Minnesota Sports Forum

This sort of ties in with Lip's post regarding Free Agents. Based on my headcount, the Wolves have 12 guys under contract (assuming they do not pick up Rudez option would I think is unlikely). The current roster by group:

Bigs (6)
Towns, Dieng, Bjelica, KG, Pek and Payne
Six sounds like enough. Unfortunately, we know from experience that Pek and KG are not going to be available much and Payne certainly hasn't shown enough to be counted on either. So...it's currently six roster spots, but only three players that we should actually count on for production. We certainly will need to add another Big.

Wings (3)
Wiggins, Bazz and LaVine
All good players who should play a lot. We certainly could use another shooter though.

Point Guard (3)
Rubio, Tyus and Dunn
We should be all set here. Given Rubio's injury history, it's good to have a couple young guys who can step in and play big minutes if needed. Dunn could be the heir apparent to Rubio and I still think Tyus can stick in this league as a backup PG. He certainly didn't embarrass himself last year as a 19 year old.

Summary:
Thibbs put his first stamp on this team by drafting Dunn - a tough, defensive minded player. I expect any free agents to be similar and/or guys who already played for Thibbs. I'm also hoping that one of KG/Pek/Payne will not be on the opening day roster. I just feel that's too much dead weight to carry if we expect to be competitive. In my perfect world, KG retires. And Pek plays enough to be a 3rd option at Center when match ups require extra muscle. I'm not sure what to do with Payne. His salary is basically nothing, so I guess I'd be fine keeping him to see if Thibbs can get anything out of him.

Pek will never be the Pek of old so it's best for the Wolves if he never steps foot on an NBA court again and the best thing that can happen at this point is for Pek to take an injury retirement. The best thing for the Wolves forward situation would be for KG to retire, otherwise cut their losses with Payne.

Get some quality veteran role players and do not overspend. We have a nice vote in place.

Yep, we definitely need another guard/wing who can hit the 3. I'm really hoping Belly and Bazz can carry the offense for the second unit this year. Is Gary Neal available?

If I were to sign 3 FAs to fill out the last 3 spots on our roster, I'd sign the following:

1. Courtney Lee. I see him as our SG for the second unit next to Dunn. He would add much-needed 3-point shooting. Although not great from behind the arc, he's good. He's a good 3-point. He's also a good ball-handler and not a bad defender either. He's still in the prime of his career. He shouldn't cost too much to sign.

2. Cole Aldrich -- Would be a nice addition to our front court depth. He's never gotten a lot of minutes, but his per-minute rebound and block numbers are excellent. He's also a decent defender and a good passer. A smart player who I think would flourish under Thibs. He's still relatively young, around 28 years old. Shouldn't cost too much to sign. Might even get a bit of a home-town discount.

3. Steve Novak or Rudez. Novak are great three-point shooters. Novak can't do anything except shoot threes. Not sure Rudez can even do the three-point thing. But he was billed as a 3-point shooter.

If we could get Pek, KG or Payne off the roster then I'd sign that D-League guy we've already invited to Summer League.

Lip - I'd be fine with all those additions except Rudez (not a fan of his game). But my gut keeps telling me Thibbs is going to use the spots for former players of his. It appears he already went after Butler. I'd assume Noah might be next on his list.

The Pek ($12M), KG ($8M) and Payne ($2M) situation is what's bugging me the most right now. That's $22M of dead money. For perspective...LeBron James made about $23M last year. It's tough for me to not think of what other player(s) we could get for that money/roster spots. I don't expect them to clear out all of those guys. But if one of Pek/KG can come off this year - it would make it a less bitter pill. Payne is really a much smaller problem due to small salary and he's actually young/healthy enough to play if Thibbs can find a use for him.

Lip, those seem like pretty conservative signings. I imagine in part you're trying to save cap space.

Ideally, if the price is right, I'd try to grab two of the guys below, or at least one really good one and a more affordable FA. The two FAs should combine to fill our needs including defense, 3 point shooting, passing, efficient scoring, athleticism, and youth.

I think the group of forwards in particular is really good--Barnes (R), Deng, Batum, Marvin Williams, Dudley--I'd try to get one of those guys to start, unless Thibs thought we could get Horford.


Bigs: Horford, P. Gasol, Noah, Mahinmi, Ezeli (R), Biyombo, Zaza, Aldrich

Forwards: Barnes (R)*, Deng, Batum, Marvin Williams, Dudley

Wings: Bazemore**, Courtney Lee


*I think Barnes would be the ideal guy to get, but the only way we'd get him is if Durant chose Golden State, and if that's the case, just think of how impossible it would be to get out of the West for the next few years. If Durant goes to the Warriors, I'd definitely try to get Barnes (either because they can't match salaries after signing Durant, or through a sign-n-trade).


**I was just about to post how I would go for Bazemore before Courtney Lee when I read this: "Kent Bazemore: I am a free agent again this summer and would love to stay in Atlanta. The one thing I have learned throughout this journey is how important balance is. The game takes up a huge amount of your time, and those moments you step away from it, you want to be happy. I have grown so much in Atlanta, not only as a player but as a person, too. I am recently engaged to the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Something tells me he's not leaving Atlanta.

Readings this it sounds like Tony Snell's days are numbered in Chicago. I wonder if Thibs would like to add him for wing depth. I would take him over Lee at this point.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/23313/valentine-may-crack-rotation-quickly-as-bulls-rebuild-roster

bleedspeed177 wrote:Readings this it sounds like Tony Snell's days are numbered in Chicago. I wonder if Thibs would like to add him for wing depth. I would take him over Lee at this point.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/23313/valentine-may-crack-rotation-quickly-as-bulls-rebuild-roster

I like Valentine. If the Bulls would give us Butler and Valentine, I'd be willing to give up Dunn and LaVine or Wiggins and a one of Bazz/Bjelica/Tyus/Payne.

I dont like the chances of getting Noah here. I think the impact FA I see coming here is Deng but after that I would look for value guys like Lip has outlined. We could also look for some guys that can be the next under utilized guy that we can benefit from adding.