Keeping this is mind, the Wolves MUST stay in the four spot and draft either Favors or Cousins. Trading up to nab Evan Turner is simply not worth Elton's Brand awful contract. Yes Turner is a magnificent, perhaps transformational, player but Kahn has spent his tenure with the Wolves getting rid of bad contracts, depreciated assets, and legitimate crap, all in an effort to clear up space so he can make big moves this offseason. It is difficult for me to believe that Kahn would waste this flexibility just to get Turner. So, all of these rumors with Philadelphia has led me to one conclusion: let them take Turner, do not make Brand our problem, and make a play for Andre Igoudala instead. Once they take Turner, unless new Head Coach Doug Collins is completely crazy, you can pretty much say that Igoudala is gone; they could probably be pretty successful together (Turner/Iggy) but they both play best at SG and they have similar weaknesses - long range shooting.

Thus, my dream is for the Timberwolves to AVOID a bad offer to get Turner, and instead trade Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, and #23 for Andre Igoudala and Thad Young (which works in the trade checker). This deal allows Philly to cut Gomes and save money, which is important when you have the contracts of Samuel Dalembert and Elton Brand. It would also provide the Sixers with a dominant low-post scorer, I won't get into his deficiencies, that would fit nicely with Turner, Jrue Holiday, and Marreese Speights. They too would have the opportunity to draft a nice player at 23, if they do their homework well enough. But what does this trade really do for the Wolves? Does it improve our lowly squad at all? In my opinion this trade does an incredible amount for us, because it sends a couple different messages to the team. First it tells everyone that Kevin Love is our guy and will start at the 4 for a long time to come. This is so important because Love has an enormous amount of potential and the longer the Wolves waste his talent at sixth man the more his growth will be stunted. The only way to maximize Love‘s value and potential, which is extremely high, is to start him at the power forward and let him play 35 minutes a game for the rest of his Timberwolves career. Unfortunately, for Big AL supporters, the only way to see K-Love truly develop is to trade Al Jefferson, and replace him with a beast that can protect the paint - someone in the mold of Al Horford or Joakim Noah or maybe...DMC. Secondly, it balances out our roster and now gives us one star wing, Iggy, and two up and coming wings (brewer, and young). We desperately need wings who can block shots, steal passes, and finish with jaw-dropping dunks. When was the last time there was a Wolf that played the SG or SF and could throw it down with the best of them? Hmmm…Isaiah Rider? Bah I don’t think so. Corey Brewer? He's getting there, but not yet. These questions, however, lead me to my next dream - the wolves will trade Ramon Sessions, Wayne Ellington, Ryan Hollins and #16 to Sacramento for Francisco Garcia and #5. This would be another draft day trade, like the first one with Philadelphia that would occur during the teams pick. Let says the draft unfolds like this 1. Wall 2. Turner 3. Favors….
At four the Wolves should select the so called ‘head-case’ Demarcus Cousins. Yes he probably has maturity issues, but Hollinger says he will be the best player in the entire draft, and if we know anything about Kahn yet it is that he will select the best player available no matter what position - see Jonny Flynn. Though Stephen Curry was obviously the better player, between him and Flynn, I’m sure his canceled workout withheld us from seeing who the real BPA was last season. But it is obvious this year if everything stays the same and the draft goes Wall, Turner, Favors then the Wolves must trade AL and select Cousins at four. He has that star potential that Kahn often speaks about, that star you can lean on like Kobe, the Wolves need that. But the Wolves must trade AL after they select Cousins at 4, not before. This is important because I believe the Kings really like Cousins and would pick him immediately if he falls to 5, so if we pick him right before the Kings pick, Sacramento may be shocked enough to trade the fifth pick for players and later picks (something the Wolves possess). Why would the Sacramento Kings take Wes Johnson anyways when they have two promising small forwards in Omri Casspi and Donte Green. I’m thinking the Wolves could call Sacramento and offer the Sessions, Ellington, Hollins #16 package mentioned above for Garcia and #5 since the Kings didn’t get the player they wanted all along - Run DMC (Cousins). Then the Wolves would select Wes Johnson, a perfect Scottie Pippen clone for the triangle offense. Actually, in my opinion Johnson is one of the most perfect players for what the Wolves are trying to do. If we want to be a fast paced team, that settles into the triangle when the break isn’t in order, then Wes Johnson is our man. He can light it up from downtown and he runs the floor incredibly well, oh and he finally gives us a wing player that has the potential to be a special dunker and supreme 3PT shooter in the NBA.
In the second round we should focus on taking two players with the most potential. Guys like Jerome Jordan, Darrington Hobson, and Latavious Williams immediately come to mind as solid picks. Since we traded Ramon, in this scenario, I would select the guy that reminds me most of Ty Lawson, his name is Sherron Collins, with the first second rounder and Williams with the other. This would allow us to acquire a player in Latavious Williams but not take up a roster spot during the season and merely keep him in the d-league where he played this entire last season as the first player to jump from high-school to the NBDL.

