Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Keith Smith: Juancho Hernangomez's contract will become fully guaranteed at $7.3M if he's not waived by the Utah Jazz today. - via Twitter KeithSmithNBA

If the Jazz waive him, I just hope Connelly is ready to swoop in and grab him before Rosas does. :)

One of the beauties of Rosas signing Juancho to that contract is he has a ton of value today for a team looking to get rid of cap space. The Jazz could potentially trade him today for something in return, and the receiving team would immediately waive him.

Good point. Of course the Jazz are desperate to get out of the luxury tax zone. So I have no doubt they'll waive Juancho.

Speaking of Utah... DLo, Beasley and Naz for Gobert and Connelly works, and addresses needs for both teams. Utah is in a "re-tool" mode with a new coach, reported friction between Rudy and Donovan, yet pinned up against the luxury tax. This trade frees up about 10 mil dollars this offseason, and alleviates cap issues in the future as they retool. The Wolves get a PG that would seem to be a better fit, and the defensive big they have been yearning for. It provides an opening for Nowell ( and maybe Moore). But it does mean they have spent their future cap space to try and become a contender now.

I would give this one some serious thought!

lipoli390 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:Keith Smith: Juancho Hernangomez's contract will become fully guaranteed at $7.3M if he's not waived by the Utah Jazz today. - via Twitter KeithSmithNBA

If the Jazz waive him, I just hope Connelly is ready to swoop in and grab him before Rosas does. :)

One of the beauties of Rosas signing Juancho to that contract is he has a ton of value today for a team looking to get rid of cap space. The Jazz could potentially trade him today for something in return, and the receiving team would immediately waive him.

Good point. Of course the Jazz are desperate to get out of the luxury tax zone. So I have no doubt they'll waive Juancho.

I learned recently that now contracts only have the value in a trade for the season they are being traded in based on the amount they are guaranteed. So a team can't trade for him then let him go.* There have already been players dealt that could have been let go for much less but they were traded because the team needed the salary. Gallo only had 5 million guaranteed for this season. Juancho and the Jazz could push his guarantee date farther out. If Juancho wants more money for this season it might be pretty smart for him to agree to that. I think he will be looking at vet min deals this offseason.

*This makes Beasley's non guaranteed contract next year much less valuable than I thought it was.

Alex Schiffer
@Alex__Schiffer
Multiple teams -- including Atlanta, Minnesota, Brooklyn, Chicago and Philadelphia -- are expected to compete for PJ Tucker in free agency. All are expected to offer the full mid-level/TPMLE exception. He is unlikely to return to Miami, per sources.


How many MLE's do we get? :D

Tim Connelly and the Timberwolves have many irons in the fire. Personally, I like that they've been engaged with a number of high-value targets -- both in free agency and in trade discussions. They've clearly identified some weaknesses on the roster -- size, rim protection, rebounding, toughness, etc. -- as well as ways to address them. Leave no stone unturned. I think they've set a price on all of these players they've been rumored to be in on and if they can get them for that price or lower, then great, but they've already shown a willingness to fold their hand if it exceeds that price. That kind of discipline in the front office is a good thing.

I agree, Cam! And it follows considering how well prepared they were for the draft with the number of workouts they hosted (time will tell whether it was successful). And that started before TC was hired, so kudos to Gupta!

Camden wrote:Tim Connelly and the Timberwolves have many irons in the fire. Personally, I like that they've been engaged with a number of high-value targets -- both in free agency and in trade discussions. They've clearly identified some weaknesses on the roster -- size, rim protection, rebounding, toughness, etc. -- as well as ways to address them. Leave no stone unturned. I think they've set a price on all of these players they've been rumored to be in on and if they can get them for that price or lower, then great, but they've already shown a willingness to fold their hand if it exceeds that price. That kind of discipline in the front office is a good thing.

Some of that... and also... an experienced head guy taking over a team. Changes are inevitable.

It would be pretty odd if a new GM showed up and said "Nah, we're good. I like the team that the previous guy(s) put together as is."

If that was the case, why not keep Gupta? Whether it's with sports or the business/corporate world, new leaders usually try to change things up fairly quickly.

Camden wrote:Tim Connelly and the Timberwolves have many irons in the fire. Personally, I like that they've been engaged with a number of high-value targets -- both in free agency and in trade discussions. They've clearly identified some weaknesses on the roster -- size, rim protection, rebounding, toughness, etc. -- as well as ways to address them. Leave no stone unturned. I think they've set a price on all of these players they've been rumored to be in on and if they can get them for that price or lower, then great, but they've already shown a willingness to fold their hand if it exceeds that price. That kind of discipline in the front office is a good thing.

