So What's Your Plan? The Offseason Roster Construction Thread

[D-Loser25]

Naz is not worth anything close to 30 mil. Are you guys crazy?? That'd be more than Jaden is paid.

Naz is worth closer to his current 15mil than 30mil. I wouldn't go a cent above 20mil, and I'm not particularly fond of that high of a salary either.

I'd offer Naz 4/60-64 and if he doesn't like it, then lose your cult fandom/sponsorships here and go run a rebuild with the Nets or try to become something with Detroit, where you're just another guy, because those are your two realistic other options.

Exactly. I said 20, but that would be reluctantly. The dude completely forgot how to dribble in the playoffs and the passing was dreadful too. I mean the guy doesn’t rebound or play defense either.

[Monster]

Naz is not worth anything close to 30 mil. Are you guys crazy?? That'd be more than Jaden is paid.

Naz is worth closer to his current 15mil than 30mil. I wouldn't go a cent above 20mil, and I'm not particularly fond of that high of a salary either.

I'd offer Naz 4/60-64 and if he doesn't like it, then lose your cult fandom/sponsorships here and go run a rebuild with the Nets or try to become something with Detroit, where you're just another guy, because those are your two realistic other options.

Exactly. I said 20, but that would be reluctantly. The dude completely forgot how to dribble in the playoffs and the passing was dreadful too. I mean the guy doesn’t rebound or play defense either.

I think a salary starting at 20 and going up would be reasonable even with his flaws. I personally didn't think he had as bad of a playoffs as you are saying but I would agree he looked more like a 6th man than he did a future starter...so we probably aren't that far off.

[Monster]

This is a good breakdown Lip.

I'll say this about the rebounding. One of the issues was the Wolves faced a lot of teams that actually played small or even if they had some size they still played like that were small (OKC). At times the Wolves got beat to rebounds but there was was a lot of long rebounds because 3's yadda Yadda. Edwards got the memo and was getting boards. They need other guys to step up. Dillingham might actually be an upgrade in that dept.

As I said in the FA thread Connelly has made so many unpredictable moves and this off-season he has plenty of moving pieces to choose from including two 2025 draft picks. Do I want him to go get Durant? No. If the price was right woukd I mind it? Probably not. I'm not sure what price that is but I woukd assume Durant would have to say I wanna go to MN. Not holding my breathe but it also doesn't sound crazy...which as a Wolves fan seems crazy!!! Lol

We should also consider there may be some aspect of the landscape of the league we didn't see coming. Last year it was players taking vet min deals or very cheap deals to go where they had a better opportunity. Will some of the ways those deals and situations played out affect how players consider signing that type of deal? What about the lack of teams having more than the mid-level to spend?

Ultimately I trust Connelly for the most part. I know not everyone here does and that's OK.

We all know this but ultimately so much of the time whether or not a player is "valuable" is based on their contract. If Naz really got 30 million would he really be worth it? Randle has his flaws but Naz getting paid like that you have to consider his flaws even more. NAW at 4-5 million was a bargain but for 3 times that...his flaws are going to be looked at more as well. Randle I think is going to be wanting to stay in MN and I don't think he is gonna look to get all he can get. I think it's possible to retain him for about what he is worth or possibly a little less. Will that be the case for Naz? Idk. Can the Wolves get value in some way via trade for either player? I'm gonna try and sit back and see what happens. I'll be a little surprised if Connelly doesn't do something that's interesting this off-season. He isn't afraid to make a move.

Great questions, Monster. I like your point about value. You can like a player, but as you indicated, at some point you have to ask the question about the player’s value to the team relative to his contract. I like to look at that value/cost question from a broader team/salary cap perspective. If your team is a 2nd or third round playoff team, relatively young and trying to get over the hump to a championship, then I think the key to value determination is your ability stay under the 2nd apron.

My view on the value of Naz is that he’s worth a lot to the Wolves based on his talent, his fit as a player and his close relationship to our superstar, Ant. I also see Naz having significant untapped upside that we won’t see until he becomes fixed in a starting role. If it takes $30 million per year to keep him here then it’s worth it if we can pay that amount, keep the other players essential to success, and get/stay under the 2nd apron threshold. I don’t think we can do that if we also pay $30 million to Julius next season, even if we let NAW go. That means we need to choose between those two or persuade both to accept contracts starting at around $26 million per year, which would take us right up to the edge of the 2nd apron threshold. And keeping both might not be a viable option because it would likely mean that Naz would no longer start and I doubt he’d be willing to accept a bench role again.

