Minnesota Timberwolves: Choose Your Own Path

[mrhockey89]

Give me A please. If the goal is a championship, we need more championship level players. Despite Simmons cold streak in the playoffs, he is a championship level player (just needs to get out of his own way a bit). I am a McDaniels fan, and losing a couple 1sts isn't fun. Russell can be hot, but we have others that can shoot. The Wolves lineups in options B/C don't lead us to a championship in my opinion...however a lineup looking similar to this might...

Beverly/Simmons
Beasley
Edwards
Simmons
KAT

That looks intimidating to me on both ends of the floor...and those 2022/2024 picks won't even be close to top 4.

I'm not totally against this route and your reasoning somewhat lines up with mine, but I disagree on the timing. I think we need to see more of this current group before totally shaking it up.

While I agree that would be ideal, I don't think you come across the situation where a 25 year old superstar becomes attainable very often. I believe this is a very small window for the Wolves and Rosas to obtain a guy they would normally have no business even sending an offer for. And the only reason he's available right now is because he had a poor playoff run. I think if you get an opportunity to get Ant, KAT, and Simmons on the same team and you don't even need to give up 4 future 1sts, you have to take the shot at what could be. And what's better..they fit from an age standpoint.

[FNG]

I could also be swayed into voting A, although I'm probably still a B guy. Simmons is that good in my opinion.

While I favor B and A, I'm pretty sure we'll get C or even worse.

[D-Mac [enjin:19736340]]

Option D

Beasley, Beverly, Bolmaro, and 2-3 first round picks for Ben Simmons

This is certainly an option, just not a realistic one at this moment for several reasons.

It's not the worst thing in the world... clowns make people happy. But seriously, when you're the president of the D lo fan club, you're not exactly a rocket scientist


You're such a clown. Who are you to say what's realistic and what's not. Seems just as likely as your proposal.

Cam's a clown? I like Bloop's proposal, but I agree with Cam that it's probably unrealistic right now given what we've all heard the Sixers are seeking in exchange for Simmons. Cam qualified his comment with "at the moment," acknowledging that Morey might change his tune and accept a lot less than he's been seeking. But based on what's been reported to date, the Sixers will probably expect more than what Bloop suggested.

It's not the worst thing in the world... clowns make people happy. But seriously, when you're the president of the D lo fan club, you're not exactly a rocket scientist.

All my contributions to this board and it all gets boiled down to being a D-Lo fan... That's, uhh, something. How long have you been here? Missed out on the Thaddeus Young days huh?

In reality, I'm not and haven't been married to the idea of D-Lo being one of the guys that eventually leads Minnesota to championship contention -- the same can be said about every other Wolves player at this point -- but I do think he's a much better player than many on here obviously feel. We also still have yet to see what a full season of a semi-healthy D-Lo looks like so who's really able to pound their chest about it at this point?

Been reading this board quite often ever since it was an espn board. So obviously I like most of the takes (including yours sometimes). Maybe that's weird that I never started commenting until recently, but whatever :) Ive noticed kind of an elitist attitude toward other posters for a long time... coupled with the stubbornness to admit your sub par takes (Dlo), I just have to call you out. I'll admit that you're right on this particular post about bloops trade, but that doesn't really change the stubborn/elitist vibe I get from you. To stay on topic, why not dlo and two top 7 protected firsts for Simmons. I actually think dlo would be a good fit in phili, and do we really need to give up anymore at this point?

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Give me A please. If the goal is a championship, we need more championship level players. Despite Simmons cold streak in the playoffs, he is a championship level player (just needs to get out of his own way a bit). I am a McDaniels fan, and losing a couple 1sts isn't fun. Russell can be hot, but we have others that can shoot. The Wolves lineups in options B/C don't lead us to a championship in my opinion...however a lineup looking similar to this might...

Beverly/Simmons
Beasley
Edwards
Simmons
KAT

That looks intimidating to me on both ends of the floor...and those 2022/2024 picks won't even be close to top 4.

I'm not totally against this route and your reasoning somewhat lines up with mine, but I disagree on the timing. I think we need to see more of this current group before totally shaking it up.

While I agree that would be ideal, I don't think you come across the situation where a 25 year old superstar becomes attainable very often. I believe this is a very small window for the Wolves and Rosas to obtain a guy they would normally have no business even sending an offer for. And the only reason he's available right now is because he had a poor playoff run. I think if you get an opportunity to get Ant, KAT, and Simmons on the same team and you don't even need to give up 4 future 1sts, you have to take the shot at what could be. And what's better..they fit from an age standpoint.

