Minnesota Sports Forum

Going into the offseason wolves have to decide who to absolutely keep, who they should probably keep, who to get rid of, and who to absolutely get rid of. I break it down as such...

HAVE to keep:

Kevin Love: Should go without saying. I really hope Flip doesn't give in to pressure to trade him. I have zero confidence that he could make a good deal.

Ricky Rubio: People have been up and down on the guy, but the past few games has shown that he still has potential left to be tapped into. If he can make a jump next year with his finishing around the rim, it will be HUGE for the wolves

Pek: Say all you want about intentior D and rim protection blah blah blah. Fact is when Love-Pek-Rubio play together they are almost always better then the opponent as shown by getting double digit leads all the time. The problems aren't with the starters in Minny.

Should probably keep:

Kevin Martin: He is so weird to me in the fact that he's scoring 20 points a game but it just feels like he's a ghost out there making little impact. BUT, the wolves need to put as many shooters around Rubio as possible, and Martin can still shoot.

Dante: There's people who don't like him, but I think he's a solid player whose making pennies on the dollar. It's not his fault that he's overexposed and the only person JJ can find open.

Turiaf: I was wrong about the impact this guy has. Thought he was just a guy but has exceeded expectations. Im fine keeping him as long as it's cheap and on a short deal.

Bud: I want to give him one more chance to show what he can do when healthy. He has shown that he can be an impact player when healthy. If he's injured again, then trade him for whatever.

Proabably get rid of:

Lexi: Disappointed with him. Thought he would be better. If we let him go, I don't think itd come back to bite us

Brewer: I feel like he looks better then he is from Love and Rubios passing skills. You can find his energy at a much cheaper price then 5 mil. Trade him for someone who can shoot.

FOR SURE GET RID OF:

JJ: I would of traded him for a future 2nd just to get rid of him. I feel like he's cost us multiple games. Just getting a backup PG who can run an offense would give us an extra 8 wins at least

Everybody but Love is expendable.

Either way, the team is rebuilding if he leaves... so...

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Everybody but Love is expendable.

Either way, the team is rebuilding if he leaves... so...

They weren't built so there is no rebuilding, they'll just continue on with the next set of mismatched parts.

Keepers: Love, Pek and Rubio

Non Keepers: Adelman and Barea

Everyone else is expendable at the right price.

TheSP wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:Everybody but Love is expendable.

Either way, the team is rebuilding if he leaves... so...

They weren't built so there is no rebuilding, they'll just continue on with the next set of mismatched parts.

You're pretty much right.

The team still hasn't challenged for a playoff spot in a decade. And, never without Garnett on the roster. But, Love COULD be the best player on a playoff team.

We can't make that claim for anybody else on the roster.

Why do people feel the need to knock Corey down because he plays well off our stars? That is a good thing. He is very good moving without the ball, which is important for any offense. He needs to stay unless he nets a really good return in trade. He wasnt paid to come here and be a dead eye shooter so dropping him because he isnt doesnt make sense. Why not drop the guys who are paid to make shots and are not doing their jobs?

Keepers = Love

I love the players on our team. Each one has a characteristic that makes me want to root for them. But beyond Love, they just aren't that excellent at basketball. More importantly they don't seem to cover each other's weaknesses. I would like to keep Rubio but if he could be used to leverage us into attaining another all star we have to do it. I agree with Phenom that Corey is a good complimentary piece. But again if that can help get us an asset, goodbye.

Phenom's_Revenge wrote:Why do people feel the need to knock Corey down because he plays well off our stars? That is a good thing. He is very good moving without the ball, which is important for any offense. He needs to stay unless he nets a really good return in trade. He wasnt paid to come here and be a dead eye shooter so dropping him because he isnt doesnt make sense. Why not drop the guys who are paid to make shots and are not doing their jobs?

And he has surprised me with how well he finishes at the rim. His dunks are one thing, but he seems to finish very well in traffic. I didn't realize that was part of his game.

I think keepers and non-keepers might be the wrong way of categorizing our players. I'd go with untouchable and not untouchable, and in that case we have one in Kevin Love. Pekovic, Rubio, Brewer, Turiaf. Those are all keepers as in yes, I'd like to keep them, but I would package them all for another high-end untouchable player (star).

I never think of any player as untouchable. I hope the GMs of the teams I love are on the phone everyday seeing what deals might be available for everyone on our roster. Just to demonstrate that most of you might agree that nobody is untouchable, if OkC offered us Durant for Love, would you make that deal? If the answer is yes, then Love is not untouchable. Yes, I realize that OkC is not going to make that deal, but it doesn't change this fact: If we can trade any player for another player or players, and that deal is likely to make the team better, than you have to make that deal.

Having set those parameters, the guys I would like to unload are Barea, because I find his style of play so frustrating, and Adelman, because I don't think he has the energy to coach anymore. But I would trade anybody else on our roster if the deal clearly made us better.