Now It's Their Problem

by Jeff Clark on Aug 20, 2007 8:57 PM EDT in NBA Articles

Remember when we had to worry about things like "how much is Al Jefferson worth?" and how will we find the room to re-sign all the young players? Not our problem anymore. See this note from ESPN the Mag:

Trading Kevin Garnett and his monster contract should have at least earned some financial freedom for the Wolves. But no. Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes, the two key pieces in the swap, will be restricted free agents next summer and VP Kevin McHale had better keep them if he hopes to salvage any face. That gives both players huge leverage. "It's a killer," says a rival GM.

Some random notes from this:

I bet Gerald doesn't like hearing that he wasn't a key part of the deal.
This is kind of a silly arguement to begin with. You look for cap space so you'll have room to sign guys that will help you. Jefferson fits that bill.
Ryan does too, but I imagine he'll test the free agent waters. I doubt he'd take a discount to come back to Boston. He knows he's got a great chance to get rich(er) and he'd be dumb not to take it. And he's not dumb.
By the way, this all reminds me of the time years ago I was playing fantasy baseball and a friend of mine (no, his name isn't House) convinced me to trade him Greg Maddux for 3 prospects. He knew baseball better than I did and he did a great sell job on the prospects. I figured I'd roll the dice. But after I agreed, he just looked at me and said, "I can't believe you just traded me Greg Maddux." That sinking feeling I had must be what McHale is feeling right about now.

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why is my comment too short ,it was longer then this one

by rondohondo on Aug 20, 2007 9:54 PM EDT reply actions

It will be very tempting to offer Gomes a big chunk (say $4M) of the MLE next summer. There are 2 schools of thought:

1 — take a shot and hope taht we can get a guy like Jason Kidd or Baron Davis to take A LOT less money to win a ring.

2 — given the lack of bodies, go after a young guy like Gomes with the MLE and add a guy with the LLE (Juwan Howard, Kenny Thomas) and add a couple guys with the vet min (Cassell, Kevin Ollie, Tyronn Lue).

Unless we get a bona fide star like Kidd or JO (who i’m not sure fits) with the MLE signing a solid, young 6th man like Gomes for 4 yr/$18-20M might be the best strategy.

by Gainesville Celtic on Aug 20, 2007 10:22 PM EDT reply actions

Haha Jeff I love that story about Greg Maddux. My friends would do similar stuff to me too.

by orrzor on Aug 20, 2007 10:33 PM EDT reply actions

Well written…great stuff, Jeff.

by ThreadCrasher on Aug 20, 2007 10:39 PM EDT reply actions

T’wolves are three years away from begining to rebuild. Nonsense team.

by Who on Aug 21, 2007 1:25 AM EDT reply actions

As a matter of fact, every single player we traded to them will be a FA next year, no? :)

by kozlodoev on Aug 21, 2007 2:09 AM EDT reply actions

Well that’s what happens when players start to come off rookie scale. They become FAs unless they agree to an extension (or if the team fails to extend a qualifying offer).

The Wolves will extend Jefferson immediately. With the others, they will try before they buy.

The Wolves aren’t three years away. It all depends on Foye developing as an NBA point guard. If he does, MN could become good in a hurry.

by Brickowski on Aug 21, 2007 6:07 AM EDT reply actions

Didn’t I read in the Globe that McHale wasn’t that interested in Green? Just filler?

by CoachA on Aug 21, 2007 6:56 AM EDT reply actions

And, I suspect Garnett, Pierce and Ray Ray will be long retired before Minnesota sniffs .500 again.

by CoachA on Aug 21, 2007 6:57 AM EDT reply actions

I’ve said both of these things before in recent months but they must be said again:

RE: I doubt {RYAN WOULD] take a discount to come back to Boston. He knows he’s got a great chance to get rich(er) and he’d be dumb not to take it. And he’s not dumb.

> NO, he’s not dumb. He’s one of the few players in the league with a college degree.

==
RE: Who said: T’wolves are three years away from begining to rebuild. Nonsense team

> I beg to differ, yes they have a funny looking roster…but they’ll definitely win some games and maybe, just maybe, make the playoffs.

Mark Blount, FC, 7-0, 250, 11/30/75, $7,288,165
Corey Brewer, F, 6-9, 185, 03/05/86, $2,535,720
Ricky Davis, GF, 6-7, 226, 09/23/79, $6,364,400
Randy Foye, G, 6-4, 213, 09/24/83, $2,448,240
Ryan Gomes, F, 6-7, 250, 09/01/82, $664,209
Gerald Green, GF, 6-8, 200, 01/26/86, $1,347,000
Trenton Hassell, GF, 6-5, 233, 03/04/79, $4,350,000
Juwan Howard, F, 6-9, 253, 02/07/73, $6,392,100
Marko Jaric, GF, 6-7, 224, 10/12/78, $5,525,000
Al Jefferson, FC, 6-10, 256, 01/04/85, $1,618,320
Mark Madsen, FC, 6-9, 250, 01/28/76, $2,210,000
Rashad McCants, G, 6-4, 226, 09/25/84, $1,653,720
Theo Ratliff, FC, 6-10, 235, 04/17/73, $11,666,666
Chris Richard, FC, 6-9, 255, Florida
Craig Smith, F, 6-7, 272, 11/10/83, $412,718
Sebastian Telfair, PG, 6-0, 160, $1,793,160

by mcpu40 on Aug 21, 2007 7:01 AM EDT reply actions

by the way, no I will not join your fantasy baseball league ;)

I only play fantasy football these days – and just one league at that – a weekly commitment is all I can handle

by Jeff Clark on Aug 21, 2007 7:43 AM EDT reply actions

I understand that AJ is a restricted FA next year after year 4 of his rookie contract, but I thought that RG will be coming off a 3 year deal that was not a 1st round rookie deal (as he was not a 1st rounder) and I don’t understand why that would make hime a restricted FA rather than an unrestricted FA next year.

