sheefo13

Wolves needs:
1. Front line help
2. Players who are "hungry" for a championship
3. Young Talent
4. All- Around Players
5. Talent that isn't overpayed
6. Start next season under the cap somehow
7. A point guard that won't walk it up the court
8. An explosive scorer

Players Under Contract Next Year
Kevin Garnett- This is the MVP. The only thing with KG at this point is to not trade him. We just simply need to surround him with the players that will compliment him.
Wally Szczerbiak- Our second leading scorer last year. A lot of teams are interested in him. I think we can get something good out of this guy. Not out of him, but out of a trade. He isn't helping us in the way we need help. It is obvious that KG and Wally don't get along. I think it is a must to trade him off. He isn't happy here and wants to be home, in Clevland or New York.
Sam Cassell- Sammy C.... He isn't happy here. It is that simple. He wasn't happy after he didn't get his contract extension. He wasn't happy when Glen Taylor called his trade and Spree's was a "failed experiment". We can decide to hold him out for one more year or trade him to a team that wants a PG. A team like Clevland or the Lakers. He can also be traded to a team who simply is looking for cap space.
Michael Olowokandi- Man what a bust. He is overpaid and we know there isnt a team that wants him. He only has one more year left on his contract! I guess we have to hope he will break out in his contract year.
Troy Hudson- Troy is coming off a bad season after recieving a horrible contract. I hope we can somehow trade him to a team like the clippers for a future first round pick or something. I just know his contract is horrible and he needs to step his game up for next season.
Trenton Hassell-In my eyes, this guy is getting worse by every game. He isn't playing the same defense he was last year. He no longer has the arc on his shot that made him successful last year. He also recieved a terrible contract and declined this season.
Ndudi Ebi- I am impressed on what Ebi has done at the end of this season. He looks like he deserves a 2nd string SF next year will much work this off-season. I would expect that he would get that job is sprewell is gone. We can have wally start or trade wally and start a rookie. I know if he can develop this summer, he will be the backup.
Fred Hoiberg- Fred can see some more minutes next year. I think he will see more shots if we get a second inside presence.

Free Agents
Latrell Sprewell- I would like to see him back, so would McHale, but it wont happen. He is as good as gone. He does give us some great cap relief though.
Eddie Griffin-(restricted) Eddie has said his number one option team this summer is the wolves. He is a restricted free agent so we can retain his rights. I hope we can lock him up for 2 or 3 years. The last thing we need is another guy that is way too comfortable here and decides to go on the decline. He should be back.
Mark Madsen- I am a little iffy on Madsen. I think he might go to a team like the Heat to win a championship. I would like to see him back but a lot of teams will be after him.
Ervin Johnson- He is good cap relief. He will not be resigned as a player. I wonder if we could hire him as an assistant coach??? It is just a thought.
Anthony Carter- He could be back but I don't think he will. I think we might find a third pg somewhere else. If not we could simply resign him.
John Thomas- He won't be back unless we can't afford an NBA level forward or he could be back if we lose Madsen.

NBA Draft Thoughts
1st Round Pick
SF-Danny Granger 6' 8"- Danny is my personal favorite. He will bring a very good player right off the bat. Whether he develops into a great player is his only question. He is the all-around kind of player that we need. He will fit well into the zone defense that we play since at New Mexico they play a lot of zone. Either way he is very strong and very athletic. He is also a good defender. I think we draft Granger, we will be trading Wally. I think he will compliment KG very well. He needs that killer instinct, and I think KG can help him with that part.
PF/C-Sean May 6'9"- He just recently declared. He is a very talented kid but is overweight. The last thing we need is another Oliver Miller. He has short arms and small hands. He will help beefen up our front line though.
F/C-Charlie Villanueva 6'11"- I personally don't like this kid. He is ver inconsistent and really doesnt have a true position. He seems like another Ebi but bigger. We need a guy who will contribute now.
PF-Wayne Simien 6'8"- I like him at our spot. I think he brings experience to our team and some good post moves. He also has an outside shot. He has had a major injury is his college career. He also seems too shot. Thing is, he has play along side good post players in his career which gives him that kind of experience.
C-Channing Frye 6'11"- His stock has went up in recent mocks. He is a good all around center but reminds me of a Loren Woods/ Olowokandi type center. I would pass.
C-Johan Petro 7'0"- I think if we trade for a good center, we let him develop in France until kandi is gone. He is young, and has a "nasty" type of game. He is strong and plays good defense. He seems like the perfect downlow compliment to KG right now. He may develop into something special one day.

