Potential Trades for a Big Man

[kekgeek]

Correct me if I'm wrong. The wolves only have 3 roster spots available next year.

The current one open
Ed Davis
Vandy

Assuming Bolmaro comes over and if the wolves keep their pick. Only one roster spot available. Also I don't believe jmac can be on a 2-way next year.

One thing the Wolves have going for them is how many expiring deals the wolves have next year. Rubio, Hernangomez (Team Option), Layman, Culver (team option), Naz (team option), Nowell (team option), Okogie (RFA).

obviously some players more important then others but the wolves can do a lot of combos of expiring players next year

[Monster]

What would it take to get Montrezl Harrell? Is he exactly the right guy? No but he would be a pretty nice player to add and I wonder if the cost would be lower than some of the other options we have discussed a lot. He is only signed for 1 more year but that may lower the cost to acquire him and he also doesn't cost much at just over 9 million. I honestly don't know what the Lakers would be looking for. I'm just looking at options. I don't think it's going to be easy to get a clear upgrade at PF.

[Crazysauce]

I would like us to look I to acquiring jaren jackson jr. Rumors have it that memphis isn't sold on signing him long term. He would fit this team really well....as long as he could stay healthy.

[Lipoli390]

We need to factor in salary. The Wolves will have a total payroll of $131.3M for 12 players under contract next season, assuming they don't re-sign Vando or Ed Davis. The luxury tax threshold is expected to be $136.6M next season. There is no way the Wolves will allow themselves to exceed the luxury tax threshold. Nor should they. It would be ridiculous for an NBA team to end up paying the luxury tax the season after a bottom 6 finish.

If they Wolves bring in Bolmaro as expected, his salary will be about $2.4M. That would put the Wolves payroll at around 133.7M, which would leave them about about $2.9M below the luxury tax threshold. They can't upgrade the PF or C position next to KAT with that amount of money to spend in free agency. And if the Wolves sign Vando, it will eat up at least half of that amount.

Bottom line is that the Wolves can't realistically upgrade the roster by adding a starting PF or C to play next to KAT without making a trade. They would have to either trade for that player or make a salary-clearing deal to clear spaced to sign that player as a free agent. Salary-cleaning deals are generally bad ones for the team clearing salary because you generally get not valuable assets in return. The value you get is the extra salary space. The Wolves would have to find a trade partner with space to absorb our outgoing salary or with a non guaranteed contract player the Wolves could receive in return and waive.

In other words, it seems highly unlikely that the Wolves will (or should) try to acquire a starting big via free agency. Therefore, if the Wolves pursue a starting big to join KAT in the front court, it will likely be via trade. As I see it, Beasley is the key to getting an all-star or near all-star caliber big like Collins or Myles Turner. After those two, I can't see any potentially gettable elite bigs who would fit well. There's a long list of bigs I'd want to Wolves to think about attempting to acquire, but I wouldn't give up Beasley for any other them unless we received an additional valuable asset in return and even then I'd be reluctant. Here's my list, divided into two categories: established vets and young bigs with upside:

ESTABLISHED VETS:

1. Derrick Favors (Didn't get much playing time this season. Is he healthy? Does he care anymore?)
2. Larry Nance (I like him, but he's not a rim protector or a particularly good defender. Also not very big)
3. Aron Baynes (would be cheap salary and shouldn't require giving up much)
4. Chris Bouchar (not as physical as I'd like, but a solid two-way big and still in prime at age 28)
5. Ivica Zubac (Don't think the Clips would trade him, but provides rim protection. Ricky or Culver for Z?)
6. Alex Len (Like his size, but defense doesn't quite live up to his size. Would require sign&trade)
7. Gorgui Dieng (He's FA so would require S&T. Would be cheap salary. Wouldn't have to give up much)
8.R Holmes (Would love him. He'll be FA so would require S&T. Would Ricky & Culver be enough?)

YOUNG BIGS WITH UPSIDE

1. Mo Bamba (Great potential as rim protector. Underachiever so far)
2. Precious Achiuwa (Loved him coming out of college. Miami's win-now mode makes him expendable)
3. Okongwu (Hawks overloaded with bigs. Will they keep Collins? Okongwu seems poor fit there)
4. Nic Claxton (Love his upside, but do Naz and/or Vando already provide what he would give us?)
5. Tony Bradley (Good size and very talented)
6. Moses Brown (Love his size. Averaged 8.5r and 1block in only 20 minutes per game)
7. Robert Williams (Started to show what he can do this season. Very talented)
8. Tacko Fall (Freakish size. He's a FA. Not sure I'd want to trade any assets for him in a S&T)

[Monster]

Lip thanks for outlining the Wolves possible salary situation. I thought they had more room. You left out the option of signing a big for the vet min. You mentioned Dieng. I would not be shocked if he would be attainignable at the vet min. This offseason various players signed for that much. Dwight Howard, Harry Giles, Alex Len. What is Drummond going to get or a guy like Dedmond? I get they are really close up to the Lynx tax cap but you can also use that to your favor. Sorry Gorgui we can't pay any more money...

