Minnesota Sports Forum

60WinTim wrote:This kind of went under the radar -- I thought the Wolves might extend a QO to Amile Jefferson, but like MGH, that did not happen.

Of course, now that I think about it, the QO would probably have to come out of an exception and not just a vet minimum contract. So now it makes perfect sense.

kekgeek1 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:I just finished listening to the Thibodeau/Layden free agent press conference.

First of all, I can't stand listening to Layden and I particularly can't stand how submissive he is around Thibodeau, constantly referring to him as coach. For pete's sake, call him Tom!! Are you that intimidated by Thibodeau?!

As usual, Thibodeau went on and on about Butler. He said he's in constant contact with him and stressed the importance of communication with Butler. He had no similar comments about KAT. Then when asked if he thought it would take as long to extend KAT as it took to extend Wiggins, Thibodeau responded that he had "no idea." So much for communicating. KAT is the key to this franchise as a 23-year old highly durable allstar who can be locked up for 6 years on a rookie max deal. I love Butler, but he's a non-durable 29 year old who can leave as a free agent after this season and who will cost a lot more than KAT to re-sign. I think Thibodeau should definitely stay in close contact with Jimmy and I'm fine with him repeatedly praising him. But his communication with KAT should be equally robust if not better and his overly obvious public Butler-bias has to stop.

One thing I found interesting was Thibodeau identifying what he considers the four key factors that go into free agents deciding what team to choose. Thibs said those factors were (1) the city, (2) winning, (3) money, and (4) teammates. Notoriously absent was any mention of the head coach, coaching staff, playing time or style of play. In other words, he avoided any factors for which the head coach could be held accountable, except perhaps winning, but that's also on the players.

Getting back to Layden. What exactly does he do? There just doesn't seem to be much going on above his neck and between his shoulders. As much as I criticize Thibodeau, I'm thankful he rather than Layden is in charge of the Wolves basketball operations.

Paul George's decision to return to OkC is yet another example of how out of touch Thibs is. He lists "the city" and "winning" as the 2 most important factors for a free agent, and OkC meets neither of these criteria...it's probably the worst NBA city, and they are destined to finish somewhere in the middle of the West playoff teams at best. Nope, as Thorpe states in his podcast, the city has absolutely nothing to do with a free agents' decision, but the way an organization and coaching staff treats its players is a vital factor...and OkC ranks very high in this area, just as the Wolves rank near or at the bottom. Thibs' list is strategic and self-serving on his part...when we end up with only Rose and a couple desperate D-leaguers in free agency, the Thibs bobos will buy into the mantra that the weather and city kept the good guys away. But Thorpe hears what the players are saying, and knows the real reason almost all free agents want to avoid this franchise.
OkC is sadly a much more desirable destination than Minneapolis right now, and will continue to be until Taylor makes the right move in mid-season.

You found the one player that fits your narrative.

What about the MVP Durant leaving that same thunder team for warriors. LBJ and the lakers. Boogie and the lakers. LBJ left for Miami.

With that said in the wolves franchise thibs yes thibs has signed arguably the best 2 free agent signings in wolves history in Teague and Taj

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:I just finished listening to the Thibodeau/Layden free agent press conference.

First of all, I can't stand listening to Layden and I particularly can't stand how submissive he is around Thibodeau, constantly referring to him as coach. For pete's sake, call him Tom!! Are you that intimidated by Thibodeau?!

As usual, Thibodeau went on and on about Butler. He said he's in constant contact with him and stressed the importance of communication with Butler. He had no similar comments about KAT. Then when asked if he thought it would take as long to extend KAT as it took to extend Wiggins, Thibodeau responded that he had "no idea." So much for communicating. KAT is the key to this franchise as a 23-year old highly durable allstar who can be locked up for 6 years on a rookie max deal. I love Butler, but he's a non-durable 29 year old who can leave as a free agent after this season and who will cost a lot more than KAT to re-sign. I think Thibodeau should definitely stay in close contact with Jimmy and I'm fine with him repeatedly praising him. But his communication with KAT should be equally robust if not better and his overly obvious public Butler-bias has to stop.

One thing I found interesting was Thibodeau identifying what he considers the four key factors that go into free agents deciding what team to choose. Thibs said those factors were (1) the city, (2) winning, (3) money, and (4) teammates. Notoriously absent was any mention of the head coach, coaching staff, playing time or style of play. In other words, he avoided any factors for which the head coach could be held accountable, except perhaps winning, but that's also on the players.

Getting back to Layden. What exactly does he do? There just doesn't seem to be much going on above his neck and between his shoulders. As much as I criticize Thibodeau, I'm thankful he rather than Layden is in charge of the Wolves basketball operations.

