Wolves Free Agent & Trade Thread

[Q-is-here]

Good points Lip.

Here is what I'll openly admit. I think if we had gotten Murray at a price just ahead of the Hawks, but less than Gobert, I would have probably loved that trade and defended it the same way I can defend the Gobert trade now and probably even convinced myself that Murray was a better fit for us and thank God we didn't give up all those assets for Rudy!

Even if you are someone still pretty disappointed in this trade, you gotta admit that it was a ballsy move by TC to go all in on going from one of the scrawniest teams to one of the bigger teams with a single move. If we sign Cousins or Moses Brown as a primary backup C....LOL, I mean, we are just freakin' massive!

[Coolbreeze44]

We are a little vulnerable at point guard. If we stay with DLO, what are we going to do when he misses his 15-20 games? JMac can start those games, but then what? Does Ant cover those minutes? Maybe Nowell? Seems like the lack of depth could sabotage the grand plan if we're not careful.

[Lipoli390]

Good points Lip.

Here is what I'll openly admit. I think if we had gotten Murray at a price just ahead of the Hawks, but less than Gobert, I would have probably loved that trade and defended it the same way I can defend the Gobert trade now and probably even convinced myself that Murray was a better fit for us and thank God we didn't give up all those assets for Rudy!

Even if you are someone still pretty disappointed in this trade, you gotta admit that it was a ballsy move by TC to go all in on going from one of the scrawniest teams to one of the bigger teams with a single move. If we sign Cousins or Moses Brown as a primary backup C....LOL, I mean, we are just freakin' massive!

I'll definitely admit the Gobert deal was a ballsy move. As I've said before, I thought the was the wrong one at the wrong time with too much risk to justify the upside. But the upside of the deal is undeniable. Gobert is a game changer. It will be an interesting mix on this team.

[Lipoli390]

We are a little vulnerable at point guard. If we stay with DLO, what are we going to do when he misses his 15-20 games? JMac can start those games, but then what? Does Ant cover those minutes? Maybe Nowell? Seems like the lack of depth could sabotage the grand plan if we're not careful.

I agree, Cool. There's the short-term injury risk with DLO. There's also the longer term risk with DLO of what it will cost to keep him. If they let DLO walk after this season, who will they get to replace him? Would they given him another $30M contract? Should they? It's part of the portfolio of risks associated with the Gobert deal -- risks that would have caused me not to do the deal if I were in TC's shoes. But this will put Connelly to the test. He has to navigate these risks and put a championship caliber team on the floor for the next four years while he's paying Gobert $40-50 million. The upside potential is huge. But so is the risk. We'll see where things go from here.

[Monster]

We are a little vulnerable at point guard. If we stay with DLO, what are we going to do when he misses his 15-20 games? JMac can start those games, but then what? Does Ant cover those minutes? Maybe Nowell? Seems like the lack of depth could sabotage the grand plan if we're not careful.

I agree, Cool. There's the short-term injury risk with DLO. There's also the longer term risk with DLO of what it will cost to keep him. If they let DLO walk after this season, who will they get to replace him? Would they given him another $30M contract? Should they? It's part of the portfolio of risks associated with the Gobert deal -- risks that would have caused me not to do the deal if I were in TC's shoes. But this will put Connelly to the test. He has to navigate these risks and put a championship caliber team on the floor for the next four years while he's paying Gobert $40-50 million. The upside potential is huge. But so is the risk. We'll see where things go from here.

Having Kyle Anderson playing with a guy like Nowell would be pretty helpful and Prince if they are putting a mostly bench unit out there is a good guy to help things too plus he is a floor spacer. I agree we are lacking in another semi legit PG type and I hope we add someone but it's also possible Nowell is a guy that can just score well enough with the ball in his hands he is essentially one of those scoring PGs that also passes. That's a bit of a stretch because in some ways we aren't absolutely certain about his scoring but him being kind of a focal bench player is not completely out of the realm of possibility. He kinda plays at his own speed which he has in common with Anderson. I'm hoping we add someone to the ball handlers even if it's a guy that can at least play good D on PGs and SGs. If we go the D route I'm a fan of Shaq Harrison on a partially guaranteed deal. If that's the route they take it will be a few weeks before that happens. In the meantime they will try and find someone more proven or with more upside.

[worldK]

We are a little vulnerable at point guard. If we stay with DLO, what are we going to do when he misses his 15-20 games? JMac can start those games, but then what? Does Ant cover those minutes? Maybe Nowell? Seems like the lack of depth could sabotage the grand plan if we're not careful.

