Finding Value on the Wolves. Anywhere?

[AbeVigodaLive]

In the JJ Barea thread, I saw a note about the Wolves having a few mid-tier guys as far as contracts go. I started to wonder how at team with 9 players making at least $3M stacked up against other Western Conference foes.

Something popped out at me very quickly... you'll see soon enough:

Portland. 8 guys over $3M. But 12 over $2M... they're constructed pretty similarly to the Wolves. But that shouldn't surprise many. The similarities between the clubs have been there for awhile. Sadly... the Blazers have forced separation this season.

Mo Williams. Signed in August... making $2.6M.

OKC. Only 5 guys over $3M. Very top heavy with 3 players making $44+M. Obviously, they have superstars and supplementing them on the cheap.

Reggie Jackson. $1.260M.

San Antonio. 7 guys over $3M.
Marco Belinelli. $2.75M this summer.

LA Clippers. 7 guys over $3M. Darren Collison was signed this summer for $1.9M.
Willie Green signed for $1.4M last season.

Houston. The Nerd team. Right or wrong, Houston is committed to managing and playing a very specific way. It shows on their roster. 4 guys make $52M. Nobody else makes over $1.5M. They have two starters making $1.7M...COMBINED. 3 starters making only $3.2M.
Aaron Brooks signed for $1M this summer.

Dallas. 7 guys over $3M. Dejuan Blair signed for a ridiculous $900+K this summer.

Denver. 8 guys over $3M.

Golden State. 5 guys over $3M. Toney Douglas signed for $1.6M.

Memphis. 8 guys over $3M. Mike Miller signed for $1.4M.

New Orleans. 6 guys over $3M. Anthony Morrow signed for $1M.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Those are the teams that are probably "better" than the Wolves.

The Wolves do have more "mid-tier" guys than the rest. But that wasn't the thing that stood out the most when I went through the rosters. Look at those offseason signings. Nearly every team has a guy that was either signed (or developed) for dirt cheap on the roster.

Many are offering similar (or better) production (15/4 per 36 type guys) than Barea for less than 1/2 the price. Add in Shved... and they're doing it for about 1/4 the price.

Basically... it comes down to this...

Do the Wolves have a single "great value" contract on the roster? Rubio is probably the closest, right? And he's a 36% shooter... and in the bottom half or even third of NBA starting PGs right now.

[mjs34]

It seems as if we repeated our same mistakes we made when we had KG. We keep signing guys that aren't difference makers to too much money and too long of contracts. The truth is that Bud and Brewer don't bring anything more than guys like Mo Williams, Anthony Morrow, Dejuan Blair, etc.. JJ is clearly not worth his deal, but we can't blame that on Flip. It is something we will have to ride out.

[bleedspeed]

I have been saying this for a while. You build around a core. If you don't have a core you keep the flexibility to get that core.

[TAFKASP]

It seems as if we repeated our same mistakes we made when we had KG. We keep signing guys that aren't difference makers to too much money and too long of contracts. The truth is that Bud and Brewer don't bring anything more than guys like Mo Williams, Anthony Morrow, Dejuan Blair, etc.. JJ is clearly not worth his deal, but we can't blame that on Flip. It is something we will have to ride out.

The focus on JJ makes little sense given the trash he shares the floor with for the majority of his minutes. On a team that has a solid 8/9 deep rotation JJ is a plus, on this team with it's solid 6 deep rotation what do you expect? Yes JJ has been horrible, but damn, he has to do it all when he's playing with four bench players.

[AbeVigodaLive]

It seems as if we repeated our same mistakes we made when we had KG. We keep signing guys that aren't difference makers to too much money and too long of contracts. The truth is that Bud and Brewer don't bring anything more than guys like Mo Williams, Anthony Morrow, Dejuan Blair, etc.. JJ is clearly not worth his deal, but we can't blame that on Flip. It is something we will have to ride out.

The focus on JJ makes little sense given the trash he shares the floor with for the majority of his minutes. On a team that has a solid 8/9 deep rotation JJ is a plus, on this team with it's solid 6 deep rotation what do you expect? Yes JJ has been horrible, but damn, he has to do it all when he's playing with four bench players.

The interesting thing I found is that every other team isn't paying $4.5+M for a key guy in their top 8 or 9 man rotation.

[mjs34]

It seems as if we repeated our same mistakes we made when we had KG. We keep signing guys that aren't difference makers to too much money and too long of contracts. The truth is that Bud and Brewer don't bring anything more than guys like Mo Williams, Anthony Morrow, Dejuan Blair, etc.. JJ is clearly not worth his deal, but we can't blame that on Flip. It is something we will have to ride out.

The focus on JJ makes little sense given the trash he shares the floor with for the majority of his minutes. On a team that has a solid 8/9 deep rotation JJ is a plus, on this team with it's solid 6 deep rotation what do you expect? Yes JJ has been horrible, but damn, he has to do it all when he's playing with four bench players.

It's not like JJ is only playing with bench guys. Several games Adelman has only played 3 bench guys significant minutes which means there are two starters on the floor for that time. My post wasn't about focusing on JJ anyway, but as Abe has shown, we are continually overpaying our guys and even worse, not getting the needed production from them.

Why aren't we exploring the FA market more carefully and finding those guys. Shannon Brown is out there right now, and I think he would be an upgrade over anyone on our bench. He plays hard on both ends of the floor. Could be gotten for the minimum I am sure.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Shannon Brown is a much better NBA player than Shved right now.

Problem is... the team is paying Shved $3+M whether he's replaced or not. Guaranteed contracts.

[markkbu [enjin:6588958]]

The most valuable players on the Wolves right now are the starters.

We have a starting SF that is a good/very good defender and top 10 among SF in scoring and scoring efficiency...............that is making $5 million per year. That is great value.

We also have a SG that is top 10 in the league in scoring.....ya, he could be a bit more efficient, and he is a below average defender........but he has the ability to score with the big boys.......and we are only paying him $7 million. Again.....very good value.

I am very impressed with Flip's additions to the starting unit during the off season and hate to think of where we would be without brewer or martin.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

A lot of the value-vets you list above are guards. With Rubio, Barea, and Shved under contract, we didn't have the flexibility to sign the likes of Collison, Mo Williams, Belinelli, etc. But man, wouldn't Belinelli look good backing up Martin!?! The 8+M tied up in Barea and Shved is just killing us right now.

Cunningham at his current salary wouldn't be too bad of a value if he wasn't out there with such a paucity of offensive talent. We simply have too many guys not capable of shooting or scoring and he's yet another one.