It's time to move on from DLO....

[WallyBall]

Here's my latest thought on DLO. When I heard the Gobert trade go down, I was shocked DLO wasn't part of it. But taking stock several days later it made some sense. We all know DLO was being shopped earlier in the offseason, and maybe still is. The fact he's still on the team, to me, is a direct reflection of his low value around the league. Rosas is still the head idiot when it comes to DLO, and will remain as such until someone else gives up real value for the guy. Don't hold your breath. I suspect efforts to get some real value will continue to frustrate TC, and I can see him playing with the Wolves this year. If we're not a contender at the trade deadline (Good Lord I hope we are), they will give him away to the highest bidder. He might garner a late first round pick, but more likely a couple of seconds. If the Wolves are in contention and DLO is still contributing, they will let him walk at the end of the year for nothing but cap space. Sorry for the Debbie Downer take, but it's my honest assessment at this point.

In theory, I'm on this side of the fence. But with our cap space we may be stuck with him....as who do we replace him with internally, via trade in setting of weak demand, or via free agency?

Look at the bright side though, he may be a systems guy in a system with the right balance of complementary pieces this time around.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Here's my latest thought on DLO. When I heard the Gobert trade go down, I was shocked DLO wasn't part of it. But taking stock several days later it made some sense. We all know DLO was being shopped earlier in the offseason, and maybe still is. The fact he's still on the team, to me, is a direct reflection of his low value around the league. Rosas is still the head idiot when it comes to DLO, and will remain as such until someone else gives up real value for the guy. Don't hold your breath. I suspect efforts to get some real value will continue to frustrate TC, and I can see him playing with the Wolves this year. If we're not a contender at the trade deadline (Good Lord I hope we are), they will give him away to the highest bidder. He might garner a late first round pick, but more likely a couple of seconds. If the Wolves are in contention and DLO is still contributing, they will let him walk at the end of the year for nothing but cap space. Sorry for the Debbie Downer take, but it's my honest assessment at this point.

This is all possible except there will be no worthwhile cap space if Russell walks at the end of this season.

We don't know from year to year what the cap will rise to. There is also the impending media rights negotiations about to take place, that could triple the amount of money taken in by the teams. Every medium to long term contract you sign today will impact what you can do under the new contract. So I disagree with that blanket statement about worthwhile cap space.

We don't know for sure what the cap will rise to, but the NBA did release a projected $133-million cap for 2023-24 with a luxury tax threshold of $161-million.

Assuming the Minnesota Timberwolves pick up team options on Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, decline options on Taurean Prince and Jordan McLaughlin, do not extend D'Angelo Russell, Jaylen Nowell, or Naz Reid during the season, and take on no future salary via trade in order to maximize potential cap space, they would have approximately $105.8-million in player salaries for the 2023-24 season with just six players under contract -- Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels, and Wendell Moore Jr.

We'd have roughly $27.2-million in cap space with nine empty roster spots. When you get a moment go ahead and look at next year's projected free agent class and let me know who all you'd want to splurge on. Anyone worthwhile is going to command most of that. It's just not an exciting group of talent. The Timberwolves would be better off keeping their roster intact, re-signing their free agents, and utilizing their exceptions as a team over the cap but under the luxury tax threshold.

[Monster]

Here's my latest thought on DLO. When I heard the Gobert trade go down, I was shocked DLO wasn't part of it. But taking stock several days later it made some sense. We all know DLO was being shopped earlier in the offseason, and maybe still is. The fact he's still on the team, to me, is a direct reflection of his low value around the league. Rosas is still the head idiot when it comes to DLO, and will remain as such until someone else gives up real value for the guy. Don't hold your breath. I suspect efforts to get some real value will continue to frustrate TC, and I can see him playing with the Wolves this year. If we're not a contender at the trade deadline (Good Lord I hope we are), they will give him away to the highest bidder. He might garner a late first round pick, but more likely a couple of seconds. If the Wolves are in contention and DLO is still contributing, they will let him walk at the end of the year for nothing but cap space. Sorry for the Debbie Downer take, but it's my honest assessment at this point.

This is all possible except there will be no worthwhile cap space if Russell walks at the end of this season.

