oh dude.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I think Rubio is perfect for Thibs. He's kinda like a Rondo.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

yea, Rubio is a great distributor and can run an offense, just can't shoot. As currently constructed the Wolves can't really compensate for that. If they get a sharpshooter to compliment him at the 2, Rubio is perfectly fine

Nas was getting trounced until he saved himself with the Rubio praise. Rubio will perform well with Thibs. It is a great fit.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

is Thibs going to teach him how to shoot ?

Butler has peaked and they need a shooter more than they need Butler. but if Thibs is willing to do it cool. If it's on the table Paxson shouldnt hesitate unless Boston or Orlando or someone has a better deal on the table.

_________________

Yes. You'd be surprised by the magical powers that he posseses.

_________________

Butler did become a better shooter in Thibs final year.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Butler made himself into a better shooter not Thibs. What was Rose's 3 point % in Thibs's last season? I'm sure he shot better this season. Does Hoiberg get credit for that?

_________________

Your point guard doesn't need to be a top scoring option. Facilitate and play defense. Run your team. The Timberwolves will have plenty of scoring options.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

It was a joke.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Well in that case ha ha!

_________________

I know Thibs loves Butler, but Jimmy doesn't address the 3 point shooting weakness the T'Wolves have (last in 3 pointers made this season).

I looked at a few of the top 2 guards available, and 3 names stand out:

Evan Fournier
23 years old
15.4ppg
46% FG
40% 3pt

Averaged 2 makes for every 5 attempts. His age fits right in with the wolves, but idk about his defense. He's not a max player, but you're gonna have to pay to get him.

Eric Gordon
27 years old
15.2ppg
41%FG
38%3pt

A little bit older than the nucleus of the wolves, but I bet you could get him cheaper than the other two players I'm highlighting. Has never been known for his defense, and idk if he would want to leave NO for MN.

Bradley Beal
22years old
17.4ppg
45%FG
38%3pt

I understand this is a long shot, but Beal is the best fit ImO. Regardless of his injury history, Beal is going to get max player money this offseason because of his age and still developing game. I don't see the Wolves grabbing him, but it's nice to dream.

_________________

Wouldn't touch Beal or Gordon. Injured too much. Healthy Beal is the best of the 3 but don't want a guy that gets injured as much as he does.

_________________

Yeah, I bet they've reached out to Fournier already.

_________________

A guy that would be perfect for them is Aaron Affalo. Little older but he is a Thibs kind of guy and probably doesn't cost too much. I think the Knicks may put him on the block. He was a little disgruntled last season.

_________________

I know the injury risks with Beal but I would have to kick those tires first. He would accelerate the rebuild.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Thibs wanted him a couple years ago.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Afflalo is 31 and averaged 12ppg in 33 minutes this season. He's done... I think Fournier is the smart buy. Beal is the home run.

_________________

Only thing about that is the max out part. If you max him out and he is always injured then you are screwed. Guys like that kill franchises. Look at the Bulls with Rose and the Pelicans with Anthony Davis. It sets your franchise back because it hinders your ability to max out other guys.

_________________

The problem with going all in on young is salary. They are all on rookie contracts and once they get to 2nd contract you won't be able to pay them all. You need an aging guy who may sign fir the min. but still can play. Grow together doesn't work often in the NBA. Guys like Shawn Livingston are gold. Smart GMS earn their money off finding these types of players

_________________

Yeah I hear you. After some more thought, the Wolves already have 2 potential max players in Wiggins and Towns. Adding someone like Beal may hinder the franchise in two potential ways: Injury and Cap space. Fournier is who they should target, but if they stay at #5 I'd be disappointed if they don't make 3 point shooting the number one priority.

_________________

I think you can fit 3 max contracts with the new TV deal. Beal has playoff experience too. You do want to kinda mix young and old. Maybe they'll call Deng.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Growing old worked for GS, SA, and OKC... Sure, if your front office is garbage your team has no chance to grow anything anyway. We have yet to see a sample size of Thibs and his friend the new GM make personnel decisions.

I understand a veteran back court player is nice, but Fournier is just starting to hit his stride. Those Bulls teams under Thibs were at their best when they had Korver to stretch the defense (plus a dominant Rose). I only looked through a quick BR article highlighting the top 5 FA at each position. I'm sure there is a diamond in the rough to be found this offseason for the Wolves... They will not make the leap they need to without added perimeter shooting.

_________________

I think Beal is intriguing, but agreed about the injury risk

so without having to go back and read somewhere between 5 pages and 5 months, am i to assume that the general consensus here is that we're ready to move on from jimmy butler as a #1 guy?

i can see that cuz i'm pretty sure that jimmy could make a nice robin, but if the dude really thinks he's batman then you gotta ask yourself "who the hell reads that nightwing comic book series?" you know what i'm saying?

_________________

I think most people in the thread are ready to move on from Jimmy, I also think the thread should be renamed to 'Timberwolves offseason needs'.

_________________

You're not winning a championship without him as Batman.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

You're not winning a championship with Butler as a #1 but you're also not winning a championship with Paxson and Forman in charge anyway and any long-term rebuild once you move him will be all the longer if they're the ones overseeing it.

wait... what? i thought the general idea was that jimmy wasn't gonna be a good enough batman... you know, like we're talking val kilmer or george clooney as opposed to michael keaton or christian bale here, so you get rid of him to blow this shit up and find the next great young unknown to be the bulls' batman.

my nightwing analogy thing = nightwing is the original robin who breaks off from batman to fight crime as his own #1 superhero known as "nightwing." in terms of our batman metaphor here, i think that jimmy is technically nightwing >>> batman in that he's a #2 who fancies himself a #1 but if he's a #1 he ain't batman and therefore you ain't winning-titles/selling-comic-books cuz who the fuck wants to read a book all about nightwing? i bet most ppl here aint ever heard of nightwing, much like i figure most ppl here won't ever hear about a team led by jimmy butler as the #1 star winning a NBA championship.

obviously if you get rid of jimmy butler and try to win a title with THIS bulls team (starring derrick rose as LEGO(TM) batman?) then yeah.... sheeeeit. fuck robins... without jimmy butler is there even a batgirl on this team?

_________________