lipoli390 wrote:Cam - That's a deal I could live with, but it's not a deal I'd do. It would put the Wolves well over the luxury tax line and, worse yet, make the Wolves a serial luxury tax team. With Collins on a max deal, his salary next season would be around $29 million. That's around $7M more than the combined salaries of Okogie and Ricky next season. If Collins were a budding LeBron, AD, James Harden or Kevin Durant, I'd do the deal. But he's not. And having three max salaries where two of them are DLO and John Collins seems like the wrong way to go.
I hear you, Lip, and I agree with some aspects of your thinking here. Where I disagree is the money aspect. The Wolves are paying that much salary combined to multiple players who don't elevate the team in a way that John Collins potentially could. In my opinion, the Wolves are in a position where they need higher-level talent rather than more mediocre talent, if that makes sense. In offloading Ricky Rubio and Josh Okogie while letting Ed Davis' and Cole Aldrich's money come off the books, Minnesota has opened up roughly $27.5-million to spend on Collins before hitting the luxury tax. Of course, other Wolves players salaries will scale up next year too, but there's wiggle room if they want to make a move like this. I'd go for it and see if they can get competitive. If it all fails, selling these quality pieces off for positive assets shouldn't be difficult whatsoever. That's my take on it.
lipoli390 wrote:Cam - That's a deal I could live with, but it's not a deal I'd do. It would put the Wolves well over the luxury tax line and, worse yet, make the Wolves a serial luxury tax team. With Collins on a max deal, his salary next season would be around $29 million. That's around $7M more than the combined salaries of Okogie and Ricky next season. If Collins were a budding LeBron, AD, James Harden or Kevin Durant, I'd do the deal. But he's not. And having three max salaries where two of them are DLO and John Collins seems like the wrong way to go.
I hear you, Lip, and I agree with some aspects of your thinking here. Where I disagree is the money aspect. The Wolves are paying that much salary combined to multiple players who don't elevate the team in a way that John Collins potentially could. In my opinion, the Wolves are in a position where they need higher-level talent rather than more mediocre talent, if that makes sense. In offloading Ricky Rubio and Josh Okogie while letting Ed Davis' and Cole Aldrich's money come off the books, Minnesota has opened up roughly $27.5-million to spend on Collins before hitting the luxury tax. Of course, other Wolves players salaries will scale up next year too, but there's wiggle room if they want to make a move like this. I'd go for it and see if they can get competitive. If it all fails, selling these quality pieces off for positive assets shouldn't be difficult whatsoever. That's my take on it.
Thanks, Cam. I hadn't seen this post t before my last one. You've answered my question. I see your point on the financial angle. But what about Collins wanting more touches? How does he fit here with all the offensive players we already have who dominate the ball and take lots of shots?
lipoli390 wrote:Cam - That's a deal I could live with, but it's not a deal I'd do. It would put the Wolves well over the luxury tax line and, worse yet, make the Wolves a serial luxury tax team. With Collins on a max deal, his salary next season would be around $29 million. That's around $7M more than the combined salaries of Okogie and Ricky next season. If Collins were a budding LeBron, AD, James Harden or Kevin Durant, I'd do the deal. But he's not. And having three max salaries where two of them are DLO and John Collins seems like the wrong way to go.
I hear you, Lip, and I agree with some aspects of your thinking here. Where I disagree is the money aspect. The Wolves are paying that much salary combined to multiple players who don't elevate the team in a way that John Collins potentially could. In my opinion, the Wolves are in a position where they need higher-level talent rather than more mediocre talent, if that makes sense. In offloading Ricky Rubio and Josh Okogie while letting Ed Davis' and Cole Aldrich's money come off the books, Minnesota has opened up roughly $27.5-million to spend on Collins before hitting the luxury tax. Of course, other Wolves players salaries will scale up next year too, but there's wiggle room if they want to make a move like this. I'd go for it and see if they can get competitive. If it all fails, selling these quality pieces off for positive assets shouldn't be difficult whatsoever. That's my take on it.
Thanks, Cam. I hadn't seen this post t before my last one. You've answered my question. I see your point on the financial angle. But what about Collins wanting more touches? How does he fit here with all the offensive players we already have who dominate the ball and take lots of shots?
Yeah, that's potentially an issue if egos collide and guys want to be higher in the pecking order than they should be. Personally, I don't have those concerns with John Collins, but I see why others could. It's been reported that Collins' camp sees Minnesota as a favorable destination for him. If that's the case, then they would have to be aware that Collins is likely a third option here. And as long as he's getting paid what he believes to be what he's worth then I wouldn't think he'd be a problem for the team.
I think Collins has taken issue in Atlanta in regards to shot attempts and his offensive role because he hasn't secured the bag yet. Collins bet on himself prior to this season by turning down roughly $90-million so it's only right that he'd want more touches to prove he's worth more than that -- that he's got more in his game to show -- and he hasn't gotten that. That's likely because of the other additions Atlanta's made to the roster, but I understand Collins' frustrations. That's the root of the problem, in my opinion. If he had already been signed to an extension, I don't think there would be reports of any issues.
Tonight I finished the 2 game series of the Wolves blazers here are a couple thoughts.
Did Ryan ever go big like Finch has? With a short bench I suppose Finch has less options but playing Juancho at the 3 with basically another hybrid forward in Little made a lot of sense. I'll add that while Juancho wasn't great he should get some credit for playing hard and doing some good things. His shot wasn't falling but he was doing some other good stuff. It's going to be interesting who gets minutes when more people are back healthy.
Nowell...damn who is this guy? Awesome.
This was a couple fun games and it seemed like everyone was doing something worthwhile. It was nice to see Rubio seal that game.
Edwards was fantastic. I'm looking forward to seeing more.
Naz is a nice player.
Melo was unbelievable at times. I always thought he could help a team in the right role and he seems to have found that with Portland. I not like a big fan of Melo or anything but I'm happy for him.
