Wolves Trade Speculation and Ideas

[Lipoli390]

We have a thread for Wolves trade news. So far, we don't have a lot of news regarding possible Wolves trades, although Rosas pretty much telegraphed his intent to make deals this summer in his conversation with Doogie.

But this thread is dedicated to discussing what what the Wolves should do when it comes to trades rather than news about what they do or intend to do. So let's open things up for a discussion. Who should the Wolves pursue via trades this summer, realistically, and what should the Wolves be willing to give up?

The following is my list of players I'd like to see the Wolves pursue via trade this summer. The players I would absolutely not give up under any circumstances are KAT, Ant and McDaniels. Realistically, I don't think Rosas will part with DLO either. So here's my list:

ATLANTA

1. Capela - The perfect big to pair with KAT. I'd pursue him over Collins. I think it would take less to get him, his contract is less than the contract Collins will ultimately command and he's a better defender than Collins. I'm sure we'd have to include Beasley in any deal for Capela and while I'm reluctant to part with Beasley, I think Capela would be worth it.

2. Okongwu - Atlanta is in win-now mode and Okongwu will be out at least the first few months of the season. He's still unproven, but I saw enough in his play during the playoffs to confirm my view last summer that he's going to be really good, as in Bam Adebayo good. It would be more of a long-term move for the Wolves, but one I'd make if Atlanta's open to it. Not sure what it would take to get him though.

'BOSTON

3. Tristan Thompson - He's a traditional big and, therefore, not likely to be in demand around the League. KAT's unique versatility and 3-point prowess makes the Wolves one of the few teams that could use a traditional big like Thompson. I don't think it would take much to get him.

4. Robert Williams - Another Boston big who would give us some size inside. And it shouldn't cost much to get him

CLEVELAND

5. Larry Nance - He has two years left at $10.7M per year. He wouldn't be an exciting addition, but he's be a solid PF to pair with KAT. Maybe Culver and Layman would be enough to get him.

MAVS

6. Maxi Kleber - Would be a solid addition at 9M per year for two years with only one guaranteed. Not sure what it would take to get him

7. Dwight Powell - Not crazy about this guy, but worth persuading a someone who could add some size and defense to our interior.

DENVER

8. Seek Nnaji - Denver's 1st round pick last year. An upside acquisition

9. Bol Bol - High upside, shot-blocking acquisition. Shouldn't take much to get him

DETROIT

10. Mason Plumlee - An excellent rebounder with good length and size. Reasonable $8.1M per year salary with two years left and only partial guarantee on second year. Detroit is in full rebuild mode, so I can see them being interested in moving Plumlee. As a rebuilding team, they might be interested in Culver and Layman.

11. Isaiah Steward - I don't see Detroit moving this guy. But if there's a chance, then the Wolves should jump on it.

INDIANA

12. Myles Turner - I still see Myles as the best fit for the Wolves of any big that is likely available via trade. His durability is the only question in my mind, but that question is what probably makes him gettable for a reasonable price. I think we'd probably have to part with Beasley to get him. But I'd try to deal Rubio and Juancho along with a future protected first-round pick instead. I suspect that including Naz Reid in a Rubio package for Turner would get the job done. Not sure I'd do that, but I'd consider it.

CLIPPERS

13. Patrick Beverley - Would the Clippers swap Beverley for Ricky, Layman and a future 2nd-round pick?

14. Daniel Oturu - One of our own form the U of M. He didn't have any meaningful role with the Clippers last season, but I liked him coming out of college.

ORLANDO

15. Mo Bamba - So far he's been a disappointment. Would Orlando be willing to part with him now as they continue their rebuild? What would it take for the Wolves to land him? Culver makes sense, but probably wouldn't be enough. Culver, Layman and a future 2nd-round pick?

SIXERS
'
16. Paul Reed - I liked him coming out of college. Not sure what it would take to get him, but I'd take to Morey about him.

