Minnesota Sports Forum

I don’t think this team needs to rebound make any major trades this offseason. The key now is to let this current group minus Randle and NAW develop and continue coming together.

The only need I see is a backup big. The good news is there will be a lot of unrestricted free agent centers and PFs available this summer. I could 27 and many of them are very solid. If we can get below the 1st airin we’ll have the whole MLE to work with. Here’s the list with the salary they’re getting this season:

UNRESTRICTED

1. Brook Lopez (C, MIL, $24M)
2. Clint Capela (C, ATL, $23M)
3. Myles Turner (C, IND, $20.4M)
4. Steven Adams (C, HOU, $12.6M)
5. Marvin Bagley (PF, MEM, $12.5M)
6. Chris Boucher (PF, TOR, $11.8M)
7. Larry Nance (PF, ATL, $10.8M)
8. Al Horford (PF, 39yr, BOS, $9.75M)
9. Trey Lyles (PF, SAC, $8.0M)
10. Kevon Looney (C, GSW, $7.5M)
11. Precious Achiuwa (PF, NYK, $6.9M)
12. Jake LaRavia (PF, SAC, $3.7M)
13. Deandre Jordan (C, 37yr, DEN, $3.3M)
14. Alex Len (C, 32yr, WAS, $3.3M)
15. Mason Plumlee (C, 35yr, PHX, $3.3M)
16. Tristan Thompson (C, 34, CLE, $3.3M)
17. Markieff Morris (PF, 35, LAL, $3.3M)
18. Christian Wood (C, 28, LAL, $2.9M)
19. Luke Kornet (C, 30, BOS, $2.8M)
20. Thomas Bryant (C, 28, IND, $2.7M)
21. Bol Bol (C, 25, PHX, $2.4M)
22. Jaxson Hayes (C, 25, NOP, $2.3M)
23. Charles Bassey (C, 24, SAS, $2.2M)
24. Yabusele (C, 29, PHI, $2.1M)
25. Jericho Sims (C, 26, MIL, $1.9M)
26. JT Thor (PF, 22, CLE, $1.6M)
27. Paul Reed (C, 26, DET, $1.5M)

PLAYER OR TEAM OPTION
1. Drummond (PO, C, 32yr, PHI, $5M)
2. Dwight Powell (PO, C, DAL, $4M)

Give me whoever the best per 36 rebouder is on that list. I believe we can also trade for players that are on contracts at or below the mle amount and absorb them into the mle if we have mle open. Someone like Brandon Clark who is making 12.5 would fit that bill, Memphis who just cut a bunch of salary so they can afford to extend Jackson to a massive new deal. We might fill that big position with the Detroit or Utah draft pick as well, someone decent is available.

Kevon Looney seems like a decent fit and someone that won't cost a ton of $. And he obviously has been saturated by a winning culture, so that doesn't hurt either.

Could we just trade the Pistons pick and TJ for Mark Williams?

Alex Len pulled a 180 and will sign with the Lakers instead of Indy. The league keeps pulling the puppet strings for LA.

Phenom wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:42 pm Alex Len pulled a 180 and will sign with the Lakers instead of Indy. The league keeps pulling the puppet strings for LA.

Alex Len is barely in the league, so he's not someone I'd lose any sleep about.

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 5:58 am

Phenom wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:42 pm Alex Len pulled a 180 and will sign with the Lakers instead of Indy. The league keeps pulling the puppet strings for LA.

Alex Len is barely in the league, so he's not someone I'd lose any sleep about.

Where is the dripping with sarcasm button? I thought the wink sold it.

Phenom wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 6:39 am

KG4Ever wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2025 5:58 am

Phenom wrote: ↑Tue Feb 11, 2025 4:42 pm Alex Len pulled a 180 and will sign with the Lakers instead of Indy. The league keeps pulling the puppet strings for LA.

Alex Len is barely in the league, so he's not someone I'd lose any sleep about.

Where is the dripping with sarcasm button? I thought the wink sold it.

Aahhhh! The emoji looked too small for me to even notice the wink. Well played!

I like Precious. You'd get hustle that is for sure. Could see him meshing with Naz well.

Thanks for putting in the work, Lipoli!

If we can get our payroll $5,685,000 under the second apron, we can use the full tax-payer MLE ($5.685).

We can use vet min exceptions.

I don’t believe we can use TPE’s created this season if they take us over the first apron, but we can use TPE’s that are generated by trades in the 2025-26 season.

Not a lot of money to offer to free agents. That’s why the rules are built like they are for high-spending teams. I hope we can re-sign our own free agents to tradeable contracts, but even that is difficult. You can’t bring back a player in a sign-and-trade at the FIRST apron.