Minnesota Sports Forum

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

crazy-canuck wrote:Apparently nunnally didnt sign with baskonia abd decided to go another direction. According to wolfson, the wolves are in play.

With cj getting the final 2 way deal, maybe nunnally gets a minimum deal or at the very least a non guaranteed deal.

He is arguably regarded as the best 3 and d player in europe.

" In two years on one of Europe's top teams, he owns the second-best 3-point percentage in EuroLeague history (50.7 percent), only a hair behind former Ohio State standout Jon Diebler. A year after helping Fenerbahce to the EuroLeague title, he shot 55.4 percent on almost three 3-point attempts per game this past season -- the best high-volume percentage in the league.

Nunnally has taken 400 3-pointers over 120 games between the Turkish and Euro leagues the past two seasons, and he's made more than half of them. There's a statistical case to be made he's the world's most accurate professional shooter right now, and the 3-obsessed NBA is taking notice."

https://sports.yahoo.com/meet-undrafted-american-europe-drawing-intrigue-smart-nba-teams-142509575.html

Good stuff, c-c. Nunnaly is exactly what this team needs, and it's good that we are in the mix. With 10 teams looking at him and his rep as a 3&D guy though, I think it is unlikely that we can afford him. And even if he only commands a minimum salary, Thibs' reputation could keep us out of the winners' circle. Nunnaly has to see that this team has as much need for a 3&D guy as any, and that he could contribute right away. I will be ready to give Thibs his due if he can sign this guy.

(don't think he will though)

We gotta get this guy and make LST a Thibs believer. :) just joking around LST.

From what I have read there are 10 teams that have worked him out. The Wolves are one of these teams. So there should be credit for having done their work to get him here and even targeting him as an option. He gave up 1.5 million in salary because he wanted to play in the NBA. I don't think this is about the money although I'm sure he will take the best offer unless someone has a clear better opportunity to play. I think there is a decent chance we could sign this guy. I'm not holding my breath and it's not like he is a sure thing to be worthwhile either. The video I watch of him he looks like a legit shooter. The rest of his game looks ok. They don't exactly have a lot of film of him playing D. Lol

I would join LST in giving Thibs credit if we sign this guy. :). He is precisely the type of player the Wolves should sign to fill out one of our last two roster spots. I agree it's not about the money for him knowing what he's giving. He clearly wants to play in the NBA. It will be about what team gives him the best chance to showcase his skills and carve out a career in the NBA. Therefore, in selecting among the 10 teams intersted in him, it will likely come down to for him is playing time and style of play. He'll want to go to a team that gives him the best chance to get reliable meaningful minutes and that will make the best use of his skill-set -- mainly his 3-point shooting. That's where the Thibs-effect will likely be fatal to the Wolves chances of landing this guy. Thibs' long-standing reputation for not giving meaningful or predictable minutes to his bench players and his lack of emphasis on spacing, ball-movement and 3-point shooting make the Wolves an unappealing landing place for Nunnaly.

Or he could be like I'll be the only legit wing off the bench and if Jimmy leaves I could be starting in a year

Good point, Geek. The possibility of inheriting the starting wing position if Butler leaves next summer is a stretch and not something the Wolves can overtly sell him on. However, he could have that in the back of his mind. Your point about him being the only legit win off the bench seems like a stronger selling point. Actually, that's something the Wolves should use as part of their recruiting effort. In fact, Thibs and Layden should try to sell him on becoming the team's sole 3-point specialist as well as the team's only veteran wing off the bench.

I don't think deng looked too bad out there. They left him on an island late in the game for 1 or 2 possessions and Middleton went nowhere on him. He didn't look as quick as he used, but he knows how to anticipate. Would he take a friendly buyout if he knew that thibs would take him?

crazy-canuck wrote:I don't think deng looked too bad out there. They left him on an island late in the game for 1 or 2 possessions and Middleton went nowhere on him. He didn't look as quick as he used, but he knows how to anticipate. Would he take a friendly buyout if he knew that thibs would take him?

We should offer up Gorgui for him.

sjm34 wrote:

crazy-canuck wrote:I don't think deng looked too bad out there. They left him on an island late in the game for 1 or 2 possessions and Middleton went nowhere on him. He didn't look as quick as he used, but he knows how to anticipate. Would he take a friendly buyout if he knew that thibs would take him?

We should offer up Gorgui for him.

Lakers aren't doing that deal to take on more money in the form of Dieng.

