Free Agent Targets for March

[Phenom]

It's Monroe time again. Choice excellent Gupta.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Fun fact for anybody not named Greg Monroe:

Over his last 3 seasons, Greg Monroe has played for 10 different teams (not counting a return to the Wolves... but counting short stints in Bos and Mil because they were in different years ).

[Monster]

Im glad to see Monroe back. I guess the next question is whether or not they actually ever play him.

He played in 13 games so far this season across a few different teams and his stats are solid. That not a massive sample size but it's a decent one. His time at the G-league this year was fairly successful. The assist numbers there are pretty impressive.

He turns 32 in June it's not like he is old. Apparently he has lost some weight since being out of the league. From what I have seen he still plays pretty strong. I think in some ways he plays bigger than he is but he also moves well enough that he isn't just some plodding center type.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Im glad to see Monroe back. I guess the next question is whether or not they actually ever play him.

He played in 13 games so far this season across a few different teams and his stats are solid. That not a massive sample size but it's a decent one. His time at the G-league this year was fairly successful. The assist numbers there are pretty impressive.

He turns 32 in June it's not like he is old. Apparently he has lost some weight since being out of the league. From what I have seen he still plays pretty strong. I think in some ways he plays bigger than he is but he also moves well enough that he isn't just some plodding center type.

The Timberwolves seem tenuously close to having Nathan Knight get playoff minutes. (one injury or Town's tendency to foul A LOT)

I'd rather go with Greg Monroe at this point.

[Q-is-here]

Im glad to see Monroe back. I guess the next question is whether or not they actually ever play him.

He played in 13 games so far this season across a few different teams and his stats are solid. That not a massive sample size but it's a decent one. His time at the G-league this year was fairly successful. The assist numbers there are pretty impressive.

He turns 32 in June it's not like he is old. Apparently he has lost some weight since being out of the league. From what I have seen he still plays pretty strong. I think in some ways he plays bigger than he is but he also moves well enough that he isn't just some plodding center type.

The Timberwolves seem tenuously close to having Nathan Knight get playoff minutes. (one injury or Town's tendency to foul A LOT)

I'd rather go with Greg Monroe at this point.

Sounds like Nate can't play without a change in contract from being a 2-way. Enter Greg Monroe.

[Lipoli390]

Im glad to see Monroe back. I guess the next question is whether or not they actually ever play him.

He played in 13 games so far this season across a few different teams and his stats are solid. That not a massive sample size but it's a decent one. His time at the G-league this year was fairly successful. The assist numbers there are pretty impressive.

He turns 32 in June it's not like he is old. Apparently he has lost some weight since being out of the league. From what I have seen he still plays pretty strong. I think in some ways he plays bigger than he is but he also moves well enough that he isn't just some plodding center type.

The Timberwolves seem tenuously close to having Nathan Knight get playoff minutes. (one injury or Town's tendency to foul A LOT)

I'd rather go with Greg Monroe at this point.

Sounds like Nate can't play without a change in contract from being a 2-way. Enter Greg Monroe.

That's right. I speculated in a prior post that they probably failed to sign Monroe or another big in March because they were deciding whether to give that final playoff roster spot to one of our two-way guys. Barring some strange turn of events, I seem Monroe as the Wolves 15th guy on their playoff roster. I'm not sure whether two-way players are eligible for the play-in tournament.

[Monster]

Im glad to see Monroe back. I guess the next question is whether or not they actually ever play him.

He played in 13 games so far this season across a few different teams and his stats are solid. That not a massive sample size but it's a decent one. His time at the G-league this year was fairly successful. The assist numbers there are pretty impressive.

He turns 32 in June it's not like he is old. Apparently he has lost some weight since being out of the league. From what I have seen he still plays pretty strong. I think in some ways he plays bigger than he is but he also moves well enough that he isn't just some plodding center type.

The Timberwolves seem tenuously close to having Nathan Knight get playoff minutes. (one injury or Town's tendency to foul A LOT)

I'd rather go with Greg Monroe at this point.

Sounds like Nate can't play without a change in contract from being a 2-way. Enter Greg Monroe.

That's right. I speculated in a prior post that they probably failed to sign Monroe or another big in March because they were deciding whether to give that final playoff roster spot to one of our two-way guys. Barring some strange turn of events, I seem Monroe as the Wolves 15th guy on their playoff roster. I'm not sure whether two-way players are eligible for the play-in tournament.

Two-way players aren't eligible for the post season.

