Minimal moves for the Wolves. After hiring Coach Tom Thibodeau, they've since added only two free agents: Brandon Rush (1yr/$3.5m) and Cole Aldrich (3yrs/$22m), not exactly high profile guys. They declined the option on Damjan Rudez and draft Kris Dunn (#5). Not a busy summer but I think they didn't need to make a lot of moves, so good for them.
When watching the Clippers in the playoffs last year, I thought Cole Aldrich was the 2nd best player they had (guess, Coach Thibs saw what I saw). And I love nabbing hungry veterans for badass teams, so Brandon Rush should bring some professionalism and fire to a young Wolves team. Kris Dunn looks like a young Chris Paul, though I thought they could've used Buddy Hield, can't complain about picking Dunn.
Starting five: PG Rubio, SG Mohammad, SF LaVine, PF Wiggins, C Towns with Dunn, Jones, Rush, Bjelica, Garnett, Aldrich, Payne, Pekovic and Dieng off the bench. (Dunn, LaVine, Wiggins, Towns, Dieng is the dream starting five, though, right?)
From the beginning I thought Coach Thibs' mission was clear: turn LaVine and Payne into defensive standouts. If the Wolves can do that, they'll have home playoff games next year. Next step: figure out what to do with Peckovic: if he can play, fine; if not, get rid of that contract. Now the mission is figure out Rubio's role (or trade him), then figure out Mohammad's role (or trade him), then figure out Bjelica's role (or trade him), then figure out Payne's role (or trade him). If these guys can play, play them! If not, ship them out. Dunn, LaVine, Wiggins, Towns and Dieng are the core they're building around, figuring out the best way to help them is the mission for the next few years.
I love this team. I think they're a playoff team no matter what they end up doing. I think their ceiling is 3rd in the West, I think they're floor is probably still 6th or 7th in the West. Can't wait to see what Thibs gets out these kids.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment