Minnesota Sports Forum

monsterpile wrote:

thedoper wrote:The problem with this team as Thibs constructed it was that he made the assumption as did his predecessors that our collection of bigs could cover the 4 spot even though none of them is a natural 4. It is still our weakest position and unless we want to philosophically move Zach out of the starting lineup they better do something about our gaping hole there. G is a backup center and Belly is a tenth man. We could reorient the roster to play small ball or we do what we should have done last summer and get a real 4.

We are on the same wavelength Doper about the PF spot. Another thing the last few coaches have said is various wing players could play small ball PF and then...it ends up not happening much despite it making some sense especially with Bazz. I'm not sure playing Bazz or Wiggins or Rush as a small ball PF would have helped much but he hear about that possibility every year.

My main thing last offseason was that they needed to add a combo forward in the mold of Daunte Cunningham. They really only had one of those guys Belly and he was no sure thing to be even decent and I am a fan of his. My guy was Quincy Acy he would have cost the vet min and plays his butt off and all that type of stuff. he seems like a really well liked guy and a good dude. Whenthe Nets signed him for the rest of the season he bought $250 gift cards for all his former d-league team players and got some shoes for others in the organization. Wouls he have saved the season? Hell no but the Wolves have to add a PF/SF hybrid type to the roster maybe even 2 of them. Obviously having one that's more of at least a fringe starter would be nice. We will see what happens.

Uh, KAT was a our 4 sometimes this season, at least when he played with Dieng. I think it's too simplistic to say "the problem is position X". The problems were many - team defense, mental toughness, selfishness (at times). Thibs has his work cut out for him.

Q12543 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

thedoper wrote:The problem with this team as Thibs constructed it was that he made the assumption as did his predecessors that our collection of bigs could cover the 4 spot even though none of them is a natural 4. It is still our weakest position and unless we want to philosophically move Zach out of the starting lineup they better do something about our gaping hole there. G is a backup center and Belly is a tenth man. We could reorient the roster to play small ball or we do what we should have done last summer and get a real 4.

We are on the same wavelength Doper about the PF spot. Another thing the last few coaches have said is various wing players could play small ball PF and then...it ends up not happening much despite it making some sense especially with Bazz. I'm not sure playing Bazz or Wiggins or Rush as a small ball PF would have helped much but he hear about that possibility every year.

My main thing last offseason was that they needed to add a combo forward in the mold of Daunte Cunningham. They really only had one of those guys Belly and he was no sure thing to be even decent and I am a fan of his. My guy was Quincy Acy he would have cost the vet min and plays his butt off and all that type of stuff. he seems like a really well liked guy and a good dude. Whenthe Nets signed him for the rest of the season he bought $250 gift cards for all his former d-league team players and got some shoes for others in the organization. Wouls he have saved the season? Hell no but the Wolves have to add a PF/SF hybrid type to the roster maybe even 2 of them. Obviously having one that's more of at least a fringe starter would be nice. We will see what happens.

Uh, KAT was a our 4 sometimes this season, at least when he played with Dieng. I think it's too simplistic to say "the problem is position X". The problems were many - team defense, mental toughness, selfishness (at times). Thibs has his work cut out for him.

Yeah no position was THE problem I was just agreeing with Doper's position on the lack of fuctional depth especially with the way the game evolved towards the perimeter. Yeah there were absolutely other problems.

BloopOracle wrote:

SameOldNudityDrew wrote:

Q12543 wrote:I think the issue here is less about Rush, Hill or Aldrich and more about the way Thibs managed Wiggins, LaVine, and KAT's minutes. The bottom line is we had seasoned vets on the bench that could have been used as a stick when those guys slacked off on defense with the dual benefit of giving them more rest.

"You wanna play? Defend and hustle....or may be you are too tired to defend and hustle? OK, sit down and then let me know when you are rested up enough to go defend and hustle".....something along those lines would in hindsight seem to have been a much better approach with those guys.

