This is a good day. Russell probably isn't any good, but man, no more Wiggins!
Russell is good. Also, and I think this is important, he’s friends with KAT.
Yes, ditching Wiggins and his contract is a big part of this trade. Russell and Towns on the pick and roll should scare some opposing defenses. Good trade. Big thing will be assembling a stronger supporting cast this off season.
If true, then this could be what Marbury-Garnett was supposed to be.
Call me a cynic, but it seems more likely to be Love-Rubio 2.0.
Love-Rubio was fun, though! That team was so close if it weren't for injuries.
Fun is good! I like fun. It's just that KG will be in the HOF and I don't see that for Love or Rubio or KAT or DLo.
I'd say say KAT is pretty clearly on a HoF path.
Agreed. Barring injury I can't see him not continuing to improve. If they can surround him with players who complement his skill set, he should be considered in the top 5 in the game going forward.
He'll be a rich man's Dirk on his current path.
If they can surround him with players who complement his skill set, he should be considered in the top 5 in the game going forward.
This right here is what I think has been a huge issue with his development, and where I trust that Rosas & co. will be able to get him to the player he can be. When Thibs was here, the focus was endlessly on what Karl couldn't do, and trying to force him into a system that didn't match with his skills. Until yesterday, that awful roster construction was still an anchor on the team's fortunes.
I think that they finally have the type of roster they want. I think that DLo and KAT will have an incredibly dynamic two man game, and they can surround them with guys who can shoot it from deep. I worry a bit about the defense, but I think if they have the actual type of players they want, they can try to scheme around some of those deficiencies. Is a DLo + KAT team going to win a championship? I doubt it. But competent and joyful basketball would be such an improvement on the product they have today.
Good for G. He's off the Titanic and on to the most exciting young team in the league. Not to mention he gets reunited with Tyus Jones--a guy he had very good on-court chemistry with.
That said, I'll miss him, too. The man is a pro and a very good human being.
Yep.
Gorgui was a regular at my brother’s restaurant (Kona Grill in Minnetonka). Nick meets a lot of players and mid-level celebs there and always enjoyed talking to Gorgui.
Agree too good of a guy for the Wolves. All the best to him.
Shows that, like usual, I know nothing. Does Steve Kerr really believe he and the Splash Bros and Draymond can get Wiggins to reach his alleged potential?
If nothing else, he'll work hard so as not to piss Draymond off, lest he "accidentally" get kicked in the fellas during a scrimmage
Golden State has agreed to trade D'Angelo Russell to Minnesota for a deal that includes Andrew Wiggins, a 2021 protected first-round pick and a 2022 second-round pick, league sources tell ESPN. Warriors will send Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman to Timberwolves too.
I'm still amazed that he got the max contract. The Wolves put themselves in this position. This was the most likely scenario based on what Wiggins had shown in his career.
I don't know if people use VORP (from basketball-ref) to evaluate basketball players at all, but Wiggins has only ever had negative-VORP seasons in his career, until this year where he's at a whopping 0.4.
I guess 538 has win projections -- they have Wiggins' 5-year market value at $58M and Russell's 5-year market value at $115M. So for two guys each making about $30M/year the next three years, Wiggins could put you about $20M in the hole each year and Russell puts you about $7M in the hole each year. Maybe the Warriors had a hard time finding someone else to take on DLo's contract, but even with the picks it seems like Minnesota got the better deal here and the fit works out better for both teams.
Doesn't it depend a lot on the protection for the first-round pick? Once you get out of the lottery, it seems to me the draft is more about ability to evaluate and develop talent versus worrying about exactly which slot you're drafting in. Like--and granted I know the Wolves are absolutely terrible at this than any other team--if you compared the Wolves draft position over the last 15 years to the Spurs, I assume Minnesota has had much more opportunity in the draft, but I wouldn't be surprised if ultimately San Antonio has gotten more value out of the draft than Minnesota.
Not that you should just toss picks out for no good reason, but Wiggins' deal was an absolute anchor for this team and a late 1st-round pick and a 2nd-round pick seem like giving up maybe a 50/50 chance at a starting player and a 50/50 chance at a decent bench contributor. (Someone else probably has better odds than that.) Russell might actually not be that great, either, but it's a position of need for Minnesota so at least there's a chance the fit is better. At least from a distance, it seems like a pretty reasonable trade. I would generally be worried about bringing in a player that a generally good organization had for less than a year and didn't want to keep, but he doesn't really fit with Steph and Klay, right?
It sounds like it is top 3 protected. Knowing the Wolves, it will be a #4 pick.
Or better yet, the Wolves will get the #3 pick, use it on someone who completely busts, and then GSW will get the #1 pick the year after when it goes unprotected and use it on the next generational talent.
Yes. I didn't go far enough on my worst case scenario.
