Wolves One Last Significant Move?

[Lipoli390]

As we sit here today, our starters are set with Teague, Butler, Wiggins, Gorgui and KAT with Tyus Jones, Belly and Taj our main bench rotation players. You could reverse Gorgui and Taj, but the point is that those are our core 8. Aldrich and Patton round out the roster at 10 with 5 spots to fill.

I can't see this team moving forward with the core 8 I listed above. Glaringly absent from that core group are (1) a solid two-way backup SG or SF, (2) a 3-point shooter, (3) a reliable backup PG, and (4) a shot-blocker/rim protector.

With KAT, Gorgui and Taj, I think don't think we need to focus on trying to get a shot-blocker/rim protector. Of the remaining needs, I think the top priority has to be a reliable back-up two-way wing. I just don't see that need being adequately filled by vet minimum guys like the 37-years old Dunleavy or Casspi. I also see a huge need for a good 3-point shooter in the rotation and another backup PG so we don't have to rely soley or even primarily on Tyus.

So I see the Wolves making one more significant move -- either a free agent acquisition or trade if not a hybrid transaction involving a trade and FA signing. I'm clueless on what that next final significant move is likely to be.

ROTATION WING

There aren't many FAs left who would fit the bill as a rotation wing. Here's my list and my thoughts on each:

1. Afflalo. This is the only guy who seems to check all the boxes. He's a proven solid two-way SG who can play significant minutes well and also hit from distance. He doesn't excite me and, at age 32, he would be part of the win-now strategy we're clearly seeing from the Wolves front office. I'd like to think we could sign him for our $4.3 million room exception, but I suspect he'll cost more than that. Therefore, to sign him, we'd probably have to trade our OKC pick with Aldrich to free up the cap space. But I'd hate to give up that pick for 2 years of Afflalo.

2. CJ Miles. Not sure he's what I'd call a solid 2-way player. But he's a SF who can hit threes fairly well. But he's another option that doesn't excite me and who would probably cost more than the room exception. Again, I'd hate to trade a 1st round pick for this guy.

3. Reggie Bullock. He's a 26 year old SF who hit 38.4% of his threes last season for Detroit. But he also faces a drug suspension and I'm reluctant to commit any precious cap room or our one significant cap exception to someone with substance issues.

4. Tony Allen. Could probably get him for the room exception, but he provides no 3-point shooting and is breaking down physically at age 35. So I don't see him as an answer for our wing rotation guy and I wouldn't sign him for anything other than the vet minimum.

5. Thabo Sefolosha. I see him as the next best thing to Afflalo as a reliable vet two-way wing. But he's not as good a 3-point shooter as Afflalo -- in fact he's not good at all. He's getting up there in years at age 33, so you wonder about even a 2-year commitment. But I think we could get him for the room exception, so I'd consider him.

6. Ian Clark. Fairly young at age 26, but I haven't seen much of him. He shots well from behind the arc last season for Golden State, but he didn't have many attempts and played only 15 minutes per game. I've heard that he's not a particularly good ball handler either. He might be available at the room exception, but I'm not sure I'd use it on him as our main rotation wing off the bench.

7. Anthony Morrow. A 3-point shooter, but not much else. So I don't see him as the 2-way wing we need. Moreover, I'm not sure he has anything left. He didn't shoot well last season and seems to be broken down physically. I wouldn't use the room exception on him.

8. Gerald Green. Still athletic at age 32/33, but not sure he's much of any answer. Still a low IQ player who doesn't get after it defensively. And he's not a particularly good 3-point shooter. Is he worth using our one and only room exception? I'm not sure. Perhaps, assuming we can't get Afflalo, Miles or Thabo.

9. Tyreke Evans. He intrigues me. I know he's had difficulty staying healthy, but at this point how choosy can we be? He's still 27 years old and he can be very good on both sides of the ball.

10. James Young. He's a young highly athletic SG with the Celtics who might be worth taking a chance on, even if it requires using the room exception. He's the guy I'd target if I wanted to infuse the roster with more high upside young after a summer in which we've dramatically aged the team.

10. Rudy Gay. No reports that we've talked with him. But I wonder if we could get him for the nearly $11 million cap space we'd have if we unloaded Aldrich by trading our OKC pick. My sense is he wouldn't come here for that amount, but maybe we can finally get someone here for under market value. And he is coming off Achilles surgery, so perhaps he'd take that amount.

BACKUP PG:

1. Teodosic -- He seems like a long shot. We'd have to trade our OKC pick and use just about all our remaining cap space to sign him. He'd give us the long-range sniper we need and would give us a backup PG who could step in for Teague without much offensive drop off if any. But his defensive is reportedly poor and he's an unknown when it comes to NBA play. It would certainly add some excitement. You make this move only if you're satisfied you can get the rotation wing you need -- Afflalo, Miles or Thabo -- using the RE.

2. Aaron Brooks -- A capable backup up who hits threes. I'd like to think we could get him for the vet minimum and save the RE for a rotation wing. But he might require the RE, in which case getting the rotation wing we need would probably necessitate trading our OKC pick.

3. Beno Udrih -- He's 35 and not very good, but who else is there? :)

I don't see any great options. But if it were up to me, my preferred scenario would be signing Aaron Brooks with our remaining $3 million in cap space and then signing Afflalo using our RE.

What would you do if you were in Thibs' shoes?

[KiwiMatt]

CJ Miles and Teodosic are my pick of the bunch.