Agreed. He used the same insanely tight rotations he used in Chicago, instead of using minutes more carefully to 1) encourage accountability (especially on the defensive end), 2) to keep legs fresh through the end of the season, and 3) to make sure the bench players are at least somewhat involved (Who knows? Aldrich might have been a decent defensive anchor, but we never really got the chance to find out).

Yeah Thibs sure did a terrible job with his defensive accountability in Chicago, they were porous and barely won any games in his tenure lol. Let's not also forget how hard his Bulls team battled in the playoffs despite starters going down, I guess he must have done something right with his bench with how players like DJ Augustine and Nate Robinson performed under him.

Thibs eventually wore out his players and wore out his welcome in the Bulls organization. I think Thibs established himself as a good head coach in Chicago. But it's hard to evaluate him overall based on his stint in Chicago with a certain set of players. The great head coaches adapt to and succeed with different teams. Carlisle was highly successful in Detroit and then was even more successful in Dallas, winning a championship as an underdog to Miami. His teams have consistently overachieved year after year, including Dallas making the playoffs last season. Pop has coached very different teams (sets of players) in his long stint in San Antonio. He's substantially revamped the playing style of his various teams based on the personnel.

My sense from the beginning was that Thibs was a poor fit for our team based on his personality (or lack thereof) and his rigid approach to the game (e.g., calling nearly every play in real time on the offensive end). That's why I was one of the few who wasn't thrilled when we hired him. He can't change his personality, but I'm hoping he can modify his approach, adapting better to the players he has, modifying some his approaches that eventually wore out his welcome in Chicago and adating the team's style to better fit the the way the NBA game is played. I still have hope for Thibs and I think this team can make great strides under him next season.

Regarding minutes per game, note that Wiggins, KAT and Zach all played more than 37 minutes per game. Wiggins and KAT also played in every game (all 82) as did Zach before his injury. Compare that to nearly every other core starter on the top teams in the League. Those guys, including Curry, Thompson, Durant, Conley, Marc Gasol, Aldridge, Leonard, I. Thomas, Chris Paul, D. Jordan, etc., etc. played between 32-34 minutes per game and didn't play in every game. The only other core players on a playoff team who played more than 37 minutes per game was LeBron, but he sat out 8 games. Kyrie Irving played 35 MPG, but sat out 10 games.

I'll give Thibs a pass on overplaying our core guys this past season on the assumption that he felt he needed to push their learning curves. We're lucky that our two top young players have proven to be very durable, but Thibs can't continue to drive them with those sorts of minutes net season and expect them to play with the energy necessary for top two-way production throughout each game over the long, grueling 82-game NBA season. Moreover, the combined level of MPG and total games will likely lead to premature physical breakdowns of these guys as their careers progress as we saw in Chicago.

Q12543 wrote:

BloopOracle wrote:I don't think Hill's minutes is beside the point at all, as far as your rainy day analogy these non minutes were in winning time at the end of the season and playoff games it's not like I cherry picked some random stretch of games in the middle of the season. I'm still trying to see how making our core watch a horrible bench play improves their defense when they're getting lit up themselves. What are Towns and Wiggins going to learn watching our bench play extended minutes when they are terrible, how does that improve their defensive rotations? It reminds of those who think that a young NFL rookie QB can learn so much from a scrub placeholder who starts while they sit on the bench the whole year, luckily teams have gotten away from that in recent years and have realized players need to play ESPECIALLY when there isn't anyone good in front/behind them.

The bench wasn't as bad as you think. Sure, things fell apart after Bjelly went down, but they generally held serve against other team's benches. And no one here is suggesting that Wiggins, etc. should play 30 MPG. We're talking about going from 37 or 38 MPG to 34 or 35 MPG.

By the way, those Bulls guys that Thibs worked so hard a few years ago? They haven't exactly aged well. Deng, Noah, and Rose are all a mess.

What's I have heard was that not only did Thibs play guys a lot of minutes the practices were pretty intense and long. All I have heard the entire season is Thibs has taken his foot off the throttle when it comes to practices physically. Good players (or guys that are perceived to be important) play a lot of minutes.

