To Fly You Must Have Wings: The 2012 T'Wolves Offseason Thread II

[tremonthustler1]

Here's how the offseason should go:

1. Amnesty Darko's deal.

2. Decline Wes Johnson's 4th year option and look to shop him. Attach the first round pick if you have to in order to move down, kinda like how we got rid of Flynn. The Wolves pick 18th.

3. I'd trade Wes Johnson, the #18 and #58 pick for Omri Casspi, the #25 pick and the #34 pick in the draft.

4. Renounce all free agents, and only consider bringing back Tolliver. Randolph is an iffy but I think he's better off somewhere else.

5. At #25, draft Festus Ezeli out of Vandy. At 34, go after Jae Crowder.

6. Trade Wayne Ellington for a future first in the 2013 draft.

7. Get Derrick Williams on the Kevin Love diet ASAP.

8. discuss a contract extension with Nikola Pekovic.

9. Offer O.J. Mayo 4 years, $30 mil. If Memphis matches, fine. If not, we have our starting SG.

10 Leave the last 3 roster spots empty. That can go to a D-League guy with promise, a vet PG, easier to make trades where we get another player back, someone late in training camp that gets cut. It keeps some roster flexibility on this team, and every team has that.


My lineup (age as of July 1):

C Nikola Pekovic (26) /Festus Ezeli (22)
PF Kevin Love (23) /Anthony Tolliver (27)
SF Derrick Williams (21) /Omri Casspi (23) /Jae Crowder (21)
SG O.J. Mayo (24) /J.J. Barea (28) /Malcolm Lee (22)
PG Ricky Rubio (21) /Luke Ridnour (31)

(vet big, vet big, SG for the last 3 spots)

Not bad once everyone gets healthy. The oldest player would be Ridnour at 31 and the 2 youngest would still be Derrick Williams and Ricky Rubio.

 

[We Ready]

What more can I do but cosign?

 

[tremonthustler1]

After visiting the doctor, tells me that all is well, the knee is fine and I started to walk

-Rubio

 

[jericho]

If the Wolves stay at 18 who are you hoping they land Tre? Any chance of Austin Rivers dropping that low/would he fit?

 

[Art Barr]

why should they trade down and get cassippi.

when cassippi has never been the same since leaving the state of cali?

they are a shooting guard away,.....why not take one in the draft?


art barr

art barr

 

[tremonthustler1]

why should they trade down and get cassippi.

when cassippi has never been the same since leaving the state of cali?

they are a shooting guard away,.....why not take one in the draft?


art barr

art barr

Read again.

I have them drafting a wing in Jae Crowder. He's talking about losing weight so he can play the SG spot primarily. I have them signing one because the team needs to go after established players to make that push. They can't bank on solely the team as is and expect major strides. The coach and GM (and Love) all agree they need to get vets in there.

The trade I proposed isn't so much to get Casspi but to unload Wes.

I don't mind them going after a SG. My favorite ones just happen to be guys projected to go in the late first /early 2nd.

 

[tremonthustler1]

If the Wolves stay at 18 who are you hoping they land Tre? Any chance of Austin Rivers dropping that low/would he fit?

A part of me wants them to trade down if possible, but definitely if it can be part of package to get that big time player, by all means. If not, I can't say I'm an Austin Rivers guy. I'm kinda hoping Jae Crowder boosts his stock so that he can be picked at 18 with no problems. Rivers to me is inefficient and doesn't do anything particularly well other than get to the line. I love his attitude though. He has that "fukk you, I'll do it myself if I have to" attitude.

If I had to put a top 5 in terms of preference no matter where, I'd probably have it as

1. Jae Crowder, Marquette
2. John Jenkins, Vanderbilt
3. Jeff Taylor, Vanderbilt
4. Quincy Miller, Baylor
5. Terrence Ross, Washington /Doron Lamb, Kentucky. Not sure here.