-- Finished product after draft day:

PG: Jonny Flynn, Sherron Collins (Ricky Rubio)
SG: Andre Igoudala, Corey Brewer, Francisco Garcia
SF: Thad Young, Wes Johnson
PF: Kevin Love, Latavious Williams
C: Demarcus Cousins,

Free Agency: After an amazingly busy draft, filled with two HUGE trades, David Kahn will be quiet during the free agency period in my dream off-season. There are only three steps I want them to take under this plan:

(1) First the Wolves should work internally and sign both Darko and Pekovic to 2-4 yr contracts.
I assume this will cost the Wolves between $8-12 million but I truly do not know. This will give us a fairly experienced Euro pairing of big men of the bench and I think their games go great together. They are both physical players who can teach Love and Cousins different skills - even though they will be behind them on the depth chart. This gives our Wolves a potential dominant four man rotation at the 4/5 as each player brings different strengths to the table.

(2) Sign Anthony Morrow to a 4-yr, $12 million deal
Why this much? Well it’s only $3-million a year and if Ryan Gomes can get $4-million why can’t Morrow. He and Wes Johnson would give the Wolves two legitimate studs on the perimeter.

(3) Keep the rest of the money and hope to God that Carmelo opts out of his contract with Denver and subsequently recognizes the Syracuse talent on our roster. If Melo cannot be persuaded the Wolves can use the money to give contract extensions, sign Rubio, and look at potential free agents in 2011.

Hopefully David Kahn makes this all happen, because with the roster below the Timberwolves would make huge strides, which is completely necessary in the season before Ricky is supposed to come over. Ricky needs to see something that resembles a competitive roster before he ever considers playing for us. I would go as far as predicting 32 wins for the roster below:
And maybe, just maybe, that is good enough for Ricky

My 2010-2011 “Dream” Timberwolves

PG: Jonny Flynn, Sherron Collins (Ricky Rubio)
SG: Andre Igoudala, Corey Brewer, Anthony Morrow
SF: Thad Young, Wes Johnson, Francisco Garcia
PF: Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Latavious Williams
C: Demarcus Cousins, Darko Milicic, Greg Stiemsma

Hope you enjoyed! Can’t wait to hear everyone’s thoughts.

-JM

[Klomp]

I think its a record for longest first post. Now I must go back and read the thing.

[Klomp]

The AI for Al deal is certainly intriguing. I don't think PHI does it as is, but take out Young and 23 and they might. Al/Gomes for Iggy.

[JohnHenryMeyer]

I love setting records - haha! Anyways my logic on Thad Young being in the deal is that AL is slightly more valuable then Iggy and Gomes is so valuable because they can cut him. I really feel that Gomes + 23 would be able to net Thad and again I think AL is a little more valuable then Igoudala. So in a nutshell that is why I believe the deal would work.

[Klomp]

I love setting records - haha! Anyways my logic on Thad Young being in the deal is that AL is slightly more valuable then Iggy and Gomes is so valuable because they can cut him. I really feel that Gomes + 23 would be able to net Thad and again I think AL is a little more valuable then Igoudala. So in a nutshell that is why I believe the deal would work.

But Iggy and Al make about the same money, so PHI isn't really saving anything.

[JohnHenryMeyer]

Philly saves $1,587,100 in the deal, but if they release Ryan Gomes before June 30th they would only have to pay him 1 million next year, 1 million the year after, and 750K in the last year. Thad Young would make 2,105,400 next season which saves them even more money. I will completely agree with you that the deal isn't about saving money, but I think Philly is kind of down on Igoudala and Jefferson is an extremely valuable trade asset. You just dont find 25 yr olds that score in the low post with his ability, and in the end that is Kahn's selling point in this deal. If the sixers value a low post threat to help Evan Turner out more than they value Igoudala then I dont see how Thad Young could hold up the deal.

[shangrila]

I think Igoudala is a lot better at SF then he is at SG. Would that change your offseason?

[Twolves98]

What about Ryan Wittman from Cornell in the 2nd round. He can flat out shoot.

Similar to a poor man's Ray Allen

[JohnHenryMeyer]

Q: I think Igoudala is a lot better at SF then he is at SG. Would that change your offseason?

A: Good question - part of the reason this is my dream offseason is that would give the Wolves plenty of guys that can play multiple positions. Im pretty sure Igoudala could play either the 2 or 3 and the same can be said about Wes Johnson or Corey Brewer. Thad Young could even play the 4 in a small lineup. I agree that Igoudala is better at SF than SG, but I dont think it really makes a huge difference what position Iggy is playing - he's a really good player either way. Realistically I would probably start Brewer at the 2, Iggy at the 3 and use Thad and Wes off the bench with Darko, Pekovic, and Sherron Collins. But does a position change my offseason? Not at all, because the guys I want around Iggy (wes, brewer, morrow) can step in to play the 2 if he cannot. If anything my dream lineup would give Rambis the flexibility to shuffle in many different unique lineups. Think about the mismatches this lineup may create for a couple minutes:

PG - Jonny Flynn
SG - Wes Johnson
SF - Andre Igoudala
PF - Thad Young
C - Kevin Love

[the_bruce]

Ive actually had this same thought. I.e. iggy to the wolves. However I'm not really feeling giving much of value for Iggy. I'd probably offer a few small contracts + ~6m cap space + the cha pick.

trade for iggy
Love for Johnson
Draft Cousins
Resign Darko

Darko/Cousins
Al
Johnson
Iggy
Flynn

[Wingman]

My dream situation: Al+16 for Monte Ellis, draft Cousins at 4.

