Trade season

[FNG]

I’d be in favor of that, Tim.

Only one guys opinion (but from a guy who’s opinion I respect), but Skal gave some support to the stand pat guys here. He and Isola were talking about how good the Denver Houston game was last night, and isola said either of those teams could give the thunder a battle in the playoffs. Skal then said he thought Minnesota at its best could challenge them also. He also said the 4 west teams he was talking about wouid beat anyone in the east, including the Knicks.

[Q-is-here]

Nobody jumped on board with this idea earlier. But with Mike already limited to well under 20 minutes a game, his recent struggles on the court, and now his Achilles problem, maybe he should retire and join the coaching staff?

If all parties were on board with the idea, Mike could be traded to Utah for SloMo, who is under contract his year and next. Mike would retire in Utah and then join the Wolves coaching staff. SloMo is familiar with the system and many of the players. He adds frontcourt depth along with ballhandling skills. He would be a pretty nice fit on this team for areas we are sometimes lacking.

[that was kind of a bump!]

All indication are that Mike Conley still believes he has something to offer as a player, so while it's a clever way to deal with Mike, it seems highly unrealistic.

As for SloMo, did we learn nothing from watching him during the Western Conference Finals run two years ago!? Yes, he was a key pillar in our #1 regular season defense, but his inability to be an offensive threat was zeroed in on in the playoffs and he was a big negative for us. Plus he's two years older and been shuffled around from team to team...who knows whether he's even that great at things he did well a couple seasons ago?

[60WinTim]

Nobody jumped on board with this idea earlier. But with Mike already limited to well under 20 minutes a game, his recent struggles on the court, and now his Achilles problem, maybe he should retire and join the coaching staff?

If all parties were on board with the idea, Mike could be traded to Utah for SloMo, who is under contract his year and next. Mike would retire in Utah and then join the Wolves coaching staff. SloMo is familiar with the system and many of the players. He adds frontcourt depth along with ballhandling skills. He would be a pretty nice fit on this team for areas we are sometimes lacking.

[that was kind of a bump!]

All indication are that Mike Conley still believes he has something to offer as a player, so while it's a clever way to deal with Mike, it seems highly unrealistic.

As for SloMo, did we learn nothing from watching him during the Western Conference Finals run two years ago!? Yes, he was a key pillar in our #1 regular season defense, but his inability to be an offensive threat was zeroed in on in the playoffs and he was a big negative for us. Plus he's two years older and been shuffled around from team to team...who knows whether he's even that great at things he did well a couple seasons ago?

Then I won't even mention Kevin Love...

[Q-is-here]

I’d be in favor of that, Tim.

Only one guys opinion (but from a guy who’s opinion I respect), but Skal gave some support to the stand pat guys here. He and Isola were talking about how good the Denver Houston game was last night, and isola said either of those teams could give the thunder a battle in the playoffs. Skal then said he thought Minnesota at its best could challenge them also. He also said the 4 west teams he was talking about wouid beat anyone in the east, including the Knicks.

Some nuance is needed here....the "stand pat" guys might simply be saying that they don't want to take a swing at something until we get closer to the trade deadline. May be a bunch of stuff comes together in the next few weeks. Or may be the same old issues keep coming up and a move needs to be made.

We are currently three games clear of the play-in mess and have won 7 of 8. Hopefully that buys us a little more time before pulling the trigger on something.

[Q-is-here]

Nobody jumped on board with this idea earlier. But with Mike already limited to well under 20 minutes a game, his recent struggles on the court, and now his Achilles problem, maybe he should retire and join the coaching staff?

If all parties were on board with the idea, Mike could be traded to Utah for SloMo, who is under contract his year and next. Mike would retire in Utah and then join the Wolves coaching staff. SloMo is familiar with the system and many of the players. He adds frontcourt depth along with ballhandling skills. He would be a pretty nice fit on this team for areas we are sometimes lacking.

[that was kind of a bump!]

All indication are that Mike Conley still believes he has something to offer as a player, so while it's a clever way to deal with Mike, it seems highly unrealistic.

As for SloMo, did we learn nothing from watching him during the Western Conference Finals run two years ago!? Yes, he was a key pillar in our #1 regular season defense, but his inability to be an offensive threat was zeroed in on in the playoffs and he was a big negative for us. Plus he's two years older and been shuffled around from team to team...who knows whether he's even that great at things he did well a couple seasons ago?

Then I won't even mention Kevin Love...

Heck, I've seen Ricky Rubio's name mentioned, as he has supposedly been playing well in Europe. That may actually be less crazy than trading for SloMo! But it generally seems like these sorts of moves that bring back fan favorites well past their prime don't work out so well.

[rapsuperstar31]

Nobody jumped on board with this idea earlier. But with Mike already limited to well under 20 minutes a game, his recent struggles on the court, and now his Achilles problem, maybe he should retire and join the coaching staff?

If all parties were on board with the idea, Mike could be traded to Utah for SloMo, who is under contract his year and next. Mike would retire in Utah and then join the Wolves coaching staff. SloMo is familiar with the system and many of the players. He adds frontcourt depth along with ballhandling skills. He would be a pretty nice fit on this team for areas we are sometimes lacking.

[that was kind of a bump!]

All indication are that Mike Conley still believes he has something to offer as a player, so while it's a clever way to deal with Mike, it seems highly unrealistic.

As for SloMo, did we learn nothing from watching him during the Western Conference Finals run two years ago!? Yes, he was a key pillar in our #1 regular season defense, but his inability to be an offensive threat was zeroed in on in the playoffs and he was a big negative for us. Plus he's two years older and been shuffled around from team to team...who knows whether he's even that great at things he did well a couple seasons ago?