Regarding TC, I trust his acumen for evaluating young talent in the draft. But I don’t have the same level of trust in his acumen for wheeling and dealing.

I think you have this backwards lip. Like you, I didnt like either of his big trades at the time. But I think, all things considered, both trades have been proven to be successful now. He went against popular opinion on both and both ended up as good trades, so I don’t know how you can say he’s not good at wheeling and dealing. And on the draft picks, what has he done? Good trade to get the 8 pick, probably picked the wrong guy though (if we’re being honest). His only good pick has been Shannon, and that was a very obvious decision.

That Aaron Gordon trade I didn't like at the time keeps looking better and better.

I don't know how someone couldn't give Connelly some positive credit for the Towns for Randle Donte and a 1st at this point. If you are worried about keeping Naz imagine if Towns was still here costing even more money than Randle. Is Towns a better player than Randle? Sure I guess but he isn't worth another like 20 million plus Donte and the #17 pick in the 2025 draft. Connelly got a little something for Kyle Anderson in a sign and trade and let's remember how good of a FA signing Anderson was to begin with. He didn't knock it out of the park with some other FA signings but he often signed them for short term deals that were easy to move. Name a player he dealt away or left the Wolves during his time that's been significantly better after leaving. Malik Beasley? It should be mentioned that Beasley picked teams the last 2 seasons where he would play legit minutes and did well. He didn't do well overall his first year playing for Utah and LA. I thought it was impressive how often he ended up playing clutch minutes in the playoffs this year even when his shot hadn't been falling.

The draft he hasn't exactly nailed that either. What he has done well over the years is taking guys that fall to him. TSJ, Clark, Porter JR are ones that come to mind. These seem obviously but it seems like at times teams outthink themselves. He has 2 shots (or assets) at adding another young player or 2 so maybe he will have someone fall to him again. We can only hope. He has also been aggressive in trying to get higher end talent with his picks at times like deals for Miller and Dillingham. Neither of those picks has come to fruition yet (still early on Dillingham). I do like that he is willing to make moves. He has way more guts than I would have. Lol I think the Wolves have been a bit more creative with the 2-way player slots since he has been here. They haven't been afraid to make moves in that regard.

[WildWolf2813]

Naz is not worth anything close to 30 mil. Are you guys crazy?? That'd be more than Jaden is paid.

Naz is worth closer to his current 15mil than 30mil. I wouldn't go a cent above 20mil, and I'm not particularly fond of that high of a salary either.

I'd offer Naz 4/60-64 and if he doesn't like it, then lose your cult fandom/sponsorships here and go run a rebuild with the Nets or try to become something with Detroit, where you're just another guy, because those are your two realistic other options.

If Naz signed with Brooklyn they'd love him there. He's from Asbury Park, NJ and would have a local fanbase there. Also, on a young team, he'd be the first sign of proving to Nets fans that they're serious (and they have money to burn). Sean Marks does have a good sense of how to put teams together, so they'd trust a Reid signing.

[kekgeek]

Obviously I have bias here because I’m probably lower on Naz than anyone on this board. With that said doesn’t it worry you that Naz has played in the playoffs for 3 seasons and he has had a negative net rating in all 3 seasons, it’s not like he has been non successful playoff teams, does it not worry you that every postseason his Pts per game, rebounds per game, asts per game go down and his, turnovers per game and fouls per game go up in the playoffs.

There is currently 1 bench player in the nba that makes over 30 million next season and that is Immanuel Quickly. (A terrible contract). And 3 bench players make over 20 million a year in Rozier, Smart and Powell (smart and Powell barely over 20).

For the love of God do not pay starting money for a bench player. Naz has been great, all time great wolves developmental story. If he gets a penny over 20 million a year it’s an overpay, 25 million a year it’s a terrible contract.

Don’t become the 5th team to pay a bench player legit money, because 3 of the other 4 have been massive buyer’s remorse.

[Lipoli390]

Naz is not worth anything close to 30 mil. Are you guys crazy?? That'd be more than Jaden is paid.

