Minnesota Sports Forum

I hope they don't take Deangelo either. He looks like a bust so far.

I wish we could find a way to get Booker from PHX. He has to be the long-term target to pair next to KAT since they are like best friends.

khans2k5 wrote:I wish we could find a way to get Booker from PHX. He has to be the long-term target to pair next to KAT since they are like best friends.

That would be the ideal acquisition for the Wolves. I can't imagine a scenario that would make it happen. But what if the Wolves had drafted Anunoby instead of Patton last summer. Perhaps the Wolves could have packaged Butler and Anunoby for Booker and another asset. Who knows. But my point is that every front office decision matters in a number of different ways over time.

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:The D'Angelo Russell angle for me goes well beyond his youth + high talent combination. Consider this: he's also very, very close with Karl-Anthony Towns. And if I had it my way, that wouldn't really matter in the NBA, but it clearly does. Keep your stars happy on and off the court.

I'm not saying that's the only thing that matters, but I'm saying it's in the equation for me. Then again, I've also liked Russell since his draft prospect days. Guards that can handle the rock, shoot, and facilitate with legit NBA size for position are hard to find. He's also interchangeable in the backcourt.

I don't like his somewhat concerning injury history and the weird circumstance in LA with Nick Young, but those are way down the list when I think about a guy in his early 20's.

KiwiMatt wrote:Rumour circulating on Get More Sport with Butler going to Brooklyn for D'Angelo Russel and Hollis-Jefferson. Another player would need to be added to match salaries.

I would want at least one of Jarrett Allen, Caris LaVert or a Nuggets 2019 1st round pick as well.

Cam - Thanks for the explanation on your view of Russell. I wish Thibodeau's thinking was as sophisticated as yours. But I'd still stay away. The injury history is too troubling for me. It gets worse when you through in some character issues that seem to be there. Finally, this is the second team he's been on that has little or no interest in retaining him. That's a major red flag in my book. Then you throw in his mediocre stats and I put him in my "stay away" category in spite of all the things you mentioned, which are all accurate and relevant.

I'm with Lip, I wouldn't want Russell on my roster at all. Who cares if he's friends with KAT. Bazz was friends with KAT too and I'm glad we don't have him on the roster.

To clarify, I like Russell for more than his friendship with Towns, and he's not near the top of my prioritized assets I'd want in return for Butler. I was just throwing it out there that if he does get rumored in any trade offers, I'd expect that the reasons go further than just basketball.

KG4Ever wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:The D'Angelo Russell angle for me goes well beyond his youth + high talent combination. Consider this: he's also very, very close with Karl-Anthony Towns. And if I had it my way, that wouldn't really matter in the NBA, but it clearly does. Keep your stars happy on and off the court.

I'm not saying that's the only thing that matters, but I'm saying it's in the equation for me. Then again, I've also liked Russell since his draft prospect days. Guards that can handle the rock, shoot, and facilitate with legit NBA size for position are hard to find. He's also interchangeable in the backcourt.

I don't like his somewhat concerning injury history and the weird circumstance in LA with Nick Young, but those are way down the list when I think about a guy in his early 20's.

KiwiMatt wrote:Rumour circulating on Get More Sport with Butler going to Brooklyn for D'Angelo Russel and Hollis-Jefferson. Another player would need to be added to match salaries.

I would want at least one of Jarrett Allen, Caris LaVert or a Nuggets 2019 1st round pick as well.

Cam - Thanks for the explanation on your view of Russell. I wish Thibodeau's thinking was as sophisticated as yours. But I'd still stay away. The injury history is too troubling for me. It gets worse when you through in some character issues that seem to be there. Finally, this is the second team he's been on that has little or no interest in retaining him. That's a major red flag in my book. Then you throw in his mediocre stats and I put him in my "stay away" category in spite of all the things you mentioned, which are all accurate and relevant.

I'm with Lip, I wouldn't want Russell on my roster at all. Who cares if he's friends with KAT. Bazz was friends with KAT too and I'm glad we don't have him on the roster.

I haven't read enough about Russell to know about his character (worth considering although I think some of it is overblown) but even if he was an awesome dude the Nets being willing to let him go makes sense not really a red flag. A few months from now they have to decide whether they will want to pay him and his cap hold will be a massive 21 million which throws a wrench in their 2 max players plan. He is basically similar to what the Lakers had with Julius Randle last year. Randle took a significant leap and the Lakers still didn't end up keeping him. It helps that they also have Dinwiddie (1.6 million cap hold) plus Napier signed to a dirt cheap deal.

