Minnesota Sports Forum

Camden0916 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:LST - it's all smoke screens. Some info is legit. Some info is not. Nobody is going to show their hand. It's down right futile for us to draw conclusions based on the tidbits that are tossed out there.

How long until the draft is over?

Yep. I know this pretty well. Just a couple months ago, my Chargers drafted Joey Bosa No. 3 overall. They didn't even work him out! How bizarre is that? They studied his tape (the part of the scouting process that holds the most weight), liked what they saw, did their due diligence elsewhere, and eventually had him rated as the best overall talent in the entire draft. Nobody saw it coming. Front office was tight lipped from start to finish, though, there were leaks that "San Diego really likes DeForest Buckner" and "San Diego is set to take Ronnie Stanley at No. 3."

Basically, take all of these reports lightly because at the end of the day, it could be horseshit.

(The fact that we haven't heard much about Jamal Murray or Buddy Hield being linked to the Wolves might be a good thing if you're hoping for one of those players.)

I would think there is gonna be a lot less info available because the local media here don't have the relationship with Thins and Layden and anything they hear from the folks that have been there for a while how much stock do you really put in what they say even if they are telling the truth? Is a new bunch I think there is going to be less info that before. Neither Thibs or Layden seem like guys that are going to spend lots of time going on radio shows to talk. Thibs probably will probably do some because that's part of the job but nothing like Flip and Kahn even though I don't know either guy gave much away in those spots anyhow.

Last year many people were completely convinced Flip was gonna pick Okafor #1 and...eventually it looked more like maybe that wasn't the case but it ended up a no brainier for the wolves. It's fun to hear how guys are rising and falling around the league but I don't really know if there is too much to take from reports about the Wolves draft at this time.

Didn't know where to put this, but Arron Afflalo opted out of his deal with New York. Add him to the list of players I'd like to go after in free agency. 31-years old-ish, consistently a good 3P shooter and versatile defender. Capable posting up smaller defenders too. Has always been a hard worker type player. Would love to see him come off the bench for us, which would essentially replace Shabazz Muhammad in the rotation.

Camden wrote:Didn't know where to put this, but Arron Afflalo opted out of his deal with New York. Add him to the list of players I'd like to go after in free agency. 31-years old-ish, consistently a good 3P shooter and versatile defender. Capable posting up smaller defenders too. Has always been a hard worker type player. Would love to see him come off the bench for us, which would essentially replace Shabazz Muhammad in the rotation.

Afflalo's been on my FA wish list for a while since I've been assuming he'd opt out. My favorite SG FAs are Afflalo, Jared Dudley, Courtney Lee and Jamal Crawford in that order. I wouldn't mind Bayless either as a combo guard.

My favorite SFs are Deng, Batum, Bazemore and Matt Barnes.

My favorite Bigs are Noah, Mozgov and Cole Aldrich. I also like Jordan Hill and Mahinmi.

Camden wrote:Didn't know where to put this, but Arron Afflalo opted out of his deal with New York. Add him to the list of players I'd like to go after in free agency. 31-years old-ish, consistently a good 3P shooter and versatile defender. Capable posting up smaller defenders too. Has always been a hard worker type player. Would love to see him come off the bench for us, which would essentially replace Shabazz Muhammad in the rotation.

I've always liked Afflalo as well, but what does he command in this market? He's been in slight regression since he was 27, playing for 4 different teams. He opted out of 8 million, i don't think i'd pay him much more than that. If he's fine with that money but wants to cash in on a longer term deal for that amount then okay.

Dunn/Afflalo/Shabazz on our bench is a good mix of offense and defense though ;)

lipoli390 wrote:

Camden wrote:Didn't know where to put this, but Arron Afflalo opted out of his deal with New York. Add him to the list of players I'd like to go after in free agency. 31-years old-ish, consistently a good 3P shooter and versatile defender. Capable posting up smaller defenders too. Has always been a hard worker type player. Would love to see him come off the bench for us, which would essentially replace Shabazz Muhammad in the rotation.

Afflalo's been on my FA wish list for a while since I've been assuming he'd opt out. My favorite SG FAs are Afflalo, Jared Dudley, Courtney Lee and Jamal Crawford in that order. I wouldn't mind Bayless either as a combo guard.

My favorite SFs are Deng, Batum, Bazemore and Matt Barnes.

My favorite Bigs are Noah, Mozgov and Cole Aldrich. I also like Jordan Hill and Mahinmi.

Matt Barnes, can't decide if I'd really like that or really hate it.

The rest of the bunch would all be great additions here. With this new cap is it unrealistic to get any 1 wing and 1 big from this list for 15mil ish?

