Nemanja Bjelica

[Klomp]

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[AirP.]

Can someone put down possible scenarios for us for FA market 2018? I see following
* Shabazz will not be re-signed earlier in offseason. Here I expect the same approach from Thibs, FO will wait to see how market for Bazz will shape out
* Bjelica will get Ingles-Covington deal from Wolves, and no I see no reason for him to sign with another team if we continue to win
* no player will be traded
* I expect a surprise from our G-League, Patton, MGH and A.Brown
* not sure if we have any mid-level exception next summer, but if we do and keep winning then I will expect a J.Crawford type move. A solid veteran for bargain deal
* I don't expect anything from our 1st round pick

Here are the guys who they'll have to make decisions on, or the players who have decisions
Crawford player option ($4,544,400)
Bazz player option ($1,795,015)
Aldrich waive/buyout
Bjelica RFA
Georges-Hunt RFA
Brooks UFA

Here's the current avenues for upgrading the roster:
MLE (amount proportionate to change in salary cap)
BAE (amount proportionate to change in salary cap)
Minimums
Rookie (OKC 1st)

With 113 million going to 8 players next year, that's only 10 million under the projected luxury tax, it's really going to be hard to retain Bjelica unless the owner is willing to go deep into the luxury tax(not so much next year but the years after). If Minnesota looks at any vets say 6+ years you're looking at 1.8-2.0 million at the minimum which outside of exceptions and draft picks is all Minnesota can get.

Gotta believe one of the moves that have to happen soon would be moving Dieng's contract and expecting Patton to handle the backup role starting next year. Not really sure Bjelica's contract can be fit in without some type of medium to big moves.

[shrink]

Read on Twitter

Thanks for finding that Klomp.

It will be hard to pay him next year, with KAT, TAj and Dieng on the books and well into the luxury tax, but we need him. Maybe Taj will be gone after next year, so taylor will pay a premium now to have him locked up later..

[Klomp]

With 113 million going to 8 players next year, that's only 10 million under the projected luxury tax, it's really going to be hard to retain Bjelica unless the owner is willing to go deep into the luxury tax(not so much next year but the years after). If Minnesota looks at any vets say 6+ years you're looking at 1.8-2.0 million at the minimum which outside of exceptions and draft picks is all Minnesota can get.

Gotta believe one of the moves that have to happen soon would be moving Dieng's contract and expecting Patton to handle the backup role starting next year. Not really sure Bjelica's contract can be fit in without some type of medium to big moves.

You're also factoring in Aldrich's salary in that number, I believe. I can't see him on the 2018 opening day roster. I also believe, like you brought up, Dieng won't be on the 2019 opening day roster.

[Reddy83]

[walk with me]

With 113 million going to 8 players next year, that's only 10 million under the projected luxury tax, it's really going to be hard to retain Bjelica unless the owner is willing to go deep into the luxury tax(not so much next year but the years after). If Minnesota looks at any vets say 6+ years you're looking at 1.8-2.0 million at the minimum which outside of exceptions and draft picks is all Minnesota can get.

Gotta believe one of the moves that have to happen soon would be moving Dieng's contract and expecting Patton to handle the backup role starting next year. Not really sure Bjelica's contract can be fit in without some type of medium to big moves.

You're also factoring in Aldrich's salary in that number, I believe. I can't see him on the 2018 opening day roster. I also believe, like you brought up, Dieng won't be on the 2019 opening day roster.

This is exactly how things will likely play out


Edit: i just hope the FO is realistic about belly’s contract a lot of teams have got jammed up overpaying shooters. Portland Toronto and Utah jump to my mind immediately.

If the belly sweepstakes become a bit too high priced I’d encourage cutting ties. As great as he’s been I don’t ant to become a middle of the road team overpaying guys who won’t take the team to the next level.

When looking at the blueprints for conference finalist teams. It’s rare you see a spark bench player get over paid. Normally that type of move sets teams back.

[FinnTheHuman]

With 113 million going to 8 players next year, that's only 10 million under the projected luxury tax, it's really going to be hard to retain Bjelica unless the owner is willing to go deep into the luxury tax(not so much next year but the years after). If Minnesota looks at any vets say 6+ years you're looking at 1.8-2.0 million at the minimum which outside of exceptions and draft picks is all Minnesota can get.

Gotta believe one of the moves that have to happen soon would be moving Dieng's contract and expecting Patton to handle the backup role starting next year. Not really sure Bjelica's contract can be fit in without some type of medium to big moves.

