Wolves Post Trade Deadline Analysis

[Q-is-here]

Otto Porter Jr. with the full mid-level exception?!? Too early, too early... 8)

Gupta can't keep up with you Cam!

[Monster]

I read that piece this morning and I came away just as displeased as I was earlier in the week. Here's where I'm at now. I have high confidence that Sachin Gupta is someone I would absolutely want in my front office, but he is not someone I would want as my President of Basketball Operations at this time. Gersson Rosas was frustrating on some levels, and unprofessional on others, but you have to admire his ability to aggressively pursue his targets and close deals while essentially improving the roster with every one of them. Gupta's still an unknown there and this deadline didn't prove otherwise.

This team has holes that were pluggable at the deadline and for reasonable cost if you look at the deals that were made around the league. Choosing smiles, good vibes, and friendship doesn't usually equate to more regular season wins or a more competitive group in the post-season. I understand not wanting to rock the boat, so to speak, but Minnesota's boat goes wherever Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, and Anthony Edwards take it and it's clear to me that they need additional help.

Jon Krawczynski reported that the Celtics offered Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford for Malik Beasley. He did not include Aaron Nesmith's name in this article, but we heard from additional reporting that Nesmith was mentioned in those trade talks. I think the Richardson and Nesmith package was attainable and would have made the Wolves better in the present and future. I think even swapping Beasley for Richardson would have been a win for the Wolves.

I'll applaud the front office for showing restraint in regards to acquiring Montrezl Harrell. While he's a better player than Naz Reid and presents some positives within his game, he doesn't fix any of the weaknesses the team currently has overall and would have only made the roster smaller. I don't see that as a meaningful transaction and can understand their decision to pull out of that deal.

I'll also refrain from crucifying the front office for not robbing the Blazers like the Clippers did, but I wonder if they even made calls on Norman Powell. That's a player that would have really helped this team now AND moving forward. The Clippers got Powell and Robert Covington for Eric Bledsoe's shadow, something called Justise Winslow, the 21st overall pick in the 2021 draft (Keon Johnson), and a future second-round pick. That's not exactly a haul. Gupta and the front office should have been in constant contact with these teams and made competitive offers.

I just don't feel like they explored enough. I feel like they thought too small after targeting Ben Simmons and weren't open to breaking up this current team and its state of happiness even if it meant making the team more talented and potentially much better.

If you want to watch Gupta's media availability where the quotes in Jon K's story are from there is a link below. Nothing mind blowing so you can put it on 1.5 or 2x speed and do some dishes or something. Lol

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AFskIWCQe-Q

[Monster]

I read that piece this morning and I came away just as displeased as I was earlier in the week. Here's where I'm at now. I have high confidence that Sachin Gupta is someone I would absolutely want in my front office, but he is not someone I would want as my President of Basketball Operations at this time. Gersson Rosas was frustrating on some levels, and unprofessional on others, but you have to admire his ability to aggressively pursue his targets and close deals while essentially improving the roster with every one of them. Gupta's still an unknown there and this deadline didn't prove otherwise.

This team has holes that were pluggable at the deadline and for reasonable cost if you look at the deals that were made around the league. Choosing smiles, good vibes, and friendship doesn't usually equate to more regular season wins or a more competitive group in the post-season. I understand not wanting to rock the boat, so to speak, but Minnesota's boat goes wherever Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, and Anthony Edwards take it and it's clear to me that they need additional help.

Jon Krawczynski reported that the Celtics offered Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford for Malik Beasley. He did not include Aaron Nesmith's name in this article, but we heard from additional reporting that Nesmith was mentioned in those trade talks. I think the Richardson and Nesmith package was attainable and would have made the Wolves better in the present and future. I think even swapping Beasley for Richardson would have been a win for the Wolves.

I'll applaud the front office for showing restraint in regards to acquiring Montrezl Harrell. While he's a better player than Naz Reid and presents some positives within his game, he doesn't fix any of the weaknesses the team currently has overall and would have only made the roster smaller. I don't see that as a meaningful transaction and can understand their decision to pull out of that deal.

I'll also refrain from crucifying the front office for not robbing the Blazers like the Clippers did, but I wonder if they even made calls on Norman Powell. That's a player that would have really helped this team now AND moving forward. The Clippers got Powell and Robert Covington for Eric Bledsoe's shadow, something called Justise Winslow, the 21st overall pick in the 2021 draft (Keon Johnson), and a future second-round pick. That's not exactly a haul. Gupta and the front office should have been in constant contact with these teams and made competitive offers.

I just don't feel like they explored enough. I feel like they thought too small after targeting Ben Simmons and weren't open to breaking up this current team and its state of happiness even if it meant making the team more talented and potentially much better.

I think you make some good points I'll add some thoughts.