I agree, Cool. There's the short-term injury risk with DLO. There's also the longer term risk with DLO of what it will cost to keep him. If they let DLO walk after this season, who will they get to replace him? Would they given him another $30M contract? Should they? It's part of the portfolio of risks associated with the Gobert deal -- risks that would have caused me not to do the deal if I were in TC's shoes. But this will put Connelly to the test. He has to navigate these risks and put a championship caliber team on the floor for the next four years while he's paying Gobert $40-50 million. The upside potential is huge. But so is the risk. We'll see where things go from here.

Having Kyle Anderson playing with a guy like Nowell would be pretty helpful and Prince if they are putting a mostly bench unit out there is a good guy to help things too plus he is a floor spacer. I agree we are lacking in another semi legit PG type and I hope we add someone but it's also possible Nowell is a guy that can just score well enough with the ball in his hands he is essentially one of those scoring PGs that also passes. That's a bit of a stretch because in some ways we aren't absolutely certain about his scoring but him being kind of a focal bench player is not completely out of the realm of possibility. He kinda plays at his own speed which he has in common with Anderson. I'm hoping we add someone to the ball handlers even if it's a guy that can at least play good D on PGs and SGs. If we go the D route I'm a fan of Shaq Harrison on a partially guaranteed deal. If that's the route they take it will be a few weeks before that happens. In the meantime they will try and find someone more proven or with more upside.

Good take monster. I think Finch sees nowell as a combo/lead guard type where you can play him at the point especially with the 2nd unit. Having Anderson playing with the 2nd unit and be a point forward is certainly a good way to maximize kyle's value and effectiveness. I remember the play-in game where Finch went with nowell as the backup point in the rotation instead of Jmac(who was a dnpcd that game). Nowell did not have a good game and jmac was back as the 2nd unit pg in the memphis series. It did show in that game that Finch see's nowell can be used as a backup lead guard type like a jordan clarckson.

With the signing of Forbes, I can see him vs jmac for the other backup guard with nowell. If nowell can be an effective scoring 1 for the 2nd unit then having forbes 3pt shooting at the 2 makes sense. But if not, then jmac should run the 2nd unit with nowell as the 2 guard.

That said, I think a 3rd pg should be added to fill the last roster spots.

[Q-is-here]

I agree with you guys that if J-Mac had to start in place of DLO, a bench unit that includes Nowell and Kyle Anderson would be able to take on the ball handling and play making duties. There is also Moore, Jr. waiting in the wings to help out too!

[Lipoli390]

I think we have enough ball-handles. The question is whether we have enough perimeter defenders who can also shoot. Forbes might be able to adequately fill the Beasley void - albeit with less rebounding and fast-break ability. But we still have the Beverley void to fill - a dogged tough on-ball defender who can also hit threes and do other stuff. Ok, we'll probably have to forget the other stuff, but we need they dogged defender who, unlike Okogie, can hit perimeter shots, score and maybe even handle the ball a little.

[Monster]

I think we have enough ball-handles. The question is whether we have enough perimeter defenders who can also shoot. Forbes might be able to adequately fill the Beasley void - albeit with less rebounding and fast-break ability. But we still have the Beverley void to fill - a dogged tough on-ball defender who can also hit threes and do other stuff. Ok, we'll probably have to forget the other stuff, but we need they dogged defender who, unlike Okogie, can hit perimeter shots, score and maybe even handle the ball a little.

I want to live in Lip's world of optimism. :) Gary Payton II just got paid almost 30 million for what you just described. We should be looking for that type of guy or the next Torrey Craig.

[Lipoli390]

I think we have enough ball-handles. The question is whether we have enough perimeter defenders who can also shoot. Forbes might be able to adequately fill the Beasley void - albeit with less rebounding and fast-break ability. But we still have the Beverley void to fill - a dogged tough on-ball defender who can also hit threes and do other stuff. Ok, we'll probably have to forget the other stuff, but we need they dogged defender who, unlike Okogie, can hit perimeter shots, score and maybe even handle the ball a little.

I want to live in Lip's world of optimism. :) Gary Payton II just got paid almost 30 million for what you just described. We should be looking for that type of guy or the next Torrey Craig.

Lol. I always thought you were the optimist, Monster. If you means the Wolves will have to settle for what they can get, then I'll admit you're right. :)