Minnesota Sports Forum

Q12543 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:I would not be opposed at all at kicking the tires on Durant. My God, are you kidding me!? That would rank right up there with KAT and Thibs, if not higher, in terms of awesome things this franchise has done in the past year.

However....guess whose career trajectory gets a stiff arm on that move? Andrew Wiggins. Frankly, I'd be shopping Wiggins for an upgrade somewhere else on the roster if we landed Durant. Not because I don't like Wiggins, simply because his full value as a player would not be fulfilled with Durant added to the team. He needs to go to a place where he is either the 1A or 1B scorer.

Wiggins starts at the 2 where he has a huge advantage, and with KD, Wig, and Zach we have by far the best wing rotation in the league. No reason to trade Wig because he might get a few less shots.

I hear you, but let's think about this from his agent's perspective. Now suddenly it's all about KAT and Durant. Wiggins becomes a 3rd or 4th wheel in that scenario along with LaVine. Yes, these guys are good team players and want to win, but they are still on their rookie contracts and trying to establish themselves in the league. If we add Durant, one or both of these guys would be unhappy in my opinion and likely request a trade. It's too many guys whose greatest strength is scoring. Wiggins isn't an Iggy, Marion, Pippen, Draymond jack-of-all trades type of player that can fill in all the gaps around multiple scorers. He needs to be one of those scorers. Same with LaVine. Same with Shabazz.

Not yet

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:I would not be opposed at all at kicking the tires on Durant. My God, are you kidding me!? That would rank right up there with KAT and Thibs, if not higher, in terms of awesome things this franchise has done in the past year.

However....guess whose career trajectory gets a stiff arm on that move? Andrew Wiggins. Frankly, I'd be shopping Wiggins for an upgrade somewhere else on the roster if we landed Durant. Not because I don't like Wiggins, simply because his full value as a player would not be fulfilled with Durant added to the team. He needs to go to a place where he is either the 1A or 1B scorer.

Wiggins starts at the 2 where he has a huge advantage, and with KD, Wig, and Zach we have by far the best wing rotation in the league. No reason to trade Wig because he might get a few less shots.

I hear you, but let's think about this from his agent's perspective. Now suddenly it's all about KAT and Durant. Wiggins becomes a 3rd or 4th wheel in that scenario along with LaVine. Yes, these guys are good team players and want to win, but they are still on their rookie contracts and trying to establish themselves in the league. If we add Durant, one or both of these guys would be unhappy in my opinion and likely request a trade. It's too many guys whose greatest strength is scoring. Wiggins isn't an Iggy, Marion, Pippen, Draymond jack-of-all trades type of player that can fill in all the gaps around multiple scorers. He needs to be one of those scorers. Same with LaVine. Same with Shabazz.

Not yet

Well, I don't see him bringing the ball up the court as a point forward and facilitating an offense, ala Draymond, Iggy, or Pippen. Nor do I see him suddenly grabbing 10+ boards and getting blocks and steals all over the place like Marion. Perhaps you are still holding out hope for these things. I view him as potentially an elite scorer and great individual defender. He's just spent the last two years as our crunch time go-to guy. Now you think he'll take a back seat to Durant and KAT and be pleased about it?

One more thing, I get many think the PF position is the one position which could be upgraded. I wouldn't disagree with that to some degree. So Horford could fill a need, but seriously if I were to breakdown all players who are maxed out or will be maxed out in the next year he would be at the bottom that list. 30 million a year for a vet presence and 4th option. Expensive glue guy.

Q12543 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:I would not be opposed at all at kicking the tires on Durant. My God, are you kidding me!? That would rank right up there with KAT and Thibs, if not higher, in terms of awesome things this franchise has done in the past year.

However....guess whose career trajectory gets a stiff arm on that move? Andrew Wiggins. Frankly, I'd be shopping Wiggins for an upgrade somewhere else on the roster if we landed Durant. Not because I don't like Wiggins, simply because his full value as a player would not be fulfilled with Durant added to the team. He needs to go to a place where he is either the 1A or 1B scorer.

Wiggins starts at the 2 where he has a huge advantage, and with KD, Wig, and Zach we have by far the best wing rotation in the league. No reason to trade Wig because he might get a few less shots.

I hear you, but let's think about this from his agent's perspective. Now suddenly it's all about KAT and Durant. Wiggins becomes a 3rd or 4th wheel in that scenario along with LaVine. Yes, these guys are good team players and want to win, but they are still on their rookie contracts and trying to establish themselves in the league. If we add Durant, one or both of these guys would be unhappy in my opinion and likely request a trade. It's too many guys whose greatest strength is scoring. Wiggins isn't an Iggy, Marion, Pippen, Draymond jack-of-all trades type of player that can fill in all the gaps around multiple scorers. He needs to be one of those scorers. Same with LaVine. Same with Shabazz.

