By Alec Schimke contact@timberwolvespress.com 12/15/08 Oh how I love the classic bargain hunter, one who tries to find gems without giving up too much in hope that what he/she invests in will result in a higher value over time. This theory is one that the Timberwolves should take a look into. Frankly, I'm sick and tired of watching this team lose after playing well for a majority of the time in their games. I honestly feel that we are a veteran player or two away from being a competitive/respectable basketball team. In order for the Timberwolves to turn things around this season and have any chance of making the playoffs(which is very slim), they have to make a trade. With the amount of expiring contracts and draft picks that we have, we have the perfect pieces to bring in a veteran player to help change the culture here in Minnesota. I'm not talking about totally disregarding our rebuilding plan and blowing everything up, but instead bringing in a veteran player that would not require us to sacrifice much in our long term plan. I would really like the FO to shake things up here in attempt to at least show the fans that they are dedicated to winning. We surely do not need all the 4-7 draft picks that we may have next year. If our plan next year is to keep the current guys that we have right now and to only add more players through the draft, we will be just as bad. We have some nice expiring contracts in Booth and Collins and some nice young pieces that we could part ways with in Gomes, McCants, Smith and Telfair. Instead of holding onto our guys and praying that they get better or leaving our cap space open for free agency, we should be looking to improve our team through a trade. I don't buy the whole cap space argument. No one is going to want to come play here in Minnesota! Look at a team like the Warriors this year, all that cap room got them Corey Maggette and an over-paid Ronnie Turiaf. Just because we will have cap space does not mean that we will be able to add good players. Even things in Philly are getting ugly, but everyone thought they would be a top contender in the East this year with the signing of Elton Brand. If you screw up in free agency your doomed because you just gave a player a lot of guaranteed money for a long time so you are basically stuck with a player that no one is willing to take. So my solution, low risk trades with possible high rewards. Why not give some teams some expiring contracts and a some unproven draft picks in exchange for some proven vets who could help change an attitude of a team. Below are 5 veteran players who if the Timberwolves made a deal today for, would really help this team become a lot more competitive without us having to give up too much on our end. While some of these guys may not exactly fit in the long-term plans of the team, they would surely help in the short-term to help make this team some-what easier to watch for it's fans. Let's be honest, guys like Ryan Gomes and Craig Smith are not starters! And that's not a bad thing folks, these guys are best suited as role players in the NBA careers. By bringing in a guy below, this team would allow our role players to actually be role players. Having guys like Smith and Gomes come off the bench is much more effective in my opinion than having them start because we need their energy and scoring more once Al Jefferson is off the court. 1. Chris Kaman Center Clippers Stats: 13.9 pts_9.4 reb_1.9 ast_1.9 blk_ 57%FG Contract: $9,500,000 08-09 $10,400,000 09-10 $11,300,000 10-11 $12,200,000 11-12 Contract Analysis: The Timberwolves would be making a long-term investment in Kaman by acquiring him because his contract does not end until 11-12. Kaman does have a large contract but at the same time you are going to have pay good money these days if you want a talented center. Why look to the draft for a big-man when you can trade for an already proven young center in Kaman who is only 26 with plenty of upside left? Why Kaman?: The biggest glaring hole in the Timberwolves roster is a respectable center with size. No offense to Booth and Collins who have the size, but they do not not have the talent to make an impact on this team. Memo to the Timberwolves coaching staff….Al Jefferson, Kevin Love and Craig Smith are not centers! These guys are power forwards! A guy like Chris Kaman would be the perfect addition to the Timberwolves roster. Kaman scores at a high percentage, rebounds, blocks shots and has the size to cause chaos in the middle. What We Would Have To Give Up: Kaman would be a very hard player to lure away from the Clippers so we would have to make a deal that they couldn't resist aka....cap room, potential and draft picks. The Clippers would want some cap relief in return so a guy like Collins would have to be included. I think one or two guys like Craig Smith, Ryan Gomes or Rashad McCants would also have to be included along with Collins to give the Clips some potential in return. To finish things off the Clippers would probably want at least 2-3 draft picks and possibly Nikola Pekovic as a center project. That sounds like a lot for one player but really we aren't giving up too much as we would be giving up a player we don't play in Collins, a few young guys we could replace through being a deep team and a few draft picks that we would probably screw up on anyway. Plain and simple the impact Kaman makes at the center position is something worth going after. Having Kaman standing next to Jefferson would make Big Al look a lot better on defense. 