Based on everything we're reading, it looks like Miami is the team most interested in Butler. That's not surprising. So I suspect Butler will eventually be dealt to the Heat. What should the Wolves front office do right now? They should engage aggressively with other teams who have expressed some interest in Jimmy and even reach out to those who haven't. The Heat will never believe that the Wolves would keep Butler. So the only way the Wolves can get any leverage with Miami is to gin up as much competitive interest in Jimmy around the League as possible. The Wolves front office needs to give other teams a sense that they need to step up quickly and put their best offers on the table before Butler gets dealt to the Heat.

I would not even consider a deal with the Heat unless it includes, at a minimum, Josh Richardson, Adebayo and a future first round pick. I love Dragic, but he's not what this team needs and he's not that much better than Teague. Furthermore, I wouldn't muck up the deal by insisting on dealing Gorgui. Including Gorgui in the deal invariably diminishes the talent we get in return for Butler. That would be ridiculous. The name of the game is talent and the Wolves have to get as much talent as possible in return for Butler. You take care of Gorgui's salary at some later date if necessary while giving him the chance to blossom under a different head coach. In two years he'll be in the final year of his contract, which will make him very tradeable if only to provide the other team with cap relief.

That would be a great deal for the wolves in my opinion, unfortunately I don't see the Heat doing that. I don't see us getting Richardson and Bam, and I'd take Richards over Bam. They rather include Winslow instead of Bam I'd think.

lipoli390 wrote:Based on everything we're reading, it looks like Miami is the team most interested in Butler. That's not surprising. So I suspect Butler will eventually be dealt to the Heat. What should the Wolves front office do right now? They should engage aggressively with other teams who have expressed some interest in Jimmy and even reach out to those who haven't. The Heat will never believe that the Wolves would keep Butler. So the only way the Wolves can get any leverage with Miami is to gin up as much competitive interest in Jimmy around the League as possible. The Wolves front office needs to give other teams a sense that they need to step up quickly and put their best offers on the table before Butler gets dealt to the Heat.

I would not even consider a deal with the Heat unless it includes, at a minimum, Josh Richardson, Adebayo and a future first round pick. I love Dragic, but he's not what this team needs and he's not that much better than Teague. Furthermore, I wouldn't muck up the deal by insisting on dealing Gorgui. Including Gorgui in the deal invariably diminishes the talent we get in return for Butler. That would be ridiculous. The name of the game is talent and the Wolves have to get as much talent as possible in return for Butler. You take care of Gorgui's salary at some later date if necessary while giving him the chance to blossom under a different head coach. In two years he'll be in the final year of his contract, which will make him very tradeable if only to provide the other team with cap relief.

I on board with what you are saying here. I'll add that this is exactly the type of deal you would expect Pat Riley was waiting for when he signed all these guys the last couple years. Turn some decent to good players into a star. I'd guess of all the players he might not want to part with is Bam. He is cheap young and might have the most upside of anyone on his roster. Josh Richardson is a fantastic player to have because he fits with nearly anyone and if not he has lots of trade value. Like Wolfson reported from another league executive Richardson is a guy you keep to hold you back from getting a player like Butler. Riley isn't going to give up everything but I'm gonna guess he is going to be plenty willing to part with stuff to make this happen. Will it be enough? We will see either they get a deal done and we judge it then and down the road or another team gets Jimmy.

If the Heat want to send Dragic our way we need to tell the Suns to pony up a nice asset of a younger player or draft pick to get him. Let's keep Teague he will probably got better with a lower usage wing that is a good 3 point shooter next to him and he can be more aggressive and make more plays. Teague still will have his faults (so does Dragic although i like him a little more) but his value could go up AND if he has a better season because of more freedom that might mean opting out or a trade even more likely.

I agree we shouldn't be dying to dump Dieng but I would be fine with it IF we still get back nice assets AND really clear up space not just end up with different players that still make some money for a year or 2. If you are just giving up a fairly minor asset like a 1st round pick from Miami to basically make Dieng's bad salary disappear/replace it with much more appealing younger players (not Waiters) then that's still something to consider. Having that contract gone for 3 years is pretty massive and I really like draft picks. I'd probably lean more towards how you feel though Lip plus I don't think the Wolves will get a deal where basically Dieng's money goes Poof they will have to take back money for at least 1 year and at that point I don't think it's worth it. Like you said Dieng could return to being useful and that could even be under Thibs.

We got jimmy on two years for a big potential guy coming off an acl in LaVine who they knew they'd have to pau, a potential guy in Dunn, and a pick swap.

We aren't getting a proven youngish player on a nice contract in Richardson, a young big who's shown good potential in Bam, and a 1st for what could be a rental of Jimmy.

Pick 2 of the 3. I'll take the players, and would rather it be between 3-4 teams to increase the odds in our favor of getting a player better than Bam.