Minnesota Sports Forum

Evan Turner is a player that a lot of people on this board seem to like, but there are those that also really dislike him. I'm somewhere in between, I think that he is a player that can get you boards and assists but also a player that makes a lot of bad decisions with the ball in his hands. Let me get this out of the way right now, I don't want to deal Derrick Williams for him. I think that D-Will is a much more talented player as well as one who is going to get better, Evan Turner however I think has plateaued.

Now, what would it take to get Evan Turner to the Wolves if DWill isn't involved? Here is what I'm thinking, Shved and DC as well as two 2nd round picks for Turner. With this move we could get rid of our bad decision maker and get theirs as well as move DC and force Adleman to play D-Will more.

I don't know how the coaches and management would handle Shabazz though, would they continue to develop him as a SF? Hopefully they would move him back to his more natural position at SG. If this were the case we would be looking at a lineup that looks something like this

Rubio/Barea/3rd PG
Martin/Brewer/Shabazz
Turner/Brewer/Bud/Hummel
Love/DWill/ CJ?
Pek/Turiaf/Dieng

I think that Brewer would be our 6th man playing both the 2 and the 3 recreating the role he excelled at in Denver. Also while Bud is out our 2nd unit would be one of the most interesting in the league to watch, getting to see DWill, Barea, Shabazz, and Brewer running all over the place would be a lot of fun.

Here is why I think this move may work. DC is a cheap player that's undervalued, I think they could resign him fairly cheaply if they like him when the year is done. As for Shved I think the Sixers would be getting someone who can play the 2 (a position where they have nobody better than Shved) plus he is still adjusting to the NBA and I expect him to get better, oh and he is cheap, only 3 mil for the next 2 years. The two 2nd rounders would be the thing that the Sixers would be most excited about as they continue to rebuild their roster, I don't think that anyone will be giving up a first for Turner, especially not with next years draft class.

Ok, now it's time to come crashing back down to earth. The Sixers can probably get a better offer than this from somebody else and they would be looking for somebody young that they can develop (Shabazz, Dieng, DWill, 1st rounder). On our side, I think Adleman would be furious if we moved DC as he appears to be one of his favorite players on the roster, and having to play DWill big minutes would also annoy him.

If you read all this here is a treat

[youtube]wQrCAnwB4YE[/youtube]

Love the trade, Volans, but agree that Philly would probably be looking for more for Turner.

One question. Why do you think SG is Muhammad's natural position? I see him as a SF lacking the ball handling, consistent long range shooting and defense to be an NBA 2. He was listed as a SG at UCLA, but since UCLA played a 3-guard offense and Jordan Adams was the real SG, Shabazz looked more like a SF to me in college. I was hoping that he could transform himself into a SG and become Martin's successor, but I haven't seen anything that projects him as a SG. By the way, I'm still optimistic about Shabazz being our future SF.

I'd be pissed if we traded Cunningham away. Yes, I realize that he isn't THAT special, but he's the perfect backup PF for Love. He gives 110% effort, plays really solid defense on whoever we ask him to guard and I like him as a pick-and-pop option from mid-range. Plus he's cheap right now. I wanna say he's only making $2M this year (somebody check that for me). Really like DC and Turiaf/Dieng as our bigs off the bench.

I do like Turner, though. I wish there was a realistic way that we could give them Shved for Turner. Not that I don't like Shveddy, but I don't see where he gets good minutes and he hasn't looked that good since halfway point last year. Don't we have any intriguing Euro stash-aways that we could pair with Shved to get the deal done? Well, now that I think about it, probably not since we always sell our draft picks instead of using them to the fullest. Since that doesn't seem like an option, D-Will is the best trade chip we have that we can part with. D-Will and a 2nd for Turner and a future-protected first? Who says no if that's the offer?

1- Rubio/Barea/Price
2- Martin/Brewer/Shved
3- Turner/Bud/Muhammad
4- Love/Cunningham/Hummel (small ball)
5- Pekovic/Turiaf/Dieng

longstrangetrip- I see Shabazz as more of a 2 mainly because of his size. At 6'6(Kevin Martin is 6'7) he would be one of the shortest 3's in the league and his lack of defense would be even more apparent against the likes of other starting SF. I don't watch college basketball so I can't attest to how he played at UCLA but in the summer league and preseason he has appeared to me to be more of a slashing guard, sort of like a poor mans James Harden (sans ball handling skills).

Cam- I like your deal but I highly doubt we'd be able to get even a heavily protected first from the Sixers unless it was like in the 2020 draft.

You make a good point about Muhammad's height, Volans...he is undersized for an NBA SF. But I think he makes up for that with his strength and rebounding intensity. I would be delighted if he was able to earn some minutes backing up Martin, because I have my doubts about Shved. But I haven't seen much to show me he can cut it at SG.

longstrangetrip wrote:You make a good point about Muhammad's height, Volans...he is undersized for an NBA SF. But I think he makes up for that with his strength and rebounding intensity. I would be delighted if he was able to earn some minutes backing up Martin, because I have my doubts about Shved. But I haven't seen much to show me he can cut it at SG.

Agreed. I said pre-draft back at the ESPN boards that Shabazz seemed more like a SF to me. He's entire game just screams SF, but I'd love it if he could be interchangeable at both wing spots and I think that's what he's working towards. As LST (longstrangetrip) has said repeatedly, his lateral quickness/burst can continue to be worked on and in my opinion, that's one of the two biggest things for Shabazz holding him back from being able to be a SG. The other is his handle. I'm very optimistic about him, though. Hopefully Adelman finds time for him in the final pre-season game.

What about Turner for Shved and Bazz? I don't know the luxury tax implications on our end, but they would be getting 2 more young guys they can try to see if they can play in this league to go with their obvious tanking goal. We run a wing rotation of Martin/Brewer/Turner until Bud comes back. I think it would ruin Shved, but that wouldn't be our problem and Shved and Bazz are both better off the ball anyways which fits with MCW and Wroten. We would be going all-in this year with this trade though because you can't have 4 role players making over 5 million dollars on the wings alone with 2 expensive bigs and 2 PG's making 4 million a piece going into the future, but we may be able to turn Turner into something more valuable if he comes here and plays well.

Ill have to get on my wingspan soapbox to address the debate about Shabazz's natural position. As McHale once said, and I agree, you rebound, contest shots, and shoot with your hands, not your skull. So height is largely irrelevant. Shabazz has an 8'8.5 overhead reach and 6'11 wingspan. Therefore he has the length you would expect in an NBA SF. Contrast that with Corey Brewer who has an 8'7 overhead reach and 6'7.75 wingspan. Yet most would consider Brewer more of a SF than SG. Also, as others have mentioned, Shabazz's skill set is more suited to the SF position. His ballhandling, lateral quickness and long-range shooting fall pretty far short of what should be expected of an NBA SG.