Minnesota Sports Forum

I wonder if peoples answers would change if we got to ship Pek's contract with him and were able to sign Batum and Jennings in the offseason after KG retires.

Rubio/Jenning
Wiggins/LaVine
Batum/Shabazz
Love/Belly
Towns/Dieng

Or make a run at Fournier or Crabtree.

Rubio/LaVine
Wiggins/Fournier or Crabtree
Batum/Shabazz
Love/Belly
Towns/Dieng

I would absolutely trade any pick in this draft for Love. We had a top 5 starting unit with him a few years ago and swapped Brewer for Wiggins and Pek for Towns. Those are two massive upgrades on both sides of the ball. We've built up our depth now so it won't be Shved and DC coming off our bench. Are we better than GS and SA? Probably not, but we'd be in the conversation for 3rd best team in the conference and then you just need a little luck to go your way. A Love/Towns frontcourt would be unguardable so even if you attack Love on the defensive end, you can't stop that combo on the other end. We could easily have Love hard hedge to force the ball out of the PG's hands and use our athletes in Lavine, Wiggins and Towns to recover on the ball movement from there. This team is missing an established star and it has a big hole at the 4. We could be running out 4 all-stars in the near future with Love, Towns, Wiggins and Lavine (if he can continue his recent high level of play). That's a tough out in a 7 game series which is all that matters.

I agree that he would immediately fill a need for this team and help offensively. BUT, if our goal is a championship, which it should be with the talent we are developing, DEFENSE has to be the draw to any player in a trade or through FA. I was more on board with the idea of trying to sign Al Horford. Plus, will Love be ok being the 2nd or 3rd fiddle back in Minny, when he was a top 10 player in the league with us previously? It sounds intriguing, but I think I would pass.

Why not go for Griffin? Him and Towns would be immediately the best front court in the league.

thedoper wrote:Why not go for Griffin? Him and Towns would be immediately the best front court in the league.

Love is better than Griffin. Love stretches the floor to the 3 point line and their defense is similar in impact. Griffin is really good as a point forward, but he and Ricky don't work together because that's 2/5 starters (maybe 3/5 if Wiggins continues to struggle) that can't shoot 3's. It think Love is a better fit with what we have. If we went after Griffin we would have to dump Ricky for a shooter.

khans2k5 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Why not go for Griffin? Him and Towns would be immediately the best front court in the league.

Love is better than Griffin. Love stretches the floor to the 3 point line and their defense is similar in impact. Griffin is really good as a point forward, but he and Ricky don't work together because that's 2/5 starters (maybe 3/5 if Wiggins continues to struggle) that can't shoot 3's. It think Love is a better fit with what we have. If we went after Griffin we would have to dump Ricky for a shooter.

I disagree big time that Love is better than Griffin. We need a coach to take advantage of our ability to play with tempo. We could run teams out of the gym. Throw Griffin into that and we'll be golden. We can get our 3s in other positions. A 4 who shoots the threes is secondary to someone who is physically dominant.

khans2k5 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Why not go for Griffin? Him and Towns would be immediately the best front court in the league.

Love is better than Griffin. Love stretches the floor to the 3 point line and their defense is similar in impact. Griffin is really good as a point forward, but he and Ricky don't work together because that's 2/5 starters (maybe 3/5 if Wiggins continues to struggle) that can't shoot 3's. It think Love is a better fit with what we have. If we went after Griffin we would have to dump Ricky for a shooter.

I dig Griffin. He's actually extended his range quite a bit, maybe not to the three point line...

But it comes down to grabbing the "best" available player and figuring it out from there. Choosing guys for need because of Ricky Rubio on a 55-loss team? No. Grab talent. It'll sort itself out. There's plenty of time for that.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

thedoper wrote:Why not go for Griffin? Him and Towns would be immediately the best front court in the league.

Love is better than Griffin. Love stretches the floor to the 3 point line and their defense is similar in impact. Griffin is really good as a point forward, but he and Ricky don't work together because that's 2/5 starters (maybe 3/5 if Wiggins continues to struggle) that can't shoot 3's. It think Love is a better fit with what we have. If we went after Griffin we would have to dump Ricky for a shooter.

I dig Griffin. He's actually extended his range quite a bit, maybe not to the three point line...

But it comes down to grabbing the "best" available player and figuring it out from there. Choosing guys for need because of Ricky Rubio on a 55-loss team? No. Grab talent. It'll sort itself out. There's plenty of time for that.

I'd rate Griffin and Love pretty equally actually. They both have flaws but damn Griffin would be a really fun player to have. As Cam brought up in the draft thread his passing is very underrated. I still wouldn't do either deal in the vacuum theoretical proposal suggested in the OP whether it's Love or Blake.

Come to think of it, wouldn't we be better served getting Horford as a FA, as mentioned in another thread? Then dispense with Payne

Wow, folks waxing nostalgic, hoping for Kevin Love back here. LST would be very disappointed in you people!