SPURS

17. Jakob Poeltl - Not sure the Spurs would be willing to trade him for what we'd have to offer. But he'd be a nice fit for the Wolves. Beasley?

TORONTO

18. Chris Boucher - A good rim protector. Not sure what it would take to get him

19. Aron Baynes - Big and tough. Not near the top of my list, but probably very gettable.

WASHINGTON

20. Thomas Bryant - Not sure what it would take to get him, but he's on my list as a good upside addition to the Wolves.

[Monster]

I'll wait for Wolfson to post the entire interview with Rosas to say more but I'm not sure Rosas is giving anything away. The Wolves currently have no draft picks in this draft are right up against the luxury tax so they may not even be able to sign a FA even for the vet min. I think saying they need to make trades seems pretty obvious. Is Rosas supposed to try and convince his fellow basketball executives that he is happy with the current players at the 4/5 next to Towns?

[Lipoli390]

I'll wait for Wolfson to post the entire interview with Rosas to say more but I'm not sure Rosas is giving anything away. The Wolves currently have no draft picks in this draft are right up against the luxury tax so they may not even be able to sign a FA even for the vet min. I think saying they need to make trades seems pretty obvious. Is Rosas supposed to try and convince his fellow basketball executives that he is happy with the current players at the 4/5 next to Towns?

He doesn't need to convince his fellow execs that he's happy with the current roster. He just needs to keep his mouth shut or say things that at least plant some seeds of doubt about his zeal to make a deal this summer. More importantly, avoid saying things that paint himself into a corner where he has to make a deal. I don't think Myers will convince any of his fellow execs that he's not interested in trading one or both of his lottery picks this year, but his comments at least make you wonder and avoid telegraphing his intent.

Honestly, it shouldn't be a given that the Wolves' current roster requires a trade. We have two max players and last year's rookie of the year runner up along with other young talent like McDaniels, Naz Reid and Malik Beasley. This is Gersson's roster and he needs to project confidence in that roster both externally and internally. Perhaps there's more in the interview that puts the Doogie quote in better context, but Rosas should have left Doogie with the take-away that Rosas likes the current roster and that while he's looking for possible trades, he doesn't feel the need to make any trades given the talent we have, the way the team finished the season and the opportunity for development with a normal off-season, Summer League and a full training camp.

I don't want to make too much of Gersson's comment. At the end of the day, his comment won't make or break this franchise. I'm far more concerned about his track record of poor business judgment - trading up for Garland without knowing he could get him; a needlessly lopsided trade for DLO; signing Juancho to a 2-year $7M per year deal given better, cheaper free agent choices; and ending up near the luxury tax threshold as a lottery team. Note that I'm not dumping on Gersson. I've gone out of my way to praise his organization's eye for young talent. But we have to be honest about his apparent deficiencies as well.

[Monster]

I'll wait for Wolfson to post the entire interview with Rosas to say more but I'm not sure Rosas is giving anything away. The Wolves currently have no draft picks in this draft are right up against the luxury tax so they may not even be able to sign a FA even for the vet min. I think saying they need to make trades seems pretty obvious. Is Rosas supposed to try and convince his fellow basketball executives that he is happy with the current players at the 4/5 next to Towns?

He doesn't need to convince his fellow execs that he's happy with the current roster. He just needs to keep his mouth shut or say things that at least plant some seeds of doubt about his zeal to make a deal this summer. More importantly, avoid saying things that paint himself into a corner where he has to make a deal. I don't think Myers will convince any of his fellow execs that he's not interested in trading one or both of his lottery picks this year, but his comments at least make you wonder and avoid telegraphing his intent.

