What’s TC’s Plan for 2023-2?

[Lipoli390]

With the draft behind us, it’s time to speculate on what if anything TC plans to do this summer to shape the roster for next season. TC’s two draft picks, Miller and Clark, were clearly long-term moves that have little if anything to do with what TC envisions for next season. He’s repeatedly said the Wolves plan is to “run it back” with the same core guys. He’s never said exactly who those “core guys” are, but presumably they’re Edwards, McDaniels, KAT and Rudy. His core guys might also include Anderson, but I’m not sure. It’s also been widely reported by reliable reporters that the Wolves really want to bring back Naz. I think we’re all pretty sure they want to bring back NAW too, but I’d say Naz is the priority.

If you saw my post earlier today on the Wolves salary situation, you saw that we can probably run it back next season with our core guys and also re-sign Naz and NAW without exceeding the luxury tax threshold. But we won’t have any room under the threshold to use our MLE or BAE to sign a consequential player this summer. Will the Wolves front office be content to run it back with JMac as Conley’s backup PG? Maybe.

My gut tells me the Wolves front office will aggressively pursue a trade for Tyus Jones. Getting Tyus without giving up any of our core players (including Anderson) would mean that Prince would have to be included in the Wolves outgoing package. That sounds great to me, but as a rebuilding team the Wizards aren’t going to deal Tyus without getting draft picks and/or high-upside young talent. Unfortunately, the Wolves don’t have meaningful draft capital to include. We can’t trade any of our future firsts through 2030 and after trading two future 2nd-round picks for pick #33, we’re not in a position to offer multiple second round picks either. That means if the Wolves have any chance of getting Tyus, they’ll have to include some of their young high upside talent. As I see it, that means Minott, Miller, or both would likely have to be included along with Prince and probably JMac to have any chance at landing Tyus.

If it were up to me, I wouldn’t agree to include Miller or Minott in a deal for Tyus even though I’d love to get Tyus. With so few draft assets and the new CBA kicking in, this franchise can’t afford to lose any of the high-upside young talent it has. My offer for Tyus would be something like Prince, JMac, Moore, Clark and Knight. That’s as far as I’d go. I have no idea whether it would be enough. But brace yourselves because I think TC will end up trading for Tyus and that he’ll end up including Minott, Miller or both. I hope not, but that’s the next move I see on the horizon.

[Q-is-here]

With the draft behind us, it’s time to speculate on what if anything TC plans to do this summer to shape the roster for next season. TC’s two draft picks, Miller and Clark, were clearly long-term moves that have little if anything to do with what TC envisions for next season. He’s repeatedly said the Wolves plan is to “run it back” with the same core guys. He’s never said exactly who those “core guys” are, but presumably they’re Edwards, McDaniels, KAT and Rudy. His core guys might also include Anderson, but I’m not sure. It’s also been widely reported by reliable reporters that the Wolves really want to bring back Naz. I think we’re all pretty sure they want to bring back NAW too, but I’d say Naz is the priority.

If you saw my post earlier today on the Wolves salary situation, you saw that we can probably run it back next season with our core guys and also re-sign Naz and NAW without exceeding the luxury tax threshold. But we won’t have any room under the threshold to use our MLE or BAE to sign a consequential player this summer. Will the Wolves front office be content to run it back with JMac as Conley’s backup PG? Maybe.

My gut tells me the Wolves front office will aggressively pursue a trade for Tyus Jones. Getting Tyus without giving up any of our core players (including Anderson) would mean that Prince would have to be included in the Wolves outgoing package. That sounds great to me, but as a rebuilding team the Wizards aren’t going to deal Tyus without getting draft picks and/or high-upside young talent. Unfortunately, the Wolves don’t have meaningful draft capital to include. We can’t trade any of our future firsts through 2030 and after trading two future 2nd-round picks for pick #33, we’re not in a position to offer multiple second round picks either. That means if the Wolves have any chance of getting Tyus, they’ll have to include some of their young high upside talent. As I see it, that means Minott, Miller, or both would likely have to be included along with Prince and probably JMac to have any chance at landing Tyus.

