Minnesota Sports Forum

With all the developing chatter about the Wolves possibly trading for Tyus Jones, I thought the top was worthy of its own thread.

I’ll start by noting that I really like Tyus and I remember being angry that Rosas let him go.

My thought about trading for him starts with a strong suspicion that the Wolves front office will aggressively pursue a trade for Tyus. He would immediately provide a really good backup for Conley next season. Having just turned 27, Tyus would also provide the Wolves with Conley’s long-term successor. So Tyus fits both TC’s win-now focus on next season and the team’s longer term needs.

What what are the Wolves chances of getting Tyus. The analysis starts with the reality that the Wizards are at the very beginning of a complete rebuild. That means they are interest primarily in future draft assets and possibly very young players with high upside. Secondarily, they’re probably interested in a solid veteran or two with great character who can help mentor the young talent they have and bring in over the next several years. The analysis continues with the reality that the Wizards have four PGs on their roster, including Tyus, Morris, Wright and Poole. The only one among these four who fits the profile for a team at the very beginning of a rebuild is Poole. Therefore, I have no doubt the Wizards will be shopping the other three. So there’s definitely an opening for the Wolves.

But here’s where it gets tough for the Wolves. Of these three PGs the Wizards will likely shop, Tyus has by far the most trade value. Therefore, there will probably be a lot of suitors for Tyus, which will drive up the trade price for him. Although the Wolves can offer Prince as a great fit for the Wizard’s interest in a solid veteran mentor, the Wolves are asset poor when it comes to future draft capital. The Wolves can’t trade any of their future 1st round picks through 2030 and have only four 2nd round picks in the next six years to offer. Therefore, to compete with other suitors for Tyus, the Wolves would need to offer one or more of their recent draft picks in addition to Prince and a future 2nd rounder. Offering Moore would be logical since he has the least upside among our young recent draftees. But I suspect the Wizards will hold out for Minott, Miller or both. My fear, based on last year’s Gobert deal, is that the Wolves will give one or both of them up for Tyus. I wouldn’t give up either one. I’d be willing to offer Prince, Moore, JMac and Clark along with a future 2nd for Tyus, but I wouldn’t be willing to part with either of the M Brothers. I’d insist on Washington taking JMac so we can preserve enough room under the luxury tax to re-sign both Naz and NAW.

I think there will be teams that beat a Wolves offer that doesn’t include Minott or Miller. I suspect there are teams that will offer a future 1st round pick as part of a package for Tyus and that’s exactly what a team just starting its rebuild should and would likely prioritize in any deal. I’m just hoping that TC and his front office cohorts show a lot more savvy than they displayed last year when Danny Ainge took them to the cleaners in an embarrassingly one-sided deal.

If we can’t get Tyus, I’d be mildly interested in Morris but not in Delon Wright. I think we could get Morris for Prince, JMac and a future second-round pick.

I think there will be teams that will want to acquire Wright. There are some advanced stats that say the guy is really valuable. Good teams would really like to add him as a depth guy and he can defend both guard spots. He wouldn’t be the answer for the Wolves at the position it he would be a nice player to add for depth.

Will the Wolves be able to sign Tyus next year for $16-20 Million with the same core roster in place (whether or not there are tax penalties)? If the answer is yes, then I'd not want to offer more than Prince, Moore and two seconds. I'm on the fence whether to trade Naz for Tyus straight up, though I lean towards it, if we can address our center needs elsewhere.

I like Monte Morris and Cole Anthony both as well as Tyus. Morris may even have a better assist to turnover ratio than Tyus, but both guys are near the top in the league. Morris shooting percentages are higher than Tyus across the board. I like Anthony as he really improved his shooting this past year from sub 40% to 45% and he cut his turnovers down a lot. He is younger than Tyus and Morris and given his age and last year's improvement, he may have further upside. I would be happy with any of them and if we can get Morris or Anthony at a cheaper trade cost and contract, then maybe I'd favor them over Tyus. If we get Morris or Anthony and keep Naz or have money to go after a good free agent, then that would be my preference.

Monster wrote: ↑Sat Jun 24, 2023 3:18 pm I think there will be teams that will want to acquire Wright. There are some advanced stats that say the guy is really valuable. Good teams would really like to add him as a depth guy and he can defend both guard spots. He wouldn’t be the answer for the Wolves at the position it he would be a nice player to add for depth.