Naz is worth closer to his current 15mil than 30mil. I wouldn't go a cent above 20mil, and I'm not particularly fond of that high of a salary either.

I'd offer Naz 4/60-64 and if he doesn't like it, then lose your cult fandom/sponsorships here and go run a rebuild with the Nets or try to become something with Detroit, where you're just another guy, because those are your two realistic other options.

Exactly. I said 20, but that would be reluctantly. The dude completely forgot how to dribble in the playoffs and the passing was dreadful too. I mean the guy doesn’t rebound or play defense either.

I think there’s room to debate Naz Reid’s monetary and basketball value to the Wolves. But some things are just silly. The claim that he doesn’t play defense is contradicted by the facts. Naz had a defensive rating of 110.4 this season, which was 3rd best on the Wolves behind Rudy at 108.8 and Jaden at 110.3. Naz’s defensive rating was 18th in the entire League. To say Naz doesn’t rebound is hyperbolic to say the least. He’s not as good as he should be but he wasn’t terrible. In fact, he averaged 9.0 rebounds as a starter, which was better than Julius and in line with what you’d expect from a good starting PF in the NBA. And keep in mind that Jaden took a huge leap forward from being a poor rebounder to being a good one just this past season. He got sloppy with the ball in the playoffs but of course so did Ant and Randle. Bottom line is that over the course of the entire season, Naz averaged only 1.4 turnovers per game overall and 1.5 as a starter averaging over 35 minutes per game. So he’s excellent at protecting the ball. The ball doesn’t stick to his fingers and he keeps the offensive flowing.

I look at his stats as a starter for 17 games this past season and wonder what team would not want a starting PF who averages 18.3 points, 9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 blocks and only 1.5 turnovers. As a 25 year old late bloomer, it’s highly likely Naz has more untapped upside that he’ll start to show with consistent minutes as a starter.

Again, I don’t know his dollar value. The market will eventually give us the answer to that question. But if the choice is between Naz and Randle as our starting PF next season that seems like a pretty easy call to me. And if the Wolves have to pay Naz $30 million per year because the market tells us that’s his value and we can sign him without losing any core players or bumping up above the 2nd apron, then it would seem to make sense to sign him. My sense is that he won’t get an offer that starts at $30 million per year. I see his top offers starting at around $25 million and I think it would be a big mistake not to sign him at that price.

[kekgeek]

Naz is not worth anything close to 30 mil. Are you guys crazy?? That'd be more than Jaden is paid.

Naz is worth closer to his current 15mil than 30mil. I wouldn't go a cent above 20mil, and I'm not particularly fond of that high of a salary either.

I'd offer Naz 4/60-64 and if he doesn't like it, then lose your cult fandom/sponsorships here and go run a rebuild with the Nets or try to become something with Detroit, where you're just another guy, because those are your two realistic other options.

Exactly. I said 20, but that would be reluctantly. The dude completely forgot how to dribble in the playoffs and the passing was dreadful too. I mean the guy doesn’t rebound or play defense either.

I think there’s room to debate Naz Reid’s monetary and basketball value to the Wolves. But some things are just silly. The claim that he doesn’t play defense is contradicted by the facts. Naz had a defensive rating of 110.4 this season, which was 3rd best on the Wolves behind Rudy at 108.8 and Jaden at 110.3. Naz’s defensive rating was 18th in the entire League. To say Naz doesn’t rebound is hyperbolic to say the least. He’s not as good as he should be but he wasn’t terrible. In fact, he averaged 9.0 rebounds as a starter, which was better than Julius and in line with what you’d expect from a good starting PF in the NBA. And keep in mind that Jaden took a huge leap forward from being a poor rebounder to being a good one just this past season. He got sloppy with the ball in the playoffs but of course so did Ant and Randle. Bottom line is that over the course of the entire season, Naz averaged only 1.4 turnovers per game overall and 1.5 as a starter averaging over 35 minutes per game. So he’s excellent at protecting the ball. The ball doesn’t stick to his fingers and he keeps the offensive flowing.

I look at his stats as a starter for 17 games this past season and wonder what team would not want a starting PF who averages 18.3 points, 9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 blocks and only 1.5 turnovers. As a 25 year old late bloomer, it’s highly likely Naz has more untapped upside that he’ll start to show with consistent minutes as a starter.