I appreciate your defense of the bench and in some ways it did its job and some times it didn't. Part of that was that some guys never really got much time to show what they could do. That's on Thibs to a certain extent. I think the MAJOR issue with the bench was that it didn't have a vet or 2 that could come in and either make plays offensively or defensively or calm the troops with their play. The closest thing to that was Rush and he just wasn't good enough to be that guy and it was basically just him and a bunch of young guys. To me last year Prince was a better player helping the team along even if he didn't offer much offensively. His defense was pretty good and the guy has been there before and used to have the skills of a very versatile player. Rush at his best was a fringe starter. It's just not the same.

One thing I think we should realize is there is more than one way to do things AND not everyone is going to agree with how someone does it AND even if it's the right way to do thinks most of the times there will be times it doesn't work. Thibs generally stuck to his way most of the season although later in games he would go with some guys that had played well. He did also make some changes to how he was running things like giving Rubio the ball and having him do his thing and getting him to shoot the ball. You have to make some adjustments sometimes and Thibs did some. It it felt like not enough. We don't know exactly what his expectations were though either and what he was trying to accomplish this season. There certainly are some fair criticisms of Thibs and his coaching this year. I tend to have faith he will make some adjustments and some of the things he did this year will pay off. I get why people are skeptical and it's really hard when we haven't seen a coach in his 2nd year since Adelman in 2012. I'm hopeful but I get it more today than before if people aren't feeling it.

TeamRicky wrote:Replacing Bazz and Rush's minutes with guys who can play two ways and cutting about a minute off Wiggins playing time could do wonders for this team. I want an old defensive minded guy who won't cost us much but can dog the young guys to play defense. Tony Allen might be a perfect mentor and can still play. Sefalosha is another 30+ defensive minded guy. Hopefully we can get an old vet to put the dog in Wiggins. As far as bigs that might be cheap mentors--Bogut's health and age might allow us to get him cheap. Same with Tyson Chandler if he becomes available. Nene too. Get some cheap 30 something vets to mentor the young guys like KG did with KAT.

I tend to agree with you on this, Ricky. But I'm leery of Tony Allen even though I think he could be a good addition to the Wolves. My concern is his health. He's had a history of nagging injuries and at his age those things will only become more frequent. His body seems to be breaking down. Further, using significant cap space to sign Allen helps the defense but fails to add any 3-point shooting. I just read Thibs' post-season press conference transcript again and I think Thibs made it clear that adding three-point shooting is a huge priority for him.

Thibs seemed to identify four priority additions he feels he needs to make this off season:
(1) shot-blocking, (2) wing defense, (3) three-point shooting, and (4) toughness. Looking at the list of free agents and the Wolves' available cap space constrained by the need to leave room for signing our core young guys, I see no realistic way Thibs can meet all 4 or even 3 of these needs through free agency. Looking at Thibs' press conference comments again and reading a bit between the lines, I took away the folllowing:

1. I think adding 3-point shooting is his #1 priority for free agency. He mentioned 3-point shooting more than defense, shot-blocking and toughness. Also, his comments suggest that he sees more of the defensive improvement coming from within -- mainly from KAT and Wiggins. He named those two specifically as where the defensive improvement has to start. As a result, I'd say that Thibs is far more likely to pursue Redick than Tony Allen or Sefolosha, although I see Sefolosha as a more likely target than Allen. Redick is the best 3-point shooter by far among this year's unrestricted free agents. He isn't a stellar defender, but he's actually pretty good on that end. And he would bring toughness. In other words, Redick would meet 2 of Thibs' 4 prioirity needs and would actually be an upgrade defensively over Zach.

