Wolves Dangling Anthony Bennett as trade bait

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Wolves: Bennett, 31, 36
Raptors: Vasquez, 20

That's the dream trade for us.

I call that a nightmare trade...none of his many teams has missed Vasquez when he has moved on. Teams always take a chance on him because he is a decent offensive player. But they soon learn what his previous teams knew...he can't guard anybody.

That said, AB for Vasquez sounds like the kind of deal Flip would do. I am generally high on Flip, but I also think his talk about 2-way players is lip service. He doesn't value defense enough.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I don't view Bennett's deal as a problem. He basically has/had until this October to step up or you just turn down his team option and let him become a free agent. I think it's pretty stupid to deal Bennett for a guy of Vasquez's caliber. A 21 year old with potential for a 28 year old backup PG who is challenging Calderon for worst defensive PG in the league. At the end of the day we were the worst team in the league and we are the ones giving up on a young guy early in his career for an older player with a limited ceiling. Overall I'm just disappointed in Flip. Bennett is a much better prospect than AP and yet here we are looking to deal Bennett instead of the older less talented AP. Flip the coach and Flip the GM seem to be making contradictory decisions. Why get Bennett in the first place if you weren't even going to give him more than a year to prove his worth?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

How we would get the 20 out of Toronto in that scenario doesn't make any sense to me. There may be a push to get a Canadian on the raps but ujiri seems pretty keen on talent, I couldn't see how he would rank Vasquez that low.

Watch Vasquez closely, and you will see why the next team he plays for will be his 5th team in five years. He always wears out welcome after a few months, but his offensive stats always ensure another victim team is waiting in the wings. Toronto does that deal in a minute. I'm afraid Flip might too.

[TAFKASP]

Vasquez is a decent offensive PG, but I favor the defensive side of the ball. And his overall game isn't enough for me to give up on AB's upside.

As he will be a back up I'm not concerned. I want someone who can run an offense and allow Zach to slide over to the 2 spot, be it as a starter or bench guy.

Both Vasquez and AB have only one more year guaranteed on their contracts, so there isn't a great deal of risk with either. I prefer giving AB one more year, and them cutting him loose and creating $6 million of cap space if he hasn't shown enough.

With Towns, KG, and Payne I see no way in which they would have enough minutes for AB to prove anything outside of an ability to keep a chair warm. If not for the number of players who will be taking up minutes at the 4 spot I would agree with you, but AB is as good as gone be it this year or next, may as well give Vasquez a shot.

Regarding the cap space, they're likely to be over the cap, or right up against it as is so letting AB go will not automatically give them $6M in cap space.

I wish we could have seen AB play all year last year to have some idea of what he could bring, but at this point I am resigned to the fact that he simply doesn't fit into the teams plans going forward.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Vasquez is a decent offensive PG, but I favor the defensive side of the ball. And his overall game isn't enough for me to give up on AB's upside.

As he will be a back up I'm not concerned. I want someone who can run an offense and allow Zach to slide over to the 2 spot, be it as a starter or bench guy.

Both Vasquez and AB have only one more year guaranteed on their contracts, so there isn't a great deal of risk with either. I prefer giving AB one more year, and them cutting him loose and creating $6 million of cap space if he hasn't shown enough.

With Towns, KG, and Payne I see no way in which they would have enough minutes for AB to prove anything outside of an ability to keep a chair warm. If not for the number of players who will be taking up minutes at the 4 spot I would agree with you, but AB is as good as gone be it this year or next, may as well give Vasquez a shot.

Regarding the cap space, they're likely to be over the cap, or right up against it as is so letting AB go will not automatically give them $6M in cap space.

I wish we could have seen AB play all year last year to have some idea of what he could bring, but at this point I am resigned to the fact that he simply doesn't fit into the teams plans going forward.

In what world did AP do enough to automatically get the time over AB? They are both pretty bad right now. I don't get why we'd pick one over the other right now before we had more information on both.

[thedoper]

How we would get the 20 out of Toronto in that scenario doesn't make any sense to me. There may be a push to get a Canadian on the raps but ujiri seems pretty keen on talent, I couldn't see how he would rank Vasquez that low.

Watch Vasquez closely, and you will see why the next team he plays for will be his 5th team in five years. He always wears out welcome after a few months, but his offensive stats always ensure another victim team is waiting in the wings. Toronto does that deal in a minute. I'm afraid Flip might too.

I watched him for 2 years for Toronto now. His PT has increased and playing significant minutes behind Lowry and covering when Lowry was injured. His value to Toronto is leaps and bounds beyond Bennett's value to anyone at this point. We may be able to get him for Bennett plus the picks but only because there was Toronto media calling for it. There is no basketball reason that Toronto makes that trade in my mind, but if Flip pulled off that good on him.

[TAFKASP]

In what world did AP do enough to automatically get the time over AB? They are both pretty bad right now. I don't get why we'd pick one over the other right now before we had more information on both.

I'm not suggesting Payne showed more reason for hope, only that there isn't room/minutes for both to have the opportunity to prove themselves with the Wolves. As a casual observer of BB in general I would be more enamored with AB's potential, but the rumor he is available suggests Flip doesn't agree.

You could rephrase my previous comment to say either of AB or AP needs to go, both for their own good and so the Wolves can achieve a more balanced roster.

[60WinTim]

On a different note, did anyone watch this spoof with Flip on draft night in front of screaming Wolves fans?!? It is hilarious!

http://streamable.com/rf3i

[TheFuture]

I assume this is to create space for bjelica, but I don't know if its the right move. Id prefer to get into the 10-14 range with bjelica,31,36 and target a prospect like oubre, Stanley Johnson, payne, grant, jones etc.

AB doesn't hurt us due to our depth at at Pf/C with the supposed addition of Towns, but he still could prove to help us and push Payne out if he realizes his potential.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

On a different note, did anyone watch this spoof with Flip on draft night in front of screaming Wolves fans?!? It is hilarious!

http://streamable.com/rf3i

Ha...great stuff!