There is one more outside the box route the Wolves could go. Sign a somewhat experienced player to 2-way contract. I don't have anyone off the top of my head that would qualify but maybe there is a guy that's even playing in Europe that fits the description that would jump at the chance to be on an NBA roster even with the 2-way restriction.

The Wolves will need to be creative if they want to add to their roster without going over the lux tax.

Hey did your numbers not include the Wolves possible top pick if they did get it? I'm gonna have to go look at my spreadsheet. Lol

Edit: I didn't have a spreadsheet for 2021-2022 so I had to rectify that!

Lip remember that Bolmaro's Rookie scale is based on what year he is drafted so I believe the 120% of the rookie scale number is 2,284,800 which gets the Wolves over the 3 million mark and also would give them 13 contracts. Everything else you have seems to line up with the numbers I have. It's so exciting to not have to have a spot for Cole Aldrich anymore...

[Lipoli390]

Lip thanks for outlining the Wolves possible salary situation. I thought they had more room. You left out the option of signing a big for the vet min. You mentioned Dieng. I would not be shocked if he would be attainignable at the vet min. This offseason various players signed for that much. Dwight Howard, Harry Giles, Alex Len. What is Drummond going to get or a guy like Dedmond? I get they are really close up to the Lynx tax cap but you can also use that to your favor. Sorry Gorgui we can't pay any more money...

There is one more outside the box route the Wolves could go. Sign a somewhat experienced player to 2-way contract. I don't have anyone off the top of my head that would qualify but maybe there is a guy that's even playing in Europe that fits the description that would jump at the chance to be on an NBA roster even with the 2-way restriction.

The Wolves will need to be creative if they want to add to their roster without going over the lux tax.

Hey did your numbers not include the Wolves possible top pick if they did get it? I'm gonna have to go look at my spreadsheet. Lol

Edit: I didn't have a spreadsheet for 2021-2022 so I had to rectify that!

Lip remember that Bolmaro's Rookie scale is based on what year he is drafted so I believe the 120% of the rookie scale number is 2,284,800 which gets the Wolves over the 3 million mark and also would give them 13 contracts. Everything else you have seems to line up with the numbers I have. It's so exciting to not have to have a spot for Cole Aldrich anymore...

I did not include the possibility of keeping our pick. If that happens, we won't even be able to sign Bolmaro without exceeding the luxury tax threshold.

I didn't leave out the option of signing a vet for the minimum. I know we can do that, but my point is that $2.9M to spend won't land the caliber player we need to significantly upgrade the roster with a big man to start next to KAT.

There's not much the Wolves can do creatively to move the needle. Maybe they'll be able to sign Alex Len, Harry Giles or Gorgui Dieng for around $2.5M per year. And maybe that will move the needle.

As tonight's game against the Celtics showed, this roster as currently constituted is fundamentally flawed. I continue to believe it comes down to the flaw in building the team around DLO as our second max player. Based on what DLO provides - and doesn't provide - it just won't work. I understand it's not realistic to expect the Wolves to trade him this summer. So we just have to hope things come together in a way that seems improbably with DLO on the roster as our starting PG on a max contract. Maybe we can deal Beasley for Myles Turner and, assuming Turner is and remains healthy after his foot surgery, perhaps that will be enough to compensate for the defensive weakness of our two max players and DLO's overall inconsistency. But in my view, trading Beasley would be trading the wrong guy. That guy should be DLO. And if we can't get as much value for DLO as we can for Beasley, then that speaks volumes.

[Monster]

Lip thanks for outlining the Wolves possible salary situation. I thought they had more room. You left out the option of signing a big for the vet min. You mentioned Dieng. I would not be shocked if he would be attainignable at the vet min. This offseason various players signed for that much. Dwight Howard, Harry Giles, Alex Len. What is Drummond going to get or a guy like Dedmond? I get they are really close up to the Lynx tax cap but you can also use that to your favor. Sorry Gorgui we can't pay any more money...

There is one more outside the box route the Wolves could go. Sign a somewhat experienced player to 2-way contract. I don't have anyone off the top of my head that would qualify but maybe there is a guy that's even playing in Europe that fits the description that would jump at the chance to be on an NBA roster even with the 2-way restriction.

The Wolves will need to be creative if they want to add to their roster without going over the lux tax.

Hey did your numbers not include the Wolves possible top pick if they did get it? I'm gonna have to go look at my spreadsheet. Lol

Edit: I didn't have a spreadsheet for 2021-2022 so I had to rectify that!

Lip remember that Bolmaro's Rookie scale is based on what year he is drafted so I believe the 120% of the rookie scale number is 2,284,800 which gets the Wolves over the 3 million mark and also would give them 13 contracts. Everything else you have seems to line up with the numbers I have. It's so exciting to not have to have a spot for Cole Aldrich anymore...

I did not include the possibility of keeping our pick. If that happens, we won't even be able to sign Bolmaro without exceeding the luxury tax threshold.

I didn't leave out the option of signing a vet for the minimum. I know we can do that, but my point is that $2.9M to spend won't land the caliber player we need to significantly upgrade the roster with a big man to start next to KAT.