We don't know from year to year what the cap will rise to. There is also the impending media rights negotiations about to take place, that could triple the amount of money taken in by the teams. Every medium to long term contract you sign today will impact what you can do under the new contract. So I disagree with that blanket statement about worthwhile cap space.

We don't know for sure what the cap will rise to, but the NBA did release a projected $133-million cap for 2023-24 with a luxury tax threshold of $161-million.

Assuming the Minnesota Timberwolves pick up team options on Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, decline options on Taurean Prince and Jordan McLaughlin, do not extend D'Angelo Russell, Jaylen Nowell, or Naz Reid during the season, and take on no future salary via trade in order to maximize potential cap space, they would have approximately $105.8-million in player salaries for the 2023-24 season with just six players under contract -- Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels, and Wendell Moore Jr.

We'd have roughly $27.2-million in cap space with nine empty roster spots. When you get a moment go ahead and look at next year's projected free agent class and let me know who all you'd want to splurge on. Anyone worthwhile is going to command most of that. It's just not an exciting group of talent. The Timberwolves would be better off keeping their roster intact, re-signing their free agents, and utilizing their exceptions as a team over the cap but under the luxury tax threshold.

Don't forget you have to figure in roster spot charges for 8 spots (have to have 14 spots filled) and that cuts the cap space number even further.

The Current NBA TV deal doesn't end till after 2024-2025 season.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Gersson Rosas is somehow the "head idiot" but basically flipped an entire roster of dysfunctional pieces into a 46-win playoff team in three summers while simultaneously accumulating the assets and cap flexibility necessary to make a trade of significance like the one we just witnessed with Rudy Gobert. Rosas also plucked Chris Finch from Toronto's bench and he's been nothing short of impressive since he took over. Rosas delivered the troops and the general to lead them.

When you really make a list of pros and cons for Rosas during his three years you come out with some very heady decision-making and talent discovery -- much more good than bad. Obviously, there were mistakes along the way, but you have to give him credit for also turning those mistakes into wins. Put some respect on his name. The guy is a savvy executive, personal flaws aside, and the Timberwolves wouldn't be in the position they're in without him.

My take regarding Rosas being the head idiot has ALWAYS been exclusively and specifically related to his acquisition of DLO. It has nothing to do with any other moves he made during his tenure.

Repeatedly referring to an executive as "the head idiot" for a singular transaction despite said transaction, and a collection of others, directly improving the team's win-loss record and their future outlook... You can't recognize how bizarre that is? Are you absolutely sure he's the idiot?

Also, what if Tim Connelly extends or re-signs Russell? Does he get to share this subjective monicker? What happens then?

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

Gersson Rosas is somehow the "head idiot" but basically flipped an entire roster of dysfunctional pieces into a 46-win playoff team in three summers while simultaneously accumulating the assets and cap flexibility necessary to make a trade of significance like the one we just witnessed with Rudy Gobert. Rosas also plucked Chris Finch from Toronto's bench and he's been nothing short of impressive since he took over. Rosas delivered the troops and the general to lead them.

When you really make a list of pros and cons for Rosas during his three years you come out with some very heady decision-making and talent discovery -- much more good than bad. Obviously, there were mistakes along the way, but you have to give him credit for also turning those mistakes into wins. Put some respect on his name. The guy is a savvy executive, personal flaws aside, and the Timberwolves wouldn't be in the position they're in without him.

Here we go again. Yeah Rosas was decent on player moves and he made a solid coaching hire, but cmon Camden. First, 46 wins isn't really that much to brag about in a normal year after you had two #1 picks fall in your lap. Second, last years team wins 41 games in a regular year, so quit bragging that it was some great accomplishment. His big trades were bad (Dlo) and ok (beasley/vando). In my opinion, he made two good picks jaden and nowell, but he also passed on Bane a couple times too (not good). Jmac was a good pickup. I think Rosas was slightly above average overall... interestingly I think his trades were his weakness, just like TC.

I absolutely think it's fair to say that Rosas was the "head idiot" on Dlo, but aside from that move, I think he was pretty solid overall. Let's not build him a statue just because his team won an inflated 46 games. I think a lot of us could have done just as well as Rosas, if not better. I mean he also picked culver over guys like cam Johnson and Brandon Clarke. Now if he had made the moves that Memphis made (bane and Clarke with late picks), while also taking the guy that fell in their lap (Morant), then we could talk about him being great.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

First, I wouldn't be surprised if they still move DLO this offseason. In his press conference yesterday, Connelly almost seemed to indicate an interest in making another significant move this offseason, at one point checking with another front office guy before saying something, and then basically saying he shouldn't say any more. I might have misread that, but if they are looking to make another significant move, it's tough to imagine that wouldn't include DLO. And if we're not going to extend him, it makes sense to move him this offseason to get something in return.

