Duke13 wrote:Lip I respect your posts and insight but since the draft your analysis has been a bit hot takie and Skip Bayless like. You may have wanted Garland but that doesn't mean Rosas is a clown show and has no idea what he's doing. I'd say quite the opposite.
I'm not the reporter who said Russell has narrowed his choice to the Lakers and Suns. It came from a respected NBA reporter. I was just responding to what he reported. It's hardly calling Rosas a clown to conclude that getting Russell has always been a long shot for a team $5 million over the cap. And it's not hot takie to conclude that Stein's report indicates we're not going to get him. I don't think Rosas has "no idea" what he's doing. But I think it's fair to suggest that he may have underestimated how difficult it would be to do big things like sign Russell. You can disagree with that without me believing you think Rosas is the and NBA Einstein. I'll admit I was a bit hard on Rosas draft night, but I've tempered my criticism a lot since then. My take on pursing Russell and my disagreement with Rosas' decision to go with Culver and Covington over Garland and Saric doesn't suggest I think Rosas is a clown. By the way, I like Skip Bayless. :)
Duke13 wrote:I was more referring to after draft criticism of the front office. I think i some of your posts soon after the pick you insinuated they had no idea what they were doing. And I would lean towards trading Cov to get Garland mainly because of the importance of the position. As I've said I thought it was a savy move to trade up for what they had to give up.
And I'll refer to a lot of your pre draft analysis and posts where you talked about the better the odds of getting a star player the higher you pick in the draft, if that's the case, most people had Culver in the top 1-2 tiers.
As I said, I've admitted to being a bit hard on the Wolves front office draft night. But I've tempered my criticism since then in my posts, even acknowledging that Rosas was intentional in his decision to trade up without knowing he could get Garland. I respect his decision to do that, but disagree with it. Heck, I was ridiculed for posting positive reflections on Culver's potential.
If we don't end up with Russell, I'll consider this a very good offseason. I like Culver better than Garland and also expect him to end up being much better than Russell too. If Covington's healthy, he'll have a huge positive impact. I'm not down on Wiggs as much as most and think that Ryan and Vanterpool will be able to help bring out an improved version of Wiggs.
lipoli390 wrote:Rosas is getting an education in how difficult it is to succeed heading the front office of a mid-market cold-climate team with no winning tradition in a state with a high income tax. He's going to have to get his draft picks right and develop the young players he has.
Toronto was in a similar position until masai took over. He focused on development and international scouting because Toronto wasn't really an attractive location for American players.
Then winning and a professionalism changed the perception of players.
KG4Ever wrote:If we don't end up with Russell, I'll consider this a very good offseason. I like Culver better than Garland and also expect him to end up being much better than Russell too. If Covington's healthy, he'll have a huge positive impact. I'm not down on Wiggs as much as most and think that Ryan and Vanterpool will be able to help bring out an improved version of Wiggs.
lipoli390 wrote:Rosas is getting an education in how difficult it is to succeed heading the front office of a mid-market cold-climate team with no winning tradition in a state with a high income tax. He's going to have to get his draft picks right and develop the young players he has.
I'm almost certain he knew Minnesota's situation prior to accepting the job, and I don't see anything that's taken place this off-season that would have further educated him on that.
We don't need Brian Windhorst to report that D'Angelo Russell has interest in signing with Minnesota. We literally have one of his best friends on the payroll. It'd be like waiting for a rumor that Dwayne Wade wants to play with LeBron James. Established friendships usually dictate interest in playing with one another.
The difference between Minnesota and Phoenix and Los Angeles is their cap situations. Minnesota's smartest avenue of approach will be to acquire Russell via a sign-and-trade involving Brooklyn and likely one other team. The other two teams can essentially sign him using cap space (I'm aware Phoenix might have to dump a smaller contract to make it happen).
I don't see Russell being linked to Minnesota by the national media until the top dominoes fall and teams with cap space that struck out -- New York -- start looking elsewhere. When that happens, I do believe Rosas will get in the thick of things when it comes to Russell.
Cam - Here's a report from Zach Lowe earlier today that supports your take:
ESPN's Zach Lowe poured gasoline all over the fire, saying the Wolves were "up to something" on his most recent podcast with Bobby Marks and Jonathan Givony. Lowe said they've have let the league know they have path to landing Russell as the franchise point guard of the future they desperately want. The social media recruiting by Towns isn't simply some harmless fun with a close friend, either. "There has been a lot of Minnesota (signing) D'Angelo Russell noise," said Lowe. - via Forbes.com
crazy-canuck wrote:We need to clear about 35 million in cap space for DLO.
Do prefer:
A)
Dlo for teague and/orDieng and/or covington + 1 or 2 of Culver or Okogie or Future picks
B)
A PG that can fit into the MLE. Someone like Mudiay or Collison or Joseph or maybe even Rubio.
It doesn't necessarily have to be option A here as it could just as easily be Teague and a lottery protected first to a third team with a second round pick heading to Brooklyn for facilitating.
But even in your presented options, Minnesota needs to acquire premium level talent and build around that. Right now they have one foundational piece and need at least one more. Landing Russell should be the top priority for Rosas and company.
crazy-canuck wrote:We need to clear about 35 million in cap space for DLO.
Do prefer:
A)
Dlo for teague and/orDieng and/or covington + 1 or 2 of Culver or Okogie or Future picks
B)
A PG that can fit into the MLE. Someone like Mudiay or Collison or Joseph or maybe even Rubio.
It doesn't necessarily have to be option A here as it could just as easily be Teague and a lottery protected first to a third team with a second round pick heading to Brooklyn for facilitating.
But even in your presented options, Minnesota needs to acquire premium level talent and build around that. Right now they have one foundational piece and need at least one more. Landing Russell should be the top priority for Rosas and company.
I thought a straight teague +pick swap wouldnt work.
Wolves are about 8 million over the cap, so if dlo wants the full max at 4/118, then we'd need to be almost 27 million under the cap to have the trade be legal. I could br wrong though.
crazy-canuck wrote:We need to clear about 35 million in cap space for DLO.
Do prefer:
A)
Dlo for teague and/orDieng and/or covington + 1 or 2 of Culver or Okogie or Future picks
B)
A PG that can fit into the MLE. Someone like Mudiay or Collison or Joseph or maybe even Rubio.
It doesn't necessarily have to be option A here as it could just as easily be Teague and a lottery protected first to a third team with a second round pick heading to Brooklyn for facilitating.
But even in your presented options, Minnesota needs to acquire premium level talent and build around that. Right now they have one foundational piece and need at least one more. Landing Russell should be the top priority for Rosas and company.
I thought a straight teague +pick swap wouldnt work.
Wolves are about 8 million over the cap, so if dlo wants the full max at 4/118, then we'd need to be almost 27 million under the cap to have the trade be legal. I could br wrong though.
You are correct. My statement was the simplest option that could be available where Russell commands $24M in salary instead of the $27.5M that the max contract is worth. If he does indeed get the max, then Teague + Okogie just about gets it done.
My point is that the Wolves won't be mortgaging their future to get Russell and that the overall price is well within reason.
