Love and Madness in Minnesota

[farkaspeeter]

After several years of employing the infamous David Kahn, the owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise decided to give it to the hands of a yet unknown General Manager, Malcolm Cheaney.
What is even more important, reigning Commish David Stern announced that on the summer of 2012, the NBA will be expanded to 32 teams. Yeeeeah, more money to swallow.

So, after a few days of celebrating the champions, the Expansion Draft was held at Las Vegas, the hometown of the newest NBA franchise.

Speaking of the Wolves, we named the following players to be protected:
Rubio, Barea, Lee, Williams, Webster, Budinger, Love, Pekovic

Result: Ridnour got taken. – Nice player, but pretty redundant. There are simply too many small PGs on the roster. Welcome back to Seattle.

[SIZE="3"]Next step was to take a look at what we can build from:[/SIZE]

JJ Barea – At least have somebody who can play the point when bench is on. 3-year contract and a bit overpaid as well. Not saying I won’t trade him.

Rubio – Starting PG still on rookie contract. Not gonna score much but not gonna give him up unless I get a franchise player.

Ellington – Shooter. Nuff said. Dispensable.

Lee – Loving him, even though he’s nothing spectacular. Fair rebounder and facilitator, streaky shot.

Webster – Shooter vol. 2. I do expect some surprises from him but won’t shed a single tear if gets involved in a trade.

Budinger – Most probably the starting SF though I don’t really like his non-existing defensive abilities.

Johnson – Costs 4 million and has not much use. Hope to trade him, if not, will let him go.

Williams – The great question mark. Has some potential so I’m not seriously considering a trade but he’s a terrible fit on the defensive end.

Love – Franchise player. Shooter, rebounder, scorer. If he can play up to his standards, the team can be better than average.

Miller – Dead weight. Hoping to get rid of him as an expiring contract.

Pekovic – Starting center, solid rebounder, can do the job on the offensive end as well. Bad thing is that he will expire at the end of the season.

Milicic – Contract is acceptable for a backup C, with team option it looks even better.


Just starting to warm up (it fr**king cold after all:) ) and getting to know the squad, the phone rings as the ownership demand some information regarding the goals for the upcoming year.

'Well, it's going to be an average year.'
Don’t dare to promise anything else in a Western Conference like this. Expansion teams will make things a bit favourable especially with Seattle in the same Division but a PO promise can backfire badly. Not to mention injuries.

And financially?
'Right about the cap.' 56 million is committed to 12 players who form a roster that can make a run for the PO if everyone stays healthy. Will try to do some trades though as it becomes clearer who can contribute and who can't.


Right, we're off to draft day.
Plans for the draft: The team has one single pick in the draft, No. 62, which is not that bad since there’s pretty much talent accumulated already. Trades will be explored, with many players on the trading block. The depth has some holes, there’s no legit starter on the wing (sorry Bud) and frontcourt depth is horrible. May try to get a mid-early 2nd round pick.

[farkaspeeter]

[SIZE="4"]Draft order:[/SIZE]

1. Hornets – Anthony Davis. How surprising.
2. Bobcats – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Just about right, a small forward was quite a need.
3. Wizards – Thomas Robinson. Wow. Seems like they’ll flush Booker down on the toilet. Wonder if Jordan Crawford should start on a considerable team.
4. Supersonics – Brad Beal. For an expansion team any pick would have been good but Beal can be the go-to-guy right away.
5. Aces – Andre Drummond. They can really afford to give him time. Question is ball handling when he has to be the offensive focus. Also, they laid hands on Vucevic, Lillard would have been a far better fit IMO (best PG is Chris Duhon)
6. Cavaliers – Austin Rivers. They can hit the bullseye on the offense with Irving. Defense will be a good question however.
7. Kings – John Henson. Good pick, defense on the low block is something the Kings desperately need.
8. Blazers – Tyler Zeller. They need a center but why exactly him? Barnes and Lillard falling.
9. Warriors – Harrison Barnes. Got him. Very reasonable pick. Just hope for the team to stay healthy.
10. Raptors – Perry Jones. They need help on the wing, will not be easy to fit him in their system.
11. Pistons – Meyers Leonard. Nice one IMO. They don’t have a center and he will form an interesting pairing beside Monroe.
12. Hornets – Terrence Jones. Interesting one. Drafting him on Aminu. Cause why not?
13. Blazers – Damian Lillard. And they got this lucky. Steal alert.
14. Rockets – Jared Sullinger. Acceptable if going for BPA but doesn’t suit team needs. Man, they have Scola and Patterson.
15. Suns – Dion Waiters. May call it a steal. Phoenix has much uncertainty with their guards, I like the pick.
16. Bucks – Kendall Marshall. Yeah, they have quite a full roster, especially with Zaza, so it didn’t really matter who they picked.
17. Sixers – Arnett Moultrie. They need depth, that’s all, so for BPA, it’s a fair pick.
18. Rockets – Terrence Ross. Would have loved if he wouldn’t have gone behind Kevin Martin. Can also be a valuable trading chip as well.
19. Mavericks – Fab Melo. Adding a useful man at center was pretty obvious for Dallas.
20. Rockets – Moe Harkless. At least they got a small forward. Morris or him, good question.
21. Magic – Marquis Teague. They can’t get a difference maker so they create depth. IMO a big man would have been reasonable though.
22. Nuggets – Tony Wroten. Nuggets steal the show. Couldn’t have wished for a better backup for Lawson. At this point, he was a no-brainer.
23. Celtics – Royce White. No-brainer again. Good potential and they are not hungry for an immediate impact player.
24. Celtics – Andrew Nicholson. Defensive powerhouse goes to Boston. He can get good time either with or without Garnett.
25. Hawks – Quincy Miller. Was very difficult to pass on at this point even though he may become redundant behind Mbah a Moute.
26. Cavaliers – JaMychal Green. I like slashing power forwards; they may make a good rotation with Thompson. Cleveland is starting to get in shape.
27. Grizzlies – Jeremy Lamb. Good scoring pickup at late stage.
28. Bucks - Doron Lamb. The pick in itself is a nice one. However, rotation may be shaky with Jones incoming.
29. Heat – Furkan Aldemir. Risky pick but they have just enough time to develop him.
30. Timberwolves – John Jenkins. I wanted to replace Ellington and Jenkins was the best shooter guard at this point. Definitely cheaper than Wayne, but may become a reach. Too bad the two Lambs were taken just ahead of us.
31. Bulls – Draymond Green. Do they want to really shop Butler? It seems so.
32. Warriors – Drew Gordon. Energy guy who can get reasonable minutes immediately if big men get in foul trouble.