But even as an admitted DLO skeptic, I am starting to think it might make sense to extend him for three reasons, the last of which is probably the most important.

1) I used to really dislike DLO because he's overpaid and he doesn't bring toughness or defense and I always thought he was immature, but last year he really changed my mind by improving as an off-ball defender and even as a bit of a vocal leader. He really was a better player last year, even though he did not have a very good playoff series. I still think he's way overpaid, but he was better than I thought last year.

2) With Gobert here, I think he could be more valuable than in the past because he should be very good at hitting Gobert with lobs, and Gobert also helps make his defensive weaknesses more manageable. It's definitely possible he increases his value this season as Cam suggests. If we can extend him at his market value now, it's reasonable to bet his value may go up next year and that contract will be a better deal, either for us, or for us to trade.

3) Locking him into an extension now could give us an asset to trade in the future, and ironically, could even give us the cap flexibility we'd need to stay competitive if the owners are willing to go into the tax. As I understand the rules once a team is over the cap, you can't just sign a free agent when you are over the cap without using one of the exceptions, which are fairly limited. But you can still trade contracts. So let's say we extend DLO for a couple more years at 25 million. Personally, I still think that's a couple million more than what his actual market value would likely be if he were a free agent this summer, but it could look like a decent deal next summer. In that case, even if he doesn't turn out to be a good fit for us, we'd probably be able to trade him next summer or the summer after that to bring in another player making within 15% of making 25 million. As I understand it, if we just let his contract expire, we wouldn't be able to sign a free agent outside of our exceptions since we'll probably still be over the cap next offseason because of KAT and Rudy's contracts. But if we have DLO under contract, we could trade him for somebody who could help us, assuming we still wouldn't want DLO after this year. Does this make sense? In other words, extending DLO at something like 25 million for a couple extra years might be a bit of an overpay, but in part what we'd be paying for is the opportunity to assemble a roster that can (if we choose to do so) have a payroll that goes way over the cap. That ability to spend a lot of money despite being over the cap could end up being pretty valuable to keeping this team as competitive as possible. If I'm misunderstanding how this works with the cap, could somebody explain it to me? Like I'm a child. Or a golden retriever.

Ah yes, Jeremy Irons. Good flick, great performance.

Yet more evidence that you might be my best friend I've never met.

[Lipoli390]

First, I wouldn't be surprised if they still move DLO this offseason. In his press conference yesterday, Connelly almost seemed to indicate an interest in making another significant move this offseason, at one point checking with another front office guy before saying something, and then basically saying he shouldn't say any more. I might have misread that, but if they are looking to make another significant move, it's tough to imagine that wouldn't include DLO. And if we're not going to extend him, it makes sense to move him this offseason to get something in return.

But even as an admitted DLO skeptic, I am starting to think it might make sense to extend him for three reasons, the last of which is probably the most important.

1) I used to really dislike DLO because he's overpaid and he doesn't bring toughness or defense and I always thought he was immature, but last year he really changed my mind by improving as an off-ball defender and even as a bit of a vocal leader. He really was a better player last year, even though he did not have a very good playoff series. I still think he's way overpaid, but he was better than I thought last year.

2) With Gobert here, I think he could be more valuable than in the past because he should be very good at hitting Gobert with lobs, and Gobert also helps make his defensive weaknesses more manageable. It's definitely possible he increases his value this season as Cam suggests. If we can extend him at his market value now, it's reasonable to bet his value may go up next year and that contract will be a better deal, either for us, or for us to trade.