That's also a massive price to pay for a guy that on a championship team will have a role closer to that of Draymond Green than Giannis Antetokounmpo. That's not a knock because Green's a likely Hall of Famer, but he's just not straw that stirs the drink. He's an insanely good role player. And that's without mentioning that Green used to be a capable outside shooter.

I won't hate a move for Ben Simmons. The guy is an All-Star and one of the most versatile defenders in the game. But I think the price we'd have to pay to get him right now is too steep even at a discount and the roster would need even more turnover to adjust for such an acquisition. Let's see what this group can do first. A year from now Jaden McDaniels might have Mikal Bridges level value and D'Angelo Russell will almost assuredly have higher value if he can avoid the injury bug.

[Monster]

Let's throw out another option for a young player to possibly acquire.

What would you give up for Moses Brown? He was very productive last year and maybe he isn't legit but watching some highlights he is literally behind and reaching over Embiid and getting rebounds and tips. He is 7'1.25" tall without shoes and has a 7'4.75" wingspan. That's a big dude. He is signed for basically the vet min for the next 3 years so that could be an cheap contract if he is a nice player. I haven't seen him play enough to say I would give up a lottery protected first to get him but honestly I'm tempted to do so partly because of that value contract.

[Lipoli390]

Let's throw out another option for a young player to possibly acquire.

What would you give up for Moses Brown? He was very productive last year and maybe he isn't legit but watching some highlights he is literally behind and reaching over Embiid and getting rebounds and tips. He is 7'1.25" tall without shoes and has a 7'4.75" wingspan. That's a big dude. He is signed for basically the vet min for the next 3 years so that could be an cheap contract if he is a nice player. I haven't seen him play enough to say I would give up a lottery protected first to get him but honestly I'm tempted to do so partly because of that value contract.

I'd love to have Moses Brown and I identified him a month ago as a prime target big for the Wolves. Unfortunately, the Mavs recently traded for him in exchange for Josh Richardson. So I don't see the Wolves acquiring him at this point. But as Q has mentioned a number of times, the Mavs now have a surplus of bigs after acquiring Brown. They actually had a surplus before acquiring Brown. So I suspect the Wolves could probably trade for one of their other bigs. But I don't see the Mavs parting with Brown. He was obviously a key part of the Richardson deal for all the reasons you mentioned, which are the same reasons I wanted to trade for him. I thought we might be able to work a deal for with with Rubio as part of our outgoing package. But alas...

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Let's throw out another option for a young player to possibly acquire.

What would you give up for Moses Brown? He was very productive last year and maybe he isn't legit but watching some highlights he is literally behind and reaching over Embiid and getting rebounds and tips. He is 7'1.25" tall without shoes and has a 7'4.75" wingspan. That's a big dude. He is signed for basically the vet min for the next 3 years so that could be an cheap contract if he is a nice player. I haven't seen him play enough to say I would give up a lottery protected first to get him but honestly I'm tempted to do so partly because of that value contract.

I'm a Moses Brown believer. He was on a shortlist of young defensive-minded bigs that I thought would be good trade targets. He's long, athletic, mobile, and as you said, he's locked into a very team-friendly deal.

I'll answer your question by asking another question. If you were the decision-maker for another franchise, what would you be willing to trade for Naz Reid? Their contracts make it that much more difficult, although not impossible, and they're clearly productive in some capacity. I'd have to think a first-round pick is the asking price for Reid unless included in a bigger deal. My assessment would be that Brown is similarly valued. I wonder if Jaylen Nowell would interest Dallas considering they're thinner in the backcourt than they are in the frontcourt.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Let's throw out another option for a young player to possibly acquire.

What would you give up for Moses Brown? He was very productive last year and maybe he isn't legit but watching some highlights he is literally behind and reaching over Embiid and getting rebounds and tips. He is 7'1.25" tall without shoes and has a 7'4.75" wingspan. That's a big dude. He is signed for basically the vet min for the next 3 years so that could be an cheap contract if he is a nice player. I haven't seen him play enough to say I would give up a lottery protected first to get him but honestly I'm tempted to do so partly because of that value contract.

I'd love to have Moses Brown and I identified him a month ago as a prime target big for the Wolves. Unfortunately, the Mavs recently traded for him in exchange for Josh Richardson. So I don't see the Wolves acquiring him at this point. But as Q has mentioned a number of times, the Mavs now have a surplus of bigs after acquiring Brown. They actually had a surplus before acquiring Brown. So I suspect the Wolves could probably trade for one of their other bigs. But I don't see the Mavs parting with Brown. He was obviously a key part of the Richardson deal for all the reasons you mentioned, which are the same reasons I wanted to trade for him. I thought we might be able to work a deal for with with Rubio as part of our outgoing package. But alas...

