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Post by levine on Sept 4, 2018 15:59:27 GMT -6
Starting this thread to hopefully keep the new place from getting too cluttered too fast.
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Post by levine on Sept 4, 2018 15:59:45 GMT -6
Darren Wolfson✔@dwolfsonkstp Scoop that didn't make podcast episode 171, but I can elaborate on in episode 172 later this week: #Twolves are hosting some recognizable names for free agent workouts this week. Among those here, I am told: Nick Young, Arron Afflalo and Corey Brewer. #AllEyesNorth
2:47 PM - Sep 4, 2018
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Post by wunderwolf on Sept 4, 2018 16:21:17 GMT -6
Starting this thread to hopefully keep the new place from getting too cluttered too fast. I like the way you think. No reason to have so many threads..
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Post by tjstyles on Sept 4, 2018 16:49:54 GMT -6
Darren Wolfson✔@dwolfsonkstp Scoop that didn't make podcast episode 171, but I can elaborate on in episode 172 later this week: #Twolves are hosting some recognizable names for free agent workouts this week. Among those here, I am told: Nick Young, Arron Afflalo and Corey Brewer. #AllEyesNorth 2:47 PM - Sep 4, 2018 Awww, no Sebastian Telfair? I realize the league is small, but we have got to be one of the top "retread" teams in the league. I feel like an Agent is making a change to the Matrix and we need to find a landline to get out of here soon. If you are a 7th or 8th man for the Minnesota Timberwolves and you get traded or leave in FA, don't sell your house; you'll be back.
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Post by Nick K on Sept 4, 2018 21:21:53 GMT -6
Darren Wolfson✔@dwolfsonkstp Scoop that didn't make podcast episode 171, but I can elaborate on in episode 172 later this week: #Twolves are hosting some recognizable names for free agent workouts this week. Among those here, I am told: Nick Young, Arron Afflalo and Corey Brewer. #AllEyesNorth 2:47 PM - Sep 4, 2018 I had a hunch they might be looking at Brewer. It's kind of amusing that the last time I saw Brewer here as a Wolve being interviewed, he signed off with his "Go Wolves". I was thinking that was the last time I'd hear that. Maybe not?
I wonder if Afflalo has anything left. I always liked him.
Just say no to Nick Young.
Got to give Deng tons of credit. Hard to see him coming here for very limited minutes. I'd rather see Noah as a backup center with that 2nd unit.
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From the LA Times Feb 2018.
"Before every Lakers game at Staples Center this season, Luol Deng shows up on time, sits in front of his corner locker, talks strategy, tells jokes, full of life, the picture of health, preparing as if he is going to play.
When the Lakers run out for the game, their Nowhere Man retires to a training room to pretend.
Deng watches the game on television and imitates its flow. When there’s action, he runs on a treadmill. When there’s a timeout, he stops. When the whistle blows, he runs again. When the Lakers are playing defense, he slides his feet as if playing imaginary defense. … Deng’s family flew in from London for their traditional holiday celebration, but with one difference. None of his family attended the Lakers’ Christmas Day game at Staples Center against Minnesota.
"My mom loves coming over and watching and supporting, but they felt it would be very hard to come to the game and not even see me anywhere," he said."
Classy guy.
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Post by jzwoopwoop on Sept 5, 2018 7:49:59 GMT -6
I'm not really interested in any of these three dudes. I would much rather grab Deng, if we can, and keep the last roster spot open.
Afflalo is cooked. Brewer is ineffective. Nick Young is, well, we all know :P
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Post by Bonecrusher on Sept 5, 2018 9:10:51 GMT -6
Darren Wolfson✔@dwolfsonkstp Scoop that didn't make podcast episode 171, but I can elaborate on in episode 172 later this week: #Twolves are hosting some recognizable names for free agent workouts this week. Among those here, I am told: Nick Young, Arron Afflalo and Corey Brewer. #AllEyesNorth 2:47 PM - Sep 4, 2018 The only one of interest might be Nick Young. Hopefully someone like Butler can be there for him (iirc) he's somewhat of a head case and it might give a little incentive for Wiggins to start playing better (one can hope).