3) Locking him into an extension now could give us an asset to trade in the future, and ironically, could even give us the cap flexibility we'd need to stay competitive if the owners are willing to go into the tax. As I understand the rules once a team is over the cap, you can't just sign a free agent when you are over the cap without using one of the exceptions, which are fairly limited. But you can still trade contracts. So let's say we extend DLO for a couple more years at 25 million. Personally, I still think that's a couple million more than what his actual market value would likely be if he were a free agent this summer, but it could look like a decent deal next summer. In that case, even if he doesn't turn out to be a good fit for us, we'd probably be able to trade him next summer or the summer after that to bring in another player making within 15% of making 25 million. As I understand it, if we just let his contract expire, we wouldn't be able to sign a free agent outside of our exceptions since we'll probably still be over the cap next offseason because of KAT and Rudy's contracts. But if we have DLO under contract, we could trade him for somebody who could help us, assuming we still wouldn't want DLO after this year. Does this make sense? In other words, extending DLO at something like 25 million for a couple extra years might be a bit of an overpay, but in part what we'd be paying for is the opportunity to assemble a roster that can (if we choose to do so) have a payroll that goes way over the cap. That ability to spend a lot of money despite being over the cap could end up being pretty valuable to keeping this team as competitive as possible. If I'm misunderstanding how this works with the cap, could somebody explain it to me? Like I'm a child. Or a golden retriever.

Drew - Your last point is what I meant by the Gobert deal changing the DLO calculus. The lack of financial flexibility and trade assets caused by the Gobert deal will make it much harder to bring in a solid point guard replacement for DLO because the Wolves would have to rely on salary cap exceptions. The biggest cap exception is the MLE, which starts at around $10.3 million this year and will probably go up a bit next summer. That's pretty limiting. And it probably means the Wolves will be more inclined to keep and perhaps slightly overpay DLO. The problem with paying DLO even slightly over market value is that it makes it even harder to trade what appears to be a player without a lot of trade value to begin with. This is just one of the ways the Gobert deal downsides will play out over the years.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

First, I wouldn't be surprised if they still move DLO this offseason. In his press conference yesterday, Connelly almost seemed to indicate an interest in making another significant move this offseason, at one point checking with another front office guy before saying something, and then basically saying he shouldn't say any more. I might have misread that, but if they are looking to make another significant move, it's tough to imagine that wouldn't include DLO. And if we're not going to extend him, it makes sense to move him this offseason to get something in return.

But even as an admitted DLO skeptic, I am starting to think it might make sense to extend him for three reasons, the last of which is probably the most important.

1) I used to really dislike DLO because he's overpaid and he doesn't bring toughness or defense and I always thought he was immature, but last year he really changed my mind by improving as an off-ball defender and even as a bit of a vocal leader. He really was a better player last year, even though he did not have a very good playoff series. I still think he's way overpaid, but he was better than I thought last year.

2) With Gobert here, I think he could be more valuable than in the past because he should be very good at hitting Gobert with lobs, and Gobert also helps make his defensive weaknesses more manageable. It's definitely possible he increases his value this season as Cam suggests. If we can extend him at his market value now, it's reasonable to bet his value may go up next year and that contract will be a better deal, either for us, or for us to trade.

3) Locking him into an extension now could give us an asset to trade in the future, and ironically, could even give us the cap flexibility we'd need to stay competitive if the owners are willing to go into the tax. As I understand the rules once a team is over the cap, you can't just sign a free agent when you are over the cap without using one of the exceptions, which are fairly limited. But you can still trade contracts. So let's say we extend DLO for a couple more years at 25 million. Personally, I still think that's a couple million more than what his actual market value would likely be if he were a free agent this summer, but it could look like a decent deal next summer. In that case, even if he doesn't turn out to be a good fit for us, we'd probably be able to trade him next summer or the summer after that to bring in another player making within 15% of making 25 million. As I understand it, if we just let his contract expire, we wouldn't be able to sign a free agent outside of our exceptions since we'll probably still be over the cap next offseason because of KAT and Rudy's contracts. But if we have DLO under contract, we could trade him for somebody who could help us, assuming we still wouldn't want DLO after this year. Does this make sense? In other words, extending DLO at something like 25 million for a couple extra years might be a bit of an overpay, but in part what we'd be paying for is the opportunity to assemble a roster that can (if we choose to do so) have a payroll that goes way over the cap. That ability to spend a lot of money despite being over the cap could end up being pretty valuable to keeping this team as competitive as possible. If I'm misunderstanding how this works with the cap, could somebody explain it to me? Like I'm a child. Or a golden retriever.