 

[We Ready]

A part of me wants them to trade down if possible, but definitely if it can be part of package to get that big time player, by all means. If not, I can't say I'm an Austin Rivers guy. I'm kinda hoping Jae Crowder boosts his stock so that he can be picked at 18 with no problems. Rivers to me is inefficient and doesn't do anything particularly well other than get to the line. I love his attitude though. He has that "fukk you, I'll do it myself if I have to" attitude.

If I had to put a top 5 in terms of preference no matter where, I'd probably have it as

1. Jae Crowder, Marquette
2. John Jenkins, Vanderbilt
3. Jeff Taylor, Vanderbilt
4. Quincy Miller, Baylor
5. Terrence Ross, Washington /Doron Lamb, Kentucky. Not sure here.

Trade down and get Tyshawn Taylor

 

[tremonthustler1]

Trade down and get Tyshawn Taylor

Nah. We really don't need another PG. Remember we still have Malcolm Lee as a combo guard.


We're also scouting Milos Teodosic aggressively

 

[Malta]

Crowder at 18 would be a massive reach, you could probably get him in the 2nd round.

 

[We Ready]

Nah. We really don't need another PG. Remember we still have Malcolm Lee as a combo guard.


We're also scouting Milos Teodosic aggressively

I know we don't need another NON shooting guard. That's the KU fan in me talking


I was the night we drafted Chalmers....until we traded his rights



But we did get Pekamania out of it though

 

[tremonthustler1]

Crowder at 18 would be a massive reach, you could probably get him in the 2nd round.

That's why I'd rather trade down, though I got a feeling Crowder's gonna impress everyone at workouts.

To me, he's a 6'6'' Faried. He cannot fail no matter where he goes. His numbers are crazy. Only a matter of time with him until others view him as a major steal.

 

[Malta]

That's why I'd rather trade down, though I got a feeling Crowder's gonna impress everyone at workouts.

To me, he's a 6'6'' Faried. He cannot fail no matter where he goes. His numbers are crazy. Only a matter of time with him until others view him as a major steal.

Or, he could end up like Demarre Carroll.


Why even bother trading down for him, just buy a 2nd rounder to get him, you never know who might fall to 18.

 

[tremonthustler1]

Or, he could end up like Demarre Carroll.


Why even bother trading down for him, just buy a 2nd rounder to get him, you never know who might fall to 18.

Carroll was always a tweener though. He was stuck and didn't realize it til much later. Crowder just has to prove he can shed weight and still be effective as a SG.

At 18, I'm just realizing that I'm not huge fans of the guards that might be there. Just off his school alone I don't want Dion Waiters. Wroten got no range and can't go right. I'm not a believer in Austin Rivers, and there's no way Jeremy Lamb falls into our range. I wanna see more of Doron Lamb and Evan Fournier to see how they fit (admittedly, D. Lamb might be an excellent fit)

Typically this team doesn't buy picks, so I'm not banking on that, but I'm assuming we'll be trading this pick for I don't know what, but they wanna make a big move to solidify things.

 

[tremonthustler1]

Adidas just gave Rubio Rose-like money

http://minnesota.sbnation.com/minne.../11/3013937/ricky-rubio-adidas-shoes-contract

May 11, 2012 - It was a very exciting rookie season for Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio. Before a late-season tear to his ACL derailed the fun, Rubio along with emerging star Kevin Love were turning heads and leading the Timberwolves to a possible playoff berth with some great play.

Now it looks like Rubio's exciting rookie year was noticed by the fine people at the Adidas shoe company, as it's been reported that Rubio has signed a deal with them, swiping him away from rival company Nike. (Note that the article is in Spanish, hat tip to HoopsHype for getting the rumor out there in English first.) Translated:

21-year-old Spanish star Ricky Rubio has agreed on a sponsorship deal with Adidas. Although the duration of the contract and the figures have yet to be released, it is a fact that Adidas gives a dramatic effect to its arch rival in the market, Nike, which counted Ricky Rubio among its players until last year.

Also mentioned in the article -- only Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard are set to make more money from Adidas now than Rubio under the new deal. Not bad for a 21 year old getting over a torn ACL.

Reportedly it's $193 mil over 14 years