If it were up to me, I wouldn’t agree to include Miller or Minott in a deal for Tyus even though I’d love to get Tyus. With so few draft assets and the new CBA kicking in, this franchise can’t afford to lose any of the high-upside young talent it has. My offer for Tyus would be something like Prince, JMac, Moore, Clark and Knight. That’s as far as I’d go. I have no idea whether it would be enough. But brace yourselves because I think TC will end up trading for Tyus and that he’ll end up including Minott, Miller or both. I hope not, but that’s the next move I see on the horizon.

Yeah, the PG position is both a short-term and long-term gap. It's short-term because even a healthy Mike Conley isn't going to play 30+ minutes per game and they need to conserve him as much as possible for the playoffs. And it's a long term issue because of Conley's age.

Tyus would potentially solve both issues, but I think Monte Morris or Delon Wright could definitely help in the short-term. I doubt Minnesota will be the only team bidding on Tyus and others probably have more they can give up to get him.

[Lipoli390]

With the draft behind us, it’s time to speculate on what if anything TC plans to do this summer to shape the roster for next season. TC’s two draft picks, Miller and Clark, were clearly long-term moves that have little if anything to do with what TC envisions for next season. He’s repeatedly said the Wolves plan is to “run it back” with the same core guys. He’s never said exactly who those “core guys” are, but presumably they’re Edwards, McDaniels, KAT and Rudy. His core guys might also include Anderson, but I’m not sure. It’s also been widely reported by reliable reporters that the Wolves really want to bring back Naz. I think we’re all pretty sure they want to bring back NAW too, but I’d say Naz is the priority.

If you saw my post earlier today on the Wolves salary situation, you saw that we can probably run it back next season with our core guys and also re-sign Naz and NAW without exceeding the luxury tax threshold. But we won’t have any room under the threshold to use our MLE or BAE to sign a consequential player this summer. Will the Wolves front office be content to run it back with JMac as Conley’s backup PG? Maybe.

My gut tells me the Wolves front office will aggressively pursue a trade for Tyus Jones. Getting Tyus without giving up any of our core players (including Anderson) would mean that Prince would have to be included in the Wolves outgoing package. That sounds great to me, but as a rebuilding team the Wizards aren’t going to deal Tyus without getting draft picks and/or high-upside young talent. Unfortunately, the Wolves don’t have meaningful draft capital to include. We can’t trade any of our future firsts through 2030 and after trading two future 2nd-round picks for pick #33, we’re not in a position to offer multiple second round picks either. That means if the Wolves have any chance of getting Tyus, they’ll have to include some of their young high upside talent. As I see it, that means Minott, Miller, or both would likely have to be included along with Prince and probably JMac to have any chance at landing Tyus.

If it were up to me, I wouldn’t agree to include Miller or Minott in a deal for Tyus even though I’d love to get Tyus. With so few draft assets and the new CBA kicking in, this franchise can’t afford to lose any of the high-upside young talent it has. My offer for Tyus would be something like Prince, JMac, Moore, Clark and Knight. That’s as far as I’d go. I have no idea whether it would be enough. But brace yourselves because I think TC will end up trading for Tyus and that he’ll end up including Minott, Miller or both. I hope not, but that’s the next move I see on the horizon.

Yeah, the PG position is both a short-term and long-term gap. It's short-term because even a healthy Mike Conley isn't going to play 30+ minutes per game and they need to conserve him as much as possible for the playoffs. And it's a long term issue because of Conley's age.

Tyus would potentially solve both issues, but I think Monte Morris or Delon Wright could definitely help in the short-term. I doubt Minnesota will be the only team bidding on Tyus and others probably have more they can give up to get him.

