With the Vikings demise the Wolves HAVE to make the playoffs

[Lipoli390]

McHale made some pretty significant moves. When Marbury forced his way out, McHale found a way to get Terrell Brandon here. Later he made moves to get Sprewell and Cassell here. He took a big financial risk re-signing KG to what at the time was the biggest contract in NBA history. And of course he took a big chance when he made the illegal deal with Joe Smith that eventually shut off our access to 1st round picks for a period of years. A dumb risk, but it certainly shows he wasn't afraid to take chances. :)

[Lipoli390]

Some other big chances by the Wolves: Passing up Josh Howard for Ebi. McHale swung for the fences with that one. Unfortunately he swung with his eyes closed. Drafting KG at #5 was considered a pretty big chance at the time.

[bleedspeed]

I thought he took a chance trading OJ Mayo for Love. Looked a like a bad move at first.

[Lipoli390]

I thought he took a chance trading OJ Mayo for Love. Looked a like a bad move at first.

Good point. At the time it was considered a pretty bold move. At the time, Mayo was the consensus #3 pick.

[Monster]

I thought he took a chance trading OJ Mayo for Love. Looked a like a bad move at first.

Good point. At the time it was considered a pretty bold move. At the time, Mayo was the consensus #3 pick.

That move was classic McHale when he was on his game. Let's remember when he took over the franchise he made a flurry of moves cleaning house and brought in some talent like Googs for guys that needed to go for one reason or another. Of course Flip was also with him back then and you wonder what type of influence he had on some of the good stuff McHale did. It's great we can move beyond those years because it's a completely new era and things look bright but I wonder if McHale and Hoiberg would have been a pretty successful team if they had stuck together in some way. Obviously it would have been less of a disaster than Kahn but yeah. Oh well.

I do think overall the Vikings have had the most success partly because they have had some real quality guys working for that team for many years. Studwell has been part of the drafting process for many years and while the Vikings have missed on guys I've seen various activates that always have them in the top 3rd of the league in draft success over the years. Their cap guy Rob B has been there for a long time and they always seem like they are in a goo cap situation and can get done what they want to get done. The one guy people really complained about Winfield getting cut but...it turned out his career was essentially over. It still sucked to see him go out like that but that's the way things work sometimes.

[AbeVigodaLive]

One note on McHale...

He was a mixed bag. We all know that. But we also all know (KNEW) that Garnett needed one type of player next to him... the unabashed end of game closer.

He and Marbury were so highly regarded as a young duo because of how they complemented each other. And the only other ball swagging PG with him... Cassell... was HUGE in getting the Wolves to the WCF. It's not surprise that the Wolves lost when Cassell got hurt.

That's not saying Cassell was better. Not at all. Only that Garnett had a fatal flaw and everybody sans McHale seemed to know what it was.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I thought he took a chance trading OJ Mayo for Love. Looked a like a bad move at first.

Good point. At the time it was considered a pretty bold move. At the time, Mayo was the consensus #3 pick.

The one guy people really complained about Winfield getting cut but...it turned out his career was essentially over. It still sucked to see him go out like that but that's the way things work sometimes.

Winfield's deal cemented the "gladiator" take I have about the NFL. The guy was coming off arguably his most productive (graded out among the top CBs in the NFL) that season. But he was jettisoned solely for cap reasons.

So he joined the best D backfield in football in Seattle. I was surprised he didn't stand out enough. But I don't think it was a sign that he was no longer a legit player. Did he really fall off that far that quickly... one offseason? The guy was always a bit "different" than other football players... I think his sudden retirement was as well. And I don't think it was simply because he wasn't good enough.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/antoine-winfield-pffs-no-1-cornerback/

[Lipoli390]

One note on McHale...

He was a mixed bag. We all know that. But we also all know (KNEW) that Garnett needed one type of player next to him... the unabashed end of game closer.

He and Marbury were so highly regarded as a young duo because of how they complemented each other. And the only other ball swagging PG with him... Cassell... was HUGE in getting the Wolves to the WCF. It's not surprise that the Wolves lost when Cassell got hurt.

