Minnesota Sports Forum

Regardless of whether we get Giannis or Harden or whoever,

Tim should call Malik Beasley and see if he wants to be on a contender this year off the bench alongside Naz


Having extra firepower would mean so much

He'd be even more important if we got Giannis, but he'd be such a good addition and a nice safety net if Shannon doesn't get it together the rest of the way.

WildWolf2813 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 6:33 pm Regardless of whether we get Giannis or Harden or whoever,

Tim should call Malik Beasley and see if he wants to be on a contender this year off the bench alongside Naz


Having extra firepower would mean so much

He'd be even more important if we got Giannis, but he'd be such a good addition and a nice safety net if Shannon doesn't get it together the rest of the way.

I'd rather just take Gary Trent Jr. back in trade. He actually plays defense and can space the floor. 39% career 3pt shooter. I will also take Coffee back as another two way bigger wing stopper.

BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Prolific swap of the star point guards.

kekgeek wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 7:08 pm BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Prolific swap of the star point guards.

Must've heard that the Wolves have something else lined up

Phenom wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 7:11 pm

kekgeek wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 7:08 pm BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Prolific swap of the star point guards.

Must've heard that the Wolves have something else lined up

AND we dodged a bullet!!! I was not a fan of acquiring Harden...

kekgeek wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 7:08 pm BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Prolific swap of the star point guards.

Actually a good trade for both team. Garland can now be the alpha guard at LAC and Harden can play for a contender. Will be interesting to see how Harden and Spider mesh, but that could be a scary combo on offense.

KiwiMatt wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 8:21 pm

kekgeek wrote: ↑Tue Feb 03, 2026 7:08 pm BREAKING: The Los Angeles Clippers are trading James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a second-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Prolific swap of the star point guards.

Actually a good trade for both team. Garland can now be the alpha guard at LAC and Harden can play for a contender. Will be interesting to see how Harden and Spider mesh, but that could be a scary combo on offense.

Yep it's a trade that makes sense for both teams.

A team that struggles in the playoffs relying on a notorious playoff struggler. How does that benefit the Cavs when you also factor in the 10 yrs age gap? I think the Cavs have made two straight boneheaded trades.

What they should have done, was trade Hunter into someones cap space/trade exception, to dip into the first apron, so that they could trade Garland/Mobley (aggregate) for Giannis. That is what I would have done. Mobley has made zero improvement as a player since he came into the league. Garland is injury prone and a liability on defense in playoffs. Especially when you have two non defenders in Spida and Garland as your backcourt. Mitchell and Giannis probably gets them out of the East. And woulda traded Allen for bench depth/draft capital.

As we await a possible deal for Giannis, not yet knowing whether it will happen but knowing that if it does it will result in loosing some highly valuable players/assets, we should understand that the Giannis we’d be getting isn’t the the MVP Giannis. Instead it’s the 31-year old Giannis of today. They’re not the same player. Consider the following:

Giannis is now in his 13th season. He came into the League at age 19 and played 77 games as a rookie. Thereafter, like KAT with the Wolves, he was an iron man in seasons 2 through 4, playing 81, 80 and 80 games in each of those seasons respectively. After his 4th season, you see an unmistakeable decline in games played:

5th season: 75 games
6th season 72 games
7th season: 63 games
8th season: 61 games
9th season: 67 games
10th season: 63 games
11th season: 73 games (a bit of a revival, but temporary)
12th season: 67 games,

That’s not terrible, but it’s not good. If we land him he’ll arrive with a calf injury that will keep him off the court until at least March. And as we all know, calf injuries tend to linger and too often lead to Achilles issues. Beyond the durability issue, there’s the issue of production. Giannis still puts up great numbers. But his numbers are lower this season than they’ve been in years - not by a lot, but it’s noticeable. He’s averaging fewer points than at anytime since his 6th season, the fewest blocks of his career, the fewest rebounds since his 5th season and fewest assists since his 6th season. Again, he’s still putting up terrific numbers, but it’s important to note that trading for Giannis likely means paying a price determined by his reputation, which does not entirely reflect who he is now or will be next season when he turns 32.

I just can’t get myself to a place where I would want to see us give up major players/assets like Jaden and Beringer for Giannis.

Lip, his decline in games played is a definite concern. Like I said in another thread, he's always on the injury report, even when he plays. And he isn't likely all of a sudden to play in more games going forward, he will probably play less. But in terms of his production, it's a little misleading. He is playing under 30 minutes per game this season, something that hasn't happened since his rookie year. I'm not sure the exact reasons why, but part of it could be that the Bucks aren't very good and he's playing less in the 4th quarter. But when I've watched him this year, he doesn't look like he's lost much to me. He still dominates on both ends and does things no one else his size can do. I know you are the ultimate organic growth guy and I prefer that too, but Giannis is still one of the top 5 talents in the league. However, I would stop short of dealing Jaden. If I couldn't do the deal without him in, I would look to make a splash elsewhere.