I just finished watching the game. Deng honestly looked like he can play. He had a couple possessions against Middleton that weren't so great but he also defended him well a couple possessions. Ultimately he looked healthy moved better than I expected at times and is a guy that looks like he knows how to play and do what he can do. He made some nice cuts and solid plays. I think at times he looked tired but I think he should have been out there at the end. Is think he could give a team a better version of what Tayshaun Prince did for the Wolves a couple years ago. Maybe. It's one exahition game but it was against NBA players that were trying a decent chunk of the game. He didn't look like a guy that was looking to retire. He is making about 18 million the next 2 seasons. Obviously he would have to give up at least the vet min in salary in a buyout. If the Lakers could structure that so it was next year (I'm not sure if you can do that) then they would only have 13 million against next year's cap. I'd guess he would have to give up enough in a buyout that the Lakers would have him count 9 million or less in salary for 2019 offseason. It's hard to see him playing in LA with all the guy they have in front of him maybe he would be willing to give up a decent chunk of money to get to play some elsewhere. It will be interesting to see what happens if anything. The Lakers aren't going to be in any hurry. I wonder if there could be a deal like the Melo trade where some team takes on the salary sending back a player with some salary and then buying out Deng and also getting an asset of some type.

Other thoughts on the game.

Embiid is good.

Javelle McGee was jacking up 3's. They don't look pretty but he made 1 of them and the rest of them were hitting rim. I have doubts about him doing that much but maybe some corner 3's...they do need spacing. Lol

JB bickerstaff was a co-coach and it reminded me of the Dunc'd on podcast offseason grades for this year. They were pretty harsh on keeping JB one of them calling him the worst coach in the NBA. I'm not sure I agree with that but I thought it was interesting.

lipoli390 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

crazy-canuck wrote:Apparently nunnally didnt sign with baskonia abd decided to go another direction. According to wolfson, the wolves are in play.

With cj getting the final 2 way deal, maybe nunnally gets a minimum deal or at the very least a non guaranteed deal.

He is arguably regarded as the best 3 and d player in europe.

" In two years on one of Europe's top teams, he owns the second-best 3-point percentage in EuroLeague history (50.7 percent), only a hair behind former Ohio State standout Jon Diebler. A year after helping Fenerbahce to the EuroLeague title, he shot 55.4 percent on almost three 3-point attempts per game this past season -- the best high-volume percentage in the league.

Nunnally has taken 400 3-pointers over 120 games between the Turkish and Euro leagues the past two seasons, and he's made more than half of them. There's a statistical case to be made he's the world's most accurate professional shooter right now, and the 3-obsessed NBA is taking notice."

https://sports.yahoo.com/meet-undrafted-american-europe-drawing-intrigue-smart-nba-teams-142509575.html

Good stuff, c-c. Nunnaly is exactly what this team needs, and it's good that we are in the mix. With 10 teams looking at him and his rep as a 3&D guy though, I think it is unlikely that we can afford him. And even if he only commands a minimum salary, Thibs' reputation could keep us out of the winners' circle. Nunnaly has to see that this team has as much need for a 3&D guy as any, and that he could contribute right away. I will be ready to give Thibs his due if he can sign this guy.

(don't think he will though)

We gotta get this guy and make LST a Thibs believer. :) just joking around LST.

From what I have read there are 10 teams that have worked him out. The Wolves are one of these teams. So there should be credit for having done their work to get him here and even targeting him as an option. He gave up 1.5 million in salary because he wanted to play in the NBA. I don't think this is about the money although I'm sure he will take the best offer unless someone has a clear better opportunity to play. I think there is a decent chance we could sign this guy. I'm not holding my breath and it's not like he is a sure thing to be worthwhile either. The video I watch of him he looks like a legit shooter. The rest of his game looks ok. They don't exactly have a lot of film of him playing D. Lol

I would join LST in giving Thibs credit if we sign this guy. :). He is precisely the type of player the Wolves should sign to fill out one of our last two roster spots. I agree it's not about the money for him knowing what he's giving. He clearly wants to play in the NBA. It will be about what team gives him the best chance to showcase his skills and carve out a career in the NBA. Therefore, in selecting among the 10 teams intersted in him, it will likely come down to for him is playing time and style of play. He'll want to go to a team that gives him the best chance to get reliable meaningful minutes and that will make the best use of his skill-set -- mainly his 3-point shooting. That's where the Thibs-effect will likely be fatal to the Wolves chances of landing this guy. Thibs' long-standing reputation for not giving meaningful or predictable minutes to his bench players and his lack of emphasis on spacing, ball-movement and 3-point shooting make the Wolves an unappealing landing place for Nunnaly.

