Mega Thread Minnesota Timberwolves Thread - The Finch Era begins

MadMaynard

Rookie
Jan 26, 2020
48
44
AFL Club
Collingwood
This is a bit surreal. Only five players left from when Rosas joined and KAT and Okogie the longest tenured players on the roster.

The Dieng move hurts the most, a really bizarre trade that doesn't save us money and makes us worse.

Anyone want to take a punt at the starting lineup? Too many names I don't know to weigh up.

My guess would be for the next little period they would want to keep what little chemistry we have left together so I will go with
Kat
Hernagomez
Okogie
Culver
DLo

The other option would be starting Turner at the 3 and having Okogie as the 'original' leader with the second unit.

I think Beasley stays on the bench as our 6 man to get some scoring power from there.

Others to play meaningful minutes
Crabbe/Layman (if he ever comes back)
Reid
McLaughlin/Martin when up from G league
 
Aug 24, 2012
37,270
53,408
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
T'Wolves/Patrick Beverley/Footscray
Who plays for us?
I think maybe?
PG: Russell / McLaughlin
SG: Okogie / Beasley / Crabbe / Nowell / Evans
SF: Culver / Turner / Martin / Vanderbilt
PF: Johnson / Hernangomez / Layman / Spellman
C: Towns / Reid


Johnson’s deal is a 1+1 yeah? Is it a team or player option?
Player.
 
Aug 11, 2006
33,042
27,534
Perth
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Timberwolves, Crystal Palace
It's a great period

Wiggins. Well he has the potential to do really well at GS, Bite us in the ass giving away a low pick+Potentially top 20 player in the league. He wasnt going to with us.

What we get

Naz Reid has shown he's on a value of a contract and can contribute backup minutes. Dieng while i love the guy was on a whole lot of cap space.

We have 30m Coming off the books, D'Lo for 3 years, Towns for 4, The only other large contract in our books is James Johnson

Malik is going to cost about 15M a year to keep. Right now thats a luxury we have that it's upto him to earn that, rather then having us to over-pay that


best thing? we havent had a creative playmaker since Rubio, This one can shoot. Culver/Okogie/JJ are good defenders. Malik can cause some damage. Im excited boys
 

Coasters7

Norm Smith Medallist
Nov 27, 2014
9,334
15,398
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Chelsea
Really think there’s only a couple of options. If we haven’t paired Kat with a quality guard by next deadline you’d have to have a serious think about trading him and starting again, especially if it’s an AD/PG type haul coming back.

The way he’s been carrying on during the losing streaks and trade deadline is not what you want from your number 1. Jimmy was 100% right, even if he did act like a bit of a dick about it. Kat is one of the best in the league on talent alone, but doesn’t have the ability to put the team on his back and will them over the line. It’s a shame Jimmy and Kat never got along as Jimmy was the perfect guy to complement him and Wigs on the court. I still think if Kat was part of a dynamic one-two with DLo (for example), with shooters around him and someone to help on inside D, he would thrive. He’s not in the same mould as Garnett.
Yeah disregard this entire comment after waking up to that news. Rosas has somehow reset the entire roster, including dumping all our bloated contracts, without losing a whole heap of assets. Pretty solid young core with 2 stars that complement each other plus a top 10, possibly top 5, pick to add to them next year. He’s put himself in a good position to build now. DBook next 🤞🏼 (Don’t ask me how).
 
Aug 11, 2006
33,042
27,534
Perth
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Timberwolves, Crystal Palace
We have saved money, Tossed Wiggins awful contract aside, Taken D'lo contract on. Dlo has taken Brooklyn on his back with a lesser roster then we currently have

We have Crabbe/Turners contracts off next season as well, saved a couple $$$ in Diengs contract swapping him with James Jones which position wise we needed more. Naz has shown he can play Backup C

We have Culver/Okogie locked away for another 2-3 years who honestly we want to be defensive specialists and hit 3's.


Also Malik Beasley is a very handy addition


it was a VERY good deadline, We miss out on a top pick, Say anything from 3-10. * it, We would of burnt it anyways and not gotten a player of Dlo's talent
 

coniglio_number1

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 16, 2011
6,432
7,608
pannawonica
AFL Club
GWS
A556EE22-740B-4E30-909B-DB547EA97681.jpeg
 
They got a good haul for Covington and turned an otherwise meh pick (Houston 1st) into an opportunity to look at some of Denver’s talent.

Of the guys that went out only Bates-Diop is disappointing to lose, but we weren’t using him. Vonleh, Bell et al were signed for exactly this purpose.

Glad we‘re out from under the Wiggins contract; he should have been allowed to get to restricted free agency instead of maxing him out.

DLo is good but we need a real PG.

My criticisms:

If we could have dealt the 2020 1st instead of the lightly protected 2021 pick, then we should have done that.

The Dieng/Johnson trade is s**t. It saves us $2m in 2021. I’m sure they are hoping he’ll opt out but he’s done so he‘ll take the money.

We’re a tax team now but it sounds Evan Turner will want to be bought out.
 