I agree, Q. The PG issue is really a two-fold issue. I agree that there will be a bidding war for Tyus and I just don’t think the Wolves are in a position to compete in that war unless they can somehow work a sign-and-trade deal involving Naz. And I wouldn’t do that because I don’t think our short-term PG issue is particularly troublesome. Tyus wants to be a starter and I think he’s a starting-level PG, but Conley is our starter. Conley’s injury propensity is a concern, but Anderson is fully capable of being an effective lead guard for the Wolves. JMac, Edwards and NAW (if re-signed) can all handle lead guard duties for stretches.

I agree that, if the Wolves front office believes they need to add a quality veteran backup PG to the roster, Monte Morris and Delon Wright are more realistic candidates. As we know, TC drafted Morris a couple years ago. If the Wolves end up adding a PG to the roster, I’d bet on it bing Monte Morris.

[Sundog]

Good questions… I think next on the to do list will be to get Ant’s and Jaden’s extensions done. After that, it might be a while before we see additional moves, maybe after summer league, if any. I don’t have any clear idea of what TC might do, but I think you’re right that we should brace ourselves for any moves TC might make. Without draft capital, the only sweeteners he has to work with are the young fellas, most of whom we’ve really come to love… losing one or more would be pretty painful.

[Lipoli390]

The more I reflect, the more convinced I am that TC won’t make any major trades this summer and if he does, I don’t think he’ll include Minott or Miller. The moves TC has made since the Gobert trade are all about maximizing flexibility for the long haul while still fielding a highly competitive potential contender next season. I think TC believes (and I agree) that the current roster with NAW returning is a good team and that the team can actually be a contender if key players stay healthy and the Rudy-KAT pairing works. Moreover, with our draft capital so depleted and the second apron looming, I just don’t see TC giving up either of his two young high-upside talents that he drafted.

If a deal happens, it will likely be Prince (perhaps with JMac and/or Knight included) for a player TC believes will help more than Prince. I’ve gone from thinking a Prince-centric deal is likely to believing it’s definitely possible but pretty unlikely. The only other deal I can see TC making this summer would be trading KAT in a major pivot based on an offer he can’t refuse.

[Monster]

I have no idea what the Wizards are attempting to do and to be fair what they are doing might be changing depending on the scenarios placed before them. Adding a guy like Poole might mean they are going to try and retool a bit on the fly while still not being that competitive at least this season. That might mean keeping Tyus.

What COULD help the Wolves in acquiring Tyus would be if Tyus requests to come back home to the Wolves. Sure he isn’t the type of player that can dictate where he goes but I think it could matter to some extent. Would he be the starter here this year? Maybe or maybe not but he could envision being the guy after this year with Conley gone or Conley resigned to be the backup and Tyus signed to be the starter. I would guess there would be a bit of a pull for Tyus to win big with his hometown Wolves. The Wolves are a team likely to be a good team and Tyus could be a long term piece of that. What will other teams offer? Idk but I would think some teams will offer something kinda decent. Will a team blow the Wizards away (relatively speaking) and easily beat what the Wolves have to offer? Idk. Like it’s been said the Wizards have other PGs that would be nice to add. Of course if the Wolves trade Prince for say Morris then they would need another competent SF so it would be depleting one position at the expense of another. I don’t think the Wolves D will get better substituting Prince for Morris although Prince is just ok on that end. It might be easier to have a guy like Morris as a backup PG and hoping a NAW or even Moore or Minott (I see him more as a PF) can be somewhat competent as a solid wing instead of being a guy being charged with helping to run an offense as a PG. Honestly I think if we are getting a short term PG for the Wizards I might prefer Delon Wright because he is a better defender. Right now the Wolves feel like a team that could take a real step forward in that regard depending on how things play out the rest of the offseason.

Ultimately at this point time will tell. There are likely going to end up being some options we didn’t see coming Tyus is already one of those we didn’t even consider a reasonable option a few days ago. What if the Wizards decide to just buy out one of the vet PGs instead of getting a small asset for them and have more cap space to get assets that way? I wouldn’t bet on it but it wouldn’t shock me either. In the past teams have given up multiple second rounders to get off a guy not making much money to save themselves from the luxury tax.

[Lipoli390]

Good thoughts, Monster.

