Giving up the players/assets necessary to acquire Fred VanVleet and then having to near-max him at 29-years old on his next contract while he's already showing signs of decline would be a perfect way for Tim Connelly to follow up trading Walker Kessler and four first-round picks for Rudy Gobert on a supermax deal.
Seriously, we should not wish for that.
Gotta agree. Out of all the NBA players who have been able to extend their careers in recent years... VanVleet does not seem like an ideal candidate to do so.
I agree as well. Giving up what it would take for VanVleet would be a bad move. None of the rumored trade targets I've seen make sense to me for the Wolves. Lowry and Conley are well beyond their prime and honestly aren't as good as DLO right now. VanVleet isn't a significant upgrade over DLO given how DLO has been playing lately. He's be a 3-month rental with a high price tag to re-sign. I like Terrance Mann, but how much better would the team be with Mann rather than DLO as our PG and what other assets would be involved in the trade? I don't see much sense in trading Prince right now. He has a hard time staying healthy, but I'd say he has a bigger impact on winning than any other Wolves bench player and has a very team-friendly contract.
The team started to gel in January. Let's keep this group together and see how they perform over these last 26 games. I wouldn't bet on a strong finish given the Wolves remaining schedule and the team's inconsistency. But there's enough talent on this team to make a nice run to close out the season.
I believe in winners and FVF is a winner I rather take a risk on him but I'm biased I have major affinity for the player through his whole career.
Yes he is. An FVF dream may have been alive the first half of the year when he was struggling, but he has been back to his elite play the past month. It sounds like many on this board aren't interested in acquiring him, and they don't have to worry...we don't have the assets to get him, even though TC has expressed interest in him.
I believe in winners and FVF is a winner I rather take a risk on him but I'm biased I have major affinity for the player through his whole career.
Fred VanVleet is good... Fred VanVleet is no where near "five-years, $230M" good, which is the maximum he could make as an unrestricted free agent this summer if he were to opt out of his current contract, which is very likely.
It's also been reported that he wants at least what Tyler Herro got this past offseason -- four-years, $130M.
Those are the ranges for the soon-to-be 29-year-old VanVleet. We're talking about anything between $32-46M annually for four or five years. I don't know about you, but that makes me more than uncomfortable and it's not even my money. And that's not even mentioning whatever it costs in assets to acquire him.
I believe in winners and FVF is a winner I rather take a risk on him but I'm biased I have major affinity for the player through his whole career.
Fred VanVleet is good... Fred VanVleet is no where near "five-years, $230M" good, which is the maximum he could make as an unrestricted free agent this summer if he were to opt out of his current contract, which is very likely.
It's also been reported that he wants at least what Tyler Herro got this past offseason -- four-years, $130M.
Those are the ranges for the soon-to-be 29-year-old VanVleet. We're talking about anything between $32-46M annually for four or five years. I don't know about you, but that makes me more than uncomfortable and it's not even my money. And that's not even mentioning whatever it costs in assets to acquire him.
For what it's worth... VanVleet says he didn't turn down the 4 year, $114M extension from the Raptors. But that could be semantics... he also basically says both sides decided to wait it out.
I pity the team that gives him $46M over many years. (I don't see that happening though.)
But I would be willing to pay him more than D. Russell, despite what's happened this season, Russell's younger age and even familiarity with the Wolves.
The rub, as Camden mentions, is that it won't come cheap. So if you add in the assets to get VanVleet... I gotta pass, too.
I expect TC will stick with the status quo for the rest of the season and then see what turns up this offseason, whether it's an extension for Dlo or a different direction. And I fine with this plan of attack.
But a part of me really wants to see a Dlo for Conley swap. I assume we would get something in return for trading an in-his-prime Dlo for a declining Conley. I think Conley is a great fit for our developing duo of Edwards and McDaniels. It buys TC another year to find and begin grooming a future starting PG to replace Conley.
If the Clippers have real interest in DLo (although I suspect it is a smokescreen to keep Toronto from overcharging for FVV!), then a 3-way trade with the Clippers and Jazz ought to get everyone what they are looking for.
A couple more days to go!
[Edit: Not that this means anything, but here is a tweet Dlo made yesterday...
D'Angelo Russell @Dloading Feb 6
"Accept the things you can't change, change the things that you can and have the wisdom to know the difference"
60WinTim wrote:I expect TC will stick with the status quo for the rest of the season and then see what turns up this offseason, whether it's an extension for Dlo or a different direction. And I fine with this plan of attack.
But a part of me really wants to see a Dlo for Conley swap. I assume we would get something in return for trading an in-his-prime Dlo for a declining Conley. I think Conley is a great fit for our developing duo of Edwards and McDaniels. It buys TC another year to find and begin grooming a future starting PG to replace Conley.
If the Clippers have real interest in DLo (although I suspect it is a smokescreen to keep Toronto from overcharging for FVV!), then a 3-way trade with the Clippers and Jazz ought to get everyone what they are looking for.
A couple more days to go!
[Edit: Not that this means anything, but here is a tweet Dlo made yesterday...
D'Angelo Russell @Dloading Feb 6
"Accept the things you can't change, change the things that you can and have the wisdom to know the difference"
]
Tim, I agree with you on two fronts. I don't expect a DLo deal to happen this week, but I also believe a swap for Conley would really unlock Ant and Jaden, as well as Gobert of course. I don't see Ainge making that deal though.
60WinTim wrote:But a part of me really wants to see a Dlo for Conley swap. I assume we would get something in return for trading an in-his-prime Dlo for a declining Conley. I think Conley is a great fit for our developing duo of Edwards and McDaniels. It buys TC another year to find and begin grooming a future starting PG to replace Conley.
The 35-year old Mike Conley Jr. would theoretically be a great fit next to 21-year old Anthony Edwards and 22-year old Jaden McDaniels. Some would even say he would be a father figure... since he's almost as old as their biological fathers likely are. He might even teach them a few things like how to tie a tie! 8)
60WinTim wrote:I expect TC will stick with the status quo for the rest of the season and then see what turns up this offseason, whether it's an extension for Dlo or a different direction. And I fine with this plan of attack.
But a part of me really wants to see a Dlo for Conley swap. I assume we would get something in return for trading an in-his-prime Dlo for a declining Conley. I think Conley is a great fit for our developing duo of Edwards and McDaniels. It buys TC another year to find and begin grooming a future starting PG to replace Conley.
If the Clippers have real interest in DLo (although I suspect it is a smokescreen to keep Toronto from overcharging for FVV!), then a 3-way trade with the Clippers and Jazz ought to get everyone what they are looking for.
A couple more days to go!
[Edit: Not that this means anything, but here is a tweet Dlo made yesterday...
D'Angelo Russell @Dloading Feb 6
"Accept the things you can't change, change the things that you can and have the wisdom to know the difference"
]
Great post Tim. There are going to be so many more options next year with the cap jump. Would make sense to push the pg decision a year out with more options. Im fine with taking a hit in the short term with a better long term strategy.
thedoper wrote:Great post Tim. There are going to be so many more options next year with the cap jump. Would make sense to push the pg decision a year out with more options. Im fine with taking a hit in the short term with a better long term strategy.
Out of curiosity, and wanting to further the conversation, what are these supposed available options? Or rather who do we think might become available that isn't currently? Do you have your eyes on any player(s) in particular?