Id be down with Affalo. He brings a toughness we could use from a wing. I don't think he is going to be able to command a much bigger salary than what he got (with cap inflation figured in)

I've always wanted Afflalo to be better than he is, because he's a hard worker and seems like a good guy. But his numbers just aren't very good on balance. Take a look at a comparison between two wings that are available...Afflalo and Deng:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&y1=2016&p1=afflaar01&y2=2016&p2=denglu01&p3=&p4=&p5=&p6=

For those no interested in opening the link, Deng has a an offensive rating of 112 against a defensive rating of 105, while Afllalo is just the opposite...offensive rating of 105 against a defensive rating of 112. And Deng more than doubles Afflalo in win shares.

I've always thought Afflalo was overrated on defense because he seems to always work hard, and his defensive numbers support my assertion. He's quite a bit easier to score on than the league average...opposing players shoot 15% more than their averages within 6 feet, 11% more within 10 feet, 2% more greater than 15 feet, and 3% more on threes. Those numbers plus his subpar defensive rating of 112 tell me he is not a very effective defender

As we look at wings in free agency, I don't think we need both Afflalo and Deng, and I would focus on Deng well ahead of Afflalo.

Yeah, I put Afflalo and Deng in different tiers. Also, one is a pure wing and the other can play either forward position, so they aren't totally redundant.

Assuming we don't draft Murray or Hield and Wiggins starts at SF and LaVine at SG, we are going to need to get a backup SG in free agency. If the premise is that KAT-Wiggins-LaVine-Rubio do the vast majority of the heavy lifting for this squad in terms of play making, scoring, and defense, then we really only need a low-mistake veteran kind of player to backup LaVine at the 2. I'd be fine with Affalo in that kind of role. Same with Courtney Lee or even Alan Anderson.

Once you get your stars and high-level role players set, then I think the strategy is to fill in the gaps with vets that know how to play, stay in their lane, and generally avoid mistakes.

Q12543 wrote:Yeah, I put Afflalo and Deng in different tiers. Also, one is a pure wing and the other can play either forward position, so they aren't totally redundant.

Assuming we don't draft Murray or Hield and Wiggins starts at SF and LaVine at SG, we are going to need to get a backup SG in free agency. If the premise is that KAT-Wiggins-LaVine-Rubio do the vast majority of the heavy lifting for this squad in terms of play making, scoring, and defense, then we really only need a low-mistake veteran kind of player to backup LaVine at the 2. I'd be fine with Affalo in that kind of role. Same with Courtney Lee or even Alan Anderson.

Once you get your stars and high-level role players set, then I think the strategy is to fill in the gaps with vets that know how to play, stay in their lane, and generally avoid mistakes.

You make some good points, q, but we are looking at the SG position from a different perspective. Sam and Flip never seemed to talk about rebounding that much, but Thibs mentions it every time he talks about this team...and I don't think he is going to be satisfied with Wig's 3.6 rebounds per 36 minutes at the SF position. That's why I'm thinking Wig will be our starting SG, and the wings will involve a rotation of Wig,
Deng, Zach, Bazz, and perhaps what #5 becomes. I'm not too excited about a guy like Afflalo who will be looking for more than the $8 million he opted out of.

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Yeah, I put Afflalo and Deng in different tiers. Also, one is a pure wing and the other can play either forward position, so they aren't totally redundant.

Assuming we don't draft Murray or Hield and Wiggins starts at SF and LaVine at SG, we are going to need to get a backup SG in free agency. If the premise is that KAT-Wiggins-LaVine-Rubio do the vast majority of the heavy lifting for this squad in terms of play making, scoring, and defense, then we really only need a low-mistake veteran kind of player to backup LaVine at the 2. I'd be fine with Affalo in that kind of role. Same with Courtney Lee or even Alan Anderson.

Once you get your stars and high-level role players set, then I think the strategy is to fill in the gaps with vets that know how to play, stay in their lane, and generally avoid mistakes.

You make some good points, q, but we are looking at the SG position from a different perspective. Sam and Flip never seemed to talk about rebounding that much, but Thibs mentions it every time he talks about this team...and I don't think he is going to be satisfied with Wig's 3.6 rebounds per 36 minutes at the SF position. That's why I'm thinking Wig will be our starting SG, and the wings will involve a rotation of Wig,
Deng, Zach, Bazz, and perhaps what #5 becomes. I'm not too excited about a guy like Afflalo who will be looking for more than the $8 million he opted out of.

Understood. Certainly a Deng acquisition would move Wiggins to SG and LaVine to 6th man. I'm not sure how many other scenarios do that though, so I think the odds are more likely that Wiggins is your starting SF and LaVine the starting SG come November. Hopefully both these guys got a little stronger and gained a little weight this offseason. But yeah, this roster as composed today can still get pushed around quite a bit.