Again, I don’t know his dollar value. The market will eventually give us the answer to that question. But if the choice is between Naz and Randle as our starting PF next season that seems like a pretty easy call to me. And if the Wolves have to pay Naz $30 million per year because the market tells us that’s his value and we can sign him without losing any core players or bumping up above the 2nd apron, then it would seem to make sense to sign him. My sense is that he won’t get an offer that starts at $30 million per year. I see his top offers starting at around $25 million and I think it would be a big mistake not to sign him at that price.

Naz defensive rating without Rudy in the playoffs 117.1. 6.6 points per 100 worse when Naz gets to play with Rudy.

Same thing happened in the regular season Naz w/o Rudy 115.4 and with Rudy 103.6 (99th percentile).


Rudy is the Naz defensive savior. With Rudy on the floor the wolves are an elite defense when Rudy comes off and Naz is still in the regular season the defense was slightly below average and in the playoffs it cratered. Rudy skews Naz defensive numbers dramatically.

[TheFuture]

Exactly. I said 20, but that would be reluctantly. The dude completely forgot how to dribble in the playoffs and the passing was dreadful too. I mean the guy doesn’t rebound or play defense either.

I think there’s room to debate Naz Reid’s monetary and basketball value to the Wolves. But some things are just silly. The claim that he doesn’t play defense is contradicted by the facts. Naz had a defensive rating of 110.4 this season, which was 3rd best on the Wolves behind Rudy at 108.8 and Jaden at 110.3. Naz’s defensive rating was 18th in the entire League. To say Naz doesn’t rebound is hyperbolic to say the least. He’s not as good as he should be but he wasn’t terrible. In fact, he averaged 9.0 rebounds as a starter, which was better than Julius and in line with what you’d expect from a good starting PF in the NBA. And keep in mind that Jaden took a huge leap forward from being a poor rebounder to being a good one just this past season. He got sloppy with the ball in the playoffs but of course so did Ant and Randle. Bottom line is that over the course of the entire season, Naz averaged only 1.4 turnovers per game overall and 1.5 as a starter averaging over 35 minutes per game. So he’s excellent at protecting the ball. The ball doesn’t stick to his fingers and he keeps the offensive flowing.

I look at his stats as a starter for 17 games this past season and wonder what team would not want a starting PF who averages 18.3 points, 9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 blocks and only 1.5 turnovers. As a 25 year old late bloomer, it’s highly likely Naz has more untapped upside that he’ll start to show with consistent minutes as a starter.

Again, I don’t know his dollar value. The market will eventually give us the answer to that question. But if the choice is between Naz and Randle as our starting PF next season that seems like a pretty easy call to me. And if the Wolves have to pay Naz $30 million per year because the market tells us that’s his value and we can sign him without losing any core players or bumping up above the 2nd apron, then it would seem to make sense to sign him. My sense is that he won’t get an offer that starts at $30 million per year. I see his top offers starting at around $25 million and I think it would be a big mistake not to sign him at that price.

Naz defensive rating without Rudy in the playoffs 117.1. 6.6 points per 100 worse when Naz gets to play with Rudy.

Same thing happened in the regular season Naz w/o Rudy 115.4 and with Rudy 103.6 (99th percentile).


Rudy is the Naz defensive savior. With Rudy on the floor the wolves are an elite defense when Rudy comes off and Naz is still in the regular season the defense was slightly below average and in the playoffs it cratered. Rudy skews Naz defensive numbers dramatically.

Yeah, Rudy skews everybody's numbers. He really is still that good. Alot of fans have begun to take him for granted. Hell, the guy essentially guards 2-3 players at any given time. So what if he can only catch a lob to score. His defense and screening is what he is paid for, and he is top notch at both.