[Q-is-here]

I have no idea what the Wizards are attempting to do and to be fair what they are doing might be changing depending on the scenarios placed before them. Adding a guy like Poole might mean they are going to try and retool a bit on the fly while still not being that competitive at least this season. That might mean keeping Tyus.

What COULD help the Wolves in acquiring Tyus would be if Tyus requests to come back home to the Wolves. Sure he isn’t the type of player that can dictate where he goes but I think it could matter to some extent. Would he be the starter here this year? Maybe or maybe not but he could envision being the guy after this year with Conley gone or Conley resigned to be the backup and Tyus signed to be the starter. I would guess there would be a bit of a pull for Tyus to win big with his hometown Wolves. The Wolves are a team likely to be a good team and Tyus could be a long term piece of that. What will other teams offer? Idk but I would think some teams will offer something kinda decent. Will a team blow the Wizards away (relatively speaking) and easily beat what the Wolves have to offer? Idk. Like it’s been said the Wizards have other PGs that would be nice to add. Of course if the Wolves trade Prince for say Morris then they would need another competent SF so it would be depleting one position at the expense of another. I don’t think the Wolves D will get better substituting Prince for Morris although Prince is just ok on that end. It might be easier to have a guy like Morris as a backup PG and hoping a NAW or even Moore or Minott (I see him more as a PF) can be somewhat competent as a solid wing instead of being a guy being charged with helping to run an offense as a PG. Honestly I think if we are getting a short term PG for the Wizards I might prefer Delon Wright because he is a better defender. Right now the Wolves feel like a team that could take a real step forward in that regard depending on how things play out the rest of the offseason.

Ultimately at this point time will tell. There are likely going to end up being some options we didn’t see coming Tyus is already one of those we didn’t even consider a reasonable option a few days ago. What if the Wizards decide to just buy out one of the vet PGs instead of getting a small asset for them and have more cap space to get assets that way? I wouldn’t bet on it but it wouldn’t shock me either. In the past teams have given up multiple second rounders to get off a guy not making much money to save themselves from the luxury tax.

Yeah, I think if they swapped out Prince for Morris, you'd want NAW to chase the main ball handler/scorer for the other team that's on the floor. Throw in Reid at C, Anderson at PF, and leave either Ant or McDaniels on the floor to play SF. We really should never have a need for 5 bench guys on the floor at the same time if our squad is healthy.

Bench unit assuming no Prince:
C- Reid
PF - Anderson
SF - (McDaniels or Ant)
SG - NAW
PG - Tyus/Morris/Wright??

Even with Prince gone, it's hard to see Minott getting regular minutes if everyone is healthy. He'll move up one slot in the pecking order though and as injuries occur in the front court, he'll get his chance.

[WildWolf2813]

Tyus is gonna get a chance to put up gaudy numbers in a walk year. I don't think he's going anywhere unless he gets a lot back in return, way more than what Minnesota can give.

I don't know where the future PG of this team is coming from: my big fear is that they'll pivot to making Ant the de facto PG. I don't see how it comes from a UDFA or future drafts; the PG classes are super thin. He really does need to find his own Reaves or Caruso.

Short term, I'd give Saben Lee or Mac McClung a shot at backup PG. Otherwise, TC might have to pray Spagnolo shows he can do it.

[KG4Ever]

I don't think Tyus is the answer this year because he wants to start immediately; plus Washington is looking to get a decent return for him (probably a first) that we don't have. If we have the cap space next year and the need, he'd be a good fit next offseason. I think Monte Morris is probably much more realistic option and frankly I'd be fine with him as Timmy did draft him and knows him and he seems more willing to accept being a backup next year and he mirrors the strengths of Tyus. I also like Cole Anthony a lot but think Orlando will probably seek a first for him given his relative youth. I also would love to bring in Jevon Carter or Shake Milton if they would come here on a cheap deal, though I am concerned Timmy spent too much on Naz so that signing Carter or Milton may no longer be feasible after we pay NAW.