2. I don't think he's inclined to add guys who are already in their 30s. Two comments lead me to that conclusions. First was his comment that, when adding guys, its important that those additions have the same "window" as our current core guys. He was obviously talking about age. Second, at one point he talked about the decline you expect from players in their 30s. So I have my doubts about Thibs' propensity to give the big bucks and long term deal required to get a guy like Millsap. I like Millsap a lot and he would definitely add toughness, points, rebounds and professionalism, but his age and the fact that he doesn't bring shot-blocking suggest to me it's unlikely Thibs will sign him. Redick's age puts him a bit beyond the ideal window, but his three-point shooting and toughness will probably be enough for Thibs to make an aggressive push to sign him.

Putting it all together, I'm expecting the Wolves to make a very aggressive push to sign Redick. Yes, we'll have to "overpay," but we can also sell him on the following: (1) filling an essential need given our lack of three-point shooting, (2) getting substantial playing time given Zach's injury and the goal of cutting back on the minutes of our existing young core, (3) being part of an up-and-coming team rather than his current team which seems to be on its last legs, and (4) the chance to be a leader on a young team, which might interest a guy like Redick whose very smart and may have coaching aspirations. Given what it will likely cost to sign Redick, I don't see the Wolves pursuing another big-money free agent like Millsap. Instead, if the Wolves don't re-sign Bazz, I can see Thibs making a push to sign Sefalosha for defensive and depth at the wing position.

I don't see any notable shot-blockers among the unrestricted or getable restricted free agents. So I'm not sure what Thibs and Layden might have in mind to address that need, which I consider to be important. So my guess is that the Wolves will look to grade our first round pick and some other assets for a shot-blocking, defensive big. I don't see Thibs including KAT, Wiggins or Zach as part of that deal because I think he made it clear that he intends to build around those three. I don't see him including Dunn or Gorgui as part of a deal either because he's made it clear multiple times throughout the season that he loves both guys. A couple months ago, I would have thought that Ricky would be a candidate to be packaged with our 1st round pick for an impact shot-blocking big. But given Ricky's play after the all-star break, I don't see that happening now for several reasons: (1) Thibs' obvious increased appreciation for what Ricky brings to the team, (2) the lack of anyone on our current roster who can step in as an NBA caliber PG combined with the pressure Thibs has on him to win next season. In other words, Thibs has to know he doesn't have the slack to experiment with Dunn or Jones as our starting PG.

If we enter the season with Redick and Sefalosha added to our roster, I'll be pretty happy. I'll be very happy if we do that and somehow parley our draft pick into a good defensive big without giving up up KAT, Wiggins, Zach, Gorgui or Ricky. Note we don't have any other picks to deal.

lipoli390 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:Replacing Bazz and Rush's minutes with guys who can play two ways and cutting about a minute off Wiggins playing time could do wonders for this team. I want an old defensive minded guy who won't cost us much but can dog the young guys to play defense. Tony Allen might be a perfect mentor and can still play. Sefalosha is another 30+ defensive minded guy. Hopefully we can get an old vet to put the dog in Wiggins. As far as bigs that might be cheap mentors--Bogut's health and age might allow us to get him cheap. Same with Tyson Chandler if he becomes available. Nene too. Get some cheap 30 something vets to mentor the young guys like KG did with KAT.

I tend to agree with you on this, Ricky. But I'm leery of Tony Allen even though I think he could be a good addition to the Wolves. My concern is his health. He's had a history of nagging injuries and at his age those things will only become more frequent. His body seems to be breaking down. Further, using significant cap space to sign Allen helps the defense but fails to add any 3-point shooting. I just read Thibs' post-season press conference transcript again and I think Thibs made it clear that adding three-point shooting is a huge priority for him.