You're also factoring in Aldrich's salary in that number, I believe. I can't see him on the 2018 opening day roster. I also believe, like you brought up, Dieng won't be on the 2019 opening day roster.

Edit: i just hope the FO is realistic about belly’s contract a lot of teams have got jammed up overpaying shooters. Portland Toronto and Utah jump to my mind immediately.

If the belly sweepstakes become a bit too high priced I’d encourage cutting ties. As great as he’s been I don’t ant to become a middle of the road team overpaying guys who won’t take the team to the next level.

When looking at the blueprints for conference finalist teams. It’s rare you see a spark bench player get over paid. Normally that type of move sets teams back.

Idk what more he's supposed to do in order for you to believe that he can take the team to the next level. And idk if you're watching Wolves games if you're still labeling Bjelica as a shooter. Not offering the guy Ingles/RoCo money would be a sin, because he's worth more than them.

[walk with me]

Idk what he's supposed to do in order for you to believe that he can take the team to the next level. And idk if you're watching Wolves games if you're still labeling Bjelica as a shooter. Not offering the guy Ingles/RoCo money would be a sin, because he's worth more than them.

The front office (and fans) have to head into this belly off-season with the proper perspective. Belly is a hell of a player, I’ve only missed 2 games this year so far and he’s gotten more and more confident with each passing game. He’s been great. With that said teams time and time again have fallen into traps OVERPAYING guys who have the main speciality of shooting and have been developed within their system.

Belly has been doing most of his damage against teams second units so it’s easier for him to look good against those types of players. Not to say he’s not starting caliber but when you’re not the main focus of an opponent, it’s easy to slide under the radar. If belly was starting we’d see more teams actually planning for him and we would see more of his weaknesses exposed (just like we see kats iso defense issues exposed), specifically on the defensive end. Not saying that he cannot defend, or handle starting. I’m just saying until you know for sure that he’s capable of producing on that level.....you just don’t want to OVER pay him.

It won’t be solely up to belly to bring this team to the next level, the perspective you have to have when I ask that question is. Is the style that belly brings to the wolves (off the bench specifically) going to contribute to the wolves eventually making it into the conference finals or nba finals for 15-16m a year? If youre answer is no, then you want to keep belly around the 10-12m mark. The only type of guys that need to be OVER paid are guys who can add more W’s to your end of season record single handedly, not a back up.

He’s probably better than ingles, won’t debate that one. One thing about ingles is if you ask any jazz fan how they feel about ingles, most are regretting his deal because it was an overpay. But I don’t think he’s better then Covington. Cov has started every game for the 76ers this year and will be their starting 2/3 for the forseeable future. The 76ers are also winnning with covs as a starter. He’s proved he can defend starter caliber players and has justified his contract which was actually fairly reasonable considering how some other guys have been overpaid . If the floor for belly was convingtons deal, I’d let him walk personally. That much money for belly is a major overpay imo. We’d regret paying belly 15m a year because when other teams in the west pass us in the West because of better FA decisions. We’d be stuck with 15m invested into belly for 4 years. The same way we’re stuck with the **** dieng deal which hopefully gets moved by the end of next season. I’m just seeing you’re suggesting paying belly more than convington. Say it was 16M a year. We’d be paying belly & dieng 32m a year. Do you know how insane that is lol? For 32M a year you could bring in any top tier player in the nba or 2 SUPER SERVICABLE guys who will 100% play in a style that will make the team better

Think about
Portland & Crabbe
Toronto & Demare Carrol
Atlanta & Bazemore
Utah & Ingles
Dallas & Wes Matthews
Memphis & chandler parson
Milwaukee & Mirza Telenovic
Okc & Ibaka

These types of deals leverage your future because your competitors end up under paying or giving guys what they’re worth and end up with a better OVERALL team because there’s money to spend in the right places.

Good teams. Sustainable conference finals type teams will never overpay a shooter because it’s an easy hole to fill. And I don’t want to seem like I’m only saying belly is a shooter. He brings a lot to the table but his main specialty is shooting. We don’t know if he can score out of ISO’s and we don’t really know what kind of defender he is on the ball. An example of a smart deal for a shooter is The spurs and Danny green. They were able to pay him exactly what he’s probably worth and it hasn’t hurt the team at all.


All in all I’m not saying belly sucks, I hope he stays for a while. I just hope he stays for a reasonable price. My hope is a championship in the near future and if not that a conference finals birth. Championship/conference level teams don’t waste big chunks of salary on specialists.