Not yet

Well, I don't see him bringing the ball up the court as a point forward and facilitating an offense, ala Draymond, Iggy, or Pippen. Nor do I see him suddenly grabbing 10+ boards and getting blocks and steals all over the place like Marion. Perhaps you are still holding out hope for these things. I view him as potentially an elite scorer and great individual defender. He's just spent the last two years as our crunch time go-to guy. Now you think he'll take a back seat to Durant and KAT and be pleased about it?

I think you're manufacturing things to worry about. If Kevin Durant wants to come here, you say yes. Duane Wade and Lebron found a way to co-exist on the Heat. When Durant's contract ends, Wig will be what, 26? Just entering his prime and ready to lead the franchise for another 8 years. All the while thanking KD for the rings he already has.

Camden wrote:Not the same thing. I would have stood by Rubio even without the "hot" shooting to end the season because of all the other things he does really well. There's years of evidence on that, not just 36 games. I wouldn't let 36 games alter my decision making when you could get an All-Star player that fits perfectly with the rest of the team. That's super risky, IMO.

And you have to realize that that starting lineup that included Dieng was awful defensively, and not effective against teams with bigger frontcourts or teams that had a play-making PF. Dieng was unplayable against Golden State when we beat them. Horford/Towns would be really hard to stop, but still be able to match up with any frontcourt in the league. That's ideal.

Per 36 figures of Horford and Dieng against Golden State this past season:
Dieng: 16.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and +2.8 rating
Horford: 17.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and -6.6 rating

I always love that one!! Lol

I think we should absolutely try to max someone this off season. The cap is going up this year so the max will be quite a lot but the cap will also increase the following year making the max more manageable. They also approved jersey ads so I assume that will bring in a pretty good chunk of change the cap will increase even more. Soccer has jersey ads and Man U gets $80 million a year just to have the Chevy logo, I have to think the cap could make a significant jump again.

Carlos Danger wrote:

Camden wrote:Not the same thing. I would have stood by Rubio even without the "hot" shooting to end the season because of all the other things he does really well. There's years of evidence on that, not just 36 games. I wouldn't let 36 games alter my decision making when you could get an All-Star player that fits perfectly with the rest of the team. That's super risky, IMO.

And you have to realize that that starting lineup that included Dieng was awful defensively, and not effective against teams with bigger frontcourts or teams that had a play-making PF. Dieng was unplayable against Golden State when we beat them. Horford/Towns would be really hard to stop, but still be able to match up with any frontcourt in the league. That's ideal.

Per 36 figures of Horford and Dieng against Golden State this past season:
Dieng: 16.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and +2.8 rating
Horford: 17.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and -6.6 rating

Hah, that's too perfect. Though I wouldn't expect Cam to respond.

Horford is a great player, but im not convinced he is the right option at this moment.

Cam, the fact that you so quickly dismissed Durant as an option shows how biased you are for your former Florida Gator. If you're paying the same amount of money to 2 guys, you obviously should pay it to the one who is the superior talent.

Why not make a run at some of the less talked about restricted free agents?
Festus Ezeli
Evan Fournier
Mathew Delladova
Allen Crabbe
Dwight Powell
Terrence Ross
Boban Marjanovic

Delladova, Marjanovic, and Ezeli would likely be the easiest to sign, as Cavs, spurs, and GS would find it tough to match an offer. I'd welcome any of them here. Orlando reportedly has Fournier as the odd man out in their backcourt, so he also may be available. Any of those 4 would be great gets.

Carlos Danger wrote:

Camden wrote:Not the same thing. I would have stood by Rubio even without the "hot" shooting to end the season because of all the other things he does really well. There's years of evidence on that, not just 36 games. I wouldn't let 36 games alter my decision making when you could get an All-Star player that fits perfectly with the rest of the team. That's super risky, IMO.

And you have to realize that that starting lineup that included Dieng was awful defensively, and not effective against teams with bigger frontcourts or teams that had a play-making PF. Dieng was unplayable against Golden State when we beat them. Horford/Towns would be really hard to stop, but still be able to match up with any frontcourt in the league. That's ideal.

Per 36 figures of Horford and Dieng against Golden State this past season:
Dieng: 16.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and +2.8 rating
Horford: 17.7 points, 11.1 rebounds and -6.6 rating

So, we're comparing a guy who played 17, 19, and 27 minutes against a player who logged 39 and 42 minutes? Per 36 traditionally favors the player with significantly lesser minutes because it extrapolates their per minute production into numbers they didn't actually produce, which is likely why you used it.

Dieng started twice against GS. In one game, he shot 2-7 from the field and had 7 boards, yet he was +11. In the game we won against GS, he was 5-8 from the field with 5 boards, but had to be benched for a large part of the game because he couldn't stick with Green on the perimeter nor could he body Bogut. He was a -15. This isn't the only time Dieng's been pulled because he just couldn't match up with the opposition. Thankfully, Bjelica played much better to end the season and he was a good option to turn to when this happened.