Thibs seemed to identify four priority additions he feels he needs to make this off season:
(1) shot-blocking, (2) wing defense, (3) three-point shooting, and (4) toughness. Looking at the list of free agents and the Wolves' available cap space constrained by the need to leave room for signing our core young guys, I see no realistic way Thibs can meet all 4 or even 3 of these needs through free agency. Looking at Thibs' press conference comments again and reading a bit between the lines, I took away the folllowing:

1. I think adding 3-point shooting is his #1 priority for free agency. He mentioned 3-point shooting more than defense, shot-blocking and toughness. Also, his comments suggest that he sees more of the defensive improvement coming from within -- mainly from KAT and Wiggins. He named those two specifically as where the defensive improvement has to start. As a result, I'd say that Thibs is far more likely to pursue Redick than Tony Allen or Sefolosha, although I see Sefolosha as a more likely target than Allen. Redick is the best 3-point shooter by far among this year's unrestricted free agents. He isn't a stellar defender, but he's actually pretty good on that end. And he would bring toughness. In other words, Redick would meet 2 of Thibs' 4 prioirity needs and would actually be an upgrade defensively over Zach.

2. I don't think he's inclined to add guys who are already in their 30s. Two comments lead me to that conclusions. First was his comment that, when adding guys, its important that those additions have the same "window" as our current core guys. He was obviously talking about age. Second, at one point he talked about the decline you expect from players in their 30s. So I have my doubts about Thibs' propensity to give the big bucks and long term deal required to get a guy like Millsap. I like Millsap a lot and he would definitely add toughness, points, rebounds and professionalism, but his age and the fact that he doesn't bring shot-blocking suggest to me it's unlikely Thibs will sign him. Redick's age puts him a bit beyond the ideal window, but his three-point shooting and toughness will probably be enough for Thibs to make an aggressive push to sign him.

Putting it all together, I'm expecting the Wolves to make a very aggressive push to sign Redick. Yes, we'll have to "overpay," but we can also sell him on the following: (1) filling an essential need given our lack of three-point shooting, (2) getting substantial playing time given Zach's injury and the goal of cutting back on the minutes of our existing young core, (3) being part of an up-and-coming team rather than his current team which seems to be on its last legs, and (4) the chance to be a leader on a young team, which might interest a guy like Redick whose very smart and may have coaching aspirations. Given what it will likely cost to sign Redick, I don't see the Wolves pursuing another big-money free agent like Millsap. Instead, if the Wolves don't re-sign Bazz, I can see Thibs making a push to sign Sefalosha for defensive and depth at the wing position.

I don't see any notable shot-blockers among the unrestricted or getable restricted free agents. So I'm not sure what Thibs and Layden might have in mind to address that need, which I consider to be important. So my guess is that the Wolves will look to grade our first round pick and some other assets for a shot-blocking, defensive big. I don't see Thibs including KAT, Wiggins or Zach as part of that deal because I think he made it clear that he intends to build around those three. I don't see him including Dunn or Gorgui as part of a deal either because he's made it clear multiple times throughout the season that he loves both guys. A couple months ago, I would have thought that Ricky would be a candidate to be packaged with our 1st round pick for an impact shot-blocking big. But given Ricky's play after the all-star break, I don't see that happening now for several reasons: (1) Thibs' obvious increased appreciation for what Ricky brings to the team, (2) the lack of anyone on our current roster who can step in as an NBA caliber PG combined with the pressure Thibs has on him to win next season. In other words, Thibs has to know he doesn't have the slack to experiment with Dunn or Jones as our starting PG.

If we enter the season with Redick and Sefalosha added to our roster, I'll be pretty happy. I'll be very happy if we do that and somehow parley our draft pick into a good defensive big without giving up up KAT, Wiggins, Zach, Gorgui or Ricky. Note we don't have any other picks to deal.

I agree with your breakdown. Don't forget Redick was in Minnesota to sign with the wolves (year we signed Kmart) and then the Clippers called and offered more money, Redick has mentioned this many times on his podcast so I don't think he would be afraid of Minnesota even though he is a at a different time in his career.