[Worm Guts]

Idk what more he's supposed to do in order for you to believe that he can take the team to the next level.

That seems a little over the top

[AirP.]

You have to look at the big picture(down the road) as of now.

PG - Teague / Jones <- Might need to upgrade backup.
SG - Butler / Crawford
SF - Wiggins / Shabaz <- Absolutely need to replace Shabaz with a decent defender
PF - Taj / Bjelica <- Might not be able to pay him.
C - Towns / Dieng <- Dieng is being paid too much as a backup with 3 future max contract guys.

The way things look right now for the future, Dieng is replaced with Patton and Shabaz and Bjelica could both be replaced with a 3/4 and this is why J.Dudley's name keeps coming up. He fits the need(for a couple years) for outside shooting from the 4 and defense at the 3 and he's just 1 player instead of 2(more roster space to develop younger players). Minnesota needs to find a longterm defensive wing to come off that bench, the Wolves have enough scoring, they need more defense to really make them deadly.

[walk with me]

You have to look at the big picture(down the road) as of now.

PG - Teague / Jones <- Might need to upgrade backup.
SG - Butler / Crawford
SF - Wiggins / Shabaz <- Absolutely need to replace Shabaz with a decent defender
PF - Taj / Bjelica <- Might not be able to pay him.
C - Towns / Dieng <- Dieng is being paid too much as a backup with 3 future max contract guys.

The way things look right now for the future, Dieng is replaced with Patton and Shabaz and Bjelica could both be replaced with a 3/4 and this is why J.Dudley's name keeps coming up. He fits the need(for a couple years) for outside shooting from the 4 and defense at the 3 and he's just 1 player instead of 2(more roster space to develop younger players). Minnesota needs to find a longterm defensive wing to come off that bench, the Wolves have enough scoring, they need more defense to really make them deadly.

dudley sucks lol.... he hasn't been good in like 2-3 years.

We just need to ride this team out until summer of 2019 when we will have cap space. Thibs has made it pretty clear he's sticking to the two year window. We don't need to sign anyone past summer 2019 unless it's vets on a cheap deal, like loul deng if he gets bought out. Who I would take 10x ahead of jared dudley.

[AirP.]

You have to look at the big picture(down the road) as of now.

PG - Teague / Jones <- Might need to upgrade backup.
SG - Butler / Crawford
SF - Wiggins / Shabaz <- Absolutely need to replace Shabaz with a decent defender
PF - Taj / Bjelica <- Might not be able to pay him.
C - Towns / Dieng <- Dieng is being paid too much as a backup with 3 future max contract guys.

The way things look right now for the future, Dieng is replaced with Patton and Shabaz and Bjelica could both be replaced with a 3/4 and this is why J.Dudley's name keeps coming up. He fits the need(for a couple years) for outside shooting from the 4 and defense at the 3 and he's just 1 player instead of 2(more roster space to develop younger players). Minnesota needs to find a longterm defensive wing to come off that bench, the Wolves have enough scoring, they need more defense to really make them deadly.

dudley sucks lol.... he hasn't been good in like 2-3 years.

We just need to ride this team out until summer of 2019 when we will have cap space. Thibs has made it pretty clear he's sticking to the two year window. We don't need to sign anyone past summer 2019 unless it's vets on a cheap deal, like loul deng if he gets bought out. Who I would take 10x ahead of jared dudley.

Dudley is only signed for this year and next. Right, he's not an exciting/really good player, he's a glue type guy, play defense and shoot some 3s. He doesn't shoot a lot, but he is efficient. His TS% hasn't been lower then 57% for the last 4 seasons(that includes this year), he's a good player with low usage. Defense and 3s... sounds like something that this team desperately needs on the wing coming off the bench.

[walk with me]

You have to look at the big picture(down the road) as of now.

PG - Teague / Jones <- Might need to upgrade backup.
SG - Butler / Crawford
SF - Wiggins / Shabaz <- Absolutely need to replace Shabaz with a decent defender
PF - Taj / Bjelica <- Might not be able to pay him.
C - Towns / Dieng <- Dieng is being paid too much as a backup with 3 future max contract guys.

The way things look right now for the future, Dieng is replaced with Patton and Shabaz and Bjelica could both be replaced with a 3/4 and this is why J.Dudley's name keeps coming up. He fits the need(for a couple years) for outside shooting from the 4 and defense at the 3 and he's just 1 player instead of 2(more roster space to develop younger players). Minnesota needs to find a longterm defensive wing to come off that bench, the Wolves have enough scoring, they need more defense to really make them deadly.

dudley sucks lol.... he hasn't been good in like 2-3 years.