[FNG]

I think there’s room to debate Naz Reid’s monetary and basketball value to the Wolves. But some things are just silly. The claim that he doesn’t play defense is contradicted by the facts. Naz had a defensive rating of 110.4 this season, which was 3rd best on the Wolves behind Rudy at 108.8 and Jaden at 110.3. Naz’s defensive rating was 18th in the entire League. To say Naz doesn’t rebound is hyperbolic to say the least. He’s not as good as he should be but he wasn’t terrible. In fact, he averaged 9.0 rebounds as a starter, which was better than Julius and in line with what you’d expect from a good starting PF in the NBA. And keep in mind that Jaden took a huge leap forward from being a poor rebounder to being a good one just this past season. He got sloppy with the ball in the playoffs but of course so did Ant and Randle. Bottom line is that over the course of the entire season, Naz averaged only 1.4 turnovers per game overall and 1.5 as a starter averaging over 35 minutes per game. So he’s excellent at protecting the ball. The ball doesn’t stick to his fingers and he keeps the offensive flowing.

I look at his stats as a starter for 17 games this past season and wonder what team would not want a starting PF who averages 18.3 points, 9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 blocks and only 1.5 turnovers. As a 25 year old late bloomer, it’s highly likely Naz has more untapped upside that he’ll start to show with consistent minutes as a starter.

Again, I don’t know his dollar value. The market will eventually give us the answer to that question. But if the choice is between Naz and Randle as our starting PF next season that seems like a pretty easy call to me. And if the Wolves have to pay Naz $30 million per year because the market tells us that’s his value and we can sign him without losing any core players or bumping up above the 2nd apron, then it would seem to make sense to sign him. My sense is that he won’t get an offer that starts at $30 million per year. I see his top offers starting at around $25 million and I think it would be a big mistake not to sign him at that price.

Naz defensive rating without Rudy in the playoffs 117.1. 6.6 points per 100 worse when Naz gets to play with Rudy.

Same thing happened in the regular season Naz w/o Rudy 115.4 and with Rudy 103.6 (99th percentile).


Rudy is the Naz defensive savior. With Rudy on the floor the wolves are an elite defense when Rudy comes off and Naz is still in the regular season the defense was slightly below average and in the playoffs it cratered. Rudy skews Naz defensive numbers dramatically.

Yeah, Rudy skews everybody's numbers. He really is still that good. Alot of fans have begun to take him for granted. Hell, the guy essentially guards 2-3 players at any given time. So what if he can only catch a lob to score. His defense and screening is what he is paid for, and he is top notch at both.

So true. We only have to go back at Kek's GDT posts about how easy it is to score on us when Naz comes in and Rudy goes out to abandon any narrative that Naz is a good defender. Plus there's the eye test. And if Kek (and many of us) notice it, you can rest assured TC and Finchy notice it watching his defense night in and night out. Naz is a potent offensive force off the bench and I believe we are going to make every effort to retain him...but it has to be at a price tag that reflects his value as a 6th man, not as a starter.

[Q-is-here]

Obviously I have bias here because I’m probably lower on Naz than anyone on this board. With that said doesn’t it worry you that Naz has played in the playoffs for 3 seasons and he has had a negative net rating in all 3 seasons, it’s not like he has been non successful playoff teams, does it not worry you that every postseason his Pts per game, rebounds per game, asts per game go down and his, turnovers per game and fouls per game go up in the playoffs.

There is currently 1 bench player in the nba that makes over 30 million next season and that is Immanuel Quickly. (A terrible contract). And 3 bench players make over 20 million a year in Rozier, Smart and Powell (smart and Powell barely over 20).

For the love of God do not pay starting money for a bench player. Naz has been great, all time great wolves developmental story. If he gets a penny over 20 million a year it’s an overpay, 25 million a year it’s a terrible contract.

Don’t become the 5th team to pay a bench player legit money, because 3 of the other 4 have been massive buyer’s remorse.

Yeah, you've been all over this for a couple years now.

There is a scenario where Randle leaves for free agency or is traded and Naz is promoted to our starting PF where he gets to start next to none other than Rudy and Jaden. That three-man lineup had a +12.1 net rating in this year's playoffs and +7.5 in last year's playoffs. They were a +8.6 in this year's regular season and +4.8 in last year's regular season.

And don't forget that at least a portion of those regular season minutes had Naz starting in both years in place of KAT and Randle. And in other cases he was closing games with Randle on the bench.

The bottom line is that I think there is a viable path to keep Reid, but ironically it's almost better if he's starting. Then we can go out and find a free agent defensive Center (like my guy Looney!) so that Reid is NEVER out there as a Center and plays exclusively PF.