2. Gerald Wallace Small Forward Bobcats Stats:15.2 pts_7.6 reb_2.2 ast_2.1 stl Contract: $8,287,500 08-09 $9,075,000 09-10 $9,862,000 10-11 $10,650,000 11-12 $11,347,000(player) 12-13 Contract Analysis: His contract is what makes him very hard to trade for because it's a long contract with a lot of guaranteed money. Wallace may be a bit overpaid but people forget that he is only 26 and he is just hitting the prime of his career. Finding small forwards that play both offense and defense as well as Wallace does is tough to find these days and Wallace surely isn't as overpaid as some guys in this league. Why Wallace?: Outside the center position we are lacking an athletic swingman who can guard opposing star players on the wing(Melo scoring 33 in a quarter). Gerald Wallace is one of the most underrated players in the league and what makes him so unique is that he plays well on both sides of the ball. Wallace is an athletic stud on defense averaging 2.1 steals a game and is also respectable on offense averaging a little over 15 a game. Wallace would be an upgrade at the small forward position and would allow the Wolves to slide Mike Miller over to the shooting guard position where he can focus more on shooting. Not to be ignored is that Wallace is averaging nearly 8 rebounds a game this year at the small forward position, Miller, Gomes, and Brewer all have hovered around 4-5 rebounds a game this year. What We Would Have To Give Up: With the recent trade of J-Rich, the Bobcats look to be blowing up things in Charlotte. The Bobcats are going to want two things in a deal, cap space and youth. The Wolves would have no problem giving them Collins, and then would mostly likely add McCants along with Rodney Carney or vet Kevin Ollie who is a Larry Brown favorite. To cap things off the Bobcats would want at least a late 1st round pick out of the deal. 3. Drew Gooden Forward/Center Bulls Stats: 12.8 pts_9.3 reb_1.3 ast Contract: $7,100,000 08-09 Contract Analysis: Gooden offers the safest option for the Wolves to improve as his contract expires at the end of the season. Gooden would simply be brought in to help things out this season and would then would most likely not be resigned at the end of the season to free up some cap room like Collins is doing right now(except Collins is just here and not helping this team). Why Gooden?: Acquiring Drew Gooden would be a very good scenario for the Timberwolves. First of all, Gooden is a tough nosed post player who can play either center or forward and second of all Gooden has a experience of winning. A well respected player in the league, Gooden is having a hell of a season for the Bulls this season and he would really be a nice compliment to Al Jefferson. Gooden also has a very nice mid-range game to compliment his inside game which is something that the Timberwolves post players struggle with. What We Would Have To Give Up: I don't really see Gooden in the long term plans of the Bulls as they have Noah, Thomas, and Gray all who play the same position and are younger than Gooden. Gooden will want more money than the Bulls will be willing to pay him this offseason so instead of losing for him nothing I don't think they would have a problem swapping Gooden's expiring contract in exchange for Collins expiring contract along with a draft pick and a guy like Rodney Carney. 4. Brad Miller Center Kings Stats: 11.8 pts 7.6 reb 4.2 ast Contract: $11,375,000 08-09 $12,250,000 09-10 Contract Analysis: Miller is in the final two years of his contract and like Gooden, he would offer a nice short term option for the team at the center position. While we would be paying a lot of money to Miller, it would only be for 2 years. What makes his contract really nice is that it expires right before the 2010 offseason which is the one everyone is talking about in terms of talent available. Why Miller?: Miller has been on the trading block for sometime now and he would be a nice short term option for the T’Wolves at the center position. Miller is one of the most well-rounded centers in the game with his ability to score, rebound and pass. Bringing in a veteran center like Miller who knows how to win in this league, would really help out the growing process of this young team. Big Al would have a guy next to him that he could rely on to hit open jump shots and guard opposing big men. What We Would Have To Give Up: Collins/Cardinal/Late 1st round pick, I think would appeal to the Kings in that it would give them a quicker option to free up some cap room and it would also allow them to use Cardinal in some trades next season. 5. Troy Murphy Forward/Center Pacers Stats: 11.7 pts 11.1 reb 2.6 ast 39.8 3pt% Contract: 10,126,984 08-09 11,047,619 09-10 11,968,253 10-11 Contract Analysis: Murphy's contract isn't too pretty in terms of money as he is probably overpaid for what he does but then again how many 11/11 guys are there that can shoot 40% from the 3-pint line? I think at 6-11 and what Murphy brings in the post I could live paying him 10 million a year for two more years as long as he kept up this kind of production up. Why Murphy?: Murphy is one of my favorite players in the league and he often goes unnoticed when talking about tough-nosed big men in the league. Murphy is Mr. Consistent for the Pacers as he brings a winning attitude every night to the court. What makes Murphy so special is his ability to step outside to the 3-point line and knock down shots. A very unselfish player, Murphy would be a perfect guy to add to this team in terms of having a guy who can bring a lot to the locker room. The only problem with this guy is his contract which is the reason he is last on my list. What We Would Have To Give Up: I think the only way this deal would work is if we could get the Pacers to also take on the contract of Brian Cardinal so that we aren't hit too hard in terms of numbers. I think a Collins/Cardinal/Late 1st round pick deal like Kings trade in exchange for Murphy would make sense.
I'm leaning towards the Wallace deal...I think we can work up in the draft to get a top big in Blake Griffin, Thabeet or BJ Mullens If we can get two lotto picks we can aim for Thabeet and a PG like Rubio or Brandon Jennings
