Loul Deng

[kekgeek]

Loul Deng is finalizing a deal to sign with the wolves on a 1 year deal.

Timberbulls

[WildWolf2813]

Well, I guess there's a method to Thibs' philosophy.

This team will never again amount to crap being who they are, so might as well be a washed up version of a team that used to be good.

As a fan, this whole thing is insulting to fans' intelligence. Thibs came here with the idea that he was gonna take a young team to the next level. One year in, he practically soured on most of them and turns this team into a team we barely recognize and can't emotionally attach ourselves to. We look the the Chicago Bulls' Old Timers Day team.

[Monster]

personally I think there is a chance Deng can still play. He is 33 not 37. If the Warriors or Spurs or Heat did this people would look at it differently. Just because its a former Thibs player doesn't mean the guy for sure can't play. This franchise has little culture. Is it really so ridiculous to try and instill some from guys that have had success? I mean this is for the vet min its not a bank breaker.

Bobby Marks reports on Twitter (link below) that the Wolves are just $1.36 million under the lux tax after this move. I went back and looked at basketball insiders and found some salaries that were incorrect on my speadsheet and updated them. My speadsheet shows they still have around $16,000 in space even if they added another vet min salary. My guess is they gave Deng Adel some guaranteed money like $50,000 (max you can give a guy and make them an affiliate player for Iowa). Regardless It seems unlikely they will be adding another vet even if they really wanted them anytime soon. If they add someone it will be in season when the amount it will cost them is less. That's fine with me.

https://twitter.com/BobbyMarks42/status/1039225403502678016

Upon further review it was suggested by other fans that Marks may have made the mistake of having Nunnally as a vet min guy instead of a 1 year vet...I plugged in the numbers and that adds up. regardless If the Wolves give any decent guaranteed money (in terms of camp guys $50,000 or less) to any camp guy or to someone like they did with Sean Williams last year it would keep them from signing another vet min salary guy. It just doesn't make sense to sign a fully guaranteed vet for the 15th roster spot right now unless it was a no-brainer type guy and I don't know who that would be.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Well, this might be the least surprising move in the history of professional sports...

I think the real key with Deng is whether he can still move his feet and defend guys. The casualty in all of this in terms of playing time might be Gorgui. I can envision us trotting out a lot of center-less lineups with guys like Tolliver, Deng, and Gibson rotating in and out as our bigs when KAT isn't in the lineup.

[KiwiMatt]

I'm actually ok with the signing of Luol Deng. I believe he can still contribute and I love the locker room presence he will bring. He's a professional and hopefully its rubs off on our young guys like Wiggins, KAT and KBD.

At the end of day Rose and Deng are on min 1 year deals. There's no risk, and at least some potential reward in these guys being able to contribute on and off the court.

[Leado01]

On the one hand, signing Luol Deng for 1 year at $2.4 million seems like a decent, logical move. On the other hand...argh....imagine a T-Wolves team with a real front office and a real coach capable of developing great players. There have been brief moments when we had one or the other...never both.

[thedoper]

Jon K talked about this potential signing on his last podcast, I agreed with his take there. The only real criticism here is that it is unoriginal. If he was signing with Houston, Golden State or San Antonio it would be called a savy move. I'm impressed with our vet min players. When was the last time Minnesota had signed a former all star to a vet min contract? We usually just sign Sidney Lowe or Derrick Martin to that spot and call it an off season.

[crazy-canuck [enjin:18955461]]

The good: Deng is a proven mentor for young players and knows how to get through to them. He did it on the bulls and most recently on the lakers.

The bad: Kat might see this as another me(KAT and Wiggins) vs you (Thibs and Jimmy) type move.

Thibs has to be gambling that Deng is the guy to bring the lockerrom together. And Im on board with it.
We have a few vets on the team, but I dont think any are or was ever considered a mentor.

IMO, the last spot is going to be saved for Noah. However, if he doesnt get bought out, Hinrich will be coaxed out of retirement.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Jon K talked about this potential signing on his last podcast, I agreed with his take there. The only real criticism here is that it is unoriginal. If he was signing with Houston, Golden State or San Antonio it would be called a savy move. I'm impressed with our vet min players. When was the last time Minnesota had signed a former all star to a vet min contract? We usually just sign Sidney Lowe or Derrick Martin to that spot and call it an off season.

Yeah, totally unoriginal, but we'll see if it pans out. The one where I have to give Thibs a little credit on is Nunnally. He (helps) fill a desperate need in getting a wing shooter and there were also other teams competing for his services.

[Hicks123 [enjin:6700838]]

Meh, I don't love the move, but not sure how guys can hate it. Even old and injured, Deng still provides a guy that I can trust to play minutes if needed. Are some on this board thinking the Wolves were going to find some magic min type player that would turn into a starter? While I'm sure it's been done in the past, it certainly isn't likely. And if any of these type guys end up playing a ton of minutes, we are likely in trouble.