Where Will the Elite Free Agents End Up

[Lipoli390]

Lakers trade with the Wizards to move Wagner and the other 2 guys and now have a max slot available.

Yeah we can kiss DLo goodbye.

Depends on whether the Lakers are able to sign Kawhi or Butler. I suspect they won't, in which case they will put on a full court press to convince DLo to sign with them. I still don't think the puts the Wolves entirely out of the running. It really depends on (1) the extent to which Russell still has harbors any lingering resentment towards the Lakers or the LA media; (2) how much he values playing with close friends like KAT or Booker; (3) how much he values winning over being "the man;" and (4) how much he hates cold weather. In the last interview of DLo I read he complained repeatedly about the cold weather in New York.

If Russell goes to MN he can play with a close friend and have a good chance of making the playoffs. If he signs with the Suns he can play with a close friend (Booker) and enjoy warm sunny weather with little chance of making the playoffs. If he plays for the Lakers he won't have a close friend to play with, but will be on a likely championship contender while enjoying warm sunny weather. Oh, and both the Lakers and Suns have the cap room right now to sign him without having to dump salaries or do a sign-and-trade.

So the odds of the Wolves signing DLo are indeed pretty slim.

I think Dlo likes that Hollywood lifestyle.

You might be right.

The case for signing with the Lakers:
1. Best chance to make the playoffs and contend for a championship
2. Warm sunny weather year round
3. Hollywood vibe
4. Lakers have the money to sign him without the hassle/gymnastics of a sign-and-trade

The case for signing with the Suns
1. Warm sunny weather year round
2. Can play with one of his best friends, Booker
3. Suns have the money to sign him with hassle of sign-and-trade.

The case for signing with the Wolves:
1. Can play with one of his best friends, KAT
2. Better chance than the Suns of making the playoffs
3. 5 months of snow, ice and bitter cold.

Close call. :)

[Monster]

Lakers trade with the Wizards to move Wagner and the other 2 guys and now have a max slot available.

Yeah we can kiss DLo goodbye.

Depends on whether the Lakers are able to sign Kawhi or Butler. I suspect they won't, in which case they will put on a full court press to convince DLo to sign with them. I still don't think the puts the Wolves entirely out of the running. It really depends on (1) the extent to which Russell still has harbors any lingering resentment towards the Lakers or the LA media; (2) how much he values playing with close friends like KAT or Booker; (3) how much he values winning over being "the man;" and (4) how much he hates cold weather. In the last interview of DLo I read he complained repeatedly about the cold weather in New York.

If Russell goes to MN he can play with a close friend and have a good chance of making the playoffs. If he signs with the Suns he can play with a close friend (Booker) and enjoy warm sunny weather with little chance of making the playoffs. If he plays for the Lakers he won't have a close friend to play with, but will be on a likely championship contender while enjoying warm sunny weather. Oh, and both the Lakers and Suns have the cap room right now to sign him without having to dump salaries or do a sign-and-trade.

So the odds of the Wolves signing DLo are indeed pretty slim.

I think Dlo likes that Hollywood lifestyle.

You might be right.

The case for signing with the Lakers:
1. Best chance to make the playoffs and contend for a championship
2. Warm sunny weather year round
3. Hollywood vibe
4. Lakers have the money to sign him without the hassle/gymnastics of a sign-and-trade

The case for signing with the Suns
1. Warm sunny weather year round
2. Can play with one of his best friends, Booker
3. Suns have the money to sign him with hassle of sign-and-trade.

The case for signing with the Wolves:
1. Can play with one of his best friends, KAT
2. Better chance than the Suns of making the playoffs
3. 5 months of snow, ice and bitter cold.

Close call. :)

When it comes to Hollywood it's hard to compete with the Lakers when their GM is Rob Lowe. :) We do have those nifty Prince Jerseys.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

Rumor is that oubre is going to get offers of 4/80+ and even portis is expecting 16+ a year; dlo is going to get 4/118.

I think we're should stay pat take our losses and wait for the bargain guys at the end of free agency.

Let teague expire knock a year off diengs deal, try to develop wiggs then sell cap space for picks in 2020 when high school kids are eligible to get drafted.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Rumor is that oubre is going to get offers of 4/80+ and even portis is expecting 16+ a year; dlo is going to get 4/118.

I think we're should stay pat take our losses and wait for the bargain guys at the end of free agency.

Let teague expire knock a year off diengs deal, try to develop wiggs then sell cap space for picks in 2020 when high school kids are eligible to get drafted.

Then trade Towns after the 2021 season and restart the cycle. Maybe Culver is the next guy Minnesota can't, or won't, build around. Rinse. Repeat.

[Lipoli390]

Lakers trade with the Wizards to move Wagner and the other 2 guys and now have a max slot available.

Yeah we can kiss DLo goodbye.

Depends on whether the Lakers are able to sign Kawhi or Butler. I suspect they won't, in which case they will put on a full court press to convince DLo to sign with them. I still don't think the puts the Wolves entirely out of the running. It really depends on (1) the extent to which Russell still has harbors any lingering resentment towards the Lakers or the LA media; (2) how much he values playing with close friends like KAT or Booker; (3) how much he values winning over being "the man;" and (4) how much he hates cold weather. In the last interview of DLo I read he complained repeatedly about the cold weather in New York.

