Minnesota Sports Forum

Rubio / Barea / LeVine
Martin / Waiters / Shved
Wiggins / Brewer / Budinger / Muhammad
Thompson / LMAM
Pekovic / Dieng / Turiaf

To me Barea and Budinger are the odd men out. They would have to be involved in a trade for a stretch PF to balance out the roster. I'm happy rolling with Rubio, LeVine and Shved at the point.

KiwiMatt wrote:Rubio / Barea / LeVine
Martin / Waiters / Shved
Wiggins / Brewer / Budinger / Muhammad
Thompson / LMAM
Pekovic / Dieng / Turiaf

To me Barea and Budinger are the odd men out. They would have to be involved in a trade for a stretch PF to balance out the roster. I'm happy rolling with Rubio, LeVine and Shved at the point.

I prefer Martin as the 6th man if that is the roster. First off, it would reduce his minutes and hopefully minimize injury risk. Second, I trust him having full control over an offense surrounded by barea/brewer/lmam/dieng. Waiters, not so much. I wouldn't want to let him and barea have a free-for-all. Personally, I'd rather move Martin in the CLE deal, or a separate deal, but if not then he's the 6th man for me.

I also do not see Wiggins starting immediately. I'd expect Brewer to start, with wiggins the 2nd or 3rd sg/sf off the bench. Let's hope this happens today and that we receive Wiggins, Waiters, a 1st, and Thompson > Bennett!

Rubio / LaVine / Barea
Waiters/ Martin / Shved
Brewer / Wiggins / Budinger / Muhammad
Thompson / Mbah a Moute
Pekovic / Dieng / Turiaf

All roster spots are filled, if all rumors are true.

Waiters needs to start. Wiggins should be worked into the starting rotation, rather than being given the position based on hype. Give him the Rubio treatment. Budinger + Barea + Shved definitely need to go. At worst, Jason Thompson from Sac-Town is likely available.

Hopefully we shed Shved as part of the deal.

I think you take a look at Waiters in training camp. If you don't like what you see you trade him before the start of the season. (see meaning mesh with the team and his role)

bleedspeed177 wrote:Hopefully we shed Shved as part of the deal.

I think you take a look at Waiters in training camp. If you don't like what you see you trade him before the start of the season. (see meaning mesh with the team and his role)

Assuming Waiters is part of the deal, he becomes our starting shooting guard. So many variables were wrong for him in Cleveland. Irving being ball-dominant, coach not giving him consistent minutes, media speculating on him being a locker room cancer. Personally, I'd love to see what he could do next to Rubio and with Flip coaching him.

Love and a throwaway 2nd rounder...
... for Wiggins. Waiters and Thompson?

I would never have imagined the Cavs would give that much. And I still have serious doubts.

But if true... this would be the "absolute best case" trade we've seen since this process began. Waiters is a bit of a headcase, but he offers very real value on his own.

I doubt all 3 are coming, but if they do... nice job Flip.

http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pk374uh

Camden wrote:

bleedspeed177 wrote:Hopefully we shed Shved as part of the deal.

I think you take a look at Waiters in training camp. If you don't like what you see you trade him before the start of the season. (see meaning mesh with the team and his role)

Assuming Waiters is part of the deal, he becomes our starting shooting guard. So many variables were wrong for him in Cleveland. Irving being ball-dominant, coach not giving him consistent minutes, media speculating on him being a locker room cancer. Personally, I'd love to see what he could do next to Rubio and with Flip coaching him.

If we gave him 35 minutes a night he will score 20+ a night. I love his upside, but if he is a cancer it would show early and I would want him gone by the all-star break.

Landing Wiggins is one of the most exciting moves in the history of this franchise. Flip and the Cavs are likely ironing out the other players in the deal (and perhaps listening to other offers), but make no mistake about it...this deal is about Love for Wiggins. The other pieces are not inconsequential, but pale in importance compared to these two players...one already great, one with potential to be even better.

I think Wiggins has been well-analyzed in this thread, although I'm more excited about him than most. I see his obvious positives, and am not as concerned about the potential negatives. Here are my thoughts about the negatives:

Frame: Wiggins is skinny to be sure, and can get pushed around under the basket...much like another Wolf first rounder that we drafted almost 20 years ago and will be a Hall of Famer someday. But most experts look at his shoulders and body type and see a guy who can add weight easily. He's only 19, and is going to look a lot different in a couple years, without impacting his extraordinary athleticism.

Handle: Wiggins can maximize his potential if he can log substantial minutes at SG. With his incredible combination of lateral quickness and length, few question his ability to guard NBA 2's...the issue is whether he can handle the ball well enough to be a 2. I watched him closely yesterday, and yes it was just one game, but I really liked the way he put the ball on the floor. He didn't rely on his outside jumper, but instead focused on aggressively getting to the basket. And he looked good...at least above average yesterday on his handle. He doesn't appear to be a very good distributor yet, but perhaps that will change over time. But I think he has the handles to play SG.

Motor and intensity: This comes up occasionally, and again I used yesterday's game to evaluate this aspect. My take is that the game comes easier to Wiggins than most, and sometimes that makes him look complacent. Defensively yesterday he showed an extraordinary motor, especially in transition. 2 or 3 times he used his long strides and effort on defense to foil a fast break. He does sometimes show a tendency to take plays off on offense, but I don't see this as a serious flaw. And he will contribute immediately defensively.

We lose incredible production in losing Love, and that is difficult to replace. But I see this production as more than offset by what we are gaining in comparative athleticism and character. Many on this board look only at Love's scoring and rebounding, which are exceptional, and overlook his negatives which have been a major factor in our lack of success during the failed Love years. Of course he's not the only reason we haven't been a winner, but he has been a factor. I really struggled evaluating the Love/Mayo swap on draft night, because they were my two least favorite guys in the draft from a character standpoint...I didn't want either one of them, just like I didn't want Cousins. Love is what I thought he was, and I'm glad to see him heading east. Wiggins on the other hand appears to have excellent character. Anytime you remove an unliked, locker room cancer, and replace him with a good guy, especially one with Wiggins' extraordinary athleticism, your team is better off.

A year ago, Wiggins was being hailed as the greatest prospect since LeBron. His uneven first half of his freshman year tarnished this image a little, but he got better and better as the season progressed, and his 20 PPG in the final month of the season led to his being the #1 pick in the best draft in years. And now he appears likely to become a Timberwolf, and there is reason for enormous excitement. I can't wait to see how Flip molds this athletic team...it going to be fun!