Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:By the way, I'm fine keeping JJ this season. Adelman made very poor use of him last season. He's proven to be very effective in the past off the bench when used well. He has a lot of NBA experience and a championship ring -- which would be good to have around our young guys. He's still at the apex of his skills at age 29 and he's on a relatively cheap expiring contract.

We might still trade JJ in a later separate deal. But I'm fine keeping him and I suspect he'll be staying. I sense that Flip has something else in mind as a second significant move. It may involve Kevin Martin. It may involve the trade exception we get in the upcoming deal. Who knows. I don't think Saturday will mark the end of Flip's off-season maneuvering.

I guess I just thought for sure with the Williams signing that JJ was definitely gone. Maybe he has more value at the deadline? I just don't want to see Lavine getting stuck on the bench behind Martin, JJ & Williams.

I asked Wolfson on Twitter if JJ was gone. He said that was the preference and I asked why he said lots of reasons no room etc. JJ is fiery with a competitve spirit and I like that about him but I think he might not fit in on this team especially with Mo Williams being a very similar type player only better. I think JJ would fit in better on a vet playoff team. If the Bucks didn't have a bunch of guards I bet they would take him since JJ and Kidd are supposedly pals. I just don't see JJ coming back. I think he could be a useful player here as Lip said but I think he will be gone one route or another. Will they use that spot to sign GR3 or some other decent bench player like Dante? Idk

Relatively cheap expiring contract? Barea's about to be the third point guard on the roster making something around $4.5M. There's nothing cheap about that. I have to believe Flip is looking to move him still. Perhaps he tried to dump him on Philly and they refused, leaving Flip in this position. I still don't think the little hobbit starts the season on the Wolves.

Adelman may have made poor use of him, but J.J.'s extremely poor decision making and ballhogging have nothing to do with the coach. That's all on the player and his ego/mentality.

Cam --

JJ's salary is about a million below the NBA average. That's relatively cheap for a fiery competitor who was a key contributor on a championship team and who provides some decent 3-point shooting on a team that will really be hurting in that department next season without Love. But the key word is "expiring." His contract comes off the books the end of the season at a time when the Wolves might have some cap room for free agent signings.

Adelman was the main problem. He provided no discipline or control from the bench and left players without a clear sense of their role. He put JJ in the game with a second team that no other scorers. Call JJ selfish, but he was generally the only scorer on the floor and Adelman clearly expected him to shoot. JJ was a net positive the prior season and before that with Dallas.

I'm not advocating that we keep him. Just saying that keeping him with Flip at the helm and the better overall bench we should have next season wouldn't be bad. And a $4.5 million expiring contract is alway valuable in and of itself. I can see dealing JJ to a contender at the Feb. trade deadline for a decent return.

The roster right now is actually pretty balance with 3 players at each position.

Wiggins/bud/bazz
Young/bennett/hummel
Pek/dieng/turiaf
Rubio/mo/jj
Matin/brew/lavine

However, we all agree that there is not enough minutes at the two wing positions. You have wiggins and martin who should definitely get minutes. Brew and bud are bench rotation guys and we will probably see rubio and mo playing at the same time. We all want lavine and bazz to get meaningful minutes as well and jj can play and be useful in certain situations.

This situation makes me believe that there would be moves that will be made and most likely jj will be shipped and probably brew/bud/martin will be involved in a 2 for 1 trade to free up more minutes for other wing players.

monsterpile wrote:I asked Wolfson on Twitter if JJ was gone. He said that was the preference and I asked why he said lots of reasons no room etc. JJ is fiery with a competitve spirit and I like that about him but I think he might not fit in on this team especially with Mo Williams being a very similar type player only better. I think JJ would fit in better on a vet playoff team. If the Bucks didn't have a bunch of guards I bet they would take him since JJ and Kidd are supposedly pals. I just don't see JJ coming back. I think he could be a useful player here as Lip said but I think he will be gone one route or another. Will they use that spot to sign GR3 or some other decent bench player like Dante? Idk

I can see the reasons for trading JJ. But I see reasons to keep him too. Doogie's generally not "in the know." So I don't put much stock on what he says regarding what Flip wants to do with JJ. One thing Flip has shown all of us is that he won't deal a player unless he gets what he considers good value. And since JJ is an expiring contract and not a budget buster this season, Flip has no compelling reason to deal JJ for anything less that what Flip pegs as his worth.