Ricky Rubio
Monte Ellis
Corey Brewer
Kevin Love
DeMarcus Cousins

with Flynn as a 6th man is a nice young core IMO.

[Krapinsky]

Love + 16 for 3 (Favors)
4 (Johnson)
Pekovic + 23 for 13 (George)
45 + Rights to 2011 2nd for Rudy Fernandez
Sign Darko

Flynn/Sessions/(Rubio)
Fernandez/George/Ellington
Johnson/Brewer
Jefferson/Favors
Darko/Hollins

[Esohny]

Love + 16 for 3 (Favors)
4 (Johnson)
Pekovic + 23 for 13 (George)
45 + Rights to 2011 2nd for Rudy Fernandez
Sign Darko

Flynn/Sessions/(Rubio)
Fernandez/George/Ellington
Johnson/Brewer
Jefferson/Favors
Darko/Hollins

I like it a lot. I could take or leave the Rudy deal, but I'd do it if only to provide Rubio one more incentive to come over.

[slinky]

PG: Jonny Flynn, Sherron Collins (Ricky Rubio)
SG: Andre Igoudala, Corey Brewer, Anthony Morrow
SF: Thad Young, Wes Johnson, Francisco Garcia
PF: Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, Latavious Williams
C: Demarcus Cousins, Darko Milicic, Greg Stiemsma

Don't you think this is a little overkill? Some questions pop into my head..

Why are we paying Anthony Morrow 4/$12mil to be 3rd string?
What kind of offense are you hoping we run with this team?
If its the current offense, how does iggy and young fit? I think they are bad shooters.
If we are trading for the #5 pick, are you really drafting Wes Johnson to play behind Thad Young? And if Johnson is gonna be the starter, than why give up so much for Thad Young?
And then once you decide this, you want Carmelo to come to MIN in 2011?
What exactly about Sherron Collins reminds you of Ty Lawson?
If SAC wanted to trade that pick, dont you think they could find a better offer than that?

I think this is exactly what you said it was 'a dream'..I dont find it very realistic or even a good fit...there are parts of it that would work well, but this looks like an NBA 2K10 roster where free agents, and prospects won't complain too much about playing 5 mins a game on a stacked roster...

[Krapinsky]

Love + 16 for 3 (Favors)
4 (Johnson)
Pekovic + 23 for 13 (George)
45 + Rights to 2011 2nd for Rudy Fernandez
Sign Darko

Flynn/Sessions/(Rubio)
Fernandez/George/Ellington
Johnson/Brewer
Jefferson/Favors
Darko/Hollins

I like it a lot. I could take or leave the Rudy deal, but I'd do it if only to provide Rubio one more incentive to come over.

The Rudy deal is just about getting another ball handler in here.

[Esohny]

My dream situation: Al+16 for Monte Ellis, draft Cousins at 4.

Ricky Rubio
Monte Ellis
Corey Brewer
Kevin Love
DeMarcus Cousins

with Flynn as a 6th man is a nice young core IMO.

I don't get the Monta love. Not trying to be a jerk, but you really want him with his background issues, and his poor efficiency and even poorer contract?

I'm honestly asking, what makes him attractive?

[Krapinsky]

My dream situation: Al+16 for Monte Ellis, draft Cousins at 4.

Ricky Rubio
Monte Ellis
Corey Brewer
Kevin Love
DeMarcus Cousins

with Flynn as a 6th man is a nice young core IMO.

I don't get the Monta love. Not trying to be a jerk, but you really want him with his background issues, and his poor efficiency and even poorer contract?

I'm honestly asking, what makes him attractive?

I like Ellis. He holds his own on defense for being such a short player. His efficiency was really good when he was not the #1 option, and he's not paid like a #1 option, so on the right team I think he would be a good fit. I also think he would benefit from playing in the triangle, making quick cuts, and often being the pinch post option. He also is so young enough that he still has a ways to go before he's reached his ceiling.

[The J Rocka]

Cousins
Big Al
R. Gay/P. George
Brewer/Jordan Crawford
Rubio/Flynn

[Krapinsky]

Cousins
Big Al
R. Gay/P. George
Brewer/Jordan Crawford
Rubio/Flynn

I don't like the chemistry there at all. You traded Love for the right to overpay Gay?

[Esohny]

Yeah, if we're getting Paul George, he needs playing time. I don't know if he gets it with Gay there.