Another player to look at is JaMychal Green. He works his ass off, can guard both forward spots, hits the 3 well at 2 attempts per game. Dosen't need the ball to be successful. Fits the same time frame as our core

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:Replacing Bazz and Rush's minutes with guys who can play two ways and cutting about a minute off Wiggins playing time could do wonders for this team. I want an old defensive minded guy who won't cost us much but can dog the young guys to play defense. Tony Allen might be a perfect mentor and can still play. Sefalosha is another 30+ defensive minded guy. Hopefully we can get an old vet to put the dog in Wiggins. As far as bigs that might be cheap mentors--Bogut's health and age might allow us to get him cheap. Same with Tyson Chandler if he becomes available. Nene too. Get some cheap 30 something vets to mentor the young guys like KG did with KAT.

I tend to agree with you on this, Ricky. But I'm leery of Tony Allen even though I think he could be a good addition to the Wolves. My concern is his health. He's had a history of nagging injuries and at his age those things will only become more frequent. His body seems to be breaking down. Further, using significant cap space to sign Allen helps the defense but fails to add any 3-point shooting. I just read Thibs' post-season press conference transcript again and I think Thibs made it clear that adding three-point shooting is a huge priority for him.

Thibs seemed to identify four priority additions he feels he needs to make this off season:
(1) shot-blocking, (2) wing defense, (3) three-point shooting, and (4) toughness. Looking at the list of free agents and the Wolves' available cap space constrained by the need to leave room for signing our core young guys, I see no realistic way Thibs can meet all 4 or even 3 of these needs through free agency. Looking at Thibs' press conference comments again and reading a bit between the lines, I took away the folllowing:

1. I think adding 3-point shooting is his #1 priority for free agency. He mentioned 3-point shooting more than defense, shot-blocking and toughness. Also, his comments suggest that he sees more of the defensive improvement coming from within -- mainly from KAT and Wiggins. He named those two specifically as where the defensive improvement has to start. As a result, I'd say that Thibs is far more likely to pursue Redick than Tony Allen or Sefolosha, although I see Sefolosha as a more likely target than Allen. Redick is the best 3-point shooter by far among this year's unrestricted free agents. He isn't a stellar defender, but he's actually pretty good on that end. And he would bring toughness. In other words, Redick would meet 2 of Thibs' 4 prioirity needs and would actually be an upgrade defensively over Zach.

2. I don't think he's inclined to add guys who are already in their 30s. Two comments lead me to that conclusions. First was his comment that, when adding guys, its important that those additions have the same "window" as our current core guys. He was obviously talking about age. Second, at one point he talked about the decline you expect from players in their 30s. So I have my doubts about Thibs' propensity to give the big bucks and long term deal required to get a guy like Millsap. I like Millsap a lot and he would definitely add toughness, points, rebounds and professionalism, but his age and the fact that he doesn't bring shot-blocking suggest to me it's unlikely Thibs will sign him. Redick's age puts him a bit beyond the ideal window, but his three-point shooting and toughness will probably be enough for Thibs to make an aggressive push to sign him.

Putting it all together, I'm expecting the Wolves to make a very aggressive push to sign Redick. Yes, we'll have to "overpay," but we can also sell him on the following: (1) filling an essential need given our lack of three-point shooting, (2) getting substantial playing time given Zach's injury and the goal of cutting back on the minutes of our existing young core, (3) being part of an up-and-coming team rather than his current team which seems to be on its last legs, and (4) the chance to be a leader on a young team, which might interest a guy like Redick whose very smart and may have coaching aspirations. Given what it will likely cost to sign Redick, I don't see the Wolves pursuing another big-money free agent like Millsap. Instead, if the Wolves don't re-sign Bazz, I can see Thibs making a push to sign Sefalosha for defensive and depth at the wing position.

I don't see any notable shot-blockers among the unrestricted or getable restricted free agents. So I'm not sure what Thibs and Layden might have in mind to address that need, which I consider to be important. So my guess is that the Wolves will look to grade our first round pick and some other assets for a shot-blocking, defensive big. I don't see Thibs including KAT, Wiggins or Zach as part of that deal because I think he made it clear that he intends to build around those three. I don't see him including Dunn or Gorgui as part of a deal either because he's made it clear multiple times throughout the season that he loves both guys. A couple months ago, I would have thought that Ricky would be a candidate to be packaged with our 1st round pick for an impact shot-blocking big. But given Ricky's play after the all-star break, I don't see that happening now for several reasons: (1) Thibs' obvious increased appreciation for what Ricky brings to the team, (2) the lack of anyone on our current roster who can step in as an NBA caliber PG combined with the pressure Thibs has on him to win next season. In other words, Thibs has to know he doesn't have the slack to experiment with Dunn or Jones as our starting PG.

