Minnesota Sports Forum

TheFuture wrote:My ideal trade deadline deals would be this:

Beasley for Richardson and Nesmith.

Beverley and Okogie or Layman + this year's first or all 3 seconds for White from the Spurs.

Sign a situational big for the last roster spot. Be it a fluid defensive pf (hard to find) or just a big body center to bang in the post.

(Note:
I would love this trade: Prince and Okogie/Layman and picks for Turner from Indiana if the White trade doesn't work out. (the harder part here is getting Turner to accept a 20-24 minute role off the bench.)

I think the first deal with Boston is fine as is. I think the Wolves get better and pick up a young, attractive prospect. That's a win, in my opinion.

As for the second trade, I would replace Patrick Beverley with Taurean Prince even with his improved play. This team needs more quality ball-handlers as it is. Derrick White would definitely be an upgrade, but the ideal plan would be to add him to what Minnesota already has and that includes Beverley. They'd still be weak on the wing, but I think Beverley is more important than Prince for this season and probably next.

For the record, I'm not interested in trading for Myles Turner whatsoever, but if you trade for him you can't afford to play him off the bench. You're definitely acquiring him to start next to Karl-Anthony Towns and give you 30-35 minutes of rim protection considering the likely bevy of assets given up to get him.

Camden wrote:

The Celtics recently explored a deal with the Timberwolves that would have sent veteran wing Josh Richardson and "one of either Romeo Langford (or) Aaron Nesmith" to Minnesota in return for guard Malik Beasley, The Athletic's Jared Weiss and Jon Krawczynski reported Wednesday.

According to Weiss, talks stalled because the Wolves "sought to maintain flexibility for bigger moves at the deadline."

Wow. I hope Minnesota's front office keeps this deal in their back pocket. That would be an awesome return for Malik Beasley, in my opinion. Josh Richardson and Aaron Nesmith is an absolute haul. Richardson has been the better player this year between him and Beasley and Nesmith has a medium-high ceiling centered on his shooting prowess and size. I would support that move if it ever came to fruition.

I agree, Cam. The only downside to the Wolves is that it would probably push the Wolves just above the luxury tax line. Is my calculation correct? But I would think the Wolves could include Layman and maybe a 2nd-round pick. That would save the Wolves a net $3M, giving them room to sign Greg Monroe and still remain below the tax line.

I also hope the possible "bigger moves" the Wolves are holding out for do NOT include a deal for Simmons. I suspect the Wolves are zeroing in on Harrison Barnes and I'd be fine with that. But we'd probably have to give up more meaningful assets than just Beasley to get Barnes. For that reason, I'd rather pull the trigger on the purported Boston deal, adding Layman for salary purposes. Josh Richardson isn't Harrison Barnes, but he's not far off. And I've always like Nesmith's potential.

Give me Richardson and salary room to sign Monroe. That would be a nice bump for the Wolves at the trade deadline.

Beasley for JRich and Nesmith is a great deal for us. I find it hard to believe really as we'd likely have to include a 2nd RP, but even then I'd still do it.

It wasn't too long ago JRich was being touted as the center piece return in Butler trade rumours. Does everything better than Beasley. And Nesmith is an interesting prospect.

KiwiMatt wrote:Beasley for JRich and Nesmith is a great deal for us. I find it hard to believe really as we'd likely have to include a 2nd RP, but even then I'd still do it.

It wasn't too long ago JRich was being touted as the center piece return in Butler trade rumours. Does everything better than Beasley. And Nesmith is an interesting prospect.

Richardson is at 4 straight seasons of pretty meh ball. Nesmith is in year 2 and is struggling seeing the court on a Celtics team that is struggling with wing depth. Im not saying Nesmith is going to be nothing in the NBA but he has shown nothing so far in his career that he can be.

Beasley has struggled this year but I think the value of Beasley finding his shot is more valuable the the average play of Richardson (I think Richardson has been better than Beasley this year). Beasley can straight win a playoff game if he got hot from 3 in a game. I would rather have that than whatever Richardson can provide.

kekgeek1 wrote:

KiwiMatt wrote:Beasley for JRich and Nesmith is a great deal for us. I find it hard to believe really as we'd likely have to include a 2nd RP, but even then I'd still do it.

It wasn't too long ago JRich was being touted as the center piece return in Butler trade rumours. Does everything better than Beasley. And Nesmith is an interesting prospect.

Richardson is at 4 straight seasons of pretty meh ball. Nesmith is in year 2 and is struggling seeing the court on a Celtics team that is struggling with wing depth. Im not saying Nesmith is going to be nothing in the NBA but he has shown nothing so far in his career that he can be.

Beasley has struggled this year but I think the value of Beasley finding his shot is more valuable the the average play of Richardson (I think Richardson has been better than Beasley this year). Beasley can straight win a playoff game if he got hot from 3 in a game. I would rather have that than whatever Richardson can provide.

Here's the thing, though. Josh Richardson hasn't just been better than Malik Beasley this year. This year's version of Richardson is actually more conducive to winning than even last year's version of Beasley. That's how awful and unaware Beasley is defensively and if his shot is off he's not providing anything else offensively. He becomes a serious liability. Richardson's not anything special in his own right, but he is a positive contributor when he's on the floor. You get the better player and a dart throw at the former 14th overall pick.

I think if all things are the same and you play 10 games with Richardson in the rotation and 10 games with Beasley in the rotation, you're going to win more games with Richardson because he can provide at least one consistent skill every night. Beasley might single-handedly win you one or two of those games, but he'll also help you lose a lot more than that.

RoCo and Okogie among Utah Jazz targets. (Just quietly the Jazz have lost 5 in a row without Gob/Mitch. Now Ingles out for a year atleast)

KiwiMatt wrote:RoCo and Okogie among Utah Jazz targets. (Just quietly the Jazz have lost 5 in a row without Gob/Mitch. Now Ingles out for a year atleast)

I understand why the Jazz would have interest in Josh Okogie and I definitely understand why the Wolves would be interested in trading him before letting him walk for nothing, but I just can't seem to figure out what these two teams could agree upon in terms of a deal.

KiwiMatt wrote:RoCo and Okogie among Utah Jazz targets. (Just quietly the Jazz have lost 5 in a row without Gob/Mitch. Now Ingles out for a year atleast)

Azubuikie for Okogie.

Really, the only Jazz player that might be available and would interest me for the Wolves is Royce O'Neale. With Joe Ingles tearing his ACL and being done for the year, would Utah be interested in moving O'Neale for two capable wings? I would pull the trigger on the following:

Minnesota: Royce O'Neale, Joe Ingles' expiring contract

Utah: Taurean Prince, Josh Okogie, Jake Layman's expiring contract, and a second-round pick

The Jazz probably decline this, but it's one of the very few deals that could make sense in my head. Anything else is probably unnecessary paperwork.

Josh Richardson had a highly efficient 23 points tonight. I agree with Cam that we're a better team with Richardson than we are with Beasley because Richardson defends. The two are comparable as 3-point shooters although Beasley is a much higher volume three-point shooter and can take over the game from behind the arc in a way Richardson can't. But to get Richardson for Beasley and also a talented young player in Nesmith would be a really nice trade deadline move for the Wolves. But I see the argument against the deal. If we get the high-volume sharpshooting Beasley from last season for the rest of this season, we're probably better off keeping him. Interestingly, however, it sounds like the Wolves are shopping Beasley and just didn't want to give him up unless they get a higher caliber player than Richardson in return.