Drumroe

Premiership Player
May 9, 2007
4,697
2,817
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Detroit Pistons
Will be interesting too see what Beasley costs you guys. There's really not a heap of team with cap space now that would want to get ties up with an RFA. Either someone offers him overs to get and pry him away, or you might get him for a great deal. Dillon Brooks at 3/33 has had a far better season, so hopefully you could keep him for less than that.

His agent is Rich Paul though....
 

Snake Charmer

Norm Smith Medallist
Apr 11, 2011
7,201
4,526
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Minnesota Timberwolves
Will be interesting too see what Beasley costs you guys. There's really not a heap of team with cap space now that would want to get ties up with an RFA. Either someone offers him overs to get and pry him away, or you might get him for a great deal. Dillon Brooks at 3/33 has had a far better season, so hopefully you could keep him for less than that.

His agent is Rich Paul though....
I’d be happy to pay him around 40 over 3.
 
Aug 11, 2006
33,042
27,534
Perth
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Timberwolves, Crystal Palace
They got a good haul for Covington and turned an otherwise meh pick (Houston 1st) into an opportunity to look at some of Denver’s talent.

Of the guys that went out only Bates-Diop is disappointing to lose, but we weren’t using him. Vonleh, Bell et al were signed for exactly this purpose.

Glad we‘re out from under the Wiggins contract; he should have been allowed to get to restricted free agency instead of maxing him out.

DLo is good but we need a real PG.

My criticisms:

If we could have dealt the 2020 1st instead of the lightly protected 2021 pick, then we should have done that.

The Dieng/Johnson trade is s**t. It saves us $2m in 2021. I’m sure they are hoping he’ll opt out but he’s done so he‘ll take the money.

We’re a tax team now but it sounds Evan Turner will want to be bought out.
Bates Diop fair enough. He showed a little bit, But isnt exactly going to hurt

Vonleh/Bell were trash, Vonleh had really gone backwards this year. Just didnt fit. Needed to score in the paint, no space for that

Wiggins contact 100% agree. going hard max was stupid, Should of let the market decide.

Dlo is a PG. Absolute Faith in giving him the keys. Having Booker will help ;)

The Johnson/Dieng trade im a huge fan of. Firstly a chance that Johnson walks, Which wont happen. He's about 3 years before he's out. He wont get more then 7m Elsewhere, He wont make 15m For the rest of the career, however he's a very Handy, defensive orientated PF. WHich * we've needed

Dieng's the better player but a worse fit. Naz has shown he can play Minutes at the C. We had about 45m+ Tied up in two players who play the most redundant position in the NBA.

I hope Evan Turners wants a buy out. Will save Glen Taylor a headache and make him not shitty when Rosas needs to go over tax once again in the future, Evan Turner isnt getting more then 5m
Will be interesting too see what Beasley costs you guys. There's really not a heap of team with cap space now that would want to get ties up with an RFA. Either someone offers him overs to get and pry him away, or you might get him for a great deal. Dillon Brooks at 3/33 has had a far better season, so hopefully you could keep him for less than that.

His agent is Rich Paul though....

He knocked back 30/3, I think he gets 45m for 3, depends on his fit. At worst a sign+Trade to take the punt was worth it.
 
Aug 24, 2012
37,270
53,408
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
T'Wolves/Patrick Beverley/Footscray
I hope Evan Turners wants a buy out. Will save Glen Taylor a headache and make him not shitty when Rosas needs to go over tax once again in the future, Evan Turner isnt getting more then 5m
Seems likely, not introduced with the other players amid lots of "talks ongoing with his representation" tweets.
 
Bates Diop fair enough. He showed a little bit, But isnt exactly going to hurt

Vonleh/Bell were trash, Vonleh had really gone backwards this year. Just didnt fit. Needed to score in the paint, no space for that

Wiggins contact 100% agree. going hard max was stupid, Should of let the market decide.

Dlo is a PG. Absolute Faith in giving him the keys. Having Booker will help ;)

The Johnson/Dieng trade im a huge fan of. Firstly a chance that Johnson walks, Which wont happen. He's about 3 years before he's out. He wont get more then 7m Elsewhere, He wont make 15m For the rest of the career, however he's a very Handy, defensive orientated PF. WHich fu** we've needed

Dieng's the better player but a worse fit. Naz has shown he can play Minutes at the C. We had about 45m+ Tied up in two players who play the most redundant position in the NBA.

I hope Evan Turners wants a buy out. Will save Glen Taylor a headache and make him not shitty when Rosas needs to go over tax once again in the future, Evan Turner isnt getting more then 5m


He knocked back 30/3, I think he gets 45m for 3, depends on his fit. At worst a sign+Trade to take the punt was worth it.

Yeah, I’m not seeing it with Johnson. He was mostly out of the rotation in Miami. So-so low volume shooting, doesn’t get to the line or rebound at a high rate. My guess is he is cooked so this is his last payday. No chance he opts out.

Dieng is at least the devil you know.

I saw a report Turner trained in Minneapolis today. Hopefully he is bought out.
 