I was at 600 First Avenue a couple days ago talking with someone who is in the know. JJ was not the name I heard as someone the Wolves are looking to move. Not that they won't trade him for the right deal, but let's just say I'm not surprised JJ does not appear to be one of the two expiring contracts being dealt for Thad.

worldK wrote:The roster right now is actually pretty balance with 3 players at each position.

Wiggins/bud/bazz
Young/bennett/hummel
Pek/dieng/turiaf
Rubio/mo/jj
Matin/brew/lavine

However, we all agree that there is not enough minutes at the two wing positions. You have wiggins and martin who should definitely get minutes. Brew and bud are bench rotation guys and we will probably see rubio and mo playing at the same time. We all want lavine and bazz to get meaningful minutes as well and jj can play and be useful in certain situations.

This situation makes me believe that there would be moves that will be made and most likely jj will be shipped and probably brew/bud/martin will be involved in a 2 for 1 trade to free up more minutes for other wing players.

World -- You may be on to something with the notion of dealing JJ as part of a bigger package that include another current player or two. Otherwise, I suspect that JJ will not be dealt by himself unless Flip gets a good vet in return.

I think JJ will come into the season ready to play. It is basically his last contract year. I am fine keeping him around. He brings some fire and championship experience to this young team. Budinger and Martin be guys I would consider trading. Martin could be one of those trading deadline targets for a team making a run.

Lip thanks for the info. I value JJ also and at this point based on the roster as this trade going down I don't know what else the team really needs other than maybe a roster spot for GR3. We do have a bunch of wings but that could be just fine. I guess another backup big would be good but having a guy that can play some point would be alright too which is what JJ can provide.

Lip on Wolfson after paying more attention to him on Twitter etc this summer I think he is more legit than I had given him credit for. He clearly has contacts and I think when he is very sure of what he says its probably worth noting. When I asked about JJ I didn't really get solid info so I wasn't totally convinced but Wolfson seemed pretty sure. He also does not seem to like JJ and that could cloud his judgement. I'm not fighting for Wolfson on this JJ take but he isn't as clueless as I used to think. He posts a lot so you do have to sift through stuff.

Back to JJ. I trust how Flip feels about JJ to put value on him. I wonder if moving him might be good because I can see him being the most outspoken guy on the team and ending up being a leader and that might not be good. Ultimately JJ and what might be the last rother spot seems somewhat minor with what Flip has been able to do with all the other moves. Its been an impressive offseason.

First of all, I have to agree with the board that Flip has done a tremendous job this off season. His patience in rejecting the various rumored offers, both for Love and for Young, was exceptional, and on Saturday we will hear about a return for Love and Luc that even the most optimistic fan never would have thought possible a few months ago. Yes, he got a nice assist from LeBron, but armed with his help, he played this out masterfully. Great job, Flip!

Now it's time for some minor tweaking of the roster, as I don't expect any more big moves. And I have to side with those here who really want JJ gone. Flip is building a talented roster also filled with great guys (Wiggins, Bennett and Young fit into this category), and while I haven't heard as much behind the scenes talk about JJ being a locker room problem like Love was, I sense that he might be...I could be wrong. I would rather see LaVine getting third PG minutes than JJ, and I don't think JJ will react positively to increased bench time. And his defense is a problem every time he steps on the court.

I don't disagree that Adelman misused JJ last year, and that there were times that he didn't have much scoring punch on the court with him and had to be a primary scoring option. But Adelman also had JJ out there at crunch time with mostly starters, and he still lapsed into hero ball rather than finding better scoring options. He shot under 40% from the field, and only 31.6% on 3's. Combine that with poor defense and an occasional sour attitude, and he doesn't deserve almost $5 million a year. Give him away...I don't care about the return.