Paul George's decision to return to OkC is yet another example of how out of touch Thibs is. He lists "the city" and "winning" as the 2 most important factors for a free agent, and OkC meets neither of these criteria...it's probably the worst NBA city, and they are destined to finish somewhere in the middle of the West playoff teams at best. Nope, as Thorpe states in his podcast, the city has absolutely nothing to do with a free agents' decision, but the way an organization and coaching staff treats its players is a vital factor...and OkC ranks very high in this area, just as the Wolves rank near or at the bottom. Thibs' list is strategic and self-serving on his part...when we end up with only Rose and a couple desperate D-leaguers in free agency, the Thibs bobos will buy into the mantra that the weather and city kept the good guys away. But Thorpe hears what the players are saying, and knows the real reason almost all free agents want to avoid this franchise.
OkC is sadly a much more desirable destination than Minneapolis right now, and will continue to be until Taylor makes the right move in mid-season.

You found the one player that fits your narrative.

What about the MVP Durant leaving that same thunder team for warriors. LBJ and the lakers. Boogie and the lakers. LBJ left for Miami.

With that said in the wolves franchise thibs yes thibs has signed arguably the best 2 free agent signings in wolves history in Teague and Taj

And Thibs paid those two more than anyone else offered them. The Thunder were only offering Taj around $8 million per year. We paid him $14 million per year for two years. I doubt anyone else offered three years guaranteed at $19 million per year to Teague. It was clearly the money plus the perceived opportunity to win with Butler, KAT and Wiggins already here that got those two free agents to come here. It was also what got Crawford here, but he left as soon as he could for what will probably be less money even though he got more playing time than he can expect anywhere else.

Durant's stated reason for going to Golden State was their style of play and the team-first atmosphere. It's also been reported that he didn't like playing with Westbrook, which isn't surprising. In that sense, Thibs was right when he identified teammates as one of the four factors free agents consider. But Thibs strategically left out style of play among his factors and that was a huge factor for Durant leaving OKC for Golden State. The Thunder is the one other winning team in the League that plays an unimaginative iso-style offense.

khans2k5 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:I just finished listening to the Thibodeau/Layden free agent press conference.

First of all, I can't stand listening to Layden and I particularly can't stand how submissive he is around Thibodeau, constantly referring to him as coach. For pete's sake, call him Tom!! Are you that intimidated by Thibodeau?!

As usual, Thibodeau went on and on about Butler. He said he's in constant contact with him and stressed the importance of communication with Butler. He had no similar comments about KAT. Then when asked if he thought it would take as long to extend KAT as it took to extend Wiggins, Thibodeau responded that he had "no idea." So much for communicating. KAT is the key to this franchise as a 23-year old highly durable allstar who can be locked up for 6 years on a rookie max deal. I love Butler, but he's a non-durable 29 year old who can leave as a free agent after this season and who will cost a lot more than KAT to re-sign. I think Thibodeau should definitely stay in close contact with Jimmy and I'm fine with him repeatedly praising him. But his communication with KAT should be equally robust if not better and his overly obvious public Butler-bias has to stop.

One thing I found interesting was Thibodeau identifying what he considers the four key factors that go into free agents deciding what team to choose. Thibs said those factors were (1) the city, (2) winning, (3) money, and (4) teammates. Notoriously absent was any mention of the head coach, coaching staff, playing time or style of play. In other words, he avoided any factors for which the head coach could be held accountable, except perhaps winning, but that's also on the players.

Getting back to Layden. What exactly does he do? There just doesn't seem to be much going on above his neck and between his shoulders. As much as I criticize Thibodeau, I'm thankful he rather than Layden is in charge of the Wolves basketball operations.

Paul George's decision to return to OkC is yet another example of how out of touch Thibs is. He lists "the city" and "winning" as the 2 most important factors for a free agent, and OkC meets neither of these criteria...it's probably the worst NBA city, and they are destined to finish somewhere in the middle of the West playoff teams at best. Nope, as Thorpe states in his podcast, the city has absolutely nothing to do with a free agents' decision, but the way an organization and coaching staff treats its players is a vital factor...and OkC ranks very high in this area, just as the Wolves rank near or at the bottom. Thibs' list is strategic and self-serving on his part...when we end up with only Rose and a couple desperate D-leaguers in free agency, the Thibs bobos will buy into the mantra that the weather and city kept the good guys away. But Thorpe hears what the players are saying, and knows the real reason almost all free agents want to avoid this franchise.
OkC is sadly a much more desirable destination than Minneapolis right now, and will continue to be until Taylor makes the right move in mid-season.

You found the one player that fits your narrative.

What about the MVP Durant leaving that same thunder team for warriors. LBJ and the lakers. Boogie and the lakers. LBJ left for Miami.