Great observation, Cam. I agree with you completely. Connelly and his team are doing exactly what a high-quality NBA front office should be doing - identify needs and then explore multiple options that could effectively address those needs. I like that they're engaging at multiple levels - exploring what Finch referred to as "game-changers" as well as what I'd call more basic "incremental needle movers." As you noted, they are leaving no stone unturned. Really impressive to see them in action.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Camden wrote:Tim Connelly and the Timberwolves have many irons in the fire. Personally, I like that they've been engaged with a number of high-value targets -- both in free agency and in trade discussions. They've clearly identified some weaknesses on the roster -- size, rim protection, rebounding, toughness, etc. -- as well as ways to address them. Leave no stone unturned. I think they've set a price on all of these players they've been rumored to be in on and if they can get them for that price or lower, then great, but they've already shown a willingness to fold their hand if it exceeds that price. That kind of discipline in the front office is a good thing.

Some of that... and also... an experienced head guy taking over a team. Changes are inevitable.

It would be pretty odd if a new GM showed up and said "Nah, we're good. I like the team that the previous guy(s) put together as is."

If that was the case, why not keep Gupta? Whether it's with sports or the business/corporate world, new leaders usually try to change things up fairly quickly.

Abe, one of your old theories is that these GMs are experts at buying themselves time. Are you sure TC can't make a big show of all the deal activity he's dialoguing about but in the end go to his (new) owners and tell them that nothing made sense unless we sacrificed too much of our future? Methinks this is a distinct possibility. That buys him a year to see if running it back yields organic growth, and if not, it will require a much bolder set of actions next offseason.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Camden wrote:Tim Connelly and the Timberwolves have many irons in the fire. Personally, I like that they've been engaged with a number of high-value targets -- both in free agency and in trade discussions. They've clearly identified some weaknesses on the roster -- size, rim protection, rebounding, toughness, etc. -- as well as ways to address them. Leave no stone unturned. I think they've set a price on all of these players they've been rumored to be in on and if they can get them for that price or lower, then great, but they've already shown a willingness to fold their hand if it exceeds that price. That kind of discipline in the front office is a good thing.

Some of that... and also... an experienced head guy taking over a team. Changes are inevitable.

It would be pretty odd if a new GM showed up and said "Nah, we're good. I like the team that the previous guy(s) put together as is."

If that was the case, why not keep Gupta? Whether it's with sports or the business/corporate world, new leaders usually try to change things up fairly quickly.

Yes. But competitive new leadership doesn't make changes simply for sake of change unless the situation they inherit is really bad. Connelly is handling things exactly as he should. He hasn't set out to make a bold statement or leave a bold imprint on the team at the outset. Instead, he's come in with the understating that he inherited a solid foundation and now he's exploring various opportunities to build on that foundation and potentially improve it. And I also like there appears to be a cohesive thread through everything they're doing. I disagreed with the decision to draft Kessler, but I can see how drafting him along with Moore and Minott were part of a consistent strategy to add defense, toughness and complementary players who will blend well with higher usage all-stars like Ant and KAT.

Q-was-here wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Camden wrote:Tim Connelly and the Timberwolves have many irons in the fire. Personally, I like that they've been engaged with a number of high-value targets -- both in free agency and in trade discussions. They've clearly identified some weaknesses on the roster -- size, rim protection, rebounding, toughness, etc. -- as well as ways to address them. Leave no stone unturned. I think they've set a price on all of these players they've been rumored to be in on and if they can get them for that price or lower, then great, but they've already shown a willingness to fold their hand if it exceeds that price. That kind of discipline in the front office is a good thing.

Some of that... and also... an experienced head guy taking over a team. Changes are inevitable.

It would be pretty odd if a new GM showed up and said "Nah, we're good. I like the team that the previous guy(s) put together as is."

If that was the case, why not keep Gupta? Whether it's with sports or the business/corporate world, new leaders usually try to change things up fairly quickly.

Abe, one of your old theories is that these GMs are experts at buying themselves time. Are you sure TC can't make a big show of all the deal activity he's dialoguing about but in the end go to his (new) owners and tell them that nothing made sense unless we sacrificed too much of our future? Methinks this is a distinct possibility. That buys him a year to see if running it back yields organic growth, and if not, it will require a much bolder set of actions next offseason.

I think there's some truth to that theory, but a more-proven executive like Tim Connelly probably doesn't need to jump through those hoops at this stage in his career. He was brought to Minnesota to yield results. The Timberwolves new ownership is pretty clearly results-oriented. I think Connelly has exceptional job security as well as free reign on how to best build this organization up. Everything he does will likely be with building a winner in mind.