Or he could be like I'll be the only legit wing off the bench and if Jimmy leaves I could be starting in a year

Good point, Geek. The possibility of inheriting the starting wing position if Butler leaves next summer is a stretch and not something the Wolves can overtly sell him on. However, he could have that in the back of his mind. Your point about him being the only legit win off the bench seems like a stronger selling point. Actually, that's something the Wolves should use as part of their recruiting effort. In fact, Thibs and Layden should try to sell him on becoming the team's sole 3-point specialist as well as the team's only veteran wing off the bench.

If this team's biggest selling point is "well if Jimmy's gone there's opportunity," that's a bad selling point, because how much opportunity can he have if the guy who signed him won't be employed if Jimmy leaves?

Besides, if the idea was that they can get someone on the premise that they'd be the lead wing off the bench, they would have signed someone better by now.

I'd guess based on this article Deng isn't looking to hang it up and wants to play.

"When the Lakers run out for the game, their Nowhere Man retires to a training room to pretend.
Deng watches the game on television and imitates its flow. When there's action, he runs on a treadmill. When there's a timeout, he stops. When the whistle blows, he runs again. When the Lakers are playing defense, he slides his feet as if playing imaginary defense."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-deng-plaschke-20180210-story.html?outputType=amp

Justin jackson remains unsigned.

And the magic just gave away their last 2 way deal to amile.

The kid has great size for a wing and was a good spot up shooter until a bum shoulder ended his season early (and his shooting) last year.

crazy-canuck wrote:Justin jackson remains unsigned.

And the magic just gave away their last 2 way deal to amile.

The kid has great size for a wing and was a good spot up shooter until a bum shoulder ended his season early (and his shooting) last year.

Good find. Its interesting he isn't signed yet. The deadline for them to offer him something is September 5. Maybe they are waiting as long as they can while he returns from that shoulder surgery. There are going to be some interesting young players available over the next couple months. The Clippers still have to make another cut and Tyrone Wallace is unsigned. The Knicks have too many players.

monsterpile wrote:I'd guess based on this article Deng isn't looking to hang it up and wants to play.

"When the Lakers run out for the game, their Nowhere Man retires to a training room to pretend.
Deng watches the game on television and imitates its flow. When there's action, he runs on a treadmill. When there's a timeout, he stops. When the whistle blows, he runs again. When the Lakers are playing defense, he slides his feet as if playing imaginary defense."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-deng-plaschke-20180210-story.html?outputType=amp

If for some reason Deng got freed up, he'd compete with Tolliver and KBD for minutes at the backup 4. I'm pretty sure he couldn't beat out Tolliver considering how much we need shooting.

Now that Nunnally is signed we basically have 1 more spot to fill. The good news is that Nunnally as guy with 1 year of previous experience only counts for $1,312,611 so that saves the Wolves a bit of money over a vet with more experience. Based on my spreadsheet that leaves them with enough money for 2 more vet min deals and still have $276,640 left under the lux tax. So they can spend some money on non guaranteed deals or sweeteners to get guys into camp.

So what should we do with this last spot?

I know this team has some shot creators at the top of the roster but it feels a bit worrisome if a PG got injured. Jared Terrell is a rookie and not a true PG so maybe a guard that can handle the ball some not just a blend in guy.

More shooting. Duh

A talented big? It feels like one injury and we would start to look a little bit short here espcially if Patton isn't ready for a couple months which you would assume they are going to be careful with him. Tyler Cavenaugh was a guy I was interested because...shooting but he signed a 2-way deal I think with Utah.

To me this last spot might be good for a guy with some high upside long term. Or maybe just a younger solid upside guy.

Here is a list of various guys that are available or could be.

MGH
Kilpatrick (bucket getter skilled offensively but inefficient)
Okaro White
Tyrone Wallace (bad shooter but really versatile)
Brandon Paul
Eric Moreland
Lucas Noguria (read a Toronto writer that said he is a good guy with talent just doesn't take the job serious enough)
Christian Wood
Guys cut by the teams like the Clippers Knicks and Sacramento.

There are more I am sure but you get the idea. Obviously there is also the buyout market as well. It's. It like there are amazing options but I also think there are guys out there that can be useful players either now or down the road a ways.