Minnesota Sports Forum

Who we target in free agency has to turn on whether the Wolves trade Love and, if so, who we get in return. At this point, the only obvious need with or without Love would be a better back-up PG. There are some good unrestricted FA candidates out there, including Aaron Brooks, Ramon Sessions, and Kirk Hinrich, who might be obtainable for the MLE or less. On the other hand, rolling with Barea might make sense if Flip thinks he can control him. You really have to overlook last season to fairly assess JJ. Prior to last season, he was a net positive for the Wolves and previously for Dallas. Adelman just didn't coach last season. Flip really dictates the offense from the bench. We'll be going from no hands to hands on with Flip taking over for Adelman. I like that JJ's contract expires the end of next season and it is less than the full MLE. I'd hesitate to deal that contract for the little value we'd likely get in return.

I'm with Volans on Ed Davis. I realy haven't seen him play much but yeah I've heard both Raptors fans and Memphis fans say they like him. I actually thought I read someone Joerger was a fan also. I really haven't seen Davis play much but his Rebounding numbers look good and really at this point the front court could use a PF/C combo. Davis is interesting.

I agree with what Lip said about Barea. I think he can still be effective as a backup PG. His first year with the Wolves he averaged almost 6 apg. He is capable of passing, but yeah I think we all know its not just been Barea going hero ball its been other problems. JJ reminds me of another quick guy that looked for his shot in Hudson and Flip made that guy look pretty good before his ankles turned into Peanut Brittle. I'm not really hoping we keep JJ like I was last summer but I think he could end up being just as good as some of the other guys that are out there that people bring up.

I've mentioned this before but how many guys that sign for the MLE become much of anything? Its really rare. Most of the time you get a guy that looks overpaid etc. I don't see the point of paying up for someone that might be a slight upgrade from a vet min guy. Of course the Wolves are limited to just the vet min and MLE. We can pay someone just part of the MLE right?

My guess is Flip is gonna wait things out and pick up some leftover guy for cheap becasue there isn't better options for them. Based on the FA class that seems like a pretty sound strategy. Most guys that are worth pursuing are either gonna cost more than the MLE or would go somewhere else or both. The other guys aren't worth that. IMO.

- Jodie Meeks - 2 years, $6M total.
- DeJuan Blair - 2 years, $3M total.

If that's all that happened for us during free agency, I'd call it a win.

PG: Rubio/Barea/Shved
SG: Martin/Meeks/LaVine
SF: Brewer/Robinson/Muhammad
PF: Love/Blair
C: Pekovic/Dieng/Turiaf

A trade for Eric Gordon using Martin and Budinger would be the cherry on top.

I've asked this before and looked for the answer via google, but can you split the MLE between 2 or more players under the new CBA?

monsterpile wrote:I've asked this before and looked for the answer via google, but can you split the MLE between 2 or more players under the new CBA?

Yes.

Jodie Meeks = Gary Harris

I really like the idea of Ed Davis.

bleedspeed177 wrote:I really like the idea of Ed Davis.

I think if Flip wants to build the team around Rubio then an athletic PF like Davis would make a lot of sense. I really hope we don't retain Dante though. His emergence during the injury plagued season of 12-13 made me appreciate him but after last year seeing that tired old elbow jumper again and again burnt me out. Dante is an athletic dude but he hardly ever uses it.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:I've asked this before and looked for the answer via google, but can you split the MLE between 2 or more players under the new CBA?

Yes.

Thanks Lip I thought so, but I could find nothing that said so. Of course the only way that matters to get 2 players is to move someone. I have no real inside info, but it seems to me the only guy I really see Flip trying to get rid of is JJ and he might not be trying to do that. He has talked too much about Shved and Luc seems like a guy that Flip might actually utilize. I'm also not convinced he is getting rid of Budinger and if its because of health related who is gonna trade for him if that is the case? Anyway, I could see us getting a 2-3 million dollar guy this offseason and there might be some good players available later that we can get for that. Maybe we can sign a guy for a 1 year deal for a big chunk of the mid-level.

Volans19 wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:I really like the idea of Ed Davis.

I think if Flip wants to build the team around Rubio then an athletic PF like Davis would make a lot of sense. I really hope we don't retain Dante though. His emergence during the injury plagued season of 12-13 made me appreciate him but after last year seeing that tired old elbow jumper again and again burnt me out. Dante is an athletic dude but he hardly ever uses it.

The Ellington trade for Dante was a nice little move but like you I am ready to move on from Dante. I think this team needs a PF/C type maybe like the Jordon Hill guy or as we have both mentioned Ed Davis a guy that can play both positions. It would be nice to throw in a scorer because thats really missing with Turiaf, Dieng and probably Luc as the backup bigs right now.

Personally I think the biggest need is a bench big because if you add a vet PG someone has to go. Pek and Turiaf are injury risks so we need another big. I'd take a vet PG too, but the frontline would get thin right now if there was even 1 injury.