2nd Round Pick
PG- Nate Robinson 5'9"- A high energy type PG that could really help our team out. He is a good offensive rebounder and has tremendous speed. I don't see why not. He reminds me of Boykins. Once Cassell is gone, Robinson could be the backup for Hudson.
PG/SG- Julius Hodge 6'6"- This guy is another all around player we could use. I think he can bring that "hunger" that this team needs. He is another candidate towards the perfect compliment for KG. He is very skinny and doesn't have much of a jump shot, but he can still play ball very well for his position and size.
F- Angelo Gigli 6'10"-- This is a guy that we can let develop in Europe for a while and then bring him over after he develops into something,
SF-Stefano Mancinelli 6'7"- If we go with power forward in the 1st round, this is one guy I would love to see in Minny. He is a tremendous athlete and defender. He is developing a long range shot. I would let him blossom in Europe for a year or 2 and let him come over and play some ball. From what I am hearing he is developing very quickly in Europe right now.

Free Agents
Willie Green- This is a guy who we tried trading for earlier in the year. I think he would be a great steal if we can grab him away from Philly. He is a mediocre sized SG and a big PG that can score with the best of em. He brings explosiveness to our team. He won't walk the ball up.
Udonis Haslem- We probably won't get him but it is worth a shot. He is a good defender. He brings in another post presence.
Samuel Dalembert- I would love to see this man play along side KG. He would add another shot blocker. He adds length and will add another shot blocker.
Desanga Diop- I think we could possibly bring him in as a backup center. I would love to see him develop but he probably won't.
Dejuan Wagner- He hasn't been given the chance, maybe we can give hima chance as the 3rd string PG.
Eddy Curry- Heart problems are lowering his stock, we could go out and give him a chance.
Maurice Evans- He will more than likely resign with the Kings but we can take a shot at him. He would bring some athleticism to the team.
Raja Bell- A guy who I have been very high on for a long time. He is a good defender and brings that hunger.
Dan Gadzuric- I think he could be a good fit here in Minnesota. A center not like the Kandiman..
Devin Brown- This is a guy who would also bring in that athleticism. He seems like the perfect replacement for Spree.
Keith McLeod- I think we can steal this guy away from Utah. He would be a great pick up.

Trade Ideas
1. Jason Kidd- I can see us trading Wally, Cassell, and Ebi for Kidd and Kristic. Then we can draft a guy like Granger and sign a guy like Gadzuric and Green, we will be set. Kidd has said he wants to end his career along side KG. Kristic gives us a young center that we can develop. This trade, along with the draft and free agents, would make us favorites again to win it all but this time with players who want to win.
2. Zydrunas Ilgauskis (Big Z)- A sign and trade scinernio that would bring in Big Z and send out Wally Szczerbiak. The Cavs are also interested in aquiring Cassell. I don't know who they would add but I would welcome it. Big Z would give us that down low presence next to KG that Wolves fans have dreamed about. He plugs up the middle. He gives us another scorer, rebounder, and a shot blocker. I can see it happening.
3. Kurt Thomas- Isiah Thomas has been trying to get Wally in New York and will take another chance at it again this summer. The swap wouldn't work straight up for Thomas. I would love to see that they would add a guy like Mike Sweetney to the trade or Trevor Ariza and someone else. Thing is, I just don't like the idea.
4. Hudson and Hassell for 1st Rounder?- It is just an idea. I would love to see us trade Hudson and Hassell to a team like the Clippers, Bobcats, or Bucks. I would like to see this happen for a 2005 or future 1st round pick.

Staff/ Management
We know that our management and coaching areas will take major changes this offseason. Here are some names to consider.
Rob Babcock- Can he be our next possible GM?
Phil Jackson- I think having the Zen Master as the coach here would be amazing. I think if we also had Kidd in here, the only people that would stop us would be ourselves.... Again. It would be an almost gaurantee to a title here.
Terry Porter- I would like to see him in here. He seems like a pretty good coach.
Sam Mitchell- I think hiring Sam would make KG the happiest. He is a guy who runs a similar style offense and defnse like Flip Saunders. He is a very good friend of Garnett's. He is also a fan favorite here in Minny.
Jerry Sitching- No way. This was McHale's idea. Thing is McHale is also the one who wants Spree back.