I'd take SloMo on a min, if Utah bought him out for sure. You could play him when needed, he was actually pretty good against Dallas finding the open mid range shots that their defense allowed. I wouldn't trade for him and pay him 9+ million next year.

[Q-is-here]

Nobody jumped on board with this idea earlier. But with Mike already limited to well under 20 minutes a game, his recent struggles on the court, and now his Achilles problem, maybe he should retire and join the coaching staff?

If all parties were on board with the idea, Mike could be traded to Utah for SloMo, who is under contract his year and next. Mike would retire in Utah and then join the Wolves coaching staff. SloMo is familiar with the system and many of the players. He adds frontcourt depth along with ballhandling skills. He would be a pretty nice fit on this team for areas we are sometimes lacking.

[that was kind of a bump!]

All indication are that Mike Conley still believes he has something to offer as a player, so while it's a clever way to deal with Mike, it seems highly unrealistic.

As for SloMo, did we learn nothing from watching him during the Western Conference Finals run two years ago!? Yes, he was a key pillar in our #1 regular season defense, but his inability to be an offensive threat was zeroed in on in the playoffs and he was a big negative for us. Plus he's two years older and been shuffled around from team to team...who knows whether he's even that great at things he did well a couple seasons ago?

I'd take SloMo on a min, if Utah bought him out for sure. You could play him when needed, he was actually pretty good against Dallas finding the open mid range shots that their defense allowed. I wouldn't trade for him and pay him 9+ million next year.

If the goal is to bring him in as an insurance policy on the cheap, then fine. That's different than trading for him and hoping he becomes a key rotation guy.

[Wolvesfan21]

Our players are always better than other teams players because we drafted them. It's this mind set that paralyzes fan bases from seeing the forest through the trees. Ant is a gifted player that can put his team on his back and win a game. It does not mean he's the complete package. It's obvious he hasn't reached that status and I still expect him to have a relatively short career. If you're being objective, Giannis would give us a far better chance of winning a title than Ant over the next 3 years. This trade is never going to happen, but if you really care about winning a championship you should want it to. Maybe we get Giannis and Ant which would be incredible.

I actually think that's highly subjective and not objective. Yes, Giannis is currently a better player than Ant. But I don't buy that the Wolves' odds of winning a title would drastically go up if he were traded here in exchange for Ant straight up. He has flaws too and those would come into focus more in a playoff series. Not to mention the fit of the pieces around him with the likes of Rudy and Randle taking up space in the paint and the loss of one of our elite shooters in Ant.

We'd be a disaster on offense especially against OKC and it wouldn't be close. They'd pack the paint like they do and just make Giannis shoot 3's all series. Ju already is OKC's kryptonite and Rudy wasn't tearing them up either with their size, physicality and speed to match up.

If you want to guarantee to not win it all you do that trade. If now you say OK trade Ant, then Rudy and Ju OK. But you think you can tear down a roster then win it all? Let's just swap entire rosters with the Bucks while we're at it!!!

[Q-is-here]

After reading all the posts in this thread, I’m even more down on the idea of swapping Ant for Giannis than I was previously. Beyond that one suggested swap, I just keep in coming back to the fact that we’re 8 games over .500 and only 2 game out of 2nd place in the West after just winning two in a row without our star, including a win on the road against a pretty good Golden State team. Naz struggled early as he was clearly struggling with the murder of his sister and the team overall got off to a slow start. The team still isn’t firing on all cylinders consistently but we’re not even half way through the long NBA season. We can all fantasize about how great it would be to have certain players on this team, but it’s critical to consider who we’d have to give up to get one of those players and the trade’s overall NET impact on the team. If our front office is out there trying to trade for a PG because they believe they have to, the rest of the league’s front office executives will circle like sharks in bloody water and the Wolves will get fleeced.

Let’s see how this season plays out. If changes are needed, those changes should be made next summer = carefully and strategically.

I think that's where I am also, Lip...teams shouldn't be looking at a big move after winning 6 out of 7. But then again this is TC...we've learned he's not your typical POBO. And some reasonably reliable sources have written about him inquiring about Kyrie, Coby, Giannis and even Ja. He seems to be out there trying to make something happen, but I lean toward standing pat.

Missed this earlier and meant to comment on it....My sense is that Tim Connelly literally talks to every other front office in the league and inquires about nearly everyone. That does two things. First, it maximizes his chances at eventually finding something that makes sense or at least exhausts every avenue for improving the team, even if it ultimately leads to no deal.

Second, if you show interest in everyone, it's pretty much the same as showing interest in no one since the sheer volume of inquiries makes it hard to decipher whether any of it is real!

That doesn't mean Connelly won't make a deal before this season's trade deadline, but when a name like Coby White or Giannis or Ja comes up, we should't be surprised that Minnesota is nearly always named as a potential suitor and give the appropriate amount of weight to it becoming a reality.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Nobody jumped on board with this idea earlier. But with Mike already limited to well under 20 minutes a game, his recent struggles on the court, and now his Achilles problem, maybe he should retire and join the coaching staff?

If all parties were on board with the idea, Mike could be traded to Utah for SloMo, who is under contract his year and next. Mike would retire in Utah and then join the Wolves coaching staff. SloMo is familiar with the system and many of the players. He adds frontcourt depth along with ballhandling skills. He would be a pretty nice fit on this team for areas we are sometimes lacking.

[that was kind of a bump!]

What else does Utah get?