Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:Thibs did clarify: looking for 1 PG and 2 wings.

Thanks, Tim. So who do you think Thibs SHOULD sign and who do you think he WILL sign to fill the 1 PG and 2 wing slots on the team?

I wouldn't be surprised if we still wind up with Afflalo in the end. He and many other players are playing the waiting game for some decent money. As we get closer to the end, it will become musical chairs -- grab someone's roster spot before all the spots are gone!

One of Dante Cunningham, Luc Mbah a Moute or Anthony Tolliver makes a lot of sense, too.

I haven't really looked hard at PGs. There are a lot of them!

Should be no problem getting a quality veteran PG for the minimum. Think Aflalo would be a great fit as well.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:I would love to be able to not watch Ramon Sessions or Aaron Brooks running the Wolves offense next season.

lol. At least Brooks can shoot the three. Sessions brings nothing to the table. He'd be a horrible addition. Who would you want to see the Wolves sign for more PG depth?

Not entirely sure. Deron Williams!

Ok, that's not realistic. I am excited to see consistent run from Tyus Jones this season. I guess Brooks as a 3rd guy is palatable, even if I don't like the view. Anything but Brandon Jennings. Can we agree on that?

A lot of these PGs kinda suck. It's hard to think if Teague went down it would be Tyus as the starter but...is that really so much worse than some of these other guys? I mean if you are relying on some of these guys as a starter for 20 games...yuck. This team has gotten more and more vet guys I wonder if there is an opening for a younger guy to beat out one of these guys for a spot. Would you rather have a young guy like Yogi Ferrell, Isaiah Whitehead, S. Christian, Fred Van Vleet or say Aaron Brooks? The gap isn't maybe as large as you would think it was. For a team that is clearly wanting to win now a vet of some kind makes sense but having a young PG stashed away in the D-league in one form or another is something I want to see.

One thing to keep in mind is that these last 3 guys we sign are insurance. They are probably not going to play much, if at all, especially for a Thibs team. So on top of 3 point shooting and defense (duh), we want dependable guys, not risky bets, and we specifically want guys who are not going to grumble about not seeing a lot of playing time but rather approach the job a bit more like an assistant coach.

PG
Sessions (smart, steady dude)
Lorenzo Brown (he's the one outlier on this list, but I always loved his defense)
Nobody (we've got Teague, Tyus, Crawford, and Butler, I don't quite see the need for another PG)

Smaller Wings
Afflalo (smart, intense veteran)
Tony Allen (super intense, takes pride in his defense and working hard, would he be cool with DNPs though?)
Sefolosha (was a regular starter until this last year)

Shooting Forwards (which Thibs might want to consider)
Ilyasova (not sure about his attitude, so we'd have to make sure to find time to play him)
Tolliver (a bit smiley for Lip's taste, maybe, but he always worked hard and seemed like a bright guy)

I'd feel really good if we somehow landed a trio like Sessions, one of Afflalo/Allen/Sefolosha, and Tolliver, with the assumption that Sessions would be as much of a coach/scout as a player, and Tolliver mostly in junk time or when we need outside shooting. If we got those two, I'd only see Afflalo/Allen/Sefolosha getting regular minutes, assuming we'd get one of them, which should be our top priority of these three.

I'd make Afflalo my top choice of those three between Afflalo/Allen/Sefolosha to go along with Sessions and Tolliver. All of those guys not only fill a need for us (steady PG, 3 and D wing, 3 and D forward), but all of them are smart, class-acts who work hard and are at that stage in their career where they just want to win. That fits the culture we're trying to build.

Ideally, we could somehow land guys like Tony Allen, Sefolosha, and Ilyasova, but I wonder whether those guys would be willing to pick up a many DNP-CDs. If they'd be cool with it, those guys would be great to pick up. I'd also be happy with Tony Allen or Sefolosha as well, and if one of them is willing to be more of an insurance policy than a regular contributor, pick up Afflalo AND Allen or Sefolosha to go along with Tolliver or Sessions.

khans2k5 wrote:Not every player he signs is going to do everything he wants. Defense and 3pt shooting were the main two priorities and he added 3 league average 3pt shooters including 1 volume shooter and 2 really good defensive players. I don't get the shots at Thibs because every guy he signed doesn't shoot 40% from 3 and defend.

Kahns - I think the problems some of us are having with what Thibs has done is that NONE of the guys he's signed shoot close to 40% from 3, including Crawford who can't defend either. I still see merit in the Crawford signing because he's a good ball handler and can score the ball off the bench. I understand Taj as an excellent defender who brings toughness and rim protection. But I would have preferred a cheaper alternative who can stretch the floor a bit, leaving cap room to get sign someone like CJ Miles who's a good 3-point shooter and a good defender still in his prime. Then we'd still have the RE available to use on Crawford or someone else.

lipoli390 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Not every player he signs is going to do everything he wants. Defense and 3pt shooting were the main two priorities and he added 3 league average 3pt shooters including 1 volume shooter and 2 really good defensive players. I don't get the shots at Thibs because every guy he signed doesn't shoot 40% from 3 and defend.