And now this:
The Timberwolves have traded Gorgui Dieng to Memphis for James Johnson, league sources tell @TheAthleticMIN
I was checking for Friday on Tuesday...
http://isitfriday.org/
Bye, Bye Wiggins.
This is a good day. Russell probably isn't any good, but man, no more Wiggins!
Russell is good. Also, and I think this is important, he’s friends with KAT.
Yes, ditching Wiggins and his contract is a big part of this trade. Russell and Towns on the pick and roll should scare some opposing defenses. Good trade. Big thing will be assembling a stronger supporting cast this off season.
If true, then this could be what Marbury-Garnett was supposed to be.
Call me a cynic, but it seems more likely to be Love-Rubio 2.0.
Love-Rubio was fun, though! That team was so close if it weren't for injuries.
Fun is good! I like fun. It's just that KG will be in the HOF and I don't see that for Love or Rubio or KAT or DLo.
I'd say say KAT is pretty clearly on a HoF path.
Agreed. Barring injury I can't see him not continuing to improve. If they can surround him with players who complement his skill set, he should be considered in the top 5 in the game going forward.
He'll be a rich man's Dirk on his current path.
If they can surround him with players who complement his skill set, he should be considered in the top 5 in the game going forward.
This right here is what I think has been a huge issue with his development, and where I trust that Rosas & co. will be able to get him to the player he can be. When Thibs was here, the focus was endlessly on what Karl couldn't do, and trying to force him into a system that didn't match with his skills. Until yesterday, that awful roster construction was still an anchor on the team's fortunes.
I think that they finally have the type of roster they want. I think that DLo and KAT will have an incredibly dynamic two man game, and they can surround them with guys who can shoot it from deep. I worry a bit about the defense, but I think if they have the actual type of players they want, they can try to scheme around some of those deficiencies. Is a DLo + KAT team going to win a championship? I doubt it. But competent and joyful basketball would be such an improvement on the product they have today.
This take aged well.
Bye Bye Gorgui too!
Noooooooooooo! I'll miss that guy.
Good for G. He's off the Titanic and on to the most exciting young team in the league. Not to mention he gets reunited with Tyus Jones--a guy he had very good on-court chemistry with.
That said, I'll miss him, too. The man is a pro and a very good human being.
Yep.
Gorgui was a regular at my brother’s restaurant (Kona Grill in Minnetonka). Nick meets a lot of players and mid-level celebs there and always enjoyed talking to Gorgui.
Agree too good of a guy for the Wolves. All the best to him.
Shows that, like usual, I know nothing. Does Steve Kerr really believe he and the Splash Bros and Draymond can get Wiggins to reach his alleged potential?
If nothing else, he'll work hard so as not to piss Draymond off, lest he "accidentally" get kicked in the fellas during a scrimmage
that... seems like a lot.
Well, Wiggins is bad at basketball.
I'm still amazed that he got the max contract. The Wolves put themselves in this position. This was the most likely scenario based on what Wiggins had shown in his career.
I don't know if people use VORP (from basketball-ref) to evaluate basketball players at all, but Wiggins has only ever had negative-VORP seasons in his career, until this year where he's at a whopping 0.4.
I guess 538 has win projections -- they have Wiggins' 5-year market value at $58M and Russell's 5-year market value at $115M. So for two guys each making about $30M/year the next three years, Wiggins could put you about $20M in the hole each year and Russell puts you about $7M in the hole each year. Maybe the Warriors had a hard time finding someone else to take on DLo's contract, but even with the picks it seems like Minnesota got the better deal here and the fit works out better for both teams.
Doesn't it depend a lot on the protection for the first-round pick? Once you get out of the lottery, it seems to me the draft is more about ability to evaluate and develop talent versus worrying about exactly which slot you're drafting in. Like--and granted I know the Wolves are absolutely terrible at this than any other team--if you compared the Wolves draft position over the last 15 years to the Spurs, I assume Minnesota has had much more opportunity in the draft, but I wouldn't be surprised if ultimately San Antonio has gotten more value out of the draft than Minnesota.
Not that you should just toss picks out for no good reason, but Wiggins' deal was an absolute anchor for this team and a late 1st-round pick and a 2nd-round pick seem like giving up maybe a 50/50 chance at a starting player and a 50/50 chance at a decent bench contributor. (Someone else probably has better odds than that.) Russell might actually not be that great, either, but it's a position of need for Minnesota so at least there's a chance the fit is better. At least from a distance, it seems like a pretty reasonable trade. I would generally be worried about bringing in a player that a generally good organization had for less than a year and didn't want to keep, but he doesn't really fit with Steph and Klay, right?
It sounds like it is top 3 protected. Knowing the Wolves, it will be a #4 pick.
Or better yet, the Wolves will get the #3 pick, use it on someone who completely busts, and then GSW will get the #1 pick the year after when it goes unprotected and use it on the next generational talent.
Yes. I didn't go far enough on my worst case scenario.
And now this:
Is there an echo in here?