Honestly, it shouldn't be a given that the Wolves' current roster requires a trade. We have two max players and last year's rookie of the year runner up along with other young talent like McDaniels, Naz Reid and Malik Beasley. This is Gersson's roster and he needs to project confidence in that roster both externally and internally. Perhaps there's more in the interview that puts the Doogie quote in better context, but Rosas should have left Doogie with the take-away that Rosas likes the current roster and that while he's looking for possible trades, he doesn't feel the need to make any trades given the talent we have, the way the team finished the season and the opportunity for development with a normal off-season, Summer League and a full training camp.

I don't want to make too much of Gersson's comment. At the end of the day, his comment won't make or break this franchise. I'm far more concerned about his track record of poor business judgment - trading up for Garland without knowing he could get him; a needlessly lopsided trade for DLO; signing Juancho to a 2-year $7M per year deal given better, cheaper free agent choices; and ending up near the luxury tax threshold as a lottery team. Note that I'm not dumping on Gersson. I've gone out of my way to praise his organization's eye for young talent. But we have to be honest about his apparent deficiencies as well.

I have a simple question for you. Are you happy with the roster as is?

[worldK]

We keep hearing that Rosas intends to improve the team tru trades. If we are looking for a starting caliber guy as we should, then I narrowed the serious trade chips down to 3 players.
1. Beasley
2. Rubio
3. Naz.

Who do you guys think we could get with those 3 as the trade chips?

I see 4 guys as our core that wont or should not be traded.
1 Ant.
2.KAT.
3. Dlo (should only be considered if were talking about a simmons or beal.)
4. Mcdaniels (should only be packaged with dlo for a all star, otherwise just keep him)

The rest are throw in guys or irrelevant. Were talking about culver, juancho, nowell, okogie and layman. They do some good things but they are all replaceable parts.

Going back to the legit trade chips, beasley, rubio and Naz. Who can we seriously get to improve the team? Turner might be the best option. Gallo can be had, I guess with those 3. Can those 3 get us a Isaac or Markkanen? I personally believe that if we could get a legit starting 2 way big, then Id be okay with trading a combination or all 3 of beas, rubio and Naz.

[KG4Ever]

If the Wolves can land Siakam, Ben Simmons or Myles Turner without trading KAT, Ant or McDaniels, I'll be happy, though I don't think we'll get any of them.

[Lipoli390]

I'll wait for Wolfson to post the entire interview with Rosas to say more but I'm not sure Rosas is giving anything away. The Wolves currently have no draft picks in this draft are right up against the luxury tax so they may not even be able to sign a FA even for the vet min. I think saying they need to make trades seems pretty obvious. Is Rosas supposed to try and convince his fellow basketball executives that he is happy with the current players at the 4/5 next to Towns?

He doesn't need to convince his fellow execs that he's happy with the current roster. He just needs to keep his mouth shut or say things that at least plant some seeds of doubt about his zeal to make a deal this summer. More importantly, avoid saying things that paint himself into a corner where he has to make a deal. I don't think Myers will convince any of his fellow execs that he's not interested in trading one or both of his lottery picks this year, but his comments at least make you wonder and avoid telegraphing his intent.

Honestly, it shouldn't be a given that the Wolves' current roster requires a trade. We have two max players and last year's rookie of the year runner up along with other young talent like McDaniels, Naz Reid and Malik Beasley. This is Gersson's roster and he needs to project confidence in that roster both externally and internally. Perhaps there's more in the interview that puts the Doogie quote in better context, but Rosas should have left Doogie with the take-away that Rosas likes the current roster and that while he's looking for possible trades, he doesn't feel the need to make any trades given the talent we have, the way the team finished the season and the opportunity for development with a normal off-season, Summer League and a full training camp.

I don't want to make too much of Gersson's comment. At the end of the day, his comment won't make or break this franchise. I'm far more concerned about his track record of poor business judgment - trading up for Garland without knowing he could get him; a needlessly lopsided trade for DLO; signing Juancho to a 2-year $7M per year deal given better, cheaper free agent choices; and ending up near the luxury tax threshold as a lottery team. Note that I'm not dumping on Gersson. I've gone out of my way to praise his organization's eye for young talent. But we have to be honest about his apparent deficiencies as well.

