TeamRicky wrote:Dieng is a solid rotation player who is only entering his 3rd NBA season and is improving and on a very cheap contract and fits our needs. These are the type of players that teams should covet not trade away. Nobody is going to offer us an all star player for him, so I suspect he'll be here for quit a while.
Yes, he's cheap for now, but once his rookie deal is up, his price will go up significantly. My hope is that Towns eventually becomes a (very) rich man's version of Dieng, which then begs the question how much do we pay a backup who could command up to $8-10M per year in the open market?
It's not a question we need to answer this season, but it's certainly something to keep in mind.
This discussion is way way way too premature. We got Dieng at a nice contract, he blew up this summer and he's one of our better young bigs. I hope we keep Towns, Dieng and Bjelica for the long term. Pek and KG will likely be gone by the time Dieng's rookie deal is up and AB and Payne are terrible now and I don't think either will ever be as good as Dieng.
I agree it's premature for us fans, but the front office is hopefully contingency planning for all sorts of scenarios in the coming years. That includes thinking about guys on rookie contracts.
Even the best teams selectively let quality players go via free agency or proactively trade them. It's highly beneficial to have a strong pipeline of guys coming in on rookie contracts or cheap-ish overseas deals if you feel you can get similar value at a lower price.
One of the reasons I was so upset about Flip trading away three 2nd rounders for Tyus Jones was that it's those very type of second rounders that led to players like Pekovic and Bjelica - picks that could be stashed in Europe to continue developing on someone else's dime. By the time they get to us, they are fully formed players signed to reasonable deals.
As it stands today, between the 1st rounders we've traded away and a lack of overseas prospects (Other than Bjelica, Dubljevic is the only guy we have the rights to that has a chance of coming over some day), you might be right that we have no other choice but to sign Dieng to an extension.
Actually, we are at a stage where we should develop our young core which are close in age and look to bolster our roster in free agency or by trading non-core assets. We need the team to gel and Ricky, Towns, Wiggins, Dieng, Zach, Bjelica and perhaps Bazz and Tyus could be a nice young nucleus. I'm always open to bettering ourselves but its unlikely we better ourselves by trading our young core. We should have good cap space next season. I think we should just calm down and enjoy the young talent we got.
TeamRicky wrote:Dieng is a solid rotation player who is only entering his 3rd NBA season and is improving and on a very cheap contract and fits our needs. These are the type of players that teams should covet not trade away. Nobody is going to offer us an all star player for him, so I suspect he'll be here for quit a while.
Right, but he is the type of solid young player that can be packaged with a couple other attractive assets for a productive player, perhaps even an All-Star if the situation presented itself.
You might be right that he'll be here for a while. I'm not actively advocating for Dieng to be dealt, but I definitely wouldn't rule it out like you seem to be doing either. What happens if Towns and Bjelica are much better players than Dieng? Is he still a can't-trade player then?
Note: I still have the dream that the Wolves will pair Karl-Anthony Towns with 2016 free agent Al Horford. That's where my head's already at. (Rubio/LaVine/Wiggins/Towns/Horford looks super duper on paper for the now and future)
Trading Dieng is a question for a few months from now. It seems more reasonable to table that discussion till then when we have more information on what he is or isn't based on his play on the court. I do hope that we do a better job than both the Bulls and the Rockets did with Asik getting essentially nothing for him. Of course I am not suggesting Dieng is that valuable but that was a situation where it didn't work out well.
I agree with Q that the Wolves should be considering contingency plans on Dieng and other players for the future.
Guys who project to be bench players are not core players. That's why Dieng should be on the table even if he's not dealt. Ricky/Wiggins/Towns and maybe Lavine are the only core guys on the team right now. If we could package Dieng with other assets to land a starting PF at a decent age, you do it. AP and AB just aren't valuable enough to land that kind of player unless you package them with a guy like Dieng. So while I'm not advocating for him to go, I also realize he's one of the few pieces we have who should be available because he's a backup level player for our team and he can get us an impact guy back.
Just a hypothetical that I don't see happening, but what if Denver called us and said they'd give us Gallo for Dieng and Bazz? You do it. What if Philly offered Noel for Dieng and Bazz because Dieng's high post offensive game is a better fit next to Okafor and they need another scorer like Bazz? You do it. I'm not saying either of those happen or a good deal is ever offered to us, just that Dieng isn't a core piece moving forward so if the right deal comes along you do it. Dieng is cheap for this year and next and then he's getting a huge raise to be a backup for us. That's when he is no longer a good value player for us so we should always be looking to see what's available for him.