As for McHale, he is as good as gone. He has done enough damage to this team. There is no way he is going to be a part of the orginazation other than being a season ticket holder.

Thoughts? I have a lot down.. I would like to see all of your scinarios and we will look at the outcome as a full roster. I will also be posting any news and notes regarding the coaching staff, retirements, free agent signings, draft picks ( if there isn't a draft thread), and resignings. Then I will try and take an outlook on the roster after each transaction.

Thanks!

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jokeaward

Good post.

Granger and Hodge will probably be gone before our picks and Eric Musselman is probably the coach I want most. No more dogging it hopefully. Gadzuric would be nice.

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sheefo13

I think now that Williams has entered the draft Granger will be avalable at our position. I also think Hodge will be around but who knows until draft camp starts.

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sheefo13

Best Case Scenario

- Wolves resign Eddie Griffin to a 3-yr/9.5 mill. contract.
- Wolves trade Wally Szczerbiak and Sam Cassell for Jason Kidd.
- Wolves draft and sign in the 1st round small forward Danny Granger.
- Wolves draft and sign in the 2nd round power forward Angelo Gigli.
- Wolves trade Troy Hudson for Stromile Swift (sign and trade).
- Wolves sign Keith Mcleod.
- Wolves sign Willie Green.
- Wolves sign Smush Parker
- Wolves Hire Sam Mitchell as head coach.
- Randy Wittman accepts head coaching job at Indiana U.
- Wolves hire Ervin Johnson as assistant coach.
- Wolves fire Kevin McHale.
- Wolves hire Greg Anthony as General Manager & Vice President of Basketball Operations.

Wolves 05-06 Roster
PG- Kidd/ McLeod/ Parker
SG- Hassell/ Green/ Hoiberg
SF- Granger/ Ebi/ Gigli
PF- Garnett/ Griffin/ Gigli
C- Swift/ Olowokandi/ Griffin

I love the idea of signing Smush Parker. I like his handles and his size. He is athletic and he can play both guard positions. He brings a young talent in who can learn a lot from Kidd. Keith is a guy who we can finally give some good minutes to now.
I think trading for Kidd makes the transition for all these new players easier for them. I love the combo of veterans and youngsters we would have. Kidd would make this team very effective on the break with guys like Granger and co. running with him. Jason automattically makes us title contenders with Garnett still here.
Trade for Swift comes to shock a lot of people. Memphis is going to need a PG now that Watson is going to be out of the picture. This is one thing I think we can live without. I think if we dont do this trade we make an attempt with the same thing to Philly for Sammy Dalembert. I think Philly would love to do that trade. Wither way we need to bring in a true center to keep up with other teams in the league.
The signing of Willie Green has to be a must. He will add versitility to out team. He adds another scorer that we need if we make a trade for Kidd.
We all know how I feel about draft Granger and Gigli so lets leave it at that.

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The King of the World

I'm definitely a fan of Gadzuric, and I've been thinking for months that he would be a great fit for us. I'll be seriously disappointed if we don't make a decent offer for him. As for Phil as coach, that would be ideal but I'm definitely skeptical that he'd go for the deal. Mitchell or Musselman would be great too though. As for Babcock...no. As for the Kidd trade, hell yes. But I don't know why NJ would go for it...Wally is signed through '09, so outside of Sam's 6mil there is no real cap relief. Also, Kristic has a lot of potential. They'd be crazy to give away the only post presence on their roster and not get a replacement of some sort.

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oblivion

I like a lot of your ideas, and looks like you spent a lot of time on them, good job.
I think that even if we let all of our expiring contracts leave, we will still be over the cap (not much over, but still over). The 2006-07 season is where we can actually get under, depending on what they do with Kandi and Cassell.

