Taj Gibson

[Crazysauce]

We are shopping aldrich with the okc pick. Yuck. Hate how little we value picks sometimes

[JasonIsDaMan [enjin:7981157]]

I'm saying Nay. Yes, slightly better than Gorgui. But 5 years older and can't play C. MIL is looking to dump salary. Maybe something that ends up with Monroe in MIN and Aldrich in MIL would have been better?

[60WinTim]

I like the Taj pickup. He still has at least two more years in the tank.

Thibs was very patient with a young team last year to evaluate the players. Obviously he decided Wiggins and KAT were the two worth building around. But even they have a ton of maturing/learning to do. Thibs is surrounding them with players that are going to force them to grow up faster.

[Lipoli390]

I like the Taj pickup. He still has at least two more years in the tank.

Thibs was very patient with a young team last year to evaluate the players. Obviously he decided Wiggins and KAT were the two worth building around. But even they have a ton of maturing/learning to do. Thibs is surrounding them with players that are going to force them to grow up faster.

Great young players have never needed a bunch of older vets around them to develop. Durant, Westbrook, Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Michael Jordan, etc. did just fin without it. To the extent we need a veteran presence, we already had that in Butler and we could have certainly added more for far less money.

That brings me to my problem with this signing and why I'm a nay. I like Gibson. I just think he's a bad value at $14 million per year when that contract effectively consumed our remaining cap space. It was too much money too early for a 20-25 minute per game 32 year old given all our needs and the other options still out there. This is the first move by Thibs so far this summer that I'd call a mistake. I liked the Butler trade, which was obviously a really good move for the Wolves. I didn't like the Rubio/Teague transaction, but I'm not prepared to call it a mistake. However, the Gibson signing was a mistake and seemed to suggest an uncharacteristic lack of patience and emotional move by the otherwise fairly patient and analytical Thibs.

I sure hope this signing works for us. I'd rather be wrong than right at the expense of the Wolves success. :)

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I like the Taj pickup. He still has at least two more years in the tank.

Thibs was very patient with a young team last year to evaluate the players. Obviously he decided Wiggins and KAT were the two worth building around. But even they have a ton of maturing/learning to do. Thibs is surrounding them with players that are going to force them to grow up faster.

Great young players have never needed a bunch of older vets around them to develop. Durant, Westbrook, Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Michael Jordan, etc. did just fin without it. To the extent we need a veteran presence, we already had that in Butler and we could have certainly added more for far less money.

That brings me to my problem with this signing and why I'm a nay. I like Gibson. I just think he's a bad value at $14 million per year when that contract effectively consumed our remaining cap space. It was too much money too early for a 20-25 minute per game 32 year old given all our needs and the other options still out there. This is the first move by Thibs so far this summer that I'd call a mistake. I liked the Butler trade, which was obviously a really good move for the Wolves. I didn't like the Rubio/Teague transaction, but I'm not prepared to call it a mistake. However, the Gibson signing was a mistake and seemed to suggest an uncharacteristic lack of patience and emotional move by the otherwise fairly patient and analytical Thibs.

I sure hope this signing works for us. I'd rather be wrong than right at the expense of the Wolves success. :)

Yeah, it's kind of pathetic that 3rd and 4th year players need "mentors" to teach them how to share the ball and play defense.....It also goes to show what a failed experiment signing KG was, as absolutely nothing he supposedly taught these guys carried over into the following season. Mentorship is only meaningful when the lessons learned are carried forward.

I've mentioned it before, but our so-called great offseason is a result of a failed "on" season. And the blame is shared by Thibs the POBO (none of his free agent signings panned out); Thibs the Coach (he barely moved the needle on defense); and the young players that showed so much promise and hope in the back half of the prior season.

[60WinTim]

Just like the Butler trade, I am sure you will come around on this, Lip! ;-)

I will add this: Once Gibson was placed into the starting lineup for OKC, they closed out the season on a 12-6 run (although Gibson only averaged about 20 minutes).

Yes, our team needs a backup PG and a couple of backup wings that will be part of the rotation. However, it has long been argued (especially by Jim Petersen) that Dieng ought to be coming off the bench. Which would mean the Wolves need a starting PF -- Gibson. It makes sense to spend cap money on a starter before backups.

