Minnesota Sports Forum

As a rebuilding team, any evaluation of the Wolves should begin with an assessment of their assets, including upcoming draft picks, past draft picks playing overseas and current players. All should be evaluated in relation to their potential as players for the Wolves and their potential trade value.

The Wolves asset bag is a mixed one. A negative perspective flows from focusing on Pek's physical issues, concerns about Ricky's shooting, Ricky's ankle, the two future first round picks we owe and the fact that Flip seems to have no accountability to anyone above him in the organization. But one can just as easily focus on other things that lead to a very positive view of the Wolves asset situation.

I'm going to take the positive view to start this thread. So here's my list of positives that can be views as a treasure chest of valuable assets that would be the envy of any rebuilding team:

1. Wiggins -- This year's rookie of the year who Flip projects as an eventual top 10 player in the League. You could argue credibly that he is the second best young player in the League after Anthony Davis.

2. LaVine -- A tremendous talent who has elite hops and elite quickness both straight ahead with the ball and laterally. He also has an excellent handle and beautiful shooting stroke. Add to that his passion for the game and a gym rat work ethic and you have something special. Kevin Lynch said LaVine may have a higher upside than Wiggins. The way LaVine performed consistently the last month of the season gice es us reason to believe LaVine will eventually reach that potential.

3. Shabazz -- I was down on the pick when Flip made it, but last season was enough to convince me that I was wrong. This guy looks like he'll become a very good pro, at least on the offensive side of the ball. I could easily see him as a 20-point per game scorer either as a starter or 6th man. He has excellent value either as part of the Wolves rotation going forward or as a trade asset.

4. Dieng -- i know that Q is really down on this guy, but I still see a lot of potential in a Dieng. He started playing basketball later in life, so I think he'll shore up his defense as he learns better technique. He's an I credibly hard worker and extremely smart. He's already good on the offensive side of the ball and he'll keep getting better with experience and hard work.

5. Top 4 pick in first round of this year's draft

6. 1st and 6th picks in second round of this year's draft

7. Euro stashes - Bjelica and Dubljevic

8. Kevin Martin -- big time scorer when he's hot. May be valuable as a player for the Wolves and should have some decent trade value, especially at next Febuary's trade deadline.

9. Payne and Bennett -- One of these guys might actually pan out as a good player for the Wolves. They clearly have a lot of talent. At a minimum, I would think that Bennett could bring a future protected first round pick in return. We gave up a future protected first round pick for Oayne so perhaps another team would give us the same for him.

Overall, that's a pretty impressive list of assets. It's up to Flip and his minions to use them wisely.

One Possible Negative: Something is so woefully out of sorts in Minnesota that a team with two potential top 10 talents lost 12 straight games with them being the focus of the offense... falls behind/ahead a team with players like Tim Hardaway, Cole Aldrich and Langston Galloway leading the charge.

Just because Flip was dumb enough to give a 1st for Payne doesn't mean other teams would do the same for Bennett and his salary.

Also, Lip, you should check into Bjelica and Dub more. I'm assuming (forgive me) that you're not very familiar with them as of 2015. You'd probably like them more.

Camden wrote:Just because Flip was dumb enough to give a 1st for Thad doesn't mean other teams would do the same for Bennett and his salary.

Fixed that for ya!

I think you should add Bud to the list of assets. I am not suggesting he is worth a lot but I think his strong finish to the season along with the reports in preseason that teams were interested give him a positive value at least to a few teams.

I'll say that while it does feel like optimism that teams may give up a protected first round pick for either Payne or Bennett it's not absolutely crazy either teams give up picks for guys. At this point I think Bud probably has as much or more value as either guy but it only takes 1 team to like a guy to get something decent out of them. I see some potential for packaging some assets to get something that may help the roster more.

Camden wrote:Just because Flip was dumb enough to give a 1st for Payne doesn't mean other teams would do the same for Bennett and his salary.

Also, Lip, you should check into Bjelica and Dub more. I'm assuming (forgive me) that you're not very familiar with them as of 2015. You'd probably like them more.

Camden wrote:Just because Flip was dumb enough to give a 1st for Payne doesn't mean other teams would do the same for Bennett and his salary.

Also, Lip, you should check into Bjelica and Dub more. I'm assuming (forgive me) that you're not very familiar with them as of 2015. You'd probably like them more.

Cam - I have checked into both as of 2015. That's why I listed them as positive assets. As for Bennett, there is usually a team that can be sold on hope and potential. Note I was referring to a "protected" pick. I would guess it would have to be protected through 20, but who knows. And perhaps there's another NBA GM willing to give up a future lottery protected first for Payne. Could Flip be the only one of 30 GMs who think Payne is worth a lottery protected 1st? The answer is yes, of course, but there may be another GM with an inexplicable affinity for Payne. :)

After two years of uneven to bad to freaking terrible play... I can't imagine there's a GM in the league willing to give up a 1st round pick for 2 years (at most) and $13M for Bennett.

Remember, the Wolves gave up a 1st to unload Wes Johnson and he had proven A LOT more than Anthony Bennett has. There was no harm in getting him into the Wiggins/Love trade. It would have been awesome if it panned out.

After one terrible season and one "lost" season, I don't see it ending well. But, hey... at least there was some improvement.

I have more hope for AB then Payne. I have no problem keeping both next year. I certainly would rather have the pick back from the Hawks though.

monsterpile wrote:I think you should add Bud to the list of assets. I am not suggesting he is worth a lot but I think his strong finish to the season along with the reports in preseason that teams were interested give him a positive value at least to a few teams.

I'll say that while it does feel like optimism that teams may give up a protected first round pick for either Payne or Bennett it's not absolutely crazy either teams give up picks for guys. At this point I think Bud probably has as much or more value as either guy but it only takes 1 team to like a guy to get something decent out of them. I see some potential for packaging some assets to get something that may help the roster more.

Bud may be of value to a perennial playoff team looking to shore up depth or backfill a free agent that goes elsewhere during the offseason. He only has one year left on his deal and he could be a nice, veteran wing that can come in off the bench and provide a little pop. He really did play well down the stretch, so I agree, he could return us something other than just cap space.

Bleed - I also have more hope for AB than Payne, although I'm not holding my breath on either. And I don't have a problem with Flips decision to include AB in the Love deal. That move made sense for a rebuilding team. But I'm still mystified by the decisions to trade first round picks for Thad and Payne. First round picks are like gold as assets for a rebuilding team. Someone like Thad makes sense as a helpful addition for a contending team. Payne might make sense for a second round pick