I like the idea of letting EJ and Spree walk. Then re-sign Eddie for about 3mil/year. This will leaves us about 2 million to sign a lower-tier FA like Bell, Diop,Green. I don't think guys like Dalembert,Haslem,Curry(depending on health) can be had for anything less than the full MLE, which then would mean that Griffin is gone.
I also think that T-Hud has absolutly NO trade value, he has a long deal and frankly was below average at best last season. Maybe he wasn't fully healed, or maybe he lost passion once he got paid. I don't know. Anyhow, if we could get Swift for him, that would be a major steal. Maybe our best bet with Hudson is to hope we get a coach that can help him play better, then we can deal him or keep him.
As far as coach goes, I would be OK with Mitchell or Porter (assuming they will be available), but they really don't excite me that much. Phil Jackson would be best, but I think that is a pipe dream. One guy who may be available is Jerry Sloan, I think he could get this team to play 100% each night, and there would be no let-down games like Atlanta or Charlotte or numerous others we had this season. None of the current T-Wolves assistants excite me either. Who knows maybe Larry Brown will move on after this year?

sheefo13

Yeah i think the 2 free agents we would have to hope for is gadzuric and green. Then a point guard in the draft, there is a lot of potential there in the 2nd round for pgs. I was thinking that we could trade troy hudson to the Bobcats for a 2nd round pick.... Free up some cap space and then go out and pick up some good free agents!!!

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kaniffmn

Although I like some of your ideas, I believe you are being way too optimistic. Your best case scenario about cassell and wally to new jersey? Why would N.J. want him back? I don't see us making a deal straight up T-Hud for Stromile...there is no way Memphis would do that anyway. They already have J-will and watson at pg. That makes no sense.

My perception of the whole offseason is finding a disciplinarian coach who stresses defense and ball control, drafting a pg or pf/c to compliment kg, and a possible trade that hopefully would help this team. I don't see us being major players in free agency. Even with Erv and Spree leaving, that puts us just below the Salary Cap Max. The only thing we have to offer is the mid level exception and it'd be interesting to see what that could get us. But I just don't see us being active in free agency, having a strong draft, and getting a coach that gets the team to be productive on both sides of the floor all in one off-season.

I've heard people compare the wolves to the vikings. It's not even close. Their salary cap situation is totally different. The vikings were $30-40 million under the cap while the wolves were over the cap last year. I just don't see us making a significant signing in free agency. If anything, I hope we have a good draft, explore trade options and possibly get something of value for wally, cassell, or hudson, and most importantly sign a decent coach.

Another area I disagree with you...I would do anything to not have spree back next year. The guy is a disgrace. I'm glad he didn't sign that contract we offered him in the fall. He can walk...and let the door slam right in his face.

sheefo13

Thats why its called the BEST CASE scinerio.....

The reason they trade for hudson is because watson's contract is up and is likely to seek some type of starting position.

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sheefo13

I found some OTHER possibilities for the draft..

Antione Wright- G/F out of Texas A&M. He is an athletic/ slasher type player. He has a pretty good shot and may probably develop into something good one day. His biggest problem is that he shies away from contact. He only got to the line 2.5 times this last year. He should be up there in the first round, in our area position.

Mindaugas Katelynas- I really like this guy. I think if we take a center or power forward in the first round, this should be a guy at the top of our list arounf the second round. He is 6'9" forward. He played the 4 and 5 in college but should be a 3. It shows how versitile he is. He is strong and athletic and is said to be one the "steals" to look for in this upcoming draft.

Rudy Fernandez- As you guys know, I have been high on Rudy for a long time. I think if guys like Granger, Vazquez, Wright, and Petro are taken by our pick, Rudy is the sure thing then. Honestly, I would still be happy if we took if with those guys on the board. He is a little undersized but he has acheived so much and is still so young. I think adding him would make us a better team right there. Almost every draft site is conparing him to Ginobli. I don't get how you can pass on a kid like Rudy.

Tiago Splitter- This guy's stock has dropped in recent mocks. He is almost 7 feet tall and plays the pf/c positions. He has been said to be a top 5 internatinal player. He can score in the post. He can hit shots from the outside. He has also been said to play the SF position. I think he would be the Ideal pick for us. The reason I didnt mention him before is because I never thought he would be around at our position. This guy could be the potential answer to our front court problems, or could be a huge bust like Nicilis Skitasvilli.

Our Draft Board
1st Round
1. Tiago Splitter
2. Danny Granger
3. Rudy Fernandez
4. Johan Petro
5. Antoine Wright

2nd Round
1. Any Major drop like Turiaf, Garcia, or Gelebele
2. Julius Hodge
3. Angelo Gigli
4. Stephano Mancinelli
5. Nate Robinson

I think the 2nd Round pick depends a lot on what we do in the 1st. I think if we take Granger, Fernandez, or Wright, we will look at guys like Lorbek, Katelynes, Bouroussis, or other international big men. I will talk about guys like that at a later date.

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