Free Agents - Who do you target?

[Coolbreeze44]

Go ahead and sign them if you have the cap space. But don't tell me that Al Horford is a star. He's not. He's soft and he's getting schooled in these conference finals. Even Tristan Thompson is getting over on him.

[Monster]

Epke Udoh was just named Euro league finals MVP. Draft express said the guy is really mobile and a paint protecting monster. I remember he was a mixed bag as an NBA player. He did some good things blocked shots got steals underwhelming rebounder and fouled quite a bit. I wonder if he has progressed and if so what kind of money it would take to get him here. there could be other Europe FAs that might be plenty useful.

[WildWolf2813]

Go ahead and sign them if you have the cap space. But don't tell me that Al Horford is a star. He's not. He's soft and he's getting schooled in these conference finals. Even Tristan Thompson is getting over on him.

He's a 4-time all-star. Wiggins at this rate will be lucky to make one.

If Al Horford was getting schooled in the conference finals for our team, sign me up, because that means we got to the conference finals.

[slimcalhoun27 [enjin:6640095]]

Epke Udoh was just named Euro league finals MVP. Draft express said the guy is really mobile and a paint protecting monster. I remember he was a mixed bag as an NBA player. He did some good things blocked shots got steals underwhelming rebounder and fouled quite a bit. I wonder if he has progressed and if so what kind of money it would take to get him here. there could be other Europe FAs that might be plenty useful.

I think he has matured, looks a lot like D. Green out there with his vision and active legs.

I would call him up today.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.ourdailybears.com/platform/amp/2017/5/21/15672420/former-baylor-bear-ekpe-udoh-could-return-to-the-nba

[Lipoli390]

Epke Udoh was just named Euro league finals MVP. Draft express said the guy is really mobile and a paint protecting monster. I remember he was a mixed bag as an NBA player. He did some good things blocked shots got steals underwhelming rebounder and fouled quite a bit. I wonder if he has progressed and if so what kind of money it would take to get him here. there could be other Europe FAs that might be plenty useful.

I like your thinking, Monster. I like Udoh coming out of college. He was a shot-blocker in college and was also a good passer. He's the kind of player to consider signing for the right price if we can't sign Millsap or Ibaka.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Epke Udoh was just named Euro league finals MVP. Draft express said the guy is really mobile and a paint protecting monster. I remember he was a mixed bag as an NBA player. He did some good things blocked shots got steals underwhelming rebounder and fouled quite a bit. I wonder if he has progressed and if so what kind of money it would take to get him here. there could be other Europe FAs that might be plenty useful.

I like your thinking, Monster. I like Udoh coming out of college. He was a shot-blocker in college and was also a good passer. He's the kind of player to consider signing for the right price if we can't sign Millsap or Ibaka.

Yeah, that's a good find. He's always been a good shot blocker, but didn't do much else while in the NBA.

One thing about guys that succeed in Europe is that they generally have very high b-ball IQs. If we were looking for a "consolation" big man free agent, we could do much worse than Udoh.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Go ahead and sign them if you have the cap space. But don't tell me that Al Horford is a star. He's not. He's soft and he's getting schooled in these conference finals. Even Tristan Thompson is getting over on him.

He's a 4-time all-star. Wiggins at this rate will be lucky to make one.

If Al Horford was getting schooled in the conference finals for our team, sign me up, because that means we got to the conference finals.

Agreed.

I agree in theory with the "pay your top 3 or 4 stars big money and then find bargain role players everywhere else" model (by the way, Horford would have easily been our 2nd best player this past season and probably our best 2-way player). The problem is, when have the T-Wolves ever shown the ability to unearth diamonds in the rough or nurture late picks into valuable, yet cheap, role players? The answer is basically never. Instead, we churn through draft pick after draft pick and have basically nothing to show for it. And what about undrafted free agents? Forget about it.....

Now may be Thibs and Layden can build the kind of culture and development system that can yield more of these types of players. But in the meantime, the fans and current players locked into contracts with the Wolves need a taste of winning. That means we have to spend some money, and yes, perhaps overpay a good but not great player.

[Coolbreeze44]

Horford is a good, not great player. That's been clearly demonstrated in the playoffs. Easily been our 2nd best player? Easily? We're in more trouble than i thought.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Overpaying for top players is very relative.

If the Wolves are going to be below the MINIMUM salary cap again... or end up with millions of millions of dollars under the cap... overpay. I have no problem with it. Mr. Taylor is an insanely wealthy man who has shown a willingness to pony up money or keep it for himself during his tenure with the Wolves.

But if one of these huge contracts impact what the team can do with KAT, Wiggins and other key foundation pieces... then it's a different story.

A bit of discussion around Horford. He's not a 20/10 type of guy. But he was arguably the Celtics best player in the 2nd round of the playoffs. He's a versatile player who can stay on the floor in almost any matchup. He can pass. Shoot (from deep). Rebound some. He sets great picks. He doesn't need the ball. And he can defend different positions. Is he worth the max? Depends.

As for the 2017 playoffs (despite some uneven performances):
15.4 ppg / 7.0 reb / 5.6 apg / 58.5% fg / 53.1% 3fg

If you think he's the guy to lead your team to the title... no.
If you're a good team looking to get better and you need a big and staring at Mozgov/Biyombo for $17M or Horford for $26M... it's a no-brainer.



[Note: That $30M for Horford in 3 years is another story... but I think he most definitely was "worth it" for this season's Celtics team and it's not really debatable.]

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Cool, Horford was Boston's 2nd best player on a 50+ win team that went to the ECF. Who besides IT had a bigger impact on the C's this season than Horford? He also is pretty much the only full-time big man on the roster, so he's having to anchor the middle against both big and small ball lineups with minimal help from other bigs. He got a massive pay day that perhaps over-valued him to a degree, but he has been a key part of their success this season.

As for the Wolves, if Horford would have been the equivalent to anything less than the 2nd best player, we would have easily been a playoff team. Once Wiggins and KAT learn how to play defense and make other players better, perhaps this point will actually be debatable.