33. Aces – Mike Scott
34. Bulls – Quincy Acy
35. Aces – Will Barton
36. Wizards – Kris Joseph
37. Cavaliers – Khris Middleton
38. Cavaliers – Maalik Wayns
39. Supersonics – Kevin Jones
40. Warriors – Festus Ezeli
41. Raptors – Jared Cunningham
42. Sixers – Jeffery Taylor
43. Supersonics – Kyle O’Quinn
44. Blazers – Kim English
45. Warriors – Kevin Murphy
46. Hawks – Kostas Papanikolaou
47. Hawks – Bernard James
48. Pistons – Robert Sacre
49. Sixers – Tyshawn Taylor
50. Knicks – Chris Johnson
51. Hornets – Scott Machado
52. Suns – Jae Crowder
53. Rockets – William Buford
54. Nuggets – Evan Fournier
55. Wizards – Reggie Hamilton
56. Clippers – Cameron Moore
57. Warriors – Alex Young
58. Mavericks – J’Covan Brown
59. Sixers – Tu Holloway
60. Knicks – Hollis Thompson
61. Nets – Miles Plumlee
62. Thunder – Darius Miller
63. Blazers – Marcus Denmon
64. Lakers – Orlando Johnson


[SIZE="4"]Draft day trades[/SIZE]

Pachulia for Mbah a Moute, 2/46. Winner: Hawks. They got a solid young energy guy and a 2nd round pick for an old center who may eventually play as a backup for another old center.

Louis Williams for Mozgov, 2/49. Winner: Nuggets. Philly starts to get heavy. However, none of their big guys can catch the ball which can be a pain while Denver gets a great guy who may jump to the starters immediately.

Dalembert for Dahntay Jones, 1/28. Winner: Pacers. Bucks have to love somebody here at the bottom. And they will start Pachulia? Umph. Dalembert may be overpaid but is a good fit beside David West and can help out instantly if Hibbert gets in foul trouble.

Gibson for Shawne Williams, 2/45. Winner: Blazers. They shed salary well. What will the Cavs do with so many 2nd rounders?

Wright for Casspi, 2/45. Winner: Cavs. They used the lowest of their 2nd round picks to get a meaningful upgrade. Good job.

Barea, 2/62 for 1/30. Main reason is shredding salary. The pick will earn less than Barea and who cares about a 2/62.

Blake, McRoberts for Johnson, Ellington. Shredding salary blown away. Blake is just a bit cheaper than Barea and probably worse. But I just don’t want to keep Johnson; he will have the opportunity in LA while McBob can play the fringe minutes at PF.

Butler for 2/34. Winner: Bulls. Would have gone for the Sonics as Butler is a nice guy but they already have Childress, Marvin Williams and Pondexter.

Matthews for Bonner, 2/63. Winner: Spurs. Seriously, big man depth is not this bad at Portland. The best option may be to go small at the backcourt but may backfire.

Kris Joseph for 2/55. Winner: Celtics. Nice guy for practically nothing.

Markieff Morris for Burks, 2/52. Winner: Suns by far. They picked up a guard with great potential for a guy who is basically not needed in any of the two teams.

Webster for Pondexter. Salary cut on again. Would have loved to go for Tobias Harris but they wanted a draft pick so I chose to take away Pondexter from Seattle. Won’t help Butler much, sadly.