Big Al on the block?
Wojo has a story today that the GM of the Wolves tried trading Al Jefferson for Danny Granger. He also alludes to some issues between Al and Kevin Love, presumably pointing the finger at Al since he's the one on the block.
Between this and the Rubio debacle, I really think Kahn is a Clown.
over 2 years ago
Green17
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please come to boston for the spring time!!
by celticinorlando on Jan 10, 2010 5:24 PM EST reply actions
Droppin' Loggins and Messina...
…and classin’ up CelticsBlog. Well done.
by The_Real_Mike on Jan 11, 2010 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
Message to Danny
Please spin some of your magic!!
al for
who?
the celtics have no pieces for the twolvees future….
and no BIll walker and scalbrine arent major pieces to get it done..
seems like rondo or perkins have to be included.. one of them maybe marquis daniels.. and a couple first round draft picks..
maybe...
With Kahn’s obvious and irrational point guard lust, maybe Rondo gets it done.
:P
Nah. but seriously Kahn is a clown. It seems like he doesn’t have a plan. Drafting a bunch of point guards and signing Sessions really makes no sense.
by dead dog aids on Jan 10, 2010 9:15 PM EST up reply actions
Imagine if Al came back
wishful thinking, but Kahn is a fool if he can’t make it work with Big Al…And if he trades Al, that could potentially leave Love as the Wolves’ best player! They’d go nowhere for the next decade! You can build a team around Al…just not with the triangle offense necessarily. They knew Al was there when Rambis was brought in. This might not be the best system for him to be in.
The curse of Kevin McHale
You are right. Al was Al. The triangle and Al don’t work. Love is a nice player but Al is more of a cornerstone and no problem in the locker either. What a bunch of dopes in Minny
"The triangle and Al don’t work"
Totally agree. I made a similar comment back on our last trip to ’Sota.
The Triangle has only worked when you have a true stud play maker – preferably a SG or SF – who can improvise and cleanup the mess when the triangle inevitably breaks down because somebody mistimes a pass or is out of position.
Al is a great offensive post player. But he is not the type of play maker that offense requires.
I Love Al's Offensive Game... But
I wouldn’t trade Granger for him either.
if only the pacers opted for gerald green's potential
we would have drafted granger at #18. oh well…things obviously worked out pretty okay for us, but damn, that would have been interesting. from what i recall, ainge really liked granger, and would have absolutely taken him.
by guy incognito on Jan 10, 2010 11:11 PM EST up reply actions
Al Jefe
off the bench would be the super rich man’s upgrade to BBD, obviously C’s don’t have the fire power to bring him home.
AL
I watched the Bulls and Wolves last night, the Wolves are such a mess. There were so many turnovers at one point in the game, the Bulls color commentator (Stacey King) started making sounds from the Three Stooges.
Al is not the problem. They have no shooters to spread the floor and play with no cohesion as a team. Johnny Flynn is a score first pg who was getting to the hoop, but had his shot blocked 3-4 times. Brian Gomes was the calming influence and Brian Cardinal started looking good to me by the end of the game, now that’s scary!!!
Oh yeah,
nice draft pick at #5, how’s that working out for you Kahn? The last time Danny had a #5 pick we ended up with Ray Allen.
Given that Kevin Love is their best player right now despite missing a third of the season to injury, I’d say it’s working out pretty well. Jefferson, OTOH, has been a shade of his last season self (which is not entirely unexpected).
Kevin Love was
McHales pick, I was referring to 2009 #5 pick Ricky Rubio.
The C's could get Jefferson
if they traded BABY, TA, SCAL, GIDDENS , HOUSE $12+ Million combined expiring contracts , since Jefferson makes 12 million this year.
why would the wolves do that...
so they can have 2 undersized 4 to combine with kevin love an undersized 4?
by matthewmafa on Jan 11, 2010 12:17 AM EST up reply actions
They could do better for Al
But it is an interesting idea
by Warrior Spirit on Jan 11, 2010 1:04 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
They could do better for Al
But it is an interesting idea
by Warrior Spirit on Jan 11, 2010 1:05 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Speaking about pointing fingers, I remember Pierce took a parting jab at Jefferson after he got traded, saying that some players on the 24-win squad “were happy as long as they got their 15 points”.
So yes, even though Al said all the right things when he signed his extension (which was fairly modest for someone who went on and averaged 20 and 12 next seasons), I can certainly see how there can be concerns about him sharing center stage with Love.
Jefferson is on the block
Because he’s a poor triangle big, and Love/Jefferson is a really poor long-term frontcourt for defensive purposes. Anyhow, the Woj story focuses on Minny offering Jefferson for Granger, which is an obvious win for Minny, whose wing depth is horrible. Not sure where all the criticism is coming from — Kahn isn’t trading him for expirings and a bag of basketballs.
To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
How is that any different from any other expiring contract? It’s not like Allen is going to stay in Minnesota.
by The_Real_Mike on Jan 11, 2010 3:12 PM EST up reply actions
fill out the rotations
you would be bringing in a high-salary big to play behind your current guy at that position. So he replaces, what? A few minutes of Sheed? BBD?
You’ve just moved arguably your best player on the court from the team. Who will play SG now? Who will fill in that +11.2 Net48 that you just removed from the floor. Our current SG replacements are all down around the +5 level so that’s -6 you have to make up somehow by subbing in Big Al in place of our current bench Bigs. No. Way.
Ray plays 74% of our game minutes and in more of our better 5-man rotations than any other player. You better have a damn good replacement strategy.
Nothing against Big Al and if I was starting a new team right now I’d love him as a building block. But that swap makes no sense for a team trying to win this year.
tony allen
marquis daniels and eddie house can play the 2.. along with pierce..
al would be great..
That would mean completely punting on this year
Unless you completely overhauled both the offense and defense so as to incorporate having Big Al in the starting 5 (i.e. moving Pierce to the 2 as you suggest). If you don’t start Al, then you would be giving up a 36 minute player (who is, btw, your BEST PLAYER) for a bench big. A bench big, with Tony Allen playing 2 is NOT going to make up the net points that you just lost.
So the only way you get game value out of such a trade is to restructure the offense and defense around having KG – Perk – Big Al as your Winnebago Wall front 3 and Rondo and Pierce in the back court. This is a much, much slower team. It can score inside. Noticeably weaker on defense. Maybe you could make it work. It would take a year of work at least.
Overall, it looks pretty awful. I would never, ever ever make that trade if my intention is to win this year. And it doesn’t even look that good going forward. Big Al has a big contract. Maybe if I didn’t believe I’d get the rest of KG’s contract value, then it might make sense. But that’s about the only way I could rationalize it.
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