Hobbs must explain.

by Neurotic Guy on Aug 21, 2007 7:47 AM EDT reply actions

What I’m curious about…

The C’s negotiated with KG for an extension before the deal went down. Could the Wolves have requested permission from the C’s to negotiate with Big Al, as well? I don’t know if the C’s didn’t want to do that, because they didn’t want Big Al to know how serious the talks were in case they broke down, but if I’m Kevin McHale, I’d want to know that Al’s going to be locked down for a while before I make that trade.

by the_Bird on Aug 21, 2007 8:09 AM EDT reply actions

Word is that Foye will be a combo or two guard and they won’t have him develop specifically as a point.

by Luke Middleton on Aug 21, 2007 8:41 AM EDT reply actions

It’s so funny that Brick thinks that Minnesota could be good in a hurry, when they are very similar (not near as good however) to what the C’s were like 3 weeks ago and the C’s were bound for mediocrity in the weaker Eastern Conference.

My opinion on Minnesota… I like their young players but they are just that… young. Blount and Davis will most likely be cancerous this season… especially if development is the name of the game. Foye, McCants, Jefferson, Brewer, Blount, Davis, Juwan Howard….. Man, Al Jefferson and Foye are going to have to be straight up beastly for that team to even sniff .500…

by alchemist on Aug 21, 2007 8:58 AM EDT reply actions

I got this one brick – -

alchemist said:
It’s so funny that Brick thinks that Minnesota could be good in a hurry, when they are very similar (not near as good however) to what the C’s were like 3 weeks ago and the C’s were bound for mediocrity in the weaker Eastern Conference.

Minnesota doesn’t have Doc Rivers as a coach.

by mcpu40 on Aug 21, 2007 9:18 AM EDT reply actions

Last year the Wolves won 32 games with Garnett. I expect them to win more than that this year.

As for Foye, they had better develop him as a point guard, because unless they make a trade their other two options are Jaric and Telfair.

by Brickowski on Aug 21, 2007 10:10 AM EDT reply actions

In some ways, it’s not a problem for Minnesota. If Al and Ryan look worthy, extend then for whatever it takes. Otherwise, they can pocket Theo’s money and use it on other free agents. The part that’s missing from this story is that this year will be a VERY strong free agent class, and the Wolves will have plenty of options and tons of money.

by Cousin It on Aug 21, 2007 10:11 AM EDT reply actions

By the way … does Minny even have a coach right now? I forget.

by Cousin It on Aug 21, 2007 10:12 AM EDT reply actions

Randy Wittman

by Brickowski on Aug 21, 2007 10:23 AM EDT reply actions

Ryan has no future on the Twolves other than as trade bait. Corey Brewer is the future at small forward. Jefferson, the Twolves must sign to come out okay. Development of Telfair and GGreen would be great for the franchise. Salary cap space is what the Twolves wanted.

by greendoc on Aug 21, 2007 10:35 AM EDT reply actions

I doubt Green will develop into anything more than a one dimensional scorer who plays suspect defense. Jefferson was the only key to this deal. The other guys are filler. Minnesota will win about the same number of games as last year, however with a brighter future if they handle contracts properly (ie, sign Jefferson)

by ChiefDK on Aug 21, 2007 10:56 AM EDT reply actions

Minny has two new 1st round picks that they can package to
bring in a star pg to play with foye, brewer,smith,gomes and big al
of course they still have blount as there ctr

by perk on Aug 21, 2007 1:02 PM EDT reply actions

Gomes isn’t restricted, is he? I thought he was only in a 2 year minimum deal. I’m no capologist, so I’m not certain.

by Bleedgreen on Aug 21, 2007 2:33 PM EDT reply actions

Gomes’ third year was a team option, which will be exercised (since it’s for a paltry 775K). He becomes unrestricted at the end of this year, and MN will have full bird rights.

by Brickowski on Aug 21, 2007 6:18 PM EDT reply actions

There are more than a few on this site and elsewhere that didn’t want to part with Jefferson straight up for Garnett. Should Big Al have the kind of year people expected from him, the Wolves won’t be looking too bad. Foye and Brewer are keepers. If either or both between Green and Telfair finally “get it” and realize their potential, I wonder which team will be thought to have gotten the better of the deal.

(I always have to throw in the caveat that I want the Celtics to win to avoid the wet blanket tag), but my guess is that the Wolves are going to be in better shape than the C’s in the next 2-3 years. And if Rondo doesn’t become a better point guard than he’s shown to date, that timeline could shrink.

by lemonadesky on Aug 21, 2007 11:59 PM EDT reply actions