Minnesota Sports Forum

I'll start this post out with my view that Beasley is the Wolves most important player outside of Towns. His shooting and toughness are attributes otherwise in short supply on the Wolves roster. Given how well Beasley is playing, I think it will cost at least $15 million per year to keep him. That's definitely a price I'd be willing to pay. Assuming the Wolves end up paying him that sum and barring any trades, the Wolves will head into next season with a payroll of $111 for the following 12 roster players:

1. KAT
2. Russell
3. Beasley
4. Okogie
5. Layman
6. Johnson - (he'll likely exercise his $16M option)
7. Culver
8. Nowell
9. Naz
10. Spellman
11. Jacob Evans
12. Vanderbilt (Wolves will likely exercise their option on him. They'd be dump not to)

The salary cap is expected to be around $115 million next season. At $111 million with 3 more roster spots to fill and two first round picks, you can see the Wolves will definitely be slightly over the cap when the dust settles, unless they make some cap clearing trade in the offseason or negotiate a longer-term deal with Johnson at a much lower per year salary. Assuming no cap-clearing deals and no re-worked deal for Johnson, the Wolves' payroll will be around $10-12 million under the luxury-tax threshold. The Wolves could use that space to sign free agents using the MLE or other cap exceptions. They could also use some of that space to re-sign H-Gomez. I assume he'll command around $9 million per year.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I suspect Rosas would like to make a big deal in the off season, so I don't necessarily expect the situation to remain static. But if no such deal happens, it will be interesting to see how Rosas manages the cap, the draft and free-agency to round out the roster for next season.

I really like the roster we have now after the flurry of trades leading up to the Feb. 6 deadline. Yes, there are holes and flaws, but that's true for every NBA roster. Re-signing Beasley is the key. After that, I think the Wolves have ample opportunity to round out the roster through the draft and the team's $12-15 million space under the luxury tax threshold.

What would I do?

First of all, I'd sign McLaughlin and Martin to cheap contracts. Of the two, McLaughlin is more important. I'd also trade Jacob Evans and Spellman for 2nd round picks for a little more roster space and salary flexibility.

Second, I'd look to fill our biggest need, namely a defensive, shot-blocking big who can also rebound. I think we can do that through the draft. Obviously, if we end up with a top 3 pick, we'll have a chance to draft Wiseman. He's the full package with the potential to be a two-way star as well as a defensive presence. But if we're not in a position to draft Wiseman, we'll likely be in a position to draft one of several other options who I believe would fill our need for a defensive big. My favorite is Okongwu our to USC. Other possibilities include Minnesota's own Daniel Oturu as well as Udoka Azubuike, Isaiah Stewart and Nick Richards. All these players have shown shot-blocking prowess in college and could become excellent interior defenders to complement KAT. The Wolves would likely need to use their lottery pick to get Okognwu and maybe even Oturu. But all the others would be gettable with the Nets pick and perhaps our own high second round pick.

Good recap of the salary cap situation Lip. A KAT-DLO-Beasley trio certainly seems to give us three elite shooters and scorers that can help anchor our offense.

In the "what what I do?" part, I guess your idea of a shot blocking, rebounding big seems highly unrealistic given the type of lineups Rosas and Saunders are willing to play. The fact they never once paired KAT with Vonleh or Dieng tells you all you need to know. So while i don't disagree with your recommendation, I just don't see these guys going down that path.

That being said, a rangy 4 that does some of what you describe while also having some ball skills could certainly be useful. We happen to have a really intriguing prospect that just might fit the bill: Jarred Vanderbilt, whom you mention above.

That is probably the #1 guy I'm going to be keeping an eye on the rest of the year. If he stays healthy and shows improvement in the G-League, he could be the exact type of PF that would fit our system given our current roster. Jauncho has some skills, but isn't the type of athlete and potential defender we could use next to KAT.

The other big hole in my opinion is starting small forward. I'd probably try to swing a trade or use our MLE to find a solid 3&D wing.

One area where we need to clear the surplus is SG. It's the natural position for Beasley, Culver, Okogie, and Nowell. We really only need two of those guys, three at the most on our roster.

Paying guys like Beasley $15 million a year is what keeps teams in the mediocre range. He's a volume scorer who doesn't do much else outside of bring some energy to the team. I like him, but that's a classic overpay we see this team make over and over again. It also leaves little to no room for him to become the sixth man if Culver or Okogie ever figure it out because he'd be making starter money and they are the defensive fits we need next to Russell long-term if this thing is gonna work. I could see signing him to keep the trade asset, if Rosas thinks that way, otherwise it's overpaying a guy and blocking the growth opportunity for Culver and Okogie to play their role they were drafted for next to a guy like Russell. Starting Russell and Beasley and having Culver and Okogie come off the bench isn't a good long term rotation because that is the wrong blend of offense and defense at the guard spots. 15 million is a lot of money for a volume 3 pt shooter and while that's a skill we need that could also be the move that caps this teams long-term potential. That's life between a rock and a hard place.

I will maintain the thought that Malik Beasley is a sign-and-trade asset in a play for Devin Booker. Gersson Rosas is clearly chasing stars. Additionally, three young All-Star friends really want to play and live together on one team. That's the home run swing I expect to read reports about this off-season.

I still think something like this would be attractive to Phoenix -- and Minnesota -- if Booker makes it known that he wants out of his current situation.

Suns:
- SG D. Booker = $29,467,800

Wolves:
- SG M. Beasley (S/T) = $12,000,000*
- PF J. Johnson (PO) = $16,047,100
- SG J. Culver = $6,104,280
- 2020 first-round pick
- 2024 first-round pick

Suns can only take back $34.2M in salary based on the amount they are sending out.

*$12,000,000 annual salary is what I'm using as an estimate for Beasley's next deal. He could potentially get more than that -- or less depending on what his market actually is. It was reported that he turned down a 3/30 extension after a productive season last year from Denver to bet on himself this year. One could argue that his season has not been nearly as good, however. This is a simplistic view of why I think 3/36 or 4/48 is a decent projection or salary for discussion purposes.

The Wolves have some real leverage with Beasley because...Who is going to throw money at him? there are a number of smart people on a couple podcasts I have listened to before and since the trade and the moves in the trade deadline and there aren't many landing spots for him. I might actually be comfortable paying him 15 million a year but I'd hope the Wolves don't just cave and give him money. He is young enough he could do a 3 year deal and get back out on the market at 27 and cash in bigtime if he is good.

I'm a Juancho fan but if he commands anywhere near 9 million a year he can walk. I'd pay 5 million at most at this point. He might not cost even that much. He is putting up some nice stats for the Wolves so maybe he will earn a higher salary when its all said and done but I'm keeping expectations lower.

IF anyone wants Jacob Evans for anything they can have him. Someone might want Spellman but I doubt anyone will give us anything for Evans. Maybe some team will take a flyer on him. It seems like this team is primed to trade away a wing player. It will be interesting to see how this offseason unfolds.

As far as some of the possible bigs to fit next to Towns...which like Q said is a theory...Who knows how low someone that fits that will drop. I read my first mock draft and the big from Kansas was in the middle or late in the 2nd round. I watched Kansas play last week (along with a bunch of other college games) and...yeah who knows where he will go. Its still early but I think this is a draft where moving around might be a good thing. I think this front office will be open to doing just that.