Minnesota Sports Forum

Travis, there is a difference between being objective and being a chicken little. I'm sure I'm more of the former than the latter.

Just ribbing you a little bit, Cool. I was a member of the ESPN boards since it first came out so I've seen your rants on occasion.

I agree with you that it wasn't a perfect off-season, but I will give credit to Flip and his staff for what they've done so far.

I'm a little less optimistic, but we're close to agreement on this.

Cam, I like your positiveness towards the wolves.

You have to understand though why some of us have concerns and reservations about flip.
Yes, flip has done a good job this off season. Signing martin,bud,turiaf were good moves. Brewer would have been good but 5m is too much. Ak situation was bad. You cant judge his draft yet until at least after half a season. Overall, flip added depth to the team and we are on pace for a playoff appearance. Good job.

However, long term wise, Our goal should be becoming contenders and not pretenders. It takes multiple good,great to excellent moves, finding hidden gems in late 1st to 2nd round or in free agency, good salary cap managing and keeping the stars happy consistently for a number of years. Thats were some concerns over flip comes from. From his gm/coach stint in the mchale era. ( He was 'removed' as gm so he can avoid punishment after the joe smith fiasco so he can continue to coach the team that year) The unfavorable reputation we had during that time and his alienating agents ways.

The thing is, flip is here to stay(he is minority owner now) Im willing to give him a clean slate and just hope that he dont revert back to the old ways and that he has a clear vision to get us to the ultimate goal. He inherited love,rubio and adelman. Thats a great core to start with. He also got cap space to work with after the ak fiasco. Had a lottery pick this year and have rights to bud and pek going to free agency. He made solid logical moves so far that improves the team. Does he has what it takes to think outside the box and pull off a houston/harden or the rubio deal back in 09? That remains to be seen. I hope he does for us to finally win the championship.

I think there has been a good discussion on this board about Flip's competency as a GM. We all want him to be effective because we want the Wolves to win...there's just a valid difference of opinion about his readiness for the job. That's fine.
What kind of annoys me, though, is that certain negative opinions have been repeated so frequently that they have risen to the level of fact. For example:

1) Flip didn't offer enough to AK to coerce him to stay. We don't really know this. Flip said on the Funkadelic last week that he was not going to divulge what he offered to AK. It's just as likely as not that he gave AK an attractive offer, but that he decided instead to go play for his countryman and a better chance at a ring.

2) Agents don't like Flip. I've seen this mentioned a couple times as fact, but again, we don't know that this is true. And even if it's true, I don't know that it's such a bad thing. I've never thought of agents as warm, fuzzy relationship people. It seems to me they are simple creatures with one driving goal...to make as much money as possible for their clients, and hence for themselves. I suspect that the least popular GMs are the ones who drive the hardest bargains.

3Flip overpaid for Corey]I have to admit that I share this opinion, because I have a hard time seeing Brewer as a $5 million player. But I guess we don't really know what the market for Corey really was. Just like Flip is choosing not to say what he offered for AK, we don't know what kind of offers Corey was staring at. We do know that the Wolves had a burning need for a defensive wing. Maybe he coughed up what was necessary to land him...who knows.

Anyway, the Flip discussion will continue and that's good. Just wanted to make sure opinions aren't being classified as facts.

longstrangetrip wrote::

1) Flip didn't offer enough to AK to coerce him to stay. We don't really know this. Flip said on the Funkadelic last week that he was not going to divulge what he offered to AK. It's just as likely as not that he gave AK an attractive offer, but that he decided instead to go play for his countryman and a better chance at a ring.

.

I had no problem letting AK go, but it's a joke that a good part of that money went to Corey fricken Brewer

I personally am more concerned with his ability to scout and find talent and make correct basketball decisions. Being a good coach (or ok like I think) doesnt make you a good gm or evaluator of talent. Obviously it is what it is and we have to roll with it either way, I just dont think hes cut out for the job.

Well, as the President of Basketball Operations during this stint, he's currently 0-0. Let's see how the team plays together. I've stuck up for Flip as much as I'm going to because I believe he's putting a good to great team to Adelman's use. It's like beating a dead horse on these forums, but I enjoy other fans' responses.

Another day gone by, other teams seem still active and a lot of solid players being moved via sign or sign and trade. What is the newest on Pek? Does this stall in negotiations hinder the Wolves in anyway?

slimcalhoun27 wrote:Another day gone by, other teams seem still active and a lot of solid players being moved via sign or sign and trade. What is the newest on Pek? Does this stall in negotiations hinder the Wolves in anyway?

Doubtful. In fact, it probably speeds things up just a bit. Brandon Jennings shares agents with Pek (Jeff Schwartz) so now that Jennings is set, I'd think it would free up more time to focus on Pek's situation. Just me personally, I'd say a deal gets done within the week.