Minnesota Sports Forum

Let's say the Philly rumor is true http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20140808_Source__Sixers_in_Cavs-Wolves_trade.html

We are basically adding Thad Young, Andrew Wiggins and Mo Williams. The only key player we are losing is Love..

If we keep the rest of our core intact, don't you believe the fall won't be as significant as others think?

Rubio
Martin
Wiggins
Young
Pek

Bench: Brewer, Dieng, Mo Williams, Shabazz and LaVine

Am I missing something? I am not saying it's a playoff team but it certainly isn't one of the worst teams in the league like everyone is saying.

I disagree. That is a 20-25 win team at best. Also, we had a MAJOR issue of bench talent last season....and Mo Williams alone isn't changing that. We will still have the worst bench in the NBA.

I don't see a bad team there, and I've said that multiple times now so there's no going back. I think we've upgraded defensively and with our depth. On offense, we took a huge hit. That's just what losing Love does for your basketball team, but I don't think we'll necessarily be a poor offensive team at all. We've seen Rubio play and win games with much worse offensive options than the guys we have now.

I'm not sure how a bench of: Williams-Brewer-Budinger-Dieng-Turiaf is the worst bench in the NBA. I put Dieng at PF due to the uncertainty of our backup as of right now. We were running Barea-Shved-Hummel-Cunningham-Turiaf at one point last year...

Camden wrote:I don't see a bad team there, and I've said that multiple times now so there's no going back. I think we've upgraded defensively and with our depth. On offense, we took a huge hit. That's just what losing Love does for your basketball team, but I don't think we'll necessarily be a poor offensive team at all. We've seen Rubio play and win games with much worse offensive options than the guys we have now.

I'm not sure how a bench of: Williams-Brewer-Budinger-Dieng-Turiaf is the worst bench in the NBA. I put Dieng at PF due to the uncertainty of our backup as of right now. We were running Barea-Shved-Hummel-Cunningham-Turiaf at one point last year...

huge hit is selling it short cam. 4th leading scorer, without Love on the floor, the Wolves were a worse offense then the 76ers. Not to mention he pretty much made Brewers offensive game with his outlets. There's nobody throwing those anymore.

Whats the Wolves crunch time lineup? Rubio/Martin/Wiggins/Young(Bennett)/Pek? The Wolves have no chance late in games with that bunch. We haven't been able to mention the passing and rebounding that will be lost as well.

Rookies just don't win games in the NBA. They'll be better in a few years, but it's crazy to think they won't have a ton of growing pains next year. Both players are hardly finished products and thought to be pretty raw coming in.

Wolves will be a bottom team offensivally, I would guess the D will be around mid pack. 27-55

No way does Flip send Bennett & the MIA pick for Young.. That's basically saying Young is half the value of Love. No way..

As for the point of this thread I don't think we'll be terrible this year. Probably still a top 10 lotto pick, but you never know. I'm kinda torn on whether I'd like to see them eek in as the 8th seed or end up with a top 10 pick so the Suns don't get one. I think it really depends on how Rubio/Wiggins/Lavine/Dieng perform this year.

TheGrey08 wrote:No way does Flip send Bennett & the MIA pick for Young.. That's basically saying Young is half the value of Love. No way..

As for the point of this thread I don't think we'll be terrible this year. Probably still a top 10 lotto pick, but you never know. I'm kinda torn on whether I'd like to see them eek in as the 8th seed or end up with a top 10 pick so the Suns don't get one. I think it really depends on how Rubio/Wiggins/Lavine/Dieng perform this year.

I disagree. Its all going to depend if Robbie Hummel can be that stretch 4 that we desperately need

Is it inconsistent to say I don't think the Wolves are going to be terrible, but I also see us winning only 30-35 games? It sounds odd, but I don't think so. If you take the long view, you realize that this year's team is going to be dependent to a great extent on players 23 and younger, and that puts them at a distinct disadvantage. But I also think they will be really entertaining to watch. We unfortunately knew what we were in the Kevin Love era...a marginally competitive team, but with little chemistry and upside. We may be less competitive this year, but it will be much more fun, and as we see flashes of brilliance from our young players, it will be easy to dream of much better days in the near future.

longstrangetrip wrote:Is it inconsistent to say I don't think the Wolves are going to be terrible, but I also see us winning only 30-35 games? It sounds odd, but I don't think so. If you take the long view, you realize that this year's team is going to be dependent to a great extent on players 23 and younger, and that puts them at a distinct disadvantage. But I also think they will be really entertaining to watch. We unfortunately knew what we were in the Kevin Love era...a marginally competitive team, but with little chemistry and upside. We may be less competitive this year, but it will be much more fun, and as we see flashes of brilliance from our young players, it will be easy to dream of much better days in the near future.

My guess is that you'll feel different after the Wolves lose 8 in a row and drop 10 games out of the 8th seed by Jan

If that happens, and it's clear by then that Rubio is hopeless as a shooter and Wiggins, LaVine, and maybe Bennett are all busts, I will agree with you...I would probably give up on the team. But I think that by January we will see the huge potential this young team has, even if the record doesn't show it.

If we end up getting Young and he is actually a pretty good defensive player as some of the posts in the other thread suggest (Flip is up on stats and now Ryan is also on board) then the Wolves could be pretty solid and not terrible. There is some legit NBA talent on this team and if you add Young and he is the type of solid glue guy he seems to be then I think this team. Will win some games and for sure be watchable.