If Russell goes to MN he can play with a close friend and have a good chance of making the playoffs. If he signs with the Suns he can play with a close friend (Booker) and enjoy warm sunny weather with little chance of making the playoffs. If he plays for the Lakers he won't have a close friend to play with, but will be on a likely championship contender while enjoying warm sunny weather. Oh, and both the Lakers and Suns have the cap room right now to sign him without having to dump salaries or do a sign-and-trade.

So the odds of the Wolves signing DLo are indeed pretty slim.

I think Dlo likes that Hollywood lifestyle.

You might be right.

The case for signing with the Lakers:
1. Best chance to make the playoffs and contend for a championship
2. Warm sunny weather year round
3. Hollywood vibe
4. Lakers have the money to sign him without the hassle/gymnastics of a sign-and-trade

The case for signing with the Suns
1. Warm sunny weather year round
2. Can play with one of his best friends, Booker
3. Suns have the money to sign him with hassle of sign-and-trade.

The case for signing with the Wolves:
1. Can play with one of his best friends, KAT
2. Better chance than the Suns of making the playoffs
3. 5 months of snow, ice and bitter cold.

Close call. :)

When it comes to Hollywood it's hard to compete with the Lakers when their GM is Rob Lowe. :) We do have those nifty Prince Jerseys.

Lol. Good one, Monster. Thanks for starting my day with a good laugh.

[bleedspeed]

I can't see DLO going back to the Lakers. I hope Kawhi Leonard goes to Clippers.

[Lipoli390]

Rumor is that oubre is going to get offers of 4/80+ and even portis is expecting 16+ a year; dlo is going to get 4/118.

I think we're should stay pat take our losses and wait for the bargain guys at the end of free agency.

Let teague expire knock a year off diengs deal, try to develop wiggs then sell cap space for picks in 2020 when high school kids are eligible to get drafted.

Then trade Towns after the 2021 season and restart the cycle. Maybe Culver is the next guy Minnesota can't, or won't, build around. Rinse. Repeat.

We just need to be smart. I've always thought this summer was the time to consider taking one step back in order to take two steps forward starting next summer. The fact that we have Towns on the front end of a 5-year deal gives us some time to be at least somewhat patient. I'm not saying we have the full 5 years. But we certainly have 3 seasons to get this thing on the right track to the point where KAT won't be demanding a trade. AD wasn't traded until after his 4th season.

That's why I would have taken the deal of Covington and #11 for #4 (Garland) and the expiring contract. That deal would have given us a very high upside PG prospect/3-point shooter to go with KAT and other high-upside prospects like Okogie at other positions. We'd keep Teague this season as a veteran PG to mentor Garland. Then next summer we'd shed $30 in salary with two expired contracts (Teague's and the contract in the Garland deal). Gorgui's contract will be much more tradable next summer as an expiring contract and even Wiggins will be slightly easier to move with 3 rather than 4 years left on his deal. And yes, we'd probably have another lottery pick to work with as well. We will be much better positioned next summer than this summer to add talent and take positive, needle-moving steps forward. I understand why Rosas might want to make a big splash this summer. But I think he should be more focused on setting things up for a really smart splash next summer.

Having said that, Rosas absolutely should pursue avenues for signing Russell. He'd be abdicating his responsibilities if he didn't. But if that effort fails, he should turn his attention to setting things up for next summer. And at some point, draft picks, below-the radar (low cost) acquisitions of high upside players and player development have to work for this organization. And who knows, maybe our front office braintrust led by Rosas finally got it right with the Culver pick as the next Brandon Roy or Jimmy Butler.

[Monster]

If the rumors of what some guys are going to get comes true...there is a chance of some bad contracts signed this summer. That doesn't mean I think some of those guys suck no I actually like them but I'm not sure they are worth that. I'd possibly include Russell in that list as well if he gets the full max. Bottom line is you are paying him for his potential. IMHO he hasn't actually PROVEN himself to be that good.

Lowe said on the podcast with Redick that he talked to a executive from a team and they sat down and went through how much various players would get paid this summer. He said based on that there would be guys of similar value that would get say 10 million 5 million maybe just 3 million. Patience (if the cost to make aggressive moves is too high) may not be the worst thing in the world. It might also mean you find a taker for Teague without giving up an asset if a team thinks he is better than the guys left after the first flurry. The Wolves already balked at moving Covington to move up to #4 so it seems they have some restraint. :)

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

A lesson to learn with patience though is Boston. They kept stock piling assets for years and only trade in some of them for Kyrie and now they are left with the 4th best team in the East which could be 5th if KD goes to Brooklyn long-term. They didn't get PG. They didn't get Kawhi. They didn't get AD. Their whole future rests on a guy in Tatum who regressed in year 2. Because they never cashed in their chips. They kept trying to have the best of both worlds and are gonna pay the price for it now. The biggest reason to sell a good chunk of the farm for Russell is he's 23 and he's good friends with KAT. That's a long-term move to get another star the same age as our star. We're not talking about another Jimmy trade. His window matches our current window better than any of these future 19 year old rookies because they're now a full contract behind KAT. Who are the other duos under 25 better than Russell and KAT. Embiid and Simmons and...Booker and Ayton is a reach at this point. Porzingas' health is a big if with Doncic...Fox and Bagley?...Ja and JJJ in Memphis? I think there's an argument that we would have the second best duo in the league for the long-term just entering their prime years. You should first get that and then build around that with both older quality vets like Covington and Harris and keep filling the cupboard with Culver's and Okogie's (he's probably gone in this scenario, but we could get another similar prospect in next year's draft).

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

It would be bad for us, but as a fan of good basketball I'd love for Al Horford to go to Portland.