Minnesota Sports Forum

monsterpile wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:I like Aldrich a lot if we can get him on a decent deal. Deng is a also a good pickup if he signs for a reasonable amount. The only issue I have is the backup defense is terrible with Jones, Lavine, Muhammad and Murray/Hield. We need to trade Bazz or draft a better defender as Murray is terrible at defense and Hield has question marks on defense too. If we could get a top 3 pick then we go Ingram, Simmons/Bender, but if not I would look to parlay that pick into Luwawu and Valentine. Valentine is one of the most ready to play rookies, very high IQ guy and he plays both ways. I think Luwawu has the best upside outside of the top 3 guys (and I think under Thibs his defense could shine right away and his offense will probably need a year of development). If we really are sold on Hield (that he can defend and be more than a 3pt specialist), then I grab Buddy and try to swap Bazz for a wing who can defend.

I'd be interested to see what Thibs can do with some guys that are considered defensive liabilities for a year. Name the best defensive coach (head coach or assistant) that a guy like Bazz (just an example) has played for in his NBA career.

Also like Q has mentioned trading Bazz might not make a lot of sense at this point. The Wolves have 3 wings on guaranteed contracts for next year Lavine, Wiggins and Bazz. Your plans (and other posters as well) outline adding a lot more but we will see what happens.

Maybe so. I'm not opposed to keeping Bazz around another year if we can't get anything in return, however, my expecations are tempered by Bazz's poor lateral quickness, court awareness and tunnel vision, plus he's not good at sharing the ball. I have more hope for Tyus's defense because despite his physical deficiencies, he has good court awareness. Lavine should absolutely be transformed into a good defender, but it won't happen overnight. I think we need to use the draft and free agency to add guys capable of being above average on both sides of the ball.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Zach Lavine has earned the right to start, and i'm vehemently against pushing him to the bench at this point unless we go out and get a Durant or Barnes. I'm certainly not going to bench him in favor of Luol Deng. We should chase our area of biggest need in free agency - a big.

I think Deng is right now better than Barnes. I would not like to sign Barnes for the same reason, you would not like Deng signing, I think that Lavine has earned the right to start immediately when his defense is good enough and I think if we would sign Barnes, Lavine would stay behind him even tough Lavine's ceiling is much higher than Barnes. With Deng that should not be problem because with his age, Lavine should replace him in starting five before his rookie deal has ended. After that Deng would be our 6th men that could potentially subbed in for any of our starters.

TeamRicky wrote:I like Aldrich a lot if we can get him on a decent deal. Deng is a also a good pickup if he signs for a reasonable amount. The only issue I have is the backup defense is terrible with Jones, Lavine, Muhammad and Murray/Hield. We need to trade Bazz or draft a better defender as Murray is terrible at defense and Hield has question marks on defense too. If we could get a top 3 pick then we go Ingram, Simmons/Bender, but if not I would look to parlay that pick into Luwawu and Valentine. Valentine is one of the most ready to play rookies, very high IQ guy and he plays both ways. I think Luwawu has the best upside outside of the top 3 guys (and I think under Thibs his defense could shine right away and his offense will probably need a year of development). If we really are sold on Hield (that he can defend and be more than a 3pt specialist), then I grab Buddy and try to swap Bazz for a wing who can defend.

I would minimize the minutes that Lavine and Muhammad would play together. Even tough Deng and Wiggins would be starters, typically it would be Wiggins paired with Muhammad and Deng or Wiggins paired with Lavine. In the end of games, we might play small ball with Lavine playing with both Wiggins and Deng.

Also in my plan Ronnie Price would play instead of Tyus when we would play against those star point guards like Westbrook, Wall or Lillard. I really like hard nosed defense that Price is playing. Tyus would get minutes mainly against teams with non scoring backup point guards like Steve Blake, Shabazz Napier or Shane Larkin.

Since we would not have typically ever hockey type of lineups with just backups, our defense should be fine also with bench.

Lineups like Price, Lavine, Deng, Dieng and Aldrich or Price, Wiggins, Muhammad, Bjelica and Towns are not that bad defensively.

Q12543 wrote:
Sign me up! My hope would be that Pek miraculously recovers enough that he could backup KAT and Aldrich would be purely insurance. Probably not going to happen though....

