No matter how this season turns out, what step do we have to take to become an NBA Finals contender?

[BloopOracle]

What are your thoughts? Do you have a couple of longshot trade for an elite wing trade scenarios?
Are you convinced this team isn't built right and you want drastic change? What should the theme of the Kevin Love contract countdown be over the next year and a half?

[Lipoli390]

Good questions, Bloop. I wish I had some good answers, but I don't. I don't see any realistic trades before the Feb. trade deadline that would land us anything close to an elite wing without giving up Love, Pekovic or Ricky and I'm not sure Ricky would be enough to get that sort of player. So to get that sort of wing player, the Wolves front office will have to find a gem in next summer's draft or in free agency -- something the current front office has never done.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I love all of our armchair GM's on this board who could do a much better job than Flip and Co. I have news for you guys. Elite free agent wings aren't just sitting out there hoping to come to MN just to play with Rubio. We're not getting the LA or Miami discount.

I'm sure some of these trade proposals you all mention were probably discussed at some point but sometimes talks break down. We're not part of these conversations, so I laugh when I hear things like, "Oh, we could have gotten player X in this trade for player Y" because the salaries match or whatever or we just throw in bench player Z to "sweeten" the deal.

Keep em' coming!

[thedoper]

Well I think the main thing will be a new coach. Adelman is gone whether we miss the playoffs or not. I have wondered why The Vikes and Wolves for the most part strike out on quality up and coming coaches. I do believe this should be our strategy, to go after a young, hungry coach who has a gift for motivation and success on the defensive end. Even though D may not be his forte I would love to take a chance on Cassel mimicking the strategies of Golden State and Brooklyn. Even though he was only here for a short time, his leadership on the court and passion for the game always struck me as ideal characteristics you would want in a coach. Plus I think he would be an excellent mentor for Rubio. If we can create a culture of excellence, the roster personell will come. The real problem is whether or not that culture could ever really exist with Taylor as the owner.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Honestly, I would let LA make their play for a big name and then see if they would be willing to do a sign and trade of Pau for JJ and LRMAM. That is around 9 million and he could probably be signed for 10 with that trade. I would prefer to bring Gasol in around 8 million, but I don't think he would accept that big of a paycut. I know he is aging, but we need someone in the post who can score off the bench and he could play next to Love in the low post and next to Pek as a high post distibutor. He plays with Ricky on team Spain, so that could help our case as well. He has legit size and some rim protecting abilities (1.46 BPG). A rotation of Love/Pau/Pek with a little Dieng in there would be very solid and we wouldn't be giving up a lot in this deal. It is appealing to LA just from the standpoint of they get depth and expiring contracts which keeps their options open for the summer of 2015.

I don't know what exceptions we have left, but there are several backup PG's that should be able to be brought in on the cheap given their performance this year that could bounce back on a contender. Toney Douglas, Aaron Brooks, Jerryd Bayless, Shaun Livingston, Jordan Farmar and Nate Robinson. They all make less or around 3 million so it would just come down to having a smaller exception like the bi-annual or room to sign one of them. Our wing rotation would be still be weak, but there just aren't any good wings on the cheap like there was last offseason and we are capped out regardless. When you have almost 20 million on the wings in Bud, Brewer, Martin and I'm counting Shved for now because he has solely been playing 2, you can't really fit another player into the rotation. So we should strengthen other areas of our team that we can which include backup PG and PF.

Ricky/Vet
Martin/Shved
Brewer/Bud/Bazz
Love/Pau
Pek/Dieng/Turiaf

It's not perfect or ideal, but it is attainable and is better than the current team on the floor which is what we need if we want to keep Love interested in staying.