I have a simple question for you. Are you happy with the roster as is?

Can't say I'm happy with the current roster. But I'd say I believe this roster has the potential to compete for a playoff slot. If I'm wrong, then this team is in trouble because it's unlikely that we'll go from lottery caliber to playoff caliber based on trades this summer. The problem with trades is that you have to give to get. Therefore, unless your trading valuable 1st round picks for players, it's unlikely that you'll meaningfully upgrade your talent. Trading players for players can realign your roster with different skill sets, but it typically won't result in a net upgrade in talent unless you fleece the other team. Rosas has remade the roster around the one all-star he inherited from his predecessor. He now has no draft picks this year, no cap room, and minimal room under the luxury tax. We'd better hope that he has built a playoff caliber roster.

We're not going to get a star like Beal or Lillard because we're understandably not going to part with KAT or Ant. For the same reason, it's highly unlikely we can even get a flawed star like Simmons. I listed a bunch of players I'd like to add to our roster. Acquiring any of them would require a trade of some kind. So I agree with Rosas that improving the team will require a trade. Therefore, I'm all for pursing trades to get one of the guys I've listed. But the question is who and how much we'd have to give up to get any of them and whether the deal would make us significantly better. The players we can realistically acquire without losing our best current talent will make a different for us if our current talent is already playoff caliber. If not, then we're just swapping chairs for placement on the titanic.

[Lipoli390]

We keep hearing that Rosas intends to improve the team tru trades. If we are looking for a starting caliber guy as we should, then I narrowed the serious trade chips down to 3 players.
1. Beasley
2. Rubio
3. Naz.

Who do you guys think we could get with those 3 as the trade chips?

I see 4 guys as our core that wont or should not be traded.
1 Ant.
2.KAT.
3. Dlo (should only be considered if were talking about a simmons or beal.)
4. Mcdaniels (should only be packaged with dlo for a all star, otherwise just keep him)

The rest are throw in guys or irrelevant. Were talking about culver, juancho, nowell, okogie and layman. They do some good things but they are all replaceable parts.

Going back to the legit trade chips, beasley, rubio and Naz. Who can we seriously get to improve the team? Turner might be the best option. Gallo can be had, I guess with those 3. Can those 3 get us a Isaac or Markkanen? I personally believe that if we could get a legit starting 2 way big, then Id be okay with trading a combination or all 3 of beas, rubio and Naz.

World - I think you're right about our three serious trade chips. I disagree slightly on DLO as one of the guys we shouldn't trade unless its for a star like Beal or Simmons. I put DLO and Beasley in the category of guys I'd rather not trade, but would part with to get a player who can significantly move the needle for us. Of course, the problem with trading either one is that you're losing a lot of production along with some untapped upside. I'd actually be more inclined to deal DLO over Beasley because of DLO's max contract and durability issues. For example, I'd deal DLO in a sign-and-grade for John Collins, but I can't see Atlanta doing that deal.

I don't see Rosas trading DLO and I really think this team should hang onto Beasley. I can still see the Wolves getting a good player in exchange for Rick, Naz and a future 1st round pick with minimal protection. That's should be Gersson's primary focus.

[Coolbreeze44]

After watching the playoffs this year, do you really think we can do any post season damage with a player like DLO? I can't see it. Plus the head idiot (Rosas) is the last link in the block chain.

[Sundog]

After watching the playoffs this year, do you really think we can do any post season damage with a player like DLO? I can't see it. Plus the head idiot (Rosas) is the last link in the block chain.

I came away with the opposite impression, that DLo's offensive game could flourish in the playoffs. He can work in small spaces to get midrange opportunities, he doesn't shy away from the big shot in the big moment, he can get his guys the ball where they want it.

The huge concern is his defense, the importance of which is magnified in the playoffs. If that's what you're referring to, I'm with you.