If we enter the season with Redick and Sefalosha added to our roster, I'll be pretty happy. I'll be very happy if we do that and somehow parley our draft pick into a good defensive big without giving up up KAT, Wiggins, Zach, Gorgui or Ricky. Note we don't have any other picks to deal.

I agree with your breakdown. Don't forget Redick was in Minnesota to sign with the wolves (year we signed Kmart) and then the Clippers called and offered more money, Redick has mentioned this many times on his podcast so I don't think he would be afraid of Minnesota even though he is a at a different time in his career.


Another player to look at is JaMychal Green. He works his ass off, can guard both forward spots, his the 3 well at 2 attempts per game. Dosen't need the ball to be successful. Fits the same time frame as our core

I like the idea of Green.

My revised list of Targets (I inadvertently left out James Johnson and added Anthony Morrow):

(1) Millsap (probably the only guy I'd max out, I'm not sure if I'd want to go hard after Ibaka given the rumors about him being older. Also Gay would have been an ideal target but his injury is scary and so I wouldnt go hard after him either)
(2) Amir Johnson (super underrated guy, would love to get him for a reasonable amount $12-14 million)
(3) James Johnson (love his defensive mindedness and how he does everything but score)($11-13 million is what the projections are and for that amount, I think he would be worth it).
(4) Sefolosha (I'd love to get him and given his age maybe $8 to $10 million would be enough)
(5) PJ Tucker (pretty much same comments as Sefolosha above)
(6) Taj Gibson (I worry that we might overpay for him, but if he'd come here for $12-14 million, he'd improve our D and add toughness)
(7) Tony Allen (He's pretty old so, I'd try to get him for $5-8 million and see if he bites).
(8) Patrick Patterson-Decent defender, who would be another option if the other defensive options aren't available
(9) Bogut (injury riddled and aging, but if he's healthy he's a defensive anchor and he might be worth a cheap deal $5-6 million, just for his mentorship).
(10) Anthony Morrow: Career 41%+ three point shooter and can play adequate defense. Might be the best bargain shooter out there. Hopefully $6-$7 million gets the job done
(11) Reddick-Good shooter, but I don't want to overpay for him. I have no idea what he'd command but if he'd take $8-$10 million, I'd be ok with him.
(11) Korver-Aging shooter, who I'd only want to get on a cheap deal under $8 million.
(12) Gallinari-He's the shooter I like the most, but I think he's going to want a huge payday (maybe max money). I just don't know if I want to pay that kind of money for someone who won't really move the needle for us much defensively if we can get a Morrow or Redick for cheap or resign Casspi and use our money to improve our defense.

If I thought we had a shot at Otto Porter by offering him a max deal, I'd do it. He's only 23 and is a proven two way guy.

Isn't Jamychal Green a restricted free agent (at least that's what ESPN says)? If so, I don't know why he's mentioned as a target. Its almost impossible to get a restricted guy that is real good unless you offer a near max deal to a cash strapped team that is unwilling to pay the luxury tax. There are several restricted guys I Iike better than Green. Otto Porter might be my favorite, but I think Washington would match any offerl. Next up, Nerlens Noel, but Dallas would almost certainly match any offer. KCP of Detroit is another good one. You also got Joe Ingles, Tony Snell and Kyle Anderson.

He's a target because Chandler Parson has sucked the Grizzlies cap space dry and he fits the modern NBA as well as being one of the youngest quality free agents this year. I am torn between him and Milsap really they would both fit GREAT with Towns