Wolves trade for Pat Beverly

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Pat Beverley is a loud-mouthed, arrogant, borderline-dirty asshole whose talent level doesn't match his effort. Everybody hates him.

In other words, I fucking love this trade.

Wish we'd have gotten him a few years ago, but I can only concur with the consensus here that this dude should help us out. If he can help prompt Ant to take more pride and give more effort on defense, his impact is going to be way more than his stats suggest. There will definitely be games when he pulls some shit and opposing fans are going to hate us for it, but fuck 'em. We got our asshole now.

Jawohl! (yah-vole) This is what all my German buddies yell when something awesome happens. On the surface, it means something like "yes indeed," but in practice, it's more like "Hell yeah!"

[Tactical unit]

And just like that the Wolves have had a successful off-season, assuming Jarred Vanderbilt does indeed return as expected. Incredible how quickly things change. I love this trade.

I agree, Cam. This one move has suddenly made this a successful off-season for the Wolves. Kudos to Gersson Rosas. Now the Wolves can cap it all off by re-signing Vanderbilt and then signing Millsap to fill our one remaining roster spot that this two-for-one deal opens up.

Question - Do you think the Wolves will still re-sign JMac?

I thought when they brought in M. Wright on a 2 way J-Mac was gone because that was the deal I saw J-Mac getting. I just don't see how J-Mac gets more than a 2 way deal after a sub par year.

[Tactical unit]

Beasley will be a starter this season

I wouldn't bet on that, personally. Minnesota needs a slasher/second ball-handler in the starting lineup in the form of Anthony Edwards, and a strong defender on the perimeter in the form of Jaden McDaniels.

Malik Beasley is a scorer. The Wolves will need him to be a focal point offensively when Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, and Edwards are off the floor. And neither Beasley nor Edwards can replace the length and defensive acumen that McDaniels has already shown to this point.

I would be incredibly surprised if the Wolves didn't start the combination of Russell, Edwards, and McDaniels.

Not that I disagree with Beasley coming off the bench but do you really think D-Lo, ANT & KAT should all be off the floor?

[FNG]

As obsessed with Simmons as Rosas appears to be, I suspect he had a possible Simmons trade as a secondary reason for acquiring Beverley. I just wish Rosas would forget about Simmons. I'm not keen on ball-dominant player who can't shoot at all from anywhere, including the free throw line. His apparent lack of mental and physical toughness make him even less attractive. Let some other team have him. I know others disagree, and I get that. In my view, Rosas should keep building around KAT and Ant with McDaniels, DLO and Beasley around them. Re-sign Vanderbilt and sign Millsap to join Beverley as another defensive, gritty smart vet. Then let's see where we're at next offseason when we'll have more financial flexibility, our own 1st round pick and three 2nd-round picks.

Rosas was part of the Houston group that Found Beverly int he first place so I doubt this was a 3 D checkers move just to get Simmons but as others including myself have said it doesn't hurt. Morey knows Beverly well too so I'd guess he would like him as well.

IMHO I would still be happy to acquire Simmons depending on what the Price would be. If it's Beverly Beasley (probably routed to another team) Layman and some first round picks I guess it would depend on the first round picks on whether or not I would consider it. I think Simmons would immediately make the Wolves a secure playoff team pending injury disasters and In my scenario Simmons would be the 4th option so him not shooting...that's doable. Adding one of the best most versatile defenders in the NBA that just turned 25...that's a massive move. What would you give to get a 25 year old Gobert? That's possibly the type of defensive impact player the Wolves are getting back. Do I think it will happen? No but turning Culver and Juancho into a player I think we all can agree the Sixers would want and actually have need for in a trade involving Simmons? Not a bad thing to do...and it's also possible the Wolves aren't the team that acquires Simmons maybe they get in on some other aspect of the deal.

I think a Simmons trade looks more like Beverly & Beasley plus at least one first round pick but he's a very interesting player. In a defender pick and roll type of role at PF I could see him being an asset. Imagine if he ever learned to shoot, he'd be crazy good. However you have to look at the possibility that he's always going to be a massive bust offensively and he might be the problem that he is / was for PHIL.

I lean towards Finch being able to run offense and maximize his skills to make it work. However I'm not willing to pay more than Beverly, Beasley, and one first round pick for a guy that wants out of town. If they can find better we have a core to build around without Simmons.

I've made this point before, TU, but I think the stats show that Simmons is far from a "massive bust offensively" and actually is a far above average offensive player. I think his offense is criticized because his defense is so elite, he is a horrible free throw and 3-point shooter, and because the dunk he chose not to take in the playoffs is on all of our minds. But if you look at his offensive stats, you find that he is actually a very productive offensive player:

1) His Ortg on Basketball Reference last year of 114 was better than any Wolves starter other than Towns' 117.

