Becoming a serious contender

Pofukauskas · Post #1 » by **Pofukauskas** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 11:50 am

This would be it tbh...

MIN OUT: Love, Ridnour, Pekovic
MIN IN: Andrew Bynum + maybe Blake

MIN OUT: Beasley
MIN IN: OJ Mayo

Would you do it? Would LA and Memphis do it?

Rubio
Mayo
Williams
Tolliver
Bynum
Adelman

Richard Miller · Post #2 » by **Richard Miller** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 12:26 pm

"Love out" and "serious" are mutually exclusive here

Pofukauskas · Post #3 » by **Pofukauskas** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 12:43 pm

Both Love and Bynum are getting paid next season. They'll both get max. Bynum is a clear 2nd best center in the league. You have Williams on a rookie contract to play Love's position...Also comparing Milicic+Love frontcourt impact to Bynum+Williams is laughable imho. But that's just me...

Richard Miller · Post #4 » by **Richard Miller** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 1:09 pm

Darko plays backup role most of the time, and Wolves should trade their best player (and one of the best in the league) who looks and shoots even better this year, to get an injury prone center? Pass

Pofukauskas · Post #5 » by **Pofukauskas** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 1:25 pm

You're never going to win anything with Love as a clear 1st option. You're never going past 2nd round playoffs with Love+Darko or Love+Williams frontcourt imho. And you'll never get a top 3 center in the leagu without trading Love.
I like Love's game...but he's no 1st option on a contender. You need intimidating frontcourt.

shrink · Post #6 » by **shrink** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 1:29 pm

Love >> Bynum. Go visit the Trade Board.

And why would you think Bynum is a first option? After 6 years, Kobe is still not sure he's proved he's anything more than a third option.

Pofukauskas · Post #7 » by **Pofukauskas** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 2:10 pm

ok we'll not argue...I just think Williams will be as good as Love is and they pretty much play the same position, that's all. Flipping one of them for a quality center would do wonders for your team imho. So why not trade the one that gets paid next season and keep the cheap one, and massively upgrade the center position which is vital to make a deep playoff run.

NewWolvesOrder · Post #8 » by **NewWolvesOrder** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 2:26 pm

If Bynum didn't have his injury concerns, I'd do this in a heart beat. Rubio would make Bynum an absolute monster.

Rubio, Mayo, Webster, Williams, Bynum : this lineup can be unstoppable on offense with virtuoso playmaking.

Richard Miller · Post #9 » by **Richard Miller** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 2:26 pm

So, after few games it's already a fact Williams will be as good as Love? That's a stretch

Greco21 · Post #10 » by **Greco21** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 3:08 pm

Becoming a serious contender is not always new players and trades...

If the Wolves reduce the number of turnovers by 5 and increase the free throw percentage they could have the best record in the NBA today.

Of course the team constant has one and only one name. KEVIN LOVE.

Post #11 » by **Klomp** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 4:59 pm

Pofukauskas wrote:You have Williams on a rookie contract to play Love's position...

Then why did you trade Beasley for nothing and put Williams at SF? I thought Love was a PF...

Pofukauskas · Post #12 » by **Pofukauskas** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 5:07 pm

LOL what constant? That of a 17-65 team? You don't want that constant...you depend way too much on hitting jumpers. You have virtualy no inside game. That kind of basketball can be OK in the regular season, but for deep playoff runs you need low post player(s), meat in the paint.

Maybe saying Williams will be as good as Love is really is a strech, but:
-playing next to a very good rebounder Bynum, Williams at PF wouldn't have to be a freak rebounder and it's not like he's (will be) a bad rebounder. Bynum&Williams frontcourt wouldn't get outrebounded easily imho.
-kid can shoot the ball. We can all see it, he's proved it already. He has a nice shooting touch. Love is not that much better shooter now and Williams is a rookie with (what I hear) good working ethic.
-he is and will be way better defender than Love is.

You cannot seriously think Love+Darko or Love+Williams frontcourt can have the impact that Bynum+Williams would have.

And regarding Bynum not proving he can be more than 3rd option on ofense...please! Remove Bynum from Lakers and they're probably a lottery team or 1st round exit at best. Height advantage is all the Lakers have tbh. Lakers would be way better than they are now if Kobe would have taken avg 17 shots per game and Pau&Bynum 30 combined. Kobe chucking 24+ shots does not make Lakers better imo.

