Minnesota Sports Forum

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:Wiggins and Gibson (expiring) for Love and Korver. Who says no?

Maybe Thibs, I don't know. But me, as a season ticket holder, for one.

Well, no offense, but your disdain for Kevin Love was just as ludicrous as it is for Thibs. But I do count your vote the same. I have a feeling you won't be alone in the "no" category.

I would hope there would be a lot of "no's". I know many are dissatisfied with Wig including me at times, but he was our best player in the playoffs and is still young. Korver is 37 and shot 1-16 in the NBA finals, and Love has averaged just 63 games a season and is turning 30...not two guys that I want to build around.

That's an indictment on Towns and everyone else than it is a compliment to Wiggins.


It's just me, but I just don't see the scenario where Wiggins steps it up while being a member of this team.

WildWolf2813 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Camden wrote:Wiggins and Gibson (expiring) for Love and Korver. Who says no?

Maybe Thibs, I don't know. But me, as a season ticket holder, for one.

Well, no offense, but your disdain for Kevin Love was just as ludicrous as it is for Thibs. But I do count your vote the same. I have a feeling you won't be alone in the "no" category.

I would hope there would be a lot of "no's". I know many are dissatisfied with Wig including me at times, but he was our best player in the playoffs and is still young. Korver is 37 and shot 1-16 in the NBA finals, and Love has averaged just 63 games a season and is turning 30...not two guys that I want to build around.

That's an indictment on Towns and everyone else than it is a compliment to Wiggins.


It's just me, but I just don't see the scenario where Wiggins steps it up while being a member of this team.

Not just you. I'm 100% Porkchop with regard to this team, I have no expectation that they'll ever be more than second round fodder.

Today we were talking at work about NBA FA Cousins going to GS etc and how we felt about the league. I was joking with the guy that a few weeks ago said he was tired of the Cavs/Lebron vs GS every year. He is a Lebron/Cavs fan. I told him he won't see that anymore. We kept talking and I realized the likely matchup is Boston vs GS. I said that's gonna draw people to watch. I started thinking about it more. If Healthy its Kyrie going against GS again. Boston has a bunch of talent and is super switchable. I became actually really excited about that possible series. When does the season begin? Glad their is some summer league action to help be get through this time. The Twins are a few more days from being done as far as postseason is concerned.

monsterpile wrote:Today we were talking at work about NBA FA Cousins going to GS etc and how we felt about the league. I was joking with the guy that a few weeks ago said he was tired of the Cavs/Lebron vs GS every year. He is a Lebron/Cavs fan. I told him he won't see that anymore. We kept talking and I realized the likely matchup is Boston vs GS. I said that's gonna draw people to watch. I started thinking about it more. If Healthy its Kyrie going against GS again. Boston has a bunch of talent and is super switchable. I became actually really excited about that possible series. When does the season begin? Glad their is some summer league action to help be get through this time. The Twins are a few more days from being done as far as postseason is concerned.

I dont know Monster. Aren't you getting sick of the Warriors yet? Now they add Boogie. How do they afford all these all stars?

BizarroJerry wrote:

monsterpile wrote:Today we were talking at work about NBA FA Cousins going to GS etc and how we felt about the league. I was joking with the guy that a few weeks ago said he was tired of the Cavs/Lebron vs GS every year. He is a Lebron/Cavs fan. I told him he won't see that anymore. We kept talking and I realized the likely matchup is Boston vs GS. I said that's gonna draw people to watch. I started thinking about it more. If Healthy its Kyrie going against GS again. Boston has a bunch of talent and is super switchable. I became actually really excited about that possible series. When does the season begin? Glad their is some summer league action to help be get through this time. The Twins are a few more days from being done as far as postseason is concerned.

I dont know Monster. Aren't you getting sick of the Warriors yet? Now they add Boogie. How do they afford all these all stars?

You become as good and popular as they've become and the money rolls in, which enables you to spend even more. But you still have to be saavy in the way you spend because the cap still limits you to cap exceptions and you can't even use the full MLE. Note that the Warriors' payroll isn't as high as the Thunder's.

BizarroJerry wrote:

monsterpile wrote:Today we were talking at work about NBA FA Cousins going to GS etc and how we felt about the league. I was joking with the guy that a few weeks ago said he was tired of the Cavs/Lebron vs GS every year. He is a Lebron/Cavs fan. I told him he won't see that anymore. We kept talking and I realized the likely matchup is Boston vs GS. I said that's gonna draw people to watch. I started thinking about it more. If Healthy its Kyrie going against GS again. Boston has a bunch of talent and is super switchable. I became actually really excited about that possible series. When does the season begin? Glad their is some summer league action to help be get through this time. The Twins are a few more days from being done as far as postseason is concerned.

I dont know Monster. Aren't you getting sick of the Warriors yet? Now they add Boogie. How do they afford all these all stars?