I'm sure the Mavericks value Moses Brown just like we do, but they were well set in the frontcourt prior to that trade. A big part of that Josh Richardson trade was to shed his salary and get a $10.9 million trade exception. I would assume that Dallas will try to acquire Goran Dragic from Toronto before the season begins. Perhaps that could also be an opportunity for Minnesota to try and help facilitate a deal.

[mrhockey89]

Give me A please. If the goal is a championship, we need more championship level players. Despite Simmons cold streak in the playoffs, he is a championship level player (just needs to get out of his own way a bit). I am a McDaniels fan, and losing a couple 1sts isn't fun. Russell can be hot, but we have others that can shoot. The Wolves lineups in options B/C don't lead us to a championship in my opinion...however a lineup looking similar to this might...

Beverly/Simmons
Beasley
Edwards
Simmons
KAT

That looks intimidating to me on both ends of the floor...and those 2022/2024 picks won't even be close to top 4.

I'm not totally against this route and your reasoning somewhat lines up with mine, but I disagree on the timing. I think we need to see more of this current group before totally shaking it up.

While I agree that would be ideal, I don't think you come across the situation where a 25 year old superstar becomes attainable very often. I believe this is a very small window for the Wolves and Rosas to obtain a guy they would normally have no business even sending an offer for. And the only reason he's available right now is because he had a poor playoff run. I think if you get an opportunity to get Ant, KAT, and Simmons on the same team and you don't even need to give up 4 future 1sts, you have to take the shot at what could be. And what's better..they fit from an age standpoint.

That's also a massive price to pay for a guy that on a championship team will have a role closer to that of Draymond Green than Giannis Antetokounmpo. That's not a knock because Green's a likely Hall of Famer, but he's just not straw that stirs the drink. He's an insanely good role player. And that's without mentioning that Green used to be a capable outside shooter.

I won't hate a move for Ben Simmons. The guy is an All-Star and one of the most versatile defenders in the game. But I think the price we'd have to pay to get him right now is too steep even at a discount and the roster would need even more turnover to adjust for such an acquisition. Let's see what this group can do first. A year from now Jaden McDaniels might have Mikal Bridges level value and D'Angelo Russell will almost assuredly have higher value if he can avoid the injury bug.

Perhaps Draymond Green is a fair comparison, though I think he's got a more of a superstar upside than Green did. I picture Green as getting to where he did based more on effort while I picture Simmons having more pure ability. Remember, he's only 25 and can still get better. Also, if Green wasn't on the Warriors, they wouldn't have won championships, and Steph Curry would be more exposed than he has otherwise been on the defensive end. I think Simmons makes everyone else on the floor better, and if we get Green closer to the hoop, then he's more likely to become an effective scorer and less likely to be a liability on the perimeter. Having Simons allows Towns to do what he does best and helps hide the greatest weakness of our Beasley at the same time.

Agreed it's a massive price, but it would be worth it to take a swing at the fences rather than hope we can just compete for a playoff spot for years to come. The only way to a championship with our current roster (my opinion) is if it were a season like this one where key players got injured and everything went right. Half this board questioned if we should trade KAT, but with Simmons I think that isn't even in the discussion because KAT is an ideal fit with Simmons.

You may be right that McDaniels (and Russell's) values go up after this year, but if they don't improve much, then their value won't. What we can say for sure though, is that a 25 year old All-Star player who is a great passer and can defend all 5 positions while being a DPOY annual candidate is very unlikely to ever have a lower buying price. This is as close to a fire-sale situation as I think we'd find with a player of that caliber. That said, it sounds like Rosas is more likely to try to package Beasley, Beverly, McDaniels, and 3 firsts in a 3-team trade that lands us Simmons and a 3rd team the picks/young players, while landing the Sixers a replacement star.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

The irony is that Green's best season was his age 25 year. He's actually been on a slow, but steady decline ever since then. He's still a great role player though.

I highly doubt Simmons is going to improve. There is absolutely no evidence that suggests he can in that he's been incredibly consistent and is largely the same player now as he was as a rookie. At this point, it's more likely he stays about the same or declines in the near term. Any trade contemplating Simmons has to assume that what we get back is the same player he's been his entire career so far.