NewWolvesOrder · Post #13 » by **NewWolvesOrder** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 5:18 pm

I doubt that Lakers would trade Bynum for Love.

B Calrissian · Post #14 » by **B Calrissian** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 5:22 pm

Pofukauskas wrote:You cannot seriously think Love+Darko or Love+Williams frontcourt can have the impact that Bynum+Williams would have.

And regarding Bynum not proving he can be more than 3rd option on ofense...please! Remove Bynum from Lakers and they're probably a lottery team or 1st round exit at best.

Ridiculous. Are you not aware of how many games he has missed?

Foye · Post #15 » by **Foye** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 5:24 pm

Bynum's injury concerns make Love more valuable than Bynum. Pass.

[RCG] · Post #16 » by **[RCG]** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 6:25 pm

For the same reason you'd trade Bynum to get Love, we'll keep Love rather than Bynum. It's really that simple. For a trade to happen both teams have to feel like they're getting the better end of the trade or at least feel like it is better than what they'd have otherwise. A consistent 20/15 player who can shoot 3's, is the best-rebounder in the league, has shown great work ethic and is playing better defense is more valuable to the Wolves than Bynum with his track-record of getting injured, albeit he does have great potential.

Krapinsky · Post #17 » by **Krapinsky** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 6:28 pm

I've always been a Bynum believer, but we can't trade Love to get him, and frankly, I don't know that the Lakers would be interested trading Bynum for Love.

lobishome · Post #18 » by **lobishome** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 6:56 pm

IMO, Love, Rubio and Williams must be untouchables. It's named "core".

Greco21 · Post #19 » by **Greco21** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 7:02 pm

Pofukauskas wrote:LOL what constant? That of a 17-65 team? You don't want that constant...you depend way too much on hitting jumpers. You have virtualy no inside game. That kind of basketball can be OK in the regular season, but for deep playoff runs you need low post player(s), meat in the paint.

Maybe saying Williams will be as good as Love is really is a strech, but:
-playing next to a very good rebounder Bynum, Williams at PF wouldn't have to be a freak rebounder and it's not like he's (will be) a bad rebounder. Bynum&Williams frontcourt wouldn't get outrebounded easily imho.
-kid can shoot the ball. We can all see it, he's proved it already. He has a nice shooting touch. Love is not that much better shooter now and Williams is a rookie with (what I hear) good working ethic.
-he is and will be way better defender than Love is.

You cannot seriously think Love+Darko or Love+Williams frontcourt can have the impact that Bynum+Williams would have.

And regarding Bynum not proving he can be more than 3rd option on ofense...please! Remove Bynum from Lakers and they're probably a lottery team or 1st round exit at best. Height advantage is all the Lakers have tbh. Lakers would be way better than they are now if Kobe would have taken avg 17 shots per game and Pau&Bynum 30 combined. Kobe chucking 24+ shots does not make Lakers better imo.

You cannot blame Love for 17-65 nor attribute Laker success to Bynum... Remember while Love had Wes and Wayne on the shooting guard he had Kobe. Not to mention he was coached by Phil Jackson, his mate under the boards is Gasol and the story goes one. Removing Bynum out of their line up of course has impact but it has happened many times and they were still title contenders. You can search the statistic and you will find out that Bynum-less Lakers were not bad at all.

To answer your initial question. Mini does not just need to trade its major assets which comes after the name of K. Love. A reduction of turnovers with a combination of a higher free throw percentage could make a huge difference on a young team that lost 4 games by 3 points or less.

Despite that i believe that Minesota has to find alternative solutions to the center position. You cannot go far to the playoffs with Tolliver getting minutes at the Center or pairing K. Love under the basket. You need length to make solid performances in the playoffs.

kobe_vs_jordan · Post #20 » by **kobe_vs_jordan** » Mon Jan 9, 2012 11:54 pm

Don't think either fan base would be happy for a Bynum Love swap but may be something the front office actually looks into. But think if minny could get a real center and keep love there will be on the right path. Somebody of the Perkins or Chandler mold. They have enough offense already.