Share Your Trade Ideas

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

You know, it's late here for me, my mind is racing, I love hypothetical trade ideas that 99% of the time never even get discussed in front offices, so, I'll throw this one out there.

Minnesota:
- Kent Bazemore (2017-18; $16,910,112 / 2018-19; $18,089,888 / 2019-20; $19,269,663 PO)
- Dewayne Dedmon (2017-18; $6,000,000 / 2018-19; $6,300,000 PO)

Atlanta:
- Gorgui Dieng (2017-18; $14,112,360 / 2018-19; $15,170,787 / 2019-20; $16,229,213 / 2020-21; $17,287,640)
- Cole Aldrich (2017-18; $7,300,000 / 2018-19; $6,956,021)
- Shabazz Muhammad (2017-18; $1,577,230)
- 2018 first-round pick via the Oklahoma City Thunder (top-14 protected)

This move gives us some much-needed wing depth and versatility while keeping salary flexibility.

Dieng's contract doesn't make sense to me despite it being widely-viewed as a team-friendly deal. $14-17M annually for a backup center is insane, if you ask me, especially when the team is paper thin at SG and SF. Additionally, Dedmon is better or roughly equal in every facet of the game as Dieng while being 60% cheaper and less locked into his contract.

Bazemore is, in my opinion, the ideal role-playing wing. He's capable of starting or coming off the bench. He can guard either wing adequately. He's relatively consistent in terms of rebounding at his position, facilitating, and three-point efficiency. He's also shooting a career-high 39.4% on 4.0 attempts this year. I think he'd slide into Thibs' rotation with ease and provide 20-25 MPG next to Butler and Wiggins.

As for Atlanta, they potentially get a long-term option at center in Dieng. He's more skilled than Dedmon and could thrive in a full-time starting job. They could also look to move him this summer for draft compensation from a contender needing a presence inside -- perhaps Cleveland.

The Hawks would receive a draft selection that looks like it'll be in the 15-20 range. That's exactly what a rebuilding team is eyeing when they start dealing players that aren't All-Star caliber.

Edit: The Wolves rotation after this trade would look like --

PG: Teague / Jones
SG: Butler / Bazemore*
SF: Wiggins / Bazemore*
PF: Gibson / Bjelica
C: Towns / Dedmon

Nine-man rotation with Bazemore getting all the reserve wing minutes that he can handle. And lastly, I wonder what a five-man lineup of Teague, Bazemore, Wiggins, Butler, and Towns could theoretically do. It'd either get killed on the boards or it'd be dangerous with all the different guys that put the ball on the floor and get in the teeth of the defense.

[Duke13]

Sign me up! To get a quality wing like that and shedding Gorgi's contract would be great! They absolutely need another and more shooting. They could look at buy-out options for the frontline then.

[Monster]

Not to tag on this idea but I wouldn't do it and I bet Atlanta wouldn't either. Draft a good player with that first round pick and hold onto Dieng for another year (he is playing well right now) when he will be likely easier to move if needed. Meanwhile Atlanta has Bazemore a worthwhile wing on a short term contract. They may be able to get a better deal than the one suggested here.

[Duke13]

I agree, Atlanta probably wouldn't do it. If they trade Bazemore, I believe they could get more in return most likely, maybe not though. Btw, you can trade a player when he's playing decent, that's not a bad time to move a player:), just sayin...I know we love our own guys, the money doesn't add up to have that money invested in Taj and G, especially with our wing shortage. In a playoff series G is a 10 minute a game guy. Bazemore is just more impactful plan and simple, or any wing of that caliber.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Not to tag on this idea but I wouldn't do it and I bet Atlanta wouldn't either. Draft a good player with that first round pick and hold onto Dieng for another year (he is playing well right now) when he will be likely easier to move if needed. Meanwhile Atlanta has Bazemore a worthwhile wing on a short term contract. They may be able to get a better deal than the one suggested here.

I'm certainly empathetic to those who would oppose this idea, but I don't agree with the reasons that you provided, monster.

I think Dieng's trade value lessens, ever so slightly, with every game that he plays in Minnesota. Not only is he getting older, but teams around the league have to be aware that Karl-Anthony Towns is going to get maxed and we can't realistically pay three bigs $60M+ annually with only one of them being an All-Star player. That's just unreasonable considering who the cap space is allocated to. And I'd bet we re-sign Taj Gibson after next season barring unforeseen circumstances.

Also, I'm not so sure Atlanta will find a team that can match contracts and provide a somewhat fair player swap plus a first-round pick of that value.

As for Minnesota, they could definitely hold steady and keep that pick. Actually, they probably will do that. Thibodeau and Layden likely have more patience than me, but I'm smelling blood and see an opportunity to bolster the bench without losing much, if anything, really. Jones, Bazemore, Bjelica, and Dedmon off the bench would be pretty damn good on both ends, hypothetically, of course.

Give our starters the help they need now and let's see what we can accomplish.

[Monster]

Not to tag on this idea but I wouldn't do it and I bet Atlanta wouldn't either. Draft a good player with that first round pick and hold onto Dieng for another year (he is playing well right now) when he will be likely easier to move if needed. Meanwhile Atlanta has Bazemore a worthwhile wing on a short term contract. They may be able to get a better deal than the one suggested here.

