Our Way Too Early Kneejerk Off-Season Plans

[WildWolf2813]

Time to post what our hopes, dreams and plans would be.


Off rip, for the draft, at 19 I either want Christian Koloko or I want the future D'Lo replacement in either Jean Montero or Kennedy Chandler.

2nd round, Trevion Williams from Purdue. Not enough veteran rebounders in free agency. Get one in the draft (still mad Tshiebwe went back to school).


I hate to say it, if the Lakers ask for Russell and Beasley for Westbrook, I'm making that trade. There's no other way out of this for Russell. This is a weak free agent class, so I wouldn't consider much on that market to be honest.

As frustrating as Towns is, he gets 1 more year. D'Lo does not. KAT has to see that the end of the road is coming for D'Lo.

Prince can come back at an affordable price. Okogie, take care. sign the best rebounder in G League, Petr Cornelie to a vet min deal to back up Vando. Maybe Monroe stays as a 3rd big



Package Naz + 2 2's to move up in the draft to secure an aforementioned Koloko or Montero/Chandler. Even swap Bolmaro for a shooter who needs PT somewhere.

Towns /Monroe /Knight or someone else
Vanderbilt /Cornelie /Koloko or Trevion Williams
Edwards /McDaniels /Prince
Beverley /Nowell /Bolmaro
Westbrook /McLaughlin /Montero or Chandler


Could this be awful? Maybe, but there's no upside in keeping Russell.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

I like where you're at on most of this. I'm not swapping Dlo for Westbrook though, and I view Beas as slightly positive so wouldn't include him either. I'd require a 1st from LA to swap Dlo for Westbrook (that's how bad Westbrook is right now)... I actually think that's one place Dlo could be decent

[WildWolf2813]

I like where you're at on most of this. I'm not swapping Dlo for Westbrook though, and I view Beas as slightly positive so wouldn't include him either. I'd require a 1st from LA to swap Dlo for Westbrook (that's how bad Westbrook is right now)... I actually think that's one place Dlo could be decent

Here's why I'm fine swapping Beasley /D'Lo for Westbrook

1: shot to the bow at KAT. Kinda have to rip the band-aid off for him. We tried it his way. There's a ceiling to that. Now he needs to make better friends.

2. Let's be realistic: do any of us think we'll pick up Beasley's option? Russell came up short, but so did Beasley. He led us in threes but tonight he had 2 points. He's not above being replaced.

3. D'Lo probably thinks we owe him an extension. With Westbrook, everyone knows we don't owe him anything. If Westbrook plays well, cool. If not, we can always send him home. Won't bother us any.

Now, it's also predicated upon drafting a PG who we're comfortably playing, and there's at least 2 we can use (Chandler or Montero).

If LA wants to add a pick, cool. Otherwise, nothing will really change and we're just gonna wind up letting Beasley and Russell walk for nothing anyway.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

I like where you're at on most of this. I'm not swapping Dlo for Westbrook though, and I view Beas as slightly positive so wouldn't include him either. I'd require a 1st from LA to swap Dlo for Westbrook (that's how bad Westbrook is right now)... I actually think that's one place Dlo could be decent

Here's why I'm fine swapping Beasley /D'Lo for Westbrook

1: shot to the bow at KAT. Kinda have to rip the band-aid off for him. We tried it his way. There's a ceiling to that. Now he needs to make better friends.

2. Let's be realistic: do any of us think we'll pick up Beasley's option? Russell came up short, but so did Beasley. He led us in threes but tonight he had 2 points. He's not above being replaced.

3. D'Lo probably thinks we owe him an extension. With Westbrook, everyone knows we don't owe him anything. If Westbrook plays well, cool. If not, we can always send him home. Won't bother us any.

Now, it's also predicated upon drafting a PG who we're comfortably playing, and there's at least 2 we can use (Chandler or Montero).

If LA wants to add a pick, cool. Otherwise, nothing will really change and we're just gonna wind up letting Beasley and Russell walk for nothing anyway.

