Camden0916 wrote:monsterpile wrote:Cam (and anyone else) who would you rather have Monroe or Noel for Rubio? Which guy makes more money on their next contract?
Sheesh, good question, monster. Both have their pros and cons. I'd be excited to have either one of them.
To answer your latter question, Noel is going to get near mini-max from somebody. I feel like his defensive upside is well-known around the league. I do think Thibodeau and him would be a great match.
I think Monroe's next deal will be looked at by many as good team value or even a steal -- think Pau Gasol's three-year, $22M deal in 2014 in Chicago or Al Jefferson's three-year, $30M deal in Indiana this past summer. Perhaps Monroe could command a million or two more per year than what Jefferson got simply because he's still just 26-years old. Still a good deal.
I think Monroe's a good veteran teammate, good professional, he's been durable (mentally and physically), and he seems like the kind of personality that doesn't mind playing for a franchise that isn't rainbows and unicorns all the time. I think his intangibles would be nice to have here.
If that's the type of contract Monroe is going to get that's a big time steal. It's always weird to see what guys might be worth. I get where you are coming from either he numbers but I feel like Monroe will get more than that and as you said in another post he probably opts into next year (since you don't see him getting a raise) and that would be fine with me. Here is the deal. Why are we moving Rubio?
1. To get something that helps more.
2. He is a high priced backup.
Well...if we trade for a. If that makes Rubio money or more that gives us a high priced backup either the guy we acquire or Dieng. Maybe that fine but it's possible Rubio would cost less than either guy we bring back. Plus this team has Aldrich (I know you don't see him as valuable at this point) and Belly and when do those guys play? I'm not really convinced of the Belly able to play a lot at SF but I'm certainly not against trying it more or espcially in some matchups. I feel like the Wolves committed to an extent to Dieng I'm not saying you don't bring in talent because you committed to Dieng but I think it's a bit telling what the Wolves have done with his contract and playing him at Center.
So...would Rubio be worth keeping around as a backup? I've mentioned it before. Delly is a versatile guy and to some extent got overpaid but Rubio is more of a starting level player and their contracts aren't close but...rope backups that are more in the realm of starting level guys are not coming cheap. Some of this is up to Rubio if he isn't happy backing up a player then it's not going to work. I could see him buying in espcially if the team started to come together and started winning and he was really clicking with bench guys. Dunn seems like a guy if you lose your spot to...you wouldn't have a hard time feelligg good for the guy. Unlikely Ricky would accept that role? Yeah i think so but some guys we are looking at acquiring might not be so keen on being possible backups either and they aren't under contract and Rubio is for a sum that's expensive...but not terrible and since Dunn in on a rookie deal and so is Tyus the Wolves can likely afford it through the length of his contract if they wanted to.
Would you rather have the cap space? Maybe but will you be able to sign a starting level player for that money or that money plus a couple million extra since they have more space? Maybe, probably but that's not completely certain.
The more I think about it the more I think it makes sense to let this season play out and move Rubio next offseason. You hopefully have a better idea of what to move him for and if Dunn and or Tyus are ready. In some ways the Wolves are in a good spot with Ricky since they have options. On the other hand they don't know for certain yet if one of the other options is actually going to be the answer. Hopefully Dunn can build on some of the success he has shown lately.