Aug 11, 2006
33,042
27,534
Perth
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Timberwolves, Crystal Palace
Yeah, I’m not seeing it with Johnson. He was mostly out of the rotation in Miami. So-so low volume shooting, doesn’t get to the line or rebound at a high rate. My guess is he is cooked so this is his last payday. No chance he opts out.

Dieng is at least the devil you know.

I saw a report Turner trained in Minneapolis today. Hopefully he is bought out.
W/ James Johnson hes a role player, Not going to try to tell you he's a superstar, However ild rather a PF who can give you 20MPG then a C on 17m Who cant play alongside our best player. Small sample size but he was pretty much banished from the lineup for being out of shape, comes back in and hitting about 35% from 3, playing OK defense.

Absolutely no chance he opts out unless Lakers/Bucks/Clippers are going to give him 8m next year
 

MadMaynard

Rookie
Jan 26, 2020
48
44
AFL Club
Collingwood
Wow.
I think the players were obviously very hyped up for the game and played with the energy accordingly that can't be sustained at that same level each and every night but a few things that stood out offensively that I think will hopefully stick with this roster.

3 point shooting - obviously Saunders and co want us to put up a lot of threes, and at times (rarely) we have looked good doing it. We had a previous franchise record not long ago. But this was different, how refreshing was it kicking to some open players particularly Beasley and Hernangomez that you generally thought was going to make it, I think Beasley knocking them down early also released some pressure on others by not having endless trips of missing open 3s like we have in the past. We also seemed to get a lot more corner 3s than we usually get which will help.

Ball movement - it's a lot easier to cut, spread, make the extra pass etc when up by that margin for the better part of the game but again it was so nice to watch, rather than possession after possession of Wiggins or KAT isolation that rarely paid off. KAT is an above average passer in the post and with RoCo and Wiggins should of made more of it but for some reason it never worked mainly as defenders sagged back a bit cause we had no real threat on the 3 but some of the lineups tonight we had genuine threats that were hitting shots and this opened the lane a bit more.

As I said there is still a lot of work to do but if we can at least bring most of that energy and intensity we will at least become watchable again rather than the stuff that was getting dished up since November.
 

power09

Club Legend
Dec 7, 2008
2,855
1,805
Burra SA
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Other Teams
Timberwolves
I always liked having Okogie on the floor for the energy but his (lack of) offense and decision making really hurt.
Now though having more competent offensive players around him really helps, he doesnt have to do anything now but cut and shoot wide open spot ups.
Looks a lot better
 
Aug 24, 2012
37,270
53,408
AFL Club
Western Bulldogs
Other Teams
T'Wolves/Patrick Beverley/Footscray
That was great. I mean, it's not always going to be that way, but we look to have a much more balanced roster now. These guys have made it clear already they have a lot to play for and will throw everything they can at winning, and that's better than what we had. McLaughlin and Beasley, wow. Hernangomez and Johnson paired really well with KAT. Okogie looks much better when he can defend without needing to be the first or second or even third option up the other end.

We'll see how we're going in 20 games but at this stage they all look like excellent moves. Greater cap flexibility at a glance too.
 

MadMaynard

Rookie
Jan 26, 2020
48
44
AFL Club
Collingwood
All Star Break.
Well what a first part of the season.

Even with our Roster structure and diabolical contracts of Teague, Wiggins and Dieng I started the season hoping we could sneak into 7th 8th seed, after missing out on D Lo thought we picked up a few decent role players that could play a part around KAT and Wiggins would improve under a off season and Saunders as his full time coach.
It started well and looked like the above may play out however Wiggins and KAT both missed a few games and from there it went downhill extremely quickly and we started to look to the draft.

Then bang we effectively traded out our team for a complete new one highlighted by the fact that JO is the longest serving member of the team in his second year. We finally got rid of our deadwood and bad contracts and finally got D Lo who himself is a questionable contract but at least has been an all-star and plays a position we have desperately needed and should be able to develop and nice two man game with our other star offensive threat.
Also got Beasley who I hope we can keep in the offseason as he will be a great 3rd threat in the future.

For the rest of the year I just want to see the team gel together we have already seen improvement on the offensive end with how we want to play, a few wins along the way would be handy. Culver to become more consistent. We should also end up with a nice draft pick at end of year. Defense needs heaps of work. Especially KAT on that end.
 
Aug 11, 2006
33,042
27,534
Perth
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Timberwolves, Crystal Palace
Lot better

Moves which need to happen

Obviously gone next year
Crabbe
Turner

Hopefully
Johnson opts out

Who we keep
Naz Reid yes please
Beasley for upto 15m a year
Hermangomez for the right price? Alllright

Who knows don't see the floor
Keelan Martin
Howell
Vanderbilt

McLaughlin convert. He's shown a bit. Unless we are landing a legit second string PG Mclaughlin has given us everything we lost in Shabazz.

So 6 out. Hopefully Malik/Dlo and Kat

Culver? Not sold. He's an ok defender. Not the monster defenders we need around our core.
 
Back