Yes and no. I mean if my Wolves didn't actually have some sort of path to being at least a Memphis Grizzlies shot at being a contender maybe I would even praise the Warriors. They have gotten lucky but they have done so many things right to get to where they are. This isn't just the Lakers who just seem to basically rely on being the Lakers and people come there etc.

Ultimately the point of my post was that I'm interested to see a possible completely healthy Boston team (or even the Sixers) in a finals matchup against GS and see what happens. It's also not a sure thing that's a Cousins is healthy and significantly helps the Warriors especially depending on what matchup they face in the playoffs and what level of player he is.

There are a lot of interesting story lines going into this season that's i have interest in seeing how they play out. I'm interested to see how the Lebron, the kids and weird friends goes in LA (Lebron in LA seems so weird even if it probably had a level of inevitability). Can the Sixers continue the possible growth into one of the top teams in the league? What teams out there screwed themselves into Lux tax hell and difficult improving themselves?

I'm not just a Wolves fan I am a fan of the entire league good and bad. MLB I don't really have much of any pulse of the league beyond the Twins. Even though I have watched plenty of Twins games (pretty much every condensed game) the past 3 years there will often be some top 30 or whatever player I have honestly never heard of. NFL I pay attention to the whole league but I'm not as interested in it long term. If the Vikings weren't so interesting/captivating (good and bad) the past few years I probably wouldn't pay as much attention to the team and the league as a whole either. The NBA and basketball is my favorite sport to watch and follow and play...although now I have become a runner. I'll watch very bad basketball like summer league, some G-league games (some of these games are not bad basketball) and FIBA qulaifying games. I'm much more than a casual fan. In some ways the Warriors adding Cousins makes me probably take a step back and look at the league as a whole even more (opposite of what other people are thinking of doing) than just throwing up my hands entirely (I did feel that way for a few hours). That's just me. To me I see this league as one with a potentially very bright and entertaining future beyond the Warriors etc.

I'm also interested in some of the new players coming into the league like Ayton, Luka etc and if Trey Young ends up being a good player. Also (much smaller but somewhat interesting) what is Atlanta going to do with Schroeder?

Sorry I'm late with the BSPN talking points update;

1. LeBron
2. LaVar
3. Lakers
4. Lonzo
5. Others

I'll just leave it there as it won't change at all until next year.

The absurd punitive nature of the luxury tax is going to come home to roost for the Thunder this year. Reports are that their $150 million payroll is going to cost them an additional $150 million in luxury tax. The reported net worth of OkC owner Clay Bennett is $400 million, so if he is the sole owner, he will be paying over a third of his net worth to the league...and with almost no chance of even advancing to a West Conference title game! That should illustrate why Taylor needs to avoid the luxury tax this year, especially since there is no chance he can avoid the tax next year if he wants to retain KAT, Wig and Butler.


OkC paying this gigantic tax helps non-taxpaying owners like Taylor, since half of it goes to them. So if the total lux tax this year is $250 million and half of that goes to, say, 20 teams, Glen gets a $6 million payday. Not that much, but it is likely one of the reasons he will be willing to enter into lux-land for one year next season.

longstrangetrip wrote:The absurd punitive nature of the luxury tax is going to come home to roost for the Thunder this year. Reports are that their $150 million payroll is going to cost them an additional $150 million in luxury tax. The reported net worth of OkC owner Clay Bennett is $400 million, so if he is the sole owner, he will be paying over a third of his net worth to the league...and with almost no chance of even advancing to a West Conference title game! That should illustrate why Taylor needs to avoid the luxury tax this year, especially since there is no chance he can avoid the tax next year if he wants to retain KAT, Wig and Butler.


OkC paying this gigantic tax helps non-taxpaying owners like Taylor, since half of it goes to them. So if the total lux tax this year is $250 million and half of that goes to, say, 20 teams, Glen gets a $6 million payday. Not that much, but it is likely one of the reasons he will be willing to enter into lux-land for one year next season.

Socialism!!!

Actually, it makes a lot of sense, at least in a professional sports league. The irony is that it is in laissez-faire America where the sports leagues, especially the NBA, regulate their sports economies so heavily. Meanwhile, here in Europe (I live in Germany), which has significantly more socialist economies than the U.S., their soccer leagues are totally unregulated--to the detriment of the product, I would argue. There's rarely much drama in who the top teams will be and literally the only way for a team to get better is for the owners to get richer and then go buy up the best players. As much as we complain about it sometimes, to me, the American model of sports economies, particularly in the NBA, is so much better than a totally free-market alternative like we have in Europe.

This recent editorial mentions this irony of laissez-faire America with heavily regulated sports league economies and socialist Europe with unregulated sports economies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/opinion/ronaldo-world-cup-tax-evasion.html