It's been reported by a couple people that basically the Timberwolves had an agreement with Monroe they would sign him for the rest of the season once they were able to and be sure to stay away from being in the luxury tax. There must be some incentives that we don't know about or some other cap expense because the math doesn't add up. It seems like they could have signed him earlier. Meanwhile Monroe did just fine financially (relatively speaking)?playing on some 10 day contracts. Im sure what he liked wants more than the money (I'm sure he likes that though too) is to actually get an opportunity. Based on what he did this year I think some teams this offseason are going to look at him as a vet min signing even if it's a non guaranteed one after a certain date. The Wolves might even be one of those teams. He can't be the only frontcourt player they add though. It will be interesting to see what they do with Nathan Knight. Will they try and keep him as a 2-way player next year also? Naz Reid is only under contract for 1 more year. I think Naz is another guy I would consider moving this offseason if it brought back value. I do really like Naz though.

[WildWolf2813]

Im glad to see Monroe back. I guess the next question is whether or not they actually ever play him.

He played in 13 games so far this season across a few different teams and his stats are solid. That not a massive sample size but it's a decent one. His time at the G-league this year was fairly successful. The assist numbers there are pretty impressive.

He turns 32 in June it's not like he is old. Apparently he has lost some weight since being out of the league. From what I have seen he still plays pretty strong. I think in some ways he plays bigger than he is but he also moves well enough that he isn't just some plodding center type.

The Timberwolves seem tenuously close to having Nathan Knight get playoff minutes. (one injury or Town's tendency to foul A LOT)

I'd rather go with Greg Monroe at this point.

Sounds like Nate can't play without a change in contract from being a 2-way. Enter Greg Monroe.

That's right. I speculated in a prior post that they probably failed to sign Monroe or another big in March because they were deciding whether to give that final playoff roster spot to one of our two-way guys. Barring some strange turn of events, I seem Monroe as the Wolves 15th guy on their playoff roster. I'm not sure whether two-way players are eligible for the play-in tournament.

Two-way players aren't eligible for the post season.

It's been reported by a couple people that basically the Timberwolves had an agreement with Monroe they would sign him for the rest of the season once they were able to and be sure to stay away from being in the luxury tax. There must be some incentives that we don't know about or some other cap expense because the math doesn't add up. It seems like they could have signed him earlier. Meanwhile Monroe did just fine financially (relatively speaking)?playing on some 10 day contracts. Im sure what he liked wants more than the money (I'm sure he likes that though too) is to actually get an opportunity. Based on what he did this year I think some teams this offseason are going to look at him as a vet min signing even if it's a non guaranteed one after a certain date. The Wolves might even be one of those teams. He can't be the only frontcourt player they add though. It will be interesting to see what they do with Nathan Knight. Will they try and keep him as a 2-way player next year also? Naz Reid is only under contract for 1 more year. I think Naz is another guy I would consider moving this offseason if it brought back value. I do really like Naz though.

Naz has to go if the plan is to add more bigs with a different element to their games than KAT.


I'm all in on seeing how we can get Mark Williams or Oscar Tshiebwe onto this team.

[Monster]

Im glad to see Monroe back. I guess the next question is whether or not they actually ever play him.

He played in 13 games so far this season across a few different teams and his stats are solid. That not a massive sample size but it's a decent one. His time at the G-league this year was fairly successful. The assist numbers there are pretty impressive.

He turns 32 in June it's not like he is old. Apparently he has lost some weight since being out of the league. From what I have seen he still plays pretty strong. I think in some ways he plays bigger than he is but he also moves well enough that he isn't just some plodding center type.

The Timberwolves seem tenuously close to having Nathan Knight get playoff minutes. (one injury or Town's tendency to foul A LOT)

I'd rather go with Greg Monroe at this point.

Sounds like Nate can't play without a change in contract from being a 2-way. Enter Greg Monroe.

That's right. I speculated in a prior post that they probably failed to sign Monroe or another big in March because they were deciding whether to give that final playoff roster spot to one of our two-way guys. Barring some strange turn of events, I seem Monroe as the Wolves 15th guy on their playoff roster. I'm not sure whether two-way players are eligible for the play-in tournament.

Two-way players aren't eligible for the post season.

It's been reported by a couple people that basically the Timberwolves had an agreement with Monroe they would sign him for the rest of the season once they were able to and be sure to stay away from being in the luxury tax. There must be some incentives that we don't know about or some other cap expense because the math doesn't add up. It seems like they could have signed him earlier. Meanwhile Monroe did just fine financially (relatively speaking)?playing on some 10 day contracts. Im sure what he liked wants more than the money (I'm sure he likes that though too) is to actually get an opportunity. Based on what he did this year I think some teams this offseason are going to look at him as a vet min signing even if it's a non guaranteed one after a certain date. The Wolves might even be one of those teams. He can't be the only frontcourt player they add though. It will be interesting to see what they do with Nathan Knight. Will they try and keep him as a 2-way player next year also? Naz Reid is only under contract for 1 more year. I think Naz is another guy I would consider moving this offseason if it brought back value. I do really like Naz though.

Naz has to go if the plan is to add more bigs with a different element to their games than KAT.


I'm all in on seeing how we can get Mark Williams or Oscar Tshiebwe onto this team.