2) We all know he doesn't make free throws at an acceptable rate or try 3's. But he plays to his own strengths offensively, and still averaged 14.2 PPG last season with a TS% of 58.4%. To put that into perspective, only Towns, Vando and Reid had a better TS% last season. So Simmons scored more efficiently than Ant, Jaden, Beasley, DLO, Nowell and Rubio.

3) Most NBA fans would say Simmons was a disaster offensively in the playoffs this season, but the stats say otherwise. The Sixers were an extraordinary 21.3 points per 100 possessions better when Ben was on the court than when he was off. You just don't see numbers like that very often.

4) The reason the Sixers are so much better offensively with Ben on the court is because of his efficient scoring and his elite distributing. How many near 7 footers have averaged 7.7 assists per game for their careers?

Simmons would instantly make us much better at both ends of the court. But let's not kid ourselves...as focused as Rosas is on Ben, we're not going to be willing to give up what they want. Philly wants a Lilliard-type deal, and Beasley, Beverley and a pick isn't going to get their attention. I've read a lot of articles in the past couple days about what the Wolves would have to give up, and the deals always include KAT or Ant. Ain't gonna happen.

[Lipoli390]

FNG - All good points about Simmons - backed by stats.

But he's not just a poor free throw and bad 3-point shooter. He also has no discernible mid-range game. His scoring is all layups and dunks - assuming he chooses to take them. :) That makes him a problem for the team's overall offensive game because he has to dominate the ball and run the offense to take advantage of his playmaking skills. In other words, he's a ball-dominant PG with no perimeter shot who's also a flop on the free-throw line. Defenses can sag off him. And because his offensive game is solely dribble-drive, he overlaps and doesn't fit well with Edwards. He's also an imperfect fit with KAT because having Simmons as our PG limits the effectiveness of KAT in the paint. We focus a lot on KAT's uniquely terrific 3-point shooting, but sometimes we forget that he's an elite low-post scorer. That's a big part of his game and to take full advantage of it, we're much better off with a PG like DLO who can hit perimeter shots, especially from behind the arc. And DLO is actually a very good passer and pick-&-roll player, so I'm not sure how much better Simmons is in that area.

Finally, I've been watching replays of Sixers' playoff games over the past few weeks. We talk a lot about Simmons' decision to pass up that easy dunk. But he was terrible in a lot of other ways. Much of the time he looked lost, standing around passively off the ball. There was one play when he actually missed an uncontested dunk on a break-away. He just clanked it off the rim. He was displaying all the negatives we read about in his draft reports. There's a dear-in-headlights passivity in his game that troubles me. If we could get for Beasley, Beverley and a lottery-protected 1st, I'd still probably say yes. But anything more than that I'd say no. I wouldn't risk giving up another lottery pick. I wouldn't give up multiple future first-round picks. I wouldn't give up KAT, Ant or McDaniels. And believe it or not, I wouldn't give up DLO if we'd also be giving up Beasley and a future 1st.

[FNG]

All fair points, Lip, and I agree that I would not give up on KAT, Ant or Jaden. But if Philly had any interest at all in DLO, I wouldn't hesitate to include him. Let's say we gave up DLO, Beas and a pick. Which starting lineup excites you more:

KAT/Simmons/Jaden/Ant/Beverley

or,

KAT/Vando/Jaden/Ant/DLO

I get that the second scenario would have to include Nowell instead of Beas off the bench and would cost us a pick, but I think the upper lineup wins at least 45 games and the lower wins 34.

But again, it ain't gonna happen...Philly doesn't do a deal with us that doesn't include KAT or Ant.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Everything I have heard is that if the T-Wolves want to land Ben Simmons, they would have to somehow involve a third team. A deal straight up between the two is highly unlikely.

[FNG]

Everything I have heard is that if the T-Wolves want to land Ben Simmons, they would have to somehow involve a third team. A deal straight up between the two is highly unlikely.

And maybe even a 4th...any deal would be very complicated. I still don't think any team is going to be too anxious to take DLO and Beas off our hands while giving up the type of player Philly wants. I'd love to land Simmons, but I can't come up with any offer that might work.

I'm open to suggestions though...

[Monster]

There are 2 reasons I don't go all in on Simmons.

1. Injury history especially his back problems.

2. Salary that goes beyond this season. This would depend on who the Wolves include in an unlikely deal but if the Wolves end up having to pay a max deal for a guy that's injured and/or worth more like 20 million instead of 30+ that's problematic. What can you get instead for that salary spent on Simmons?

Ultimately I'm ok living with his flaws as a player but there are other issues that hold me back. Injuries are the thing that gives me the biggest pause. I said the same things about Butler and Russell.

[Jester1534]

Every time you guys talk about Simmons I think of the jimmy butler trade. It's not that I didn't agree with the trade is I don't think it was there time to make that trade. I feel the same her it's not the time to make this type of trade. We've seen these guys play 20 games with each other. See how much improvement Ant has made and then make your decision next year to add another piece.