I like Delon Wright and he's in the mix of guys I'd like to add. I think Wright and a guy like Suggs are a bit more defensive minded guys to consider. I also like Tyus, Morris and Cole Anthony. I also think free agents like Jevon Carter and Shake Milton could upgrade our guard rotation. Hopefully, we can get at least one of them.

Here are my guidelines for any trade this summer to acquire a PG:

1. PG trade targets should be limited to younger players (27 or under) who can be expected to succeed Conley as the Wolves starting PG for the long term as Ant’s backcourt mate. It makes no sense to give up any valuable assets for a backup or short-term PG when we have Conley as our starter, along with JMac and Anderson who is fully capably of effectively filling the backup PG role.

2. Trade targets should not be limited to PGs. I agree with TC that the Wolves don’t have positional needs. They need certain skills and characteristics. TC mentioned IQ and competitiveness. I agree. I’d add 3-point shooting. We don’t have a lot of assets to give and giving up assets for a backup PG should not be on the priority list. I think there are better shooters than Tyus Jones among guards we could trade for this summer. Some of those better shooters like Monte Morris are PGs.

3. If the Wolves consider trading for a PG like Tyus Jones with only one year left on his deal, they need to be reasonably certain that they can re-sign the player next summer at a reasonable cost that won’t further impede the team’s ability to stay under the second apron in 2024-25. We’re going to be skating on the razor’s edge of exceeding the second apron as it is if we keep KAT and Rudy. So the Wolves have to consider what it would cost to keep a PG or any player beyond next season. I think it would be foolish to trade any assets for a PG we aren’t sure we can keep beyond next season. That’s one of the concerns with trading for Tyus.

4. We should absolutely NOT trade Minott or Miller as part of any package for a PG or other player we pursue via trade.

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Sat Jun 24, 2023 7:52 pm I like Monte Morris and Cole Anthony both as well as Tyus. Morris may even have a better assist to turnover ratio than Tyus, but both guys are near the top in the league. Morris shooting percentages are higher than Tyus across the board. I like Anthony as he really improved his shooting this past year from sub 40% to 45% and he cut his turnovers down a lot. He is younger than Tyus and Morris and given his age and last year's improvement, he may have further upside. I would be happy with any of them and if we can get Morris or Anthony at a cheaper trade cost and contract, then maybe I'd favor them over Tyus. If we get Morris or Anthony and keep Naz or have money to go after a good free agent, then that would be my preference.

I went digging on all of the pgs talked about here, and none are bad fits. Except Delon because he is a 1 year deal and 31. Not what we need. The problem is that all are 1 year potential rentals before we are in another precarious position. All but 1.

Cole Anthony is who the target should be, and was one of the trade ideas I was exploring. Explosive, improving in every measure, and is still on his rookie deal with a TO. It fits us so well, as a potential long term option, keeps the cap lower, allows time to see what we have in Carter, and what we will be next year after this run back. It also helps that the Magic now have a logjam at the pg slot, have cap space, 20 picks in 5 years, and are reportedly interested in Naz to pair with a Banchero, Carter Jr., Isaac, Bol Bol frontcourt.

Here is my trade idea:

S&T Naz to whatever the Magic and him agree to, let's say 4/48.

The Magic send Cole Anthony, Denver's '25 first, MIL 26 2nd, Boston 27 2nd to the Wolves. Denver will be picking late 20s to 30, Boston and Milwaukee picks will be 50s.

The Magic avoid bidding on Naz, give up light picks.

The Wolves get control on a young potential PG of the future, get some back end lottery tickets, and push some of our issues back a couple years.

Best yet, Naz goes out East so if he blossoms on a bottom feeder Orlando team; I can root for that.

Maybe I went a bit too high on the picks coming back to the Wolves, so throw out either the 2 2nds, or if the Denver 1st, then I would want 2 or 3 of their higher projected future 2nds.

Why wouldn’t the magic just sign him out right. They have a projected 17.5 million in cap space via spotrac. They can sign him without getting the Wolves involved. Why would that give up a somewhat asset in Anthony and picks when they don’t need to do any of that you acquire Naz.

Also why would Naz leave the wolves to just go be in a similar position with the magic behind Carter and Pablo?

I don’t think Naz has a ton of value around the league. Once again Naz was terrible in his one playoff series, he is a bad defender and rebounder at a position he needs to be good at those things to get extended consistent minutes.

I love Naz, hope Naz is back, with that said I can see Naz being similar to Gorgui where once he is paid he is now a bad contract and negative asset