Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden wrote:I think it's more likely that Taurean Prince gets mid-level money to retain a sizable contract that they can trade. Something like two-years, $18M with a team option on the second would be a good deal for both sides.

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Camden wrote:Slight overpay given that I thought he was worth about $9M a year, but it's only a one-year deal and a sizable one if they need it to match salaries in a big trade. This is a win.

I agree with you Cam. I was hoping more like 8-9 million but I always figured he might be able to command more than that. The reality is Beverly has been and probably still is a starting level player. Guys like that get paid more than the mid level. Beverly is getting paid like a worthwhile starter and it keeps him here for one more year. I think it's a solid move and now the Wolves have one thing locked into the offseason. They are for sure operating as an over the cap team now.

I agree with both of you. If the Wolves let Layman, Okogie and Prince go, they'll still be $27 million under the luxury tax threshold. That will leave enough room to pay a free agent the full MLE of $10 million and still have room to spend the full BAE and sign a couple vet minimum players. And they'll have three 2nd-round picks in June along with all their future first-round picks to include in potential trades. The Wolves front office will definitively have an opportunity to improve the team before next season.

Good stuff, Lip. I'd add that at this point it would probably be a wise decision to re-sign Taurean Prince, assuming his contract demands are reasonable, AND use both exceptions to round out the roster.

I want to see how Taurean plays the rest of this season and in the playoffs before concluding that the Wolves should bring him back. And as you said, a lot depends on his contract demands. I see him as no more than a $4M per year player. Otherwise, I agree that the Wolves should consider bringing Taurean back and then round out the roster with both exceptions. The MLE is the key to the Wolves meaningfully upgrading their roster. They can get a very good player on a multi-year MLE contract. But I'd still like to see the Wolves explore a significant trade centered around Beasley and picks.

Waiting to see how Prince plays the rest of the season makes sense. I'll add that after seeing McDaniels had a nice game last night I think it's worth saying I want to see how he plays the rest of the season before saying how much I would pay Prince. It's certainly not an either or because I would like to have both players but if it seems like McDaniels is starting to be a guy looking like he will be more consistent then maybe Prince is less of a fringe starter key role player and more of solid rotation/depth guy. How much I would pay for that (like lip said depending on how he plays the rest of the season) idk. I could see Prince's market being something around the mid-level. Idk if he is worth that (I think it's possible) so we shall see. His last contract he got paid like a starter. That's not likely to be the case this offseason. I would also not want to sign Prince for more than 2 years unless it was at a reasonable amount. I like prince and hope we keep him but I also don't want to overpay. These kinds of moves can really help a team keep going in the right direction or stall a bit.

That's a really good assessment of the situation with Prince. I can't see Prince commanding a salary at the MLE level, but I'll confess I don't have a great handle on player market valuation. Right now, I don't see Prince getting much more than the $4M BAE from any team. If I'm right, the Wolves should probably bring him back. But I'm still with you in wanting to see how he plays the rest of this season, including the play-in and/or playoffs.

Lip if Prince ends up shooting 37% or better on a healthy volume of 3's and is an average defender I would think some team is going to be willing to pay more than 4 million a year for that. How much more? Idk and we have seen some guys that probably deserve to get paid a bit more (or at least based on the market) end up taking less because they weren't the priority for teams. Maybe he won't get more than that even if he finishes the season strong. He turns 28 in May so he has the fact that he is not old yet on his side but then he has the injury history too.

Just throwing out a number if we were signing him for like 2 years for around 7 million a year I would probably be in on that. Anything much less than that I would be in and maybe even willing to go 3 years or maybe have the 3rd year have a partial guarantee. Let's say he plays solid and we think there is a chance we could eventually get him for 4 million. I'd be willing to go up and pay a little more like 5 million a year just to get him signed and so I could make other moves. I think Prince for 5 million a year would likely be a bargain. That's basically Jake Layman money when you consider salaries have continued to go up.

Again it's also possible Prince would be a good player to bring back but there may be better options either in paying more for a player or maybe just signing a vet min guy for what his role would be...or maybe even a draft pick. That salary flexibility opens up a lot of options. It's pretty unlikely but who knows maybe the Wolves can involve Prince in a sign and trade.

I'll say this...the Rubio for Prince, Washington's 2nd rounder and saving money on salary which was used to sign Vanderbilt and acquire Beverly looks like a heck of a deal right now. It's a shame for Cleveland and Rubio that he got hurt. Honestly last year's offseason is looking pretty good right now especially considering the salary constraints the team was under.

monsterpile wrote:

Camden wrote:I think it's more likely that Taurean Prince gets mid-level money to retain a sizable contract that they can trade. Something like two-years, $18M with a team option on the second would be a good deal for both sides.

I'd be cool with that.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Camden wrote:I think it's more likely that Taurean Prince gets mid-level money to retain a sizable contract that they can trade. Something like two-years, $18M with a team option on the second would be a good deal for both sides.

I'd be cool with that.

By my calculation, we'd still be $18M under the luxury tax threshold with 3 roster spots to fill if we gave Prince $9M and relinquished our rights to Layman and Okogie. In that case, we could give the full $10 million MLE to a free agent big, give the full BAE to another free agent and still have $4M to spend on the last roster spot.

That's a long way of saying that I'd also be cool with the $9M to Prince that Cam suggested. :)

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

Camden wrote:I think it's more likely that Taurean Prince gets mid-level money to retain a sizable contract that they can trade. Something like two-years, $18M with a team option on the second would be a good deal for both sides.

I'd be cool with that.

By my calculation, we'd still be $18M under the luxury tax threshold with 3 roster spots to fill if we gave Prince $9M and relinquished our rights to Layman and Okogie. In that case, we could give the full $10 million MLE to a free agent big, give the full BAE to another free agent and still have $4M to spend on the last roster spot.

That's a long way of saying that I'd also be cool with the $9M to Prince that Cam suggested. :)

That doesn't include any money to a draft pick. Lip what you described stats to make things look a little tight. It also assumes the wolves do nothing else. I think most people are willing to deal Beasley this offseason if he brings back value. Last offseason the Wolves were able to deal Rubio coming off a poor season for a solid rotation guy in prince saved some money and got what turned out to be a valuable 2nd round pick from Washington. I tend to think Beasley has more value than that so we could maybe get a depth player and a first round pick back for him this offseason if the fright trade partner materializes...and maybe even save some salary in the process. He could be part of a larger deal too.