I won't have much hope that Pek would miraculously recover to be back in our rotation and I would not have any problem with Aldrich getting regular rotation minutes.

He averaged this season more than 13 minutes per game in 53 win Clippers team. I guess that he might not ever play as good season as this year but he was crazy good as backup for Jordan this season. Check his per 36 minutes stats: 14.8 pts, 13 rbs, 2.1 stls and 3.1 blks with outstanding .626 TS%. He had over 21 PER and Clippers had better defensive rating with Aldrich on floor than with Jordan. He ranked top 5 among all centers in both DRPM and RPM.

I know that those numbers might be result of small sample size and playing with CP3 but still those numbers are such impressive that I would really like to take a flyer with Aldrich to see if he will be remotely close same level player next season.

Mikkeman wrote:

Q12543 wrote:
Sign me up! My hope would be that Pek miraculously recovers enough that he could backup KAT and Aldrich would be purely insurance. Probably not going to happen though....

I won't have much hope that Pek would miraculously recover to be back in our rotation and I would not have any problem with Aldrich getting regular rotation minutes.

He averaged this season more than 13 minutes per game in 53 win Clippers team. I guess that he might not ever play as good season as this year but he was crazy good as backup for Jordan this season. Check his per 36 minutes stats: 14.8 pts, 13 rbs, 2.1 stls and 3.1 blks with outstanding .626 TS%. He had over 21 PER and Clippers had better defensive rating with Aldrich on floor than with Jordan. He ranked top 5 among all centers in both DRPM and RPM.

I know that those numbers might be result of small sample size and playing with CP3 but still those numbers are such impressive that I would really like to take a flyer with Aldrich to see if he will be remotely close same level player next season.

The thing about Cole is his per 36 numbers were always sort of intriguing particularly his block steal rebound numbers. The thing was he just didn't play much so it was hard to read too much into those numbers especially considering his high foul rate. The last 2 years he has gotten some decent minutes and the numbers have been generally even better. I always thought he could be an effective player and He would be a guy on my list of guy I would like to add. I would think the Clippers would want him back and depending on how that team is constructed it may be a pretty good opportunity of Aldrich.

Harkless would be an interesting addition to the bench if he could be had for a reasonable price. I'd look especially hard at him if Bazz was dealt for a future first (ideal scenario, in my opinion). Could replace him with a 22-year old Harkless who projects to be a better defensive player and is arguably a better athlete.

Camden0916 wrote:Harkless would be an interesting addition to the bench if he could be had for a reasonable price. I'd look especially hard at him if Bazz was dealt for a future first (ideal scenario, in my opinion). Could replace him with a 22-year old Harkless who projects to be a better defensive player and is arguably a better athlete.

Harkless has been mentioned on this board a few times over the past few months. It seems he keeps getting more of a solid role on that team as time has gone by. Depending on who we get in the draft there COULD be room for both Harkless and Bazz. It will be interesting how much Harkless will get.

Man, Deng just gets it done out there. Great defense on DeRozan, can play the 3 and 4. He's just been solid as a rock for Miami in these playoffs thus far.

Looking at the FA centers and I wonder if a couple guys end up being available for cheap. I wonder what Mosgov's value will be after a disappointing year. I'd be hesitant to give him much money he has been good for 1.5 maybe 2 years in his career?

TYLER Zeller might be a nice cheap backup center. He doesn't look like the brute this team needs but it's said he runs the floor really well and shoots FTs at a really good clip. He seems more like a Dieng type than the guy we need plus he is a RFA and the opportunity for playing time isn't really that good here. I could see him being a solid get for another team as a decent bench player if it doesn't take much $$$ to sign him.

Another guy that could be a bargain is Jordon Hill. He has had issues in the past staying healthy but he is a solid player and if the Wolves could sign him for the type of contract he signed years ago with the Pacers (with weigh cap inflation) I'll take him.

Cheap options in free agency for centers are Cole Aldrich, Ed Davis, Nene, Tarik Black and Ty Zeller.
I like but expect Mahinmi and Biyombo to get paid pretty well. I am not sure if Noah is a cheap option, but hopefully he would be for us with Thibs as the lure.

Roy Hibbert might also be a cheap option since his career has gone south. Does anyone think Thibs could rekindle that defensive fire he used to display?

If we can get a good player at a relative bargain salary, I'd like to target some of these guys. In no case do I want to overpay for anyone.