We just need to ride this team out until summer of 2019 when we will have cap space. Thibs has made it pretty clear he's sticking to the two year window. We don't need to sign anyone past summer 2019 unless it's vets on a cheap deal, like loul deng if he gets bought out. Who I would take 10x ahead of jared dudley.

Dudley is only signed for this year and next. Right, he's not an exciting/really good player, he's a glue type guy, play defense and shoot some 3s. He doesn't shoot a lot, but he is efficient. His TS% hasn't been lower then 57% for the last 4 seasons(that includes this year), he's a good player with low usage. Defense and 3s... sounds like something that this team desperately needs on the wing coming off the bench.

he sucks... watch him play. He's finished physically. He's been finished for 2-3 years. Coming to minnesota won't make him miraculously find the fountain of youth.

he would be a worse version of brandon rush. Physically finished and can no longer contribute.

[AirP.]

dudley sucks lol.... he hasn't been good in like 2-3 years.

We just need to ride this team out until summer of 2019 when we will have cap space. Thibs has made it pretty clear he's sticking to the two year window. We don't need to sign anyone past summer 2019 unless it's vets on a cheap deal, like loul deng if he gets bought out. Who I would take 10x ahead of jared dudley.

Dudley is only signed for this year and next. Right, he's not an exciting/really good player, he's a glue type guy, play defense and shoot some 3s. He doesn't shoot a lot, but he is efficient. His TS% hasn't been lower then 57% for the last 4 seasons(that includes this year), he's a good player with low usage. Defense and 3s... sounds like something that this team desperately needs on the wing coming off the bench.

he sucks... watch him play. He's finished physically. He's been finished for 2-3 years. Coming to minnesota won't make him miraculously find the fountain of youth.

he would be a worse version of brandon rush. Physically finished and can no longer contribute.

Nope, but he'd help stabilize the bench and give Minnesota another 3pt shooter, don't really care if he's past his prime, he'd be an upgrade over Shabaz.

[Vindicater]

Think we will lose him due to cap squeeze but am enjoying watching him while we can.

Is underrated

[FinnTheHuman]

Idk what more he's supposed to do in order for you to believe that he can take the team to the next level.

That seems a little over the top

It's over the top if you interpret "taking the team to the next level" in a way that I don't.

I think that the guys like Korver, Beverly, Marcus Smart, Tucker, Will Burton can take their team to the next level if some of the other pieces are in place. Sometimes your 4th, 5th, or 6th option are what takes the team to the next level, because of the cost/benefit.

[shrink]

Think we will lose him due to cap squeeze but am enjoying watching him while we can.

Is underrated

Bjelica is probably the guy I am the biggest fan of, and who's stats I check first. I want to see him succeed.

Probably because of that, I've believed that the Wolves are going into the lux anyway, so of course they will bring back Bjelly.

Unfortunately, Bjelica is doing so well these days, that we probably can't afford to keep him. I agree that we should focus on offering him top bench money, maybe up to $12 mil/yr, but if he continues to do so well, a team may offer him starter money, aeound $18.

If that happens i don't think we would match, and pay lux taxes on top. Instead of losing him for nothing, it may be wise to at least listen to trade offers. I feel we need him now though, so I'm with Vindicator - sit back and enjoy the ride.

[King Malta]

I was super hard on Belly last season, mainly because I felt he was capable of so much and is such a naturally talented player, rapt to see him playing so well, him and Crawf have got to be my favourite players on the team atm.

[Vindicater]

Think we will lose him due to cap squeeze but am enjoying watching him while we can.

Is underrated

Bjelica is probably the guy I am the biggest fan of, and who's stats I check first. I want to see him succeed.

Probably because of that, I've believed that the Wolves are going into the lux anyway, so of course they will bring back Bjelly.

Unfortunately, Bjelica is doing so well these days, that we probably can't afford to keep him. I agree that we should focus on offering him top bench money, maybe up to $12 mil/yr, but if he continues to do so well, a team may offer him starter money, aeound $18.

If that happens i don't think we would match, and pay lux taxes on top. Instead of losing him for nothing, it may be wise to at least listen to trade offers. I feel we need him now though, so I'm with Vindicator - sit back and enjoy the ride.

[southern wolf]

What is going on with Belly? Is the injury more serious than first thought? He's got a recovery rate slower than Pekovic.