Although I wouldn't mind us re-signing Bazz at a reasonable price.

[WildWolf2813]

take the 2 best three point shooters without a deal from Summer league.

Sign Stephen Zimmerman to a minimum deal

C.J, Wilcox to a minimum deal

Ty Lawson to a minimum deal

C Towns /Aldrich /Zimmerman /Patton
PF Gibson /Dieng
SF Butler /Bjelica /SL 3pt shooter
SG Wiggins /Wilcox /SL 3pt shooter
PG Teague /Jones /Lawson

Will our bench suck? Sure, but Thibs seems ok with running our starters into the ground.

The missions for Thibs is to pray one or even two of Zimmerman /3pt shooter /3pt shooter /Wilcox would be good enough to keep around past this season.


People might have to understand.that players, even good ones won't flock here for the minimum without opportunity. The Wolves paid Jordan Hill $4 mil for 85 minutes of playing time. Why would anyone worth their time take less to possibly meet the same fate?

[Monster]

With Patton having foot surgery I wonder if they are a little less likely to dump Aldrich. I mean neither guy is expected to play much if at all but still Patton was at least a guy they could have put in there. Now we don't know how long it will be till he is available and in good shape.

Aaron Brooks can sign for the vet min he doesn't need more than that imo. He is a 10 year vet so he would get 2.3 million and the league would pay part of that. Below is the vet min salary chart this year.

http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/minimum_scale

Gerald Green played for the vet min last year I don't know why he would expect more this year.

Honestly I think Barbosa might be the guy I would give that room exception if that's what it took to get him over another team...if we couldn't get a Evans Sefelosha etc player with that money. He would provide shooting, a ball handler and can be a vet player who could run the PG enough to get by. I'd hope to get a better player or get him for the vet min but he is pretty versatile. Another possible guy would be Ellington if Miami let's him go.

I'd hope to get one of these guys for the vet min.

Dunlevey
Rush (I think pretty likely he only got 3 million last year)
Aaron Brooks
Gerald Green
Trey Burke
Shelvin Mack (might consider him for the Room if I knew I was gonna sign some other vet min shooters)
Ronnie Price
Bullock


There are probably more options but that's probably where I start. Keep in mind there will be more guys that end up available as time goes on. For example Monte Ellis is going to get bought out. He can't shoot so I don't want him here but Sole team might throw a bit more than the min at him. Another guy in that vein is Rodney Stucky. Anywho at this point we really need the market to dry up and guys willing to take what they can get. It may be slim pickings but we may win out because we are likely to win AND on the wing have NOTHING behind Butler and Wiggins. At some point that will be a better opportunity than what other teams will be able to offer. We still have to wait to see what happens with Hayward because that will affect what some of these other guys want to do.

[Duke13]

I'd say trade Gorgui to Boston for a combination of Crowder, Rozier, Smart and whoever else to make the salaries work. Gorgui is very expendable in my opinion. I wouldn't mind signing James Johnson to play some PF, added shooting and play making.

[Lipoli390]

I'd say trade Gorgui to Boston for a combination of Crowder, Rozier, Smart and whoever else to make the salaries work. Gorgui is very expendable in my opinion. I wouldn't mind signing James Johnson to play some PF, added shooting and play making.

Smart has only one year left on his deal. Rozier doesn't interest me. I like Crowder a lot, but I wouldn't do this deal.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Who's gonna score on a bench unit of Tyus/Belly/G? As much as we can stager mimutes there's still gonna be some time where we have 3 of Teague, Butler, Wiggins and Towns on the bench so they can be fresh for the closing of the game. We need a volume shooter like Crawford or Nick Young. You aren't getting a good two way anything for what we have left in cap space and exceptions. I don't even think we have enough left to get either of them, but that's the kind of guy we need to round out the bench on the wing from a nightly rotation standpoint. Then get a depth wing like Caspi or Rush and a 3rd PG. I think Tyus has earned the backup spot for this season. See if he can handle it before you have to start talking options and extensions with him which are starting to come up.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I'd say trade Gorgui to Boston for a combination of Crowder, Rozier, Smart and whoever else to make the salaries work. Gorgui is very expendable in my opinion. I wouldn't mind signing James Johnson to play some PF, added shooting and play making.

The money just isn't there for a Boston trade without Bradley coming back and I don't see them making that deal. They'd have to get rid of at least two important role players for G and they'd be left playing guys out of position to make it work.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Something very telling to me last year was the improved play of our team when Brandon Rush was starting in place of Zach LaVine. Our offensive and defensive rating both improved. Now this also coincided with the "Great Awakening of Ricky Rubio", so may be it had absolutely nothing to do with Rush. Or may be having a minimalist floor spacer that could hit open 3's and otherwise make very few mistakes was just the kind of player that enabled everyone else to thrive. And keep in mind that other than shooting 3's reasonably accurately and making the occasional out-of-nowhere chase down block, he was pretty bad at everything else. He was downright horrible inside the arc shooting-wise.

I guess my point is, just sign someone we know can shoot the damn ball accurately from 3 and otherwise doesn't screw things up or try to do too much. CJ Miles seems like the best of the bunch in that regard. High volume 3-baller with very low turnover rate.

[60WinTim]

Yeah, baby! ;-)

Darren Wolfson?Verified account @DWolfsonKSTP 7m7 minutes ago
One complication w/ any Miles sign-and-trade scenario: hear #Twolves have made Nick Young an offer tonight. Good bet is the room exception.