I get the logic, but you'd be giving LA exactly what they were missing this year and you'd be helping them back to the playoffs. I think both Dlo and Beasley could be better utilized in other trades. I'm not helping the Lakers figure out their mess :)

[Porckchop]

Ant would be wasting his talents sitting on the perimeter waiting for passes with 3 seconds left on the shot clock. Westbrook couldn't make it work with Lebron for Pete's sake.

[WildWolf2813]

I like where you're at on most of this. I'm not swapping Dlo for Westbrook though, and I view Beas as slightly positive so wouldn't include him either. I'd require a 1st from LA to swap Dlo for Westbrook (that's how bad Westbrook is right now)... I actually think that's one place Dlo could be decent

Here's why I'm fine swapping Beasley /D'Lo for Westbrook

1: shot to the bow at KAT. Kinda have to rip the band-aid off for him. We tried it his way. There's a ceiling to that. Now he needs to make better friends.

2. Let's be realistic: do any of us think we'll pick up Beasley's option? Russell came up short, but so did Beasley. He led us in threes but tonight he had 2 points. He's not above being replaced.

3. D'Lo probably thinks we owe him an extension. With Westbrook, everyone knows we don't owe him anything. If Westbrook plays well, cool. If not, we can always send him home. Won't bother us any.

Now, it's also predicated upon drafting a PG who we're comfortably playing, and there's at least 2 we can use (Chandler or Montero).

If LA wants to add a pick, cool. Otherwise, nothing will really change and we're just gonna wind up letting Beasley and Russell walk for nothing anyway.

I get the logic, but you'd be giving LA exactly what they were missing this year and you'd be helping them back to the playoffs. I think both Dlo and Beasley could be better utilized in other trades. I'm not helping the Lakers figure out their mess :)

I can't worry about how LA solves their mess. This is about trying to not to let the current mess get worse.

I just don't see teams going out of their way to add Russell at his salary. Russell doesn't become semi valuable until he makes half as much as a sixth man\, and that's never gonna be a role he'll accept here.

[BloopOracle]

I'm going to wait to post my Dlo thoughts until later tomorrow, otherwise people will think D-Loser is my burner

[Monster]

I like where you're at on most of this. I'm not swapping Dlo for Westbrook though, and I view Beas as slightly positive so wouldn't include him either. I'd require a 1st from LA to swap Dlo for Westbrook (that's how bad Westbrook is right now)... I actually think that's one place Dlo could be decent

Here's why I'm fine swapping Beasley /D'Lo for Westbrook

1: shot to the bow at KAT. Kinda have to rip the band-aid off for him. We tried it his way. There's a ceiling to that. Now he needs to make better friends.

2. Let's be realistic: do any of us think we'll pick up Beasley's option? Russell came up short, but so did Beasley. He led us in threes but tonight he had 2 points. He's not above being replaced.

3. D'Lo probably thinks we owe him an extension. With Westbrook, everyone knows we don't owe him anything. If Westbrook plays well, cool. If not, we can always send him home. Won't bother us any.

Now, it's also predicated upon drafting a PG who we're comfortably playing, and there's at least 2 we can use (Chandler or Montero).

If LA wants to add a pick, cool. Otherwise, nothing will really change and we're just gonna wind up letting Beasley and Russell walk for nothing anyway.

I get the logic, but you'd be giving LA exactly what they were missing this year and you'd be helping them back to the playoffs. I think both Dlo and Beasley could be better utilized in other trades. I'm not helping the Lakers figure out their mess :)

I can't worry about how LA solves their mess. This is about trying to not to let the current mess get worse.

I just don't see teams going out of their way to add Russell at his salary. Russell doesn't become semi valuable until he makes half as much as a sixth man\, and that's never gonna be a role he'll accept here.