That's not saying Cassell was better. Not at all. Only that Garnett had a fatal flaw and everybody sans McHale seemed to know what it was.

Abe -- McHale clearly knew KG's weakness. That's why he swapped Allen for Marbury. And that's why he went out and got Sam Cassell. You only get so many opportunities to bring in the sort of high level closer KG needed to make this team a title contender. At the time Marbury was trade (at Marbury's insistence) the Wolves were leading the Western Conference. And as you hinted, if Sam hadn't gone down it's likely the Wolves would have gotten to the NBA finals in 2004 and won the title against a Pistons team the Wolves handled during the regular season. The KG contract and idiotic violation of League rules in the Joe Smith deal made the difficult task of landing a closer even more difficult. McHale obviously knew he needed one or he wouldn't have gone after Marbury and Cassell.

[Monster]

I thought he took a chance trading OJ Mayo for Love. Looked a like a bad move at first.

Good point. At the time it was considered a pretty bold move. At the time, Mayo was the consensus #3 pick.

The one guy people really complained about Winfield getting cut but...it turned out his career was essentially over. It still sucked to see him go out like that but that's the way things work sometimes.

Winfield's deal cemented the "gladiator" take I have about the NFL. The guy was coming off arguably his most productive (graded out among the top CBs in the NFL) that season. But he was jettisoned solely for cap reasons.

So he joined the best D backfield in football in Seattle. I was surprised he didn't stand out enough. But I don't think it was a sign that he was no longer a legit player. Did he really fall off that far that quickly... one offseason? The guy was always a bit "different" than other football players... I think his sudden retirement was as well. And I don't think it was simply because he wasn't good enough.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/antoine-winfield-pffs-no-1-cornerback/

One thing you left out is that Winfield had a hard time staying healthy for a whole season and he played the game in a very unique way as a physical hitter. That last season I remember the Vikings limited his snaps as he played a lot in the slot. You won't find a bigger Winfield fan than me he and Ronde Barber were perfect cover 2 CBs but obviously would have been good players in other systems but they were able to really show something special in that system. Going into that offseason I hoped they would keep Winfield but the guy was 35 played a physical way for a guy that was pretty small and had a history of missing games after 30. When healthy the guy could play but...was he gonna stay healthy for enough games to be worth it? Maybe but I wasnt sure and I'm just a fan that REALLY liked him as a player and he seems like a really good guy too. He never played a down in the NFL for whatever reason but I have a hard time believing the Vikings missed out on another complete season of great play from him.

[AbeVigodaLive]

One note on McHale...

He was a mixed bag. We all know that. But we also all know (KNEW) that Garnett needed one type of player next to him... the unabashed end of game closer.

He and Marbury were so highly regarded as a young duo because of how they complemented each other. And the only other ball swagging PG with him... Cassell... was HUGE in getting the Wolves to the WCF. It's not surprise that the Wolves lost when Cassell got hurt.

That's not saying Cassell was better. Not at all. Only that Garnett had a fatal flaw and everybody sans McHale seemed to know what it was.

Abe -- McHale clearly knew KG's weakness. That's why he swapped Allen for Marbury. And that's why he went out and got Sam Cassell. You only get so many opportunities to bring in the sort of high level closer KG needed to make this team a title contender. At the time Marbury was trade (at Marbury's insistence) the Wolves were leading the Western Conference. And as you hinted, if Sam hadn't gone down it's likely the Wolves would have gotten to the NBA finals in 2004 and won the title against a Pistons team the Wolves handled during the regular season. The KG contract and idiotic violation of League rules in the Joe Smith deal made the difficult task of landing a closer even more difficult. McHale obviously knew he needed one or he wouldn't have gone after Marbury and Cassell.

1. He got Marbury after Garnett's rookie season. I don't know if 1/2 season of 19-year-old Garnett starting was enough for him to actually know what Garnett's fatal flaw was.
2. It was several years later before Cassell was brought aboard... and rumors of a Payton or Iverson trade always lingered after that but never materialized.

I wouldn't say those two additions show us that McHale actively sought a big balls dancing playmaker to balance out Garnett during his 12-year tenure with the team.