Minnesota Sports Forum

I'm getting way too far out front on this, but instead of focusing on possible trades before the Feb trade deadline, I was thinking about possible FA targets next summer. One name that comes to mind in the wake of last night's Portland tame is Pat Connaughton. He's a good 3-point shooter, strong and also a terrific athlete. And he's also only 25 years old.

If I am correct the MLE is going to be a little under 9 mil next year for non tax payers (what should be the wolves last year in the non-tax payer).

Guys I would look at, KCP, Reddick, Wilson Chandler (if he opts out of his player option), Hezonja, Barton, Evans.

It will be interesting what they do, I think the middle class of free agents are not as strong this year.

While a backup wing may seem like the most obvious direction to look, don't forget that backup 4 might be a need for us next season if Bjelly isn't back.

- Will Barton, 27
- Joe Harris, 26

- Marco Belinelli, 31
- Wayne Ellington, 30

- [s]DeMarre Carroll, 31[/s]
- Nemanja Bjelica, 29

- Julius Randle, 23

Edit: For whatever reason, I was thinking Carroll had a player option next season. He does not. That's my bad.

Camden wrote:- Will Barton, 27
- Joe Harris, 26

- Marco Belinelli, 31
- Wayne Ellington, 30

- DeMarre Carroll, 31
- Nemanja Bjelica, 29

- Julius Randle, 23

Will Barton would be my clear first choice among the 2018 FAs who might be gettable for the MLE. But he's one who might cost more than the MLE.

Belinelli would be a nice addition and I have no doubt he's gettable for the MLE. In fact, I suspect we should sign him without using the entire MLE and still have around $3 million left to spend on another FA. I also like Ellington, who I would think we could sign for only part of the MLE. I don't have a good sense of Joe Harris.

As I mentioned, Pat Connaughton would be high on my FA list, but he's restricted so Portland would be in a position to match. I don't think we could sign Randle for the MLE.

Here are some other 2018 FAs I like who might be gettable for the MLE:

1. Ilyasova - Stretch 4 who would probably be redundant if Belly re-signs and stays healthy
2. Corey Brewer - Although I'd rather have someone who shoots well from behind the arc
3. Tyreke Evans - At minimum now, but has probably played himself about the MLE level
4. Lou Williams - Probably not gettable at MLE, but he'd be my Clark first choice if he were
5. Michael Beasley - His offensive talent is still sky high and he seems more mature
6. Avery Bradley - Another one like Lou Williams who probably isn't gettable at MLE
7. Dante Cunningham - Only if we don't re-sign Belly
8. Mario Hezonja - Great offensive talent and very young. Attitude? Defense?
9. Gerald Green - Still not sure why we didn't sign him last summer.

I didn't find Carroll on the list of 2018 FAs. But if he is, then count me interested.

lipoli390 wrote:I'm getting way too far out front on this, but instead of focusing on possible trades before the Feb trade deadline, I was thinking about possible FA targets next summer. One name that comes to mind in the wake of last night's Portland tame is Pat Connaughton. He's a good 3-point shooter, strong and also a terrific athlete. And he's also only 25 years old.

Weren't we the guys still sorta on the bandwagon (or maybe on a little red wagon) of this guy this summer being maybe worthwhile? Man he has been way above my expectations.

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:I'm getting way too far out front on this, but instead of focusing on possible trades before the Feb trade deadline, I was thinking about possible FA targets next summer. One name that comes to mind in the wake of last night's Portland tame is Pat Connaughton. He's a good 3-point shooter, strong and also a terrific athlete. And he's also only 25 years old.

Weren't we the guys still sorta on the bandwagon (or maybe on a little red wagon) of this guy this summer being maybe worthwhile? Man he has been way above my expectations.

Yes we were. But like you, I didn't expect him to be this good.

It's worth remembering you can split up that MLE between multiple players. There are some guys mentioned in this thread aren't remotely close to guys that should get the full MLE themselves. There are some pretty good NBA rotation players that getting the MLE is probably the maximum money they can hope to get in the market coming up.

If Tyreke Evans would take it he would be my MLE guy. I think he might be playing his way out of it though. 19/5/5 on 47/40/79 shooting splits. He's big enough to defend multiple positions. His shot appears to be fixed. He's been 39/36/40 from 3 the last 3 years and 80/75/79 from the line so I think it is here to stay. He's also jacking up 5 3's a game so the volume is there and he's still at 40%. Transition Crawford out of the 6th man role and insert Tyreke as a guy who can be the guy on the second unit. You can play him next to Wiggins and Butler and if you want to go big even give him run at PG and go 6'6/6'8/6'8. And he's in his prime at 28. I think under Thibs he could be very good.

Tyreke is ripping it up so much this year, he's gonna get more than the MLE for sure. Dude has somehow turned himself into the guy he looked like he'd become after his ROY year.

EDIT: On second thought, who knows? Aren't there only a few teams with real cap space next year? If that's the case, presumably Memphis could resign him for more (bird rights?), but maybe he'll have to choose which team's MLE he wants to take, and if he wants to win, ours could look like a pretty good team if we keep playing well.

It's cool to think we may really be becoming a free agent destination by winning so much.