I don't think Westbrook sucks but trading for him is legitimately risky. If I was really going to move on from Russell I think I would prefer to let him play out this year and let him walk than make the deal you suggest for Westbrook although if the Lakers were going to send 1st round pick that would be tempting. Beasley is still a valuable player and yes I think it's possible that the wolves decline his last year of his contract.

Here is the other reality. Keeping Russell and Beasley gives the Wolves more options in trades either this offseason or during the season. Beasley's non guaranteed deal could help get the wolves a player on a longer term deal. There is a real advantage to having contracts you are willing to trade. If you move those guys for Westbrook now you have a guy making over 40 million and probably nobody making more than a couple million that would be players that the team would want to deal. Having the right contracts is HUGE in being able to make trades. Trading for Westbrook pretty much eliminates being able to make anything other than a fairly small deal.

As for what Russell thinks he might be worth and what role he would play we don't know. What we do know is he was pretty meh in this series and he did actually seem to defer in this series take king significantly fewer shots than he averaged in the season. As I have said in a couple recent threads he is now simply a starting PG or like you said maybe a top flight 6th man. He isn't a star. Unless he balls out next season he simply isn't going to be able to expect big time money and big time role on another team. He will be 27 with some injury history. If he thinks he is gonna get paid there will be a rude awakening waiting for him. Would he accept a 6th man role? Maybe not but as a guy that has struggled to stay healthy maybe that would make sense like his childhood favorite player Manu who also struggled with injuries which is partly why he wasn't a starter much of his career. Can the Wolves add to their talent pool and put Russell in a more advantageous role? What happens with Nowell? It's a good problem to have when you have useful guards like the Wolves do. At some point they need to fine a way to get value out of them in a deal to help another area of the roster.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Can Westbrook rebound?

For something that virtually everybody noticed 5 months ago... it's only fitting that it's the primary reason why the Wolves lost the series.

- Forget about hero ball.
- Forget about all the Towns hate.
- The Russell disappearance.
- The end-of-game collapses.

The team couldn't rebound. We knew that it would be especially bad vs. Memphis in this series. The trade-off was supposed to be three point shooting. And it was (at times).

But when it mattered, the Grizzlies were a lot closer in three pointers than the Wolves were in rebounds.



[Note: Tyus Jones made as many three pointers in this series as Towns. And he made more than Malik Beasley. But at least we got to follow the team celebrate Beasley's in-season record for three pointers made awhile back like it was some sort of meaningful "record." :sick: ]

[Lipoli390]

Can Westbrook rebound?

For something that virtually everybody noticed 5 months ago... it's only fitting that it's the primary reason why the Wolves lost the series.

- Forget about hero ball.
- Forget about all the Towns hate.
- The Russell disappearance.
- The end-of-game collapses.

The team couldn't rebound. We knew that it would be especially bad vs. Memphis in this series. The trade-off was supposed to be three point shooting. And it was (at times).

But when it mattered, the Grizzlies were a lot closer in three pointers than the Wolves were in rebounds.



[Note: Tyus Jones made as many three pointers in this series as Towns. And he made more than Malik Beasley. But at least we got to follow the team celebrate Beasley's in-season record for three pointers made awhile back like it was some sort of meaningful "record." :sick: ]

Can't argue with you about the rebounding problem. It was one of several reasons the Wolves lost the series, but as you noted it was the main one. Nevertheless, this was a winnable series even with the relatively poor rebounding if only Towns or Beasley had made more threes than Tyus Jones. The fact that they did not is unacceptable. The main problem with Towns is that he wasn't taking enough 3-pointers, passing up multiple open looks for reckless drives that often ended in misses and/or offensive fouls. I guess he wanted to prove he's tough. Or maybe he lacked confidence in his three-point shooting. In either case, it was ridiculous. Beasley's main problem is that he hasn't been making his shots. And he's been missing by a lot. His arc changes on nearly every attempt. He's a shooting basket case right now. I'm thinking a really good shrink would do wonders for both KAT and Beasley.

As for rebounding, we don't need a shrink. We need better rebounders on the roster.