Drew - Your last point is what I meant by the Gobert deal changing the DLO calculus. The lack of financial flexibility and trade assets caused by the Gobert deal will make it much harder to bring in a solid point guard replacement for DLO because the Wolves would have to rely on salary cap exceptions. The biggest cap exception is the MLE, which starts at around $10.3 million this year and will probably go up a bit next summer. That's pretty limiting. And it probably means the Wolves will be more inclined to keep and perhaps slightly overpay DLO. The problem with paying DLO even slightly over market value is that it makes it even harder to trade what appears to be a player without a lot of trade value to begin with. This is just one of the ways the Gobert deal downsides will play out over the years.

Well said.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

If Dlo doesn't take a "more than fair" extension of 4/70 this offseason, then you dare him to find something better next offseason, but here's the big thing... you tell him right now that you won't be participating in any sign and trade deals under any circumstances. Any team that wants him for more next offseason will need to have the cap space. This will make it much more difficult obviously, as any team with 20 + mil in cap space next offseason is likely looking to sign someone better than Dlo. I believe that this is how a smart front office handles this. We already paid him a max that he didn't deserve. If he wants to play hard ball you say good luck doing better than 4/70 without the benefit of a sign and trade. Shoot, I'd really only offer him 4/60 at this point, but I'm going 4/70 to be more realistic. He gets the security of the guaranteed 70 mil a year sooner and we get a starting pg on a somewhat tradable contract.

I'm sure his camp is requesting a 4/110 extension this offseason and probably presenting it as a discount or pay cut lol... I'd tell the guy to get screwed if he doesn't want 4/70 right now. I'd say enjoy taking a one year MLE from someone next offseason when we don't participate in a sign and trade.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Here's my latest thought on DLO. When I heard the Gobert trade go down, I was shocked DLO wasn't part of it. But taking stock several days later it made some sense. We all know DLO was being shopped earlier in the offseason, and maybe still is. The fact he's still on the team, to me, is a direct reflection of his low value around the league. Rosas is still the head idiot when it comes to DLO, and will remain as such until someone else gives up real value for the guy. Don't hold your breath. I suspect efforts to get some real value will continue to frustrate TC, and I can see him playing with the Wolves this year. If we're not a contender at the trade deadline (Good Lord I hope we are), they will give him away to the highest bidder. He might garner a late first round pick, but more likely a couple of seconds. If the Wolves are in contention and DLO is still contributing, they will let him walk at the end of the year for nothing but cap space. Sorry for the Debbie Downer take, but it's my honest assessment at this point.

This is all possible except there will be no worthwhile cap space if Russell walks at the end of this season.

We don't know from year to year what the cap will rise to. There is also the impending media rights negotiations about to take place, that could triple the amount of money taken in by the teams. Every medium to long term contract you sign today will impact what you can do under the new contract. So I disagree with that blanket statement about worthwhile cap space.

We don't know for sure what the cap will rise to, but the NBA did release a projected $133-million cap for 2023-24 with a luxury tax threshold of $161-million.

Assuming the Minnesota Timberwolves pick up team options on Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, decline options on Taurean Prince and Jordan McLaughlin, do not extend D'Angelo Russell, Jaylen Nowell, or Naz Reid during the season, and take on no future salary via trade in order to maximize potential cap space, they would have approximately $105.8-million in player salaries for the 2023-24 season with just six players under contract -- Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels, and Wendell Moore Jr.

We'd have roughly $27.2-million in cap space with nine empty roster spots. When you get a moment go ahead and look at next year's projected free agent class and let me know who all you'd want to splurge on. Anyone worthwhile is going to command most of that. It's just not an exciting group of talent. The Timberwolves would be better off keeping their roster intact, re-signing their free agents, and utilizing their exceptions as a team over the cap but under the luxury tax threshold.

Don't forget you have to figure in roster spot charges for 8 spots (have to have 14 spots filled) and that cuts the cap space number even further.

The Current NBA TV deal doesn't end till after 2024-2025 season.

The current TV deal is $24B. Projections for the next tv deal are about $75B.

Crazy salaries are about to get crazier. And the salary cap will jump accordingly.

__________

That being said, I fear the Wolves are tied to D. Russell.

There just isn't much wiggle room for the next several years with this team. Gotta kinda cross our fingers and hope it works out ideally.