TeamRicky wrote:Dieng is a solid rotation player who is only entering his 3rd NBA season and is improving and on a very cheap contract and fits our needs. These are the type of players that teams should covet not trade away. Nobody is going to offer us an all star player for him, so I suspect he'll be here for quit a while.
Right, but he is the type of solid young player that can be packaged with a couple other attractive assets for a productive player, perhaps even an All-Star if the situation presented itself.
You might be right that he'll be here for a while. I'm not actively advocating for Dieng to be dealt, but I definitely wouldn't rule it out like you seem to be doing either. What happens if Towns and Bjelica are much better players than Dieng? Is he still a can't-trade player then?
Note: I still have the dream that the Wolves will pair Karl-Anthony Towns with 2016 free agent Al Horford. That's where my head's already at. (Rubio/LaVine/Wiggins/Towns/Horford looks super duper on paper for the now and future)
I want Horford also. I just doubt we'd have that much luck. The national program connection with Towns is nice, but I just don't know if that would be enough to get us in the door.
khans2k5 wrote:Guys who project to be bench players are not core players. That's why Dieng should be on the table even if he's not dealt. Ricky/Wiggins/Towns and maybe Lavine are the only core guys on the team right now. If we could package Dieng with other assets to land a starting PF at a decent age, you do it. AP and AB just aren't valuable enough to land that kind of player unless you package them with a guy like Dieng. So while I'm not advocating for him to go, I also realize he's one of the few pieces we have who should be available because he's a backup level player for our team and he can get us an impact guy back.
Just a hypothetical that I don't see happening, but what if Denver called us and said they'd give us Gallo for Dieng and Bazz? You do it. What if Philly offered Noel for Dieng and Bazz because Dieng's high post offensive game is a better fit next to Okafor and they need another scorer like Bazz? You do it. I'm not saying either of those happen or a good deal is ever offered to us, just that Dieng isn't a core piece moving forward so if the right deal comes along you do it. Dieng is cheap for this year and next and then he's getting a huge raise to be a backup for us. That's when he is no longer a good value player for us so we should always be looking to see what's available for him.
Khans, I like Dieng, but I agree with your premise that he is a guy we should clearly move if we could get back something more valuable.
I don't agree with you, though, that Dieng/Shabazz for Gallo would be a good deal for us. Gallo is a starter on Denver, but he would be backing up Wiggins here...and I don't think you trade two young backups with upside for a 27-year-old back-up. Especially since Gallo has only played over 70 games once in the past 4 seasons. I would trade Dieng/Shabazz for Noel though.
khans2k5 wrote:Guys who project to be bench players are not core players. That's why Dieng should be on the table even if he's not dealt. Ricky/Wiggins/Towns and maybe Lavine are the only core guys on the team right now. If we could package Dieng with other assets to land a starting PF at a decent age, you do it. AP and AB just aren't valuable enough to land that kind of player unless you package them with a guy like Dieng. So while I'm not advocating for him to go, I also realize he's one of the few pieces we have who should be available because he's a backup level player for our team and he can get us an impact guy back.
Just a hypothetical that I don't see happening, but what if Denver called us and said they'd give us Gallo for Dieng and Bazz? You do it. What if Philly offered Noel for Dieng and Bazz because Dieng's high post offensive game is a better fit next to Okafor and they need another scorer like Bazz? You do it. I'm not saying either of those happen or a good deal is ever offered to us, just that Dieng isn't a core piece moving forward so if the right deal comes along you do it. Dieng is cheap for this year and next and then he's getting a huge raise to be a backup for us. That's when he is no longer a good value player for us so we should always be looking to see what's available for him.
Khans, I like Dieng, but I agree with your premise that he is a guy we should clearly move if we could get back something more valuable.
I don't agree with you, though, that Dieng/Shabazz for Gallo would be a good deal for us. Gallo is a starter on Denver, but he would be backing up Wiggins here...and I don't think you trade two young backups with upside for a 27-year-old back-up. Especially since Gallo has only played over 70 games once in the past 4 seasons. I would trade Dieng/Shabazz for Noel though.
I was assuming Gallo would be a small ball 4 for us given Towns is setup to be a good defensive anchor. He is 6'10 so he's not undersized for a 4. That would put 4 shooters around Ricky and you can play Wiggins at the 2 and Gallo at the 3 anytime you wanted to play big.