And who would our 4th big man be if we did not get Gibson? Cole Aldrich. You complained last year on numerous occasions how slow Aldrich is. And Thibs seemed to agree with you, because Aldrich had a number of games were he did not see the floor. We needed to add a big just to push Aldrich out of the #4 spot. And that big was preferably a starting PF, putting KAT at C and moving Dieng to the bench. Plus we get the added bonus of defense, toughness and someone who knows Thibs and his system.

14 mil might be an overpay, but that may have been necessary to shorten the deal to two years, plus we know there was competition for Gibson's services. I think he is a terrific pick up.

[TheGrey08]

I like the Taj pickup. He still has at least two more years in the tank.

Thibs was very patient with a young team last year to evaluate the players. Obviously he decided Wiggins and KAT were the two worth building around. But even they have a ton of maturing/learning to do. Thibs is surrounding them with players that are going to force them to grow up faster.

Great young players have never needed a bunch of older vets around them to develop. Durant, Westbrook, Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Michael Jordan, etc. did just fin without it. To the extent we need a veteran presence, we already had that in Butler and we could have certainly added more for far less money.

That brings me to my problem with this signing and why I'm a nay. I like Gibson. I just think he's a bad value at $14 million per year when that contract effectively consumed our remaining cap space. It was too much money too early for a 20-25 minute per game 32 year old given all our needs and the other options still out there. This is the first move by Thibs so far this summer that I'd call a mistake. I liked the Butler trade, which was obviously a really good move for the Wolves. I didn't like the Rubio/Teague transaction, but I'm not prepared to call it a mistake. However, the Gibson signing was a mistake and seemed to suggest an uncharacteristic lack of patience and emotional move by the otherwise fairly patient and analytical Thibs.

I sure hope this signing works for us. I'd rather be wrong than right at the expense of the Wolves success. :)

Yeah, it's kind of pathetic that 3rd and 4th year players need "mentors" to teach them how to share the ball and play defense.....It also goes to show what a failed experiment signing KG was, as absolutely nothing he supposedly taught these guys carried over into the following season. Mentorship is only meaningful when the lessons learned are carried forward.

I've mentioned it before, but our so-called great offseason is a result of a failed "on" season. And the blame is shared by Thibs the POBO (none of his free agent signings panned out); Thibs the Coach (he barely moved the needle on defense); and the young players that showed so much promise and hope in the back half of the prior season.

I wouldn't disregard what a vet presence can mean to young guys. That vet presence doesn't need to be a superstar either. There are plenty of really smart basketball vets who are just bench guys and can have an impact on young guys. Remember Sam Mitchell with KG?

Also, KAT himself mentioned that he learned a lot from KG. Who are we to say they don't? lol

[TheGrey08]

I'm with Lip. I just don't like paying him 14m leaving us with only 4.3 in cap space (a small amount which has a 12th roster spot cap hold. Had this been a 2 yr 10-12m per I would have been on board with this signing. That would have at least given us 6+ mill to spend on a shooter before signing another guy with the room exception. That extra 2-4m may have made the difference in snagging a good shooter.

[60WinTim]

I'm with Lip. I just don't like paying him 14m leaving us with only 4.3 in cap space (a small amount which has a 12th roster spot cap hold. Had this been a 2 yr 10-12m per I would have been on board with this signing. That would have at least given us 6+ mill to spend on a shooter before signing another guy with the room exception. That extra 2-4m may have made the difference in snagging a good shooter.

Well consider this! Aldrich was our #4 big and makes 7 mil. Taj bumps Aldrich out of the rotation, so if we wind up moving Aldrich for a backup wing, or cap space used to sign a backup wing, then we really only spent 7 mil on Taj... :)

[Crazysauce]

Lip, who would you have us sign instead of gibson. Our weak spots were pg and pf. We got teague and bowed out on millsap. What guy would you rather have at the pf spot with what there was to choose from that would sign for 10 mill or less per. Ibaka was too much as well. Even amir johnson got 11 million.

I think if we would have went cheaper we would have lost him as i hear he chose us with similar offers out there. I think all these contracts are crazy. I think his athleticism and defense next to kat are just what we need.