Gupta is/was in a very different spot than Rosas was for all of the time Rosas was making decisions. When Rosas took over even I was willing to trade most of the roster if it made any kind of sense. Rosas clearly needed to continue to look to shape the roster because...quite frankly the team wasn't good. Meanwhile this team is actually like good and stuff and yeah people get along which is kinda nice. Pro sports especially the NBA rosters are revolving but the Wolves have had a pretty high amount of turnover. Keeping things together does have SOME merit IMO. I don't think anyone will disagree that it would be silly to keep the good vibes together if there was an obvious upgrade that made sense both now and what we points in the future. You believe there was obvious upgrades that should have been either done or more heavily pursued. I think that's fair. I also think (which is why we are here to discuss it all) values are subjective.

I'll comment on just one deal that you mentioned...My guess is with Powell the Wolves were hesitant to lock themselves into 4 more years of Powell (I've always been a big fan of btw) who turns 29 in May and I believe he has missed a decent amount of games (but not really bad or anything) in his career. One other thing to consider from the clippers Blazers deal is that the Blazers were able to get under the tax with that deal. The Wolves weren't going to provide that in a deal with Portland...or other teams. That likely limited them quite a bit in various moves. That makes the math for a trade of having the matching salaries etc even more difficult. I spent some time one day shuffling players in and out of that Richardson for Beasley deal and I never found something I was happy with that meant the Wolves stayed under the tax and the Celtics didn't take on much more salary. The Celtics were able to get below the tax after all their moves (mostly from dumping Juancho) which was a nice thing for them.

[Lipoli390]

I think Monster's probably right about why Gupta didn't pursue Powell. It seems clear that Gupta is trying to preserve financial flexibility after this season. Acquiring Powell for Beasley, Prince or Beverley would have undercut that goal. Nevertheless, it's fair to criticize Gupta for inaction at the deadline. Like Cam, I think Gupta should have gone through with the Beasley for Richardson and Nesmith deal. Short of that significant deal, I'm disappointed that Gupta didn't deal Layman for a big. Nevertheless, I'm not ready to conclude that Gupta isn't PBO material and that he is too interested in good vibes, smiles and friendships. I understand where Cam is coming from and I'll admit I'm concerned that Gupta might not have that top hard-nosed executive instinct that you need in the top job. But for now, I'll assume that Gupta is simply very thoughtful and calculating. MIT doesn't graduate village idiots.

[Monster]

I think Monster's probably right about why Gupta didn't pursue Powell. It seems clear that Gupta is trying to preserve financial flexibility after this season. Acquiring Powell for Beasley, Prince or Beverley would have undercut that goal. Nevertheless, it's fair to criticize Gupta for inaction at the deadline. Like Cam, I think Gupta should have gone through with the Beasley for Richardson and Nesmith deal. Short of that significant deal, I'm disappointed that Gupta didn't deal Layman for a big. Nevertheless, I'm not ready to conclude that Gupta isn't PBO material and that he is too interested in good vibes, smiles and friendships. I understand where Cam is coming from and I'll admit I'm concerned that Gupta might not have that top hard-nosed executive instinct that you need in the top job. But for now, I'll assume that Gupta is simply very thoughtful and calculating. MIT doesn't graduate village idiots.

Lip I think that the Beasley for Richardson and Nesmith deal not happening was partly because of the concern of going into the Lux tax.* It's also worth noting that this trade would fill up the roster and the Wolves would have no space (or salary) to sign a true big on a vet min deal. It also takes up a roster space next season which limits the Wolves flexibility. I know some people like Nesmith and I certainly don't dislike him but I don't know if I like him more than having a roster spot open especially with the Wolves having multiple draft picks this coming offseason and much more financial flexibility to add the to the roster. This offseason if I was going to rank how valuable players were on the trade market I would put Beasley ahead of Richardson (maybe not by a lot but that's where I land) partly because that non guaranteed final season. Richardson is a solid player on a cheaper expiring deal so...in some cases it's depending on the team's situation that either guy is going to.

* I think there is likely to be some other amount of salary that we (and other well informed and calculated media etc) don't know about. There are probably a few different possibilities including an incentive for someone like Vanderbilt. Maybe is just the worry about the Prince incentives. If it was a deal they were essentially on the fence about it and still thought there was even a 5 percent chance Prince would reach and incentive then they probably are gonna pass and I can't blame them or ownership for that. I think we all know deals aren't made in the NBA based solely on the impact of the basketball court. It's so....driven by salaries and the cap and Luxury tax. It's not just players who drive the moving from place to place it's also financial constraints that lead to players getting traded multiple times in the span of a few days because mostly their contract happens to match up with the right deal etc.

[FNG]

Two players we talked a lot about pre-deadline are showing up quite well early for their new teams. Montrezl Harrell scored 20 points (on only 8 shots) and added 9 rebounds and 2 assists in 29 minutes for the Grizzlies. And while Derrick White didn't shoot well, his +23 in his 2 games with the Celtics led the team...his defense is elite, and having him backing up (and sometimes playing next to) Marcus Smart makes for an impressive backcourt. I know White would have been difficult for us to pick up and I don't know if he was on Gupta's radar, but Harrell would have been a cheap upgrade to our bench.