Minnesota Sports Forum

TheSP wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Thanks for the link Cam. Rubio for Okafor just makes too much sense to me.

I could be wrong but I just don't see Okafor as the answer to anything an this defense challenged.

I listened to most of the podcast. The Winhorst info seemed pretty vague to me. I guess the Wolves are looking to upgrade from Payne? Oh boy that's a big scoop espcially since as they pointed out Jordon Hill doesn't even play at this point. I thought Rachel's Nichols had the most insightful takes out of everyone.

Thanks for posting Cam.

TheSP wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Thanks for the link Cam. Rubio for Okafor just makes too much sense to me.

I could be wrong but I just don't see Okafor as the answer to anything an this defense challenged.

You're not wrong. He's a poor defender, inefficient scorer, and poor rebounder for a Center. Yes, he can score in the low post, but that is very low on the list of our priorities right now. Oh, he's also injury prone and has had a history of legal scrapes here in the Philly area. He's also from the one franchise that has managed to lose more than the Wolves the past few years. He literally has nothing going for him except for that he's kinda big!

Serge Ibaka, Kenneth Faried, Greg Monroe, Nerlens Noel, Luol Deng, Donatas Motiej?nas, and Kosta Koufos. Those would be my trade targets while keeping in mind that some of these guys need a new contract this summer.

Camden0916 wrote:Serge Ibaka, Kenneth Faried, Greg Monroe, Nerlens Noel, Luol Deng, Donatas Motiej?nas, and Kosta Koufos. Those would be my trade targets while keeping in mind that some of these guys need a new contract this summer.

Motiejunas is a free agent available to sign with anyone...except the Nets after the Rockets renounced him. I don't know if his physical situation is clear. I've liked him in the past but I am not sure what all he would actually bring looking at his stats. The whole situation around him has been weird for like a year now and it's only gotten more weird the last few weeks.

Camden wrote:Serge Ibaka, Kenneth Faried, Greg Monroe, Nerlens Noel, Luol Deng, Donatas Motiej?nas, and Kosta Koufos. Those would be my trade targets while keeping in mind that some of these guys need a new contract this summer.

I don't know...I really struggle with how any of these guys significantly move the needle as replacements over any of our existing big rotation (with Dieng and/or Aldrich being the primary guys moved or knocked out of the rotation).

The bottom line is our "big three" have to step it up defensively and get smarter offensively. Hopefully that will happen with time (?). But I feel like that is by far our best hope to becoming competitive and then all you need are "good enough" role players and specialists around them to fill in the holes. Everything else feels like shuffling of the deck chairs.

I really, really enjoy watching the Bucks play basketball, and Jabari Parker is a big reason why. How many power forwards in this league can keep up with him in transition? Are there any?

Here's last night's highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmJ3Ght6xI

Camden0916 wrote:I really, really enjoy watching the Bucks play basketball, and Jabari Parker is a big reason why. How many power forwards in this league can keep up with him in transition? Are there any?

Here's last night's highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICmJ3Ght6xI

It feels like he is quietly having a really nice season and basically nobody is talking about him. He looks healthy and pretty athletic.

Q12543 wrote:

TheSP wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:Thanks for the link Cam. Rubio for Okafor just makes too much sense to me.

I could be wrong but I just don't see Okafor as the answer to anything an this defense challenged.

You're not wrong. He's a poor defender, inefficient scorer, and poor rebounder for a Center. Yes, he can score in the low post, but that is very low on the list of our priorities right now. Oh, he's also injury prone and has had a history of legal scrapes here in the Philly area. He's also from the one franchise that has managed to lose more than the Wolves the past few years. He literally has nothing going for him except for that he's kinda big!

Q, are you saying Okafor is a bust?

Not a bust, but just not the kind of guy that fits on our team. He is almost like the Center version of Shabazz. Unless he gets touches in the low post, he's useless. So if he's your starting Center, he now becomes somewhat the center of gravity and create even less spacing than Dieng does now. I honestly believe he'd make our offense and defense worse.

If KAT and Wiggins were elite defenders, I could see being able to plug him in. But the last thing we need is another weak defender that needs a lot of shots on this team.

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:Serge Ibaka, Kenneth Faried, Greg Monroe, Nerlens Noel, Luol Deng, Donatas Motiej?nas, and Kosta Koufos. Those would be my trade targets while keeping in mind that some of these guys need a new contract this summer.

I don't know...I really struggle with how any of these guys significantly move the needle as replacements over any of our existing big rotation (with Dieng and/or Aldrich being the primary guys moved or knocked out of the rotation).

The bottom line is our "big three" have to step it up defensively and get smarter offensively. Hopefully that will happen with time (?). But I feel like that is by far our best hope to becoming competitive and then all you need are "good enough" role players and specialists around them to fill in the holes. Everything else feels like shuffling of the deck chairs.

I don't disagree with your second point, but we likely don't agree on the first point. Personally, I think we have one star big (Towns), one elite bench big (Dieng), two depth bigs (Aldrich and Bjelica), and two warm bodies (Hill and Payne). We're lacking a starting quality big to go next to Towns and one rotational big, but Aldrich is what we have for now.

You don't think adding Ibaka would do wonders for this team? I do. He's a legitimate catch-and-shoot threat from all over the floor, he's adequate in transition, he's capable on the glass, he's still one of the best rim protectors in basketball, he has winning pedigree, and he's been pretty durable throughout his career. The only drawback is that he's a free agent this summer, but we'll have the cap space to offer what he's likely to ask for anyway. That's the dream pickup as far as availability, need, cost, and our situation goes.