Kahns - I think the problems some of us are having with what Thibs has done is that NONE of the guys he's signed shoot close to 40% from 3, including Crawford who can't defend either. I still see merit in the Crawford signing because he's a good ball handler and can score the ball off the bench. I understand Taj as an excellent defender who brings toughness and rim protection. But I would have preferred a cheaper alternative who can stretch the floor a bit, leaving cap room to get sign someone like CJ Miles who's a good 3-point shooter and a good defender still in his prime. Then we'd still have the RE available to use on Crawford or someone else.

This is my issue with the signing. He isn't a top offensive guy any more, and his defense has never been any good. I guess I am just now seeing Thibs' logic.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:I would love to be able to not watch Ramon Sessions or Aaron Brooks running the Wolves offense next season.

lol. At least Brooks can shoot the three. Sessions brings nothing to the table. He'd be a horrible addition. Who would you want to see the Wolves sign for more PG depth?

Not entirely sure. Deron Williams!

Ok, that's not realistic. I am excited to see consistent run from Tyus Jones this season. I guess Brooks as a 3rd guy is palatable, even if I don't like the view. Anything but Brandon Jennings. Can we agree on that?

Yes, we can definitely agree on that! :)

Yeah, Crawford is a real head scratcher to me. We really didn't need a washed up shot creator that doesn't defend and is inefficient.

Thibs raspy response: "He's been in some big games". Bah, big whoop! Tyus Jones and Gorgui Dieng have been in some big games too! It's called winning a National Championship! They will be two of the first guys off our bench.

Q12543 wrote:Yeah, Crawford is a real head scratcher to me. We really didn't need a washed up shot creator that doesn't defend and is inefficient.

Thibs raspy response: "He's been in some big games". Bah, big whoop! Tyus Jones and Gorgui Dieng have been in some big games too! It's called winning a National Championship! They will be two of the first guys off our bench.

Q getting in on the hyperbole font. :) We need to get Brewer, Ellington and Kyle Singler too!

One thought I just had was when Crawford was with the Clippers how many shot creators were really on those teams? Chris Paul is a given. Griffin became a pretty good passer the last couple years but after that it's guys like Rivers and last year they had Felton. A couple years ago they basically didn't have much as the backup PG. We have seen guys on this team like JJ Barea have to do a bit too much at times and that makes him much less valuable and even more maddening. Could Crawford playing with Butler and a legit PG make him a more worthwhile and maybe more efficient? His assisted 3 point rates have dropped each of the last 4 years. Of course some of that could be on him. I'm certainly not clinging to this theory but there might be a bit of something there. I could see the possibility of him and Tyus working well offensively. We know the defense will not be good but I think he still has something left. I get why some people are skeptical.

SameOldDrew wrote:One thing to keep in mind is that these last 3 guys we sign are insurance. They are probably not going to play much, if at all, especially for a Thibs team. So on top of 3 point shooting and defense (duh), we want dependable guys, not risky bets, and we specifically want guys who are not going to grumble about not seeing a lot of playing time but rather approach the job a bit more like an assistant coach.

PG
Sessions (smart, steady dude)
Lorenzo Brown (he's the one outlier on this list, but I always loved his defense)
Nobody (we've got Teague, Tyus, Crawford, and Butler, I don't quite see the need for another PG)

Smaller Wings
Afflalo (smart, intense veteran)
Tony Allen (super intense, takes pride in his defense and working hard, would he be cool with DNPs though?)
Sefolosha (was a regular starter until this last year)

Shooting Forwards (which Thibs might want to consider)
Ilyasova (not sure about his attitude, so we'd have to make sure to find time to play him)
Tolliver (a bit smiley for Lip's taste, maybe, but he always worked hard and seemed like a bright guy)

I'd feel really good if we somehow landed a trio like Sessions, one of Afflalo/Allen/Sefolosha, and Tolliver, with the assumption that Sessions would be as much of a coach/scout as a player, and Tolliver mostly in junk time or when we need outside shooting. If we got those two, I'd only see Afflalo/Allen/Sefolosha getting regular minutes, assuming we'd get one of them, which should be our top priority of these three.

I'd make Afflalo my top choice of those three between Afflalo/Allen/Sefolosha to go along with Sessions and Tolliver. All of those guys not only fill a need for us (steady PG, 3 and D wing, 3 and D forward), but all of them are smart, class-acts who work hard and are at that stage in their career where they just want to win. That fits the culture we're trying to build.

Ideally, we could somehow land guys like Tony Allen, Sefolosha, and Ilyasova, but I wonder whether those guys would be willing to pick up a many DNP-CDs. If they'd be cool with it, those guys would be great to pick up. I'd also be happy with Tony Allen or Sefolosha as well, and if one of them is willing to be more of an insurance policy than a regular contributor, pick up Afflalo AND Allen or Sefolosha to go along with Tolliver or Sessions.

Would like to see Gerald Henderson added. His grit and can hit a 3