I'm certainly empathetic to those who would oppose this idea, but I don't agree with the reasons that you provided, monster.

I think Dieng's trade value lessens, ever so slightly, with every game that he plays in Minnesota. Not only is he getting older, but teams around the league have to be aware that Karl-Anthony Towns is going to get maxed and we can't realistically pay three bigs $60M+ annually with only one of them being an All-Star player. That's just unreasonable considering who the cap space is allocated to. And I'd bet we re-sign Taj Gibson after next season barring unforeseen circumstances.

Also, I'm not so sure Atlanta will find a team that can match contracts and provide a somewhat fair player swap plus a first-round pick of that value.

As for Minnesota, they could definitely hold steady and keep that pick. Actually, they probably will do that. Thibodeau and Layden likely have more patience than me, but I'm smelling blood and see an opportunity to bolster the bench without losing much, if anything, really. Jones, Bazemore, Bjelica, and Dedmon off the bench would be pretty damn good on both ends, hypothetically, of course.

Give our starters the help they need now and let's see what we can accomplish.

Good points. I get where you want to go for it. What if we already have a Bazemore on our roster? Atlanta has so many worthwhile moveable guys they may need to hire some more people to take all the phone calls.

As for Dieng maybe his value goes down but my point was his contract length goes down also making him easier to move. He has been pretty durable so that helps. I think we can all agree it's unlikely he is going anywhere because of his contract and fortunately he has been playing well lately and is even flinging up 3's and making some. If Belly can actually play the 3 that changes things for this year. I remain skeptical he can survive defensively except certain matchups but it's not like a lot of bench wings are particully good. We will see. I'm very open to seeing the experiment continue unless the matchup really makes more sense to play MGH instead. I wanna see more of him too.

[Lipoli390]

Cam -- I'd like to add Bazemore to our roster. I think he'd be a great fit to give us the sort of wing depth that would shore up our bench. I actually think Atlanta would do that deal. They're obviously on the threshold of being in total rebuild mode and Bazemore doesn't fit that mode. They might get better offers, but I'm not so sure about that. I'm just not sure I'd want Thibs to do that deal for several reasons:

First, I think some underestimate what we'd be losing in Gorgui as a backup big off the bench relative to what we'd get from Dedmon. Unlike Dedmon, Gorgui backs up both the C and PF positions. Gorgui is also a better perimeter shooter and better overall player than Dedmon. What's missed on TV, but apparent watching live is that Gorgui always seems to be in the right place at the right time. I've heard Jim Peterson mention that fact several times. That's why Thibs has constantly praised Gorgui for doing the things that don't show up in the box score. He hustles and he's one of the few players on this team good at drawing charges. He's very smart and vocal and is often directing players as part of the second unit. Gorgui also has chemistry with the rest of the team, so the team would suffer at least a temporary step back from a team chemistry standpoint while Dedmon adjusts to the backup C role he'd inherit from Dieng.

Second, we'd be adding about a net $3 million to our payroll in each of the next two seasons. That could be just enough to push us over the luxury tax threshold, which would be problematic not just financially but operationally as well.

Third, we should be very reluctant to give up the OKC first round pick. It's critical that the Wolves continue to take every opportunity to infuse the organization with new young talent as we move forward with no cap room and a looming luxury tax threshold within sight. The OKC pick is particularly important given the fact we won't have our own pick next June.

Getting Bazemore makes up for a lot of the above, but when I add up all three factors on the other side of the equation, I'd lean against making the deal. I'd probably feel differently if the Wolves were struggling or if either Butler or Wiggins were facing a lengthy injury. But as it stands, I'd hold go ahead with our current roster and look to snag a FA -- perhaps a player yet to be released -- to fill our still open 15th roster spot. I'm also intrigued by what we've seen lately from MGH as a wing who might give us what we need off the bench going forward. I also see Anthony Brown as someone who could help us with wing depth under his two-way contract the second half of the season.

I like Gorgui more than some others on this board. But I think most of us (including me) consider Gorgui our best trade asset. So I'm not dead set against dealing him. My inclination is to hold onto him, but if we deal him I think we should wait for opportunities down the road when we have a better sense of Justin Patton's development and whether Amile Jefferson's G-League prowess can translate well to the NBA.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I love a good trade thread. The only problem is winning teams just don't make major moves in-season and the conditions of the proposed trades always change when they move to the offseason. I would expect us to be buyout market contenders, but not much else.

[Coolbreeze44]

What Cam says about Gorgui's salary impact is true. It's too much tied up into a backup. Like Lip i appreciate what Gorgui gives us, but he might be a luxury we can't afford. I like the proposed deal with one exception. Bazemore would have to play a lot. What do you do with Crawford? With Tyus developing into a solid rotation player on a championship level team, how does Crawford get any minutes? You would either have to include him or move him someplace else. And on a team without much outside shooting, that would also be hard to justify.

[Big O [enjin:13874644]]

I would expect us to be buyout market contenders, but not much else.

I agree with this completely. The team is gelling and I just don't see the wolves trading any of our starters or main bench guys, since this could mess with our chemistry. There may be some decent veteran wings available later in the season in the buy out market and we are now a team that these players would want to join.