With that said in the wolves franchise thibs yes thibs has signed arguably the best 2 free agent signings in wolves history in Teague and Taj

And Thibs paid those two more than anyone else offered them. The Thunder were only offering Taj around $8 million per year. We paid him $14 million per year for two years. I doubt anyone else offered three years guaranteed at $19 million per year to Teague. It was clearly the money plus the perceived opportunity to win with Butler, KAT and Wiggins already here that got those two free agents to come here. It was also what got Crawford here, but he left as soon as he could for what will probably be less money even though he got more playing time than he can expect anywhere else.

Durant's stated reason for going to Golden State was their style of play and the team-first atmosphere. It's also been reported that he didn't like playing with Westbrook, which isn't surprising. In that sense, Thibs was right when he identified teammates as one of the four factors free agents consider. But Thibs strategically left out style of play among his factors and that was a huge factor for Durant leaving OKC for Golden State. The Thunder is the one other winning team in the League that plays an unimaginative iso-style offense.

Why does Kawhi want out again?

khans2k5 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:I just finished listening to the Thibodeau/Layden free agent press conference.

First of all, I can't stand listening to Layden and I particularly can't stand how submissive he is around Thibodeau, constantly referring to him as coach. For pete's sake, call him Tom!! Are you that intimidated by Thibodeau?!

As usual, Thibodeau went on and on about Butler. He said he's in constant contact with him and stressed the importance of communication with Butler. He had no similar comments about KAT. Then when asked if he thought it would take as long to extend KAT as it took to extend Wiggins, Thibodeau responded that he had "no idea." So much for communicating. KAT is the key to this franchise as a 23-year old highly durable allstar who can be locked up for 6 years on a rookie max deal. I love Butler, but he's a non-durable 29 year old who can leave as a free agent after this season and who will cost a lot more than KAT to re-sign. I think Thibodeau should definitely stay in close contact with Jimmy and I'm fine with him repeatedly praising him. But his communication with KAT should be equally robust if not better and his overly obvious public Butler-bias has to stop.

One thing I found interesting was Thibodeau identifying what he considers the four key factors that go into free agents deciding what team to choose. Thibs said those factors were (1) the city, (2) winning, (3) money, and (4) teammates. Notoriously absent was any mention of the head coach, coaching staff, playing time or style of play. In other words, he avoided any factors for which the head coach could be held accountable, except perhaps winning, but that's also on the players.

Getting back to Layden. What exactly does he do? There just doesn't seem to be much going on above his neck and between his shoulders. As much as I criticize Thibodeau, I'm thankful he rather than Layden is in charge of the Wolves basketball operations.

Paul George's decision to return to OkC is yet another example of how out of touch Thibs is. He lists "the city" and "winning" as the 2 most important factors for a free agent, and OkC meets neither of these criteria...it's probably the worst NBA city, and they are destined to finish somewhere in the middle of the West playoff teams at best. Nope, as Thorpe states in his podcast, the city has absolutely nothing to do with a free agents' decision, but the way an organization and coaching staff treats its players is a vital factor...and OkC ranks very high in this area, just as the Wolves rank near or at the bottom. Thibs' list is strategic and self-serving on his part...when we end up with only Rose and a couple desperate D-leaguers in free agency, the Thibs bobos will buy into the mantra that the weather and city kept the good guys away. But Thorpe hears what the players are saying, and knows the real reason almost all free agents want to avoid this franchise.
OkC is sadly a much more desirable destination than Minneapolis right now, and will continue to be until Taylor makes the right move in mid-season.

You found the one player that fits your narrative.

What about the MVP Durant leaving that same thunder team for warriors. LBJ and the lakers. Boogie and the lakers. LBJ left for Miami.

With that said in the wolves franchise thibs yes thibs has signed arguably the best 2 free agent signings in wolves history in Teague and Taj

And Thibs paid those two more than anyone else offered them. The Thunder were only offering Taj around $8 million per year. We paid him $14 million per year for two years. I doubt anyone else offered three years guaranteed at $19 million per year to Teague. It was clearly the money plus the perceived opportunity to win with Butler, KAT and Wiggins already here that got those two free agents to come here. It was also what got Crawford here, but he left as soon as he could for what will probably be less money even though he got more playing time than he can expect anywhere else.

Durant's stated reason for going to Golden State was their style of play and the team-first atmosphere. It's also been reported that he didn't like playing with Westbrook, which isn't surprising. In that sense, Thibs was right when he identified teammates as one of the four factors free agents consider. But Thibs strategically left out style of play among his factors and that was a huge factor for Durant leaving OKC for Golden State. The Thunder is the one other winning team in the League that plays an unimaginative iso-style offense.

Why does Kawhi want out again?

WildWolf2813 wrote:Relationships with players definitely plays a huge role in recruitment. Jimmy Butler helped in that regard. Obviously we know Towns is popular and respected among his peers.

Wiggins on the other hand isn't viewed the same way.