There's not much the Wolves can do creatively to move the needle. Maybe they'll be able to sign Alex Len, Harry Giles or Gorgui Dieng for around $2.5M per year. And maybe that will move the needle.

As tonight's game against the Celtics showed, this roster as currently constituted is fundamentally flawed. I continue to believe it comes down to the flaw in building the team around DLO as our second max player. Based on what DLO provides - and doesn't provide - it just won't work. I understand it's not realistic to expect the Wolves to trade him this summer. So we just have to hope things come together in a way that seems improbably with DLO on the roster as our starting PG on a max contract. Maybe we can deal Beasley for Myles Turner and, assuming Turner is and remains healthy after his foot surgery, perhaps that will be enough to compensate for the defensive weakness of our two max players and DLO's overall inconsistency. But in my view, trading Beasley would be trading the wrong guy. That guy should be DLO. And if we can't get as much value for DLO as we can for Beasley, then that speaks volumes.

It's a pretty big deal that Beasley makes less than half the money DLO does. Even if they were the same level of player (let's be honest we don't actually know what level of player either guy really is especially Beasley) that would make Beasley worth at least twice as much and he is signed for longer and the last season is not guaranteed. I'm a fan of Beasley the player but part of me thinks there could be a scenario where he isn't actually as good as he has been in the 51 total games he has played over 2 seasons with the Wolves. What I'm saying is IF we can sell high on him that MIGHt actually be smart...plus there is some off the court stuff that is worth considering. I'm not saying I want to trade the guy but...it might actually be a smart asset play to do so if there was the right deal. No clue what that is.

How would you fee about signing a guy like Nerlens Noel for the vet minimum in terms of impact on the Wolves in FA? That's what he got the previous 2 season before the Knicks opened up their bank accounts and sign him for the whopping 5 million he got this year. Every year good player sign for that kind of money and remember vet min deals count less again the cap than what they sign for.

Also I'll be happy to go over the Lux tax (we would be over before Bolmaro) if its because we have another top 3 pick. Those guys are not exactly cheap. It's also worth consider that unless we pick a big with that pick it might mean a perimeter player gets moved because we added another guy that needs playing time. Lets say we picked Suggs...A PG would need to go.

Another consideration is the Wolves can also make an in season move to get below the Lux tax they don't HAVE to do it before the season. I'll also go on record to say if they have to pay a 2nd round pick to move Culver and that allows them to save money and bring on some sort of other youngish player that fits the roster and needs better...fine...I mean I kinda hate it but I'm not going to be too shocked if that happens. I'm hoping for swap of underwhelming players and possibly one of those guys cost a little less than Culver to help duck the luxury tax.

[Lipoli390]

Monster -

I agree that trading Beasley now could be viewed as selling high. But I think the Beasley we saw before his injury this season is the real Beasley. It was consistent with what we saw from him last season after we acquired him at the trade deadline. Note that Beasley was a 40.2% three-point shooter on a significant 5 attempts per game the previous season, which was the first season he got significant minutes. He's also always been an excellent rebounder for his position. He's also a terrific athlete who runs the floor and finishes in transition. And he's still only 24 years old. So I'd be reluctant to trade him and I'd expect a lot in return. Again, if it were up to me, I'd put DLO on the block instead of Beasley. Unfortunately, I don't see Rosas doing that.

Noel was one of the free agents I had on my list last Fall to sign instead of H-Gomez. So I'd still be interested in signing him to a minimum deal. I think we could sign Bolmaro and still sign both Vando and a guy like Noel to a vet minimum deal without exceeding the luxury tax.

If we get lucky in the lottery and retain our pick, then the whole situation changes. A top three pick's salary would be between 8 and 9.5 million. Since we'll only be around $6M under the luxury tax threshold (without Bolmaro), the Wolves would have to do a salary-clearing deal to sign the pick and avoid the luxury tax.

Your thought on moving Culver for a 2nd round pick is the sort of move they might have to make. At this point, that's something they might have to do.

[Wolvesfan21]

With Bolero coming over and Beasley coming back from injury that's two back court players taking up spots. I see Rubio and his 17M expiring deal as the move to make. Rubio from all accounts seems like a good guy, a cool teammate and plays hard. But we simply can't just keep him around to be a coach. Ant is fine handling the ball as well going forward.

Rubio to me seems like the logical guy to move.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

With Bolero coming over and Beasley coming back from injury that's two back court players taking up spots. I see Rubio and his 17M expiring deal as the move to make. Rubio from all accounts seems like a good guy, a cool teammate and plays hard. But we simply can't just keep him around to be a coach. Ant is fine handling the ball as well going forward.

Rubio to me seems like the logical guy to move.

I don't disagree. Paired with Beasley and potentially a young prospect like Reid could land us another significant piece. We'll see this offseason, but the point of starting the "Rising Asset Values" thread was to highlight the fact that Rosas goes into this offseason with some real ammunition to potentially get something big done. Rubio and his expiring deal is one of those assets.