MN - POR

[the_bruce]

I hate Al Jefferson Trades. I love watching big Al do his thing. With that said I've seen tons of Jefferson based trades over the past few months. I haven't seen one I'd do quite yet, but with Oden's injury how many would consider taking a BIG GAMBLE.

In this corner you have Al Jefferson, recently coming off of a serious injury, but slowly working back into his double double ways in a new offense not suited to his strengths.

In this corner you have Greg Oden. Injured for the better part of the past 4 years. Out for this season, and probably most of next season as well. By the time he's 100% back from injury it's time to reup him and he has yet to be proven reliable for a whole season.

MN IN: Oden, Fernandez, Outlaw, Holiday??
MN Out: Al, Sessions, Utah pick

POR IN: Al, Kapono, Sessions, Utah pick, Holiday??
POR out: Oden, Fernandez, Outlaw, Miller

PHI in: Miller
PHI out: Holiday, Kapono

MN defers current talent for the chance at a former #1 pick who can't stay healthy & a SG who is stuck behind Roy. Outlaw is filler injured expiring, but could provide some solid time after he heals. Wanted to send Gomes to portland, but meh.

POR gets win now talent. Sick starting 5!
al\pryz
lma\al
batum\webster
roy\
blake\sessions

PHI gets a PG that knows the system and personel. He won't be happy I'm not sure if Holiday needs to be included.

In 2 years MN could look like this...
Oden
Love
Turner
Fernandez
Rubio

Plus MN clears and additional 10m in cap space. Giving us ~20m. We give Pekovic ~7m and next season. Sign a FA SF, Gay?

Next year..
Pek
Love/#bobs pick(monroe)
Gay
Turner/Fernandez
Flynn

Year After...
Oden\Pek
Love\Mornoe
Gay\#2011 pick
Turner\Fernandez
Rubio\Flynn

[berginator]

Bruce Allen: MN defers current talent for the chance at a former #1 pick who can't stay healthy & a SG who is stuck behind Roy. Outlaw is filler injured expiring, but could provide some solid time after he heals. Wanted to send Gomes to portland, but meh.

Why would we do this??? Jefferson is already better than Oden will ever be. AND Oden is a major, major injury risk. Fernandez and Outlaw would be nice but there is NO WAY you give away a post scorer like Jefferson for those two plus Oden who at this point is nothing more than a throw in. Why would you gamble on a guy who's chances of being relevant at this point are slim to nil? If that's all we get for Jefferson I will barf.

[Krapinsky]

I think it's bad for all three teams.

[the_bruce]

I'm not an never will be a supporter of trading Jefferson(I think he will be 20+/10 for years to come), but there have been so many Jefferson based threads I thought I'd toss this one out. This is as close as I can get to considering trading big al, and heres why.

#1 Pekovic @ 7m
Pekovic can't replace big Al stat wise. Al could easily be 24/10 next year. What will pek put up. I think 14/7 is a low estimate, but solid. He replicates almost everything Al brings and for 1/2 the price.

#2 Oden
Oden is a huge risk. Don't get me wrong. Add to that he will need to be reupped when he's finally 100%. So that adds even more risk, maybe we get a discount or maybe we pay more than he's worth with his injury history. Oden has more defensive potential than Al. Which is what this team needs, he's probably more apt to fit into Rambis's schemes, too. Oden will never be the offensive force Al is, but he could be a better fit long term. When healthy Oden has proven to be a quality player. The question is whether he will ever maintain his health.

#3 Fernandez
I think Rudy is overrated. I also think he has some untapped potential being trapped behind Roy doesn't help him in showing whether he has more to give.

[Foye]

I'd stay away, too.

I think you can leave Sessions out of it but that doesn't really make it any better for me.

[jade_hippo]

I don't think there is a Portland deal that makes sense for us right now, even just for the fact that its Portland. They really seem to overvalue their talent and with all their injuries, I think at best Portland makes a deal for lesser known guys just for healthy bodies or a Miller deal.

[Krapinsky]

I'd do Hollins + Utah pick (maybe Bobs) for Rudy.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I don't think you'd win many fans over inside or outside of the organization like this, its way too risky

[Biff Cooper]

As Jefferson deals go, this one doesn't seem all that bad. Oden, Fernandez and Outlaw are all pretty good prospects. I would probably even consider Oden a better than good prospect. If we are worried about Rubio wanting to come here, obtaining Fernandez would probably be helpful also. I think Portland would want Gomes or Brewer in the deal since Batum is hurt. But then Portland would have trouble sending enough salary away to make the deal work - unless Sessions is removed from the deal.

Interesting trade idea. I'd need to think about whether I'd do it as a TWolves fan.

[GopherIt!]

I don't like the idea of trading for injured players, especially one like Oden. I think he lacks that spider sense better athletes have about knowing what stress their bodies can & can't take. It's like watching guys that know how to take (or avoid) a hit in football vs the one's who are more reckless (i.e. Brett Favre/Peyton Manning vs Big Ben/Aaron Rodgers) and tend to get banged up.

[Biff Cooper]

I don't like the idea of trading for injured players, especially one like Oden. I think he lacks that spider sense better athletes have about knowing what stress their bodies can & can't take. It's like watching guys that know how to take (or avoid) a hit in football vs the one's who are more reckless (i.e. Brett Favre/Peyton Manning vs Big Ben/Aaron Rodgers) and tend to get banged up.

It would be a very risky move for the franchise. Especially if you figure we need to be making progress in our re-build in the next couple years in order to keep the franchise from folding or moving. Not saying we shouldn't do this deal, but there is a lot of risk involved for our franchise, that we would need to be compensated for.