I disagree that Naz has to go. The question to me is how much will he cost on the next contract and how does that fit into what else is on the roster and what's needed. They could sign him with the idea that he could still be a trade asset. He could also be a sign and trade guy as well. I'm looking to deal him to get a better player but he is still 22 and could certainly get better.

As for Mark Williams I like him him but honestly I'm not sure if he is gonna be good or if he isn't significantly better than a number of other big center types that can be acquired one way or another. I haven't checked into Oscar T yet. As it's been discussed on this board a few times we need to add someone more than a rookie to help with the frontcourt situation.

[Lipoli390]

Im glad to see Monroe back. I guess the next question is whether or not they actually ever play him.

He played in 13 games so far this season across a few different teams and his stats are solid. That not a massive sample size but it's a decent one. His time at the G-league this year was fairly successful. The assist numbers there are pretty impressive.

He turns 32 in June it's not like he is old. Apparently he has lost some weight since being out of the league. From what I have seen he still plays pretty strong. I think in some ways he plays bigger than he is but he also moves well enough that he isn't just some plodding center type.

The Timberwolves seem tenuously close to having Nathan Knight get playoff minutes. (one injury or Town's tendency to foul A LOT)

I'd rather go with Greg Monroe at this point.

Sounds like Nate can't play without a change in contract from being a 2-way. Enter Greg Monroe.

That's right. I speculated in a prior post that they probably failed to sign Monroe or another big in March because they were deciding whether to give that final playoff roster spot to one of our two-way guys. Barring some strange turn of events, I seem Monroe as the Wolves 15th guy on their playoff roster. I'm not sure whether two-way players are eligible for the play-in tournament.

Two-way players aren't eligible for the post season.

It's been reported by a couple people that basically the Timberwolves had an agreement with Monroe they would sign him for the rest of the season once they were able to and be sure to stay away from being in the luxury tax. There must be some incentives that we don't know about or some other cap expense because the math doesn't add up. It seems like they could have signed him earlier. Meanwhile Monroe did just fine financially (relatively speaking)?playing on some 10 day contracts. Im sure what he liked wants more than the money (I'm sure he likes that though too) is to actually get an opportunity. Based on what he did this year I think some teams this offseason are going to look at him as a vet min signing even if it's a non guaranteed one after a certain date. The Wolves might even be one of those teams. He can't be the only frontcourt player they add though. It will be interesting to see what they do with Nathan Knight. Will they try and keep him as a 2-way player next year also? Naz Reid is only under contract for 1 more year. I think Naz is another guy I would consider moving this offseason if it brought back value. I do really like Naz though.

Naz has to go if the plan is to add more bigs with a different element to their games than KAT.


I'm all in on seeing how we can get Mark Williams or Oscar Tshiebwe onto this team.

I disagree that Naz has to go. The question to me is how much will he cost on the next contract and how does that fit into what else is on the roster and what's needed. They could sign him with the idea that he could still be a trade asset. He could also be a sign and trade guy as well. I'm looking to deal him to get a better player but he is still 22 and could certainly get better.

As for Mark Williams I like him him but honestly I'm not sure if he is gonna be good or if he isn't significantly better than a number of other big center types that can be acquired one way or another. I haven't checked into Oscar T yet. As it's been discussed on this board a few times we need to add someone more than a rookie to help with the frontcourt situation.

Monster - I agree with your analysis. Like you, I don't think Naz has to be traded. I like what he brings. But I get Wild's point that Naz might not fit well on this roster if we add another rotation big. I agree with you that the Wolves will need to factor in what it will likely cost to keep Naz beyond next season and how he fits on the roster if the Wolves add another front court player who provides more size and rebounding than Naz. I'll add that Naz will have significant trade value and is one of our better trade assets. Whether the Wolves move Naz will and should turn on all those factors: (1) what it will likely cost to keep him beyond next season; (2) what assets they're able to get in return for Naz either straight-up or as part of a package; and (3) who the Wolves end up signing to add more size and rebounding.

So how might Naz Reid fit if we add the sort of big the Wolves need. Let's assume the Wolves sign Drummond as a free agent this summer. He's the sort of big that I think this team needs, although he wouldn't be my first choice. I think he would instantly slot in as our starting center next to KAT. His presence in the starting lineup would instantly and significantly improve this team's subpar defensive rebounding and provide some much-needed size/strength next to KAT. Drummond's presence, as I see it, would still leave Vanderbilt in the rotation as a rotation PF off then bench - a high-energy guy playing 20 minutes a game. I think this scenario would still leave room for Naz coming off the bench as coming off the bench as a C or PF behind KAT or Drummond. His presence would be a valuable hedge against the risk of injury to KAT because, unlike Drummond and Vanderbilt, Naz can pick up some of the offensive slack created by KAT's absence from the lineup.

What are your thoughts on some bigs to pursue this offseason - via either free agency or trade?