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Post by levine on Sept 5, 2018 9:22:55 GMT -6
I'm not really interested in any of these three dudes. I would much rather grab Deng, if we can, and keep the last roster spot open. Afflalo is cooked. Brewer is ineffective. Nick Young is, well, we all know Sadly Brewer is likely a better player than Deng at this point. Corey had a sneaky decent year for LA last season. But I'd probably rather give his minutes to the rookies.
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Post by levine on Sept 5, 2018 9:25:42 GMT -6
Darren Wolfson✔@dwolfsonkstp Scoop that didn't make podcast episode 171, but I can elaborate on in episode 172 later this week: #Twolves are hosting some recognizable names for free agent workouts this week. Among those here, I am told: Nick Young, Arron Afflalo and Corey Brewer. #AllEyesNorth 2:47 PM - Sep 4, 2018 The only one of interest might be Nick Young. Hopefully someone like Butler can be there for him (iirc) he's somewhat of a head case and it might give a little incentive for Wiggins to start playing better (one can hope). Nick Young is 33 years old. He's not going to stop being a knucklehead at this point. Golden State was able to somewhat rein him in last year, but we don't have anywhere near the culture that the Warriors do. And I love Jimmy, but he's not at all a mentoring/leadership type of guy. He's just going to go out and play hard and get mad if you don't.
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Post by tjstyles on Sept 5, 2018 9:43:54 GMT -6
The only one of interest might be Nick Young. Hopefully someone like Butler can be there for him (iirc) he's somewhat of a head case and it might give a little incentive for Wiggins to start playing better (one can hope). Nick Young is 33 years old. He's not going to stop being a knucklehead at this point. Golden State was able to somewhat rein him in last year, but we don't have anywhere near the culture that the Warriors do. And I love Jimmy, but he's not at all a mentoring/leadership type of guy. He's just going to go out and play hard and get mad if you don't. While I generally agree with this, and I definitely agree with the statement in the context of changing Nick Young, I will point out that last season during training camp Butler was working extra hours with the young guys on the team to work on the things they needed to improve upon. He does have that trait, but he expects you to put in at least as much effort at getting better than he put into you. When you don't, he focuses his time on someone else. I feel that is the biggest issue with the team today and why Butler may leave. The young guys on the roster feel that they just need more time together to get to their best, but they need to keep growing individually. For all of his faults, LaVine was a hard worker in getting better. The other guys we have don't seem to have that drive. Even Towns seems very much like he was when he entered the league. Obviously he has learned how to be an NBA player, but he is basically the same player we drafted. I don't really feel like he has added to his game much of anything, especially on the defensive end. So, it makes sense to me that Butler would be upset. And it also makes sense to me that Butler is not going to waste energy trying to get his teammates to care about their own skills.
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Post by levine on Sept 5, 2018 10:00:24 GMT -6
Nick Young is 33 years old. He's not going to stop being a knucklehead at this point. Golden State was able to somewhat rein him in last year, but we don't have anywhere near the culture that the Warriors do. And I love Jimmy, but he's not at all a mentoring/leadership type of guy. He's just going to go out and play hard and get mad if you don't. While I generally agree with this, and I definitely agree with the statement in the context of changing Nick Young, I will point out that last season during training camp Butler was working extra hours with the young guys on the team to work on the things they needed to improve upon. He does have that trait, but he expects you to put in at least as much effort at getting better than he put into you. When you don't, he focuses his time on someone else. I feel that is the biggest issue with the team today and why Butler may leave. The young guys on the roster feel that they just need more time together to get to their best, but they need to keep growing individually. For all of his faults, LaVine was a hard worker in getting better. The other guys we have don't seem to have that drive. Even Towns seems very much like he was when he entered the league. Obviously he has learned how to be an NBA player, but he is basically the same player we drafted. I don't really feel like he has added to his game much of anything, especially on the defensive end. So, it makes sense to me that Butler would be upset. And it also makes sense to me that Butler is not going to waste energy trying to get his teammates to care about their own skills. Sure. He's not a horrible teammate and he's going to try to work with guys - and he wants his teammates to become better players. But he has a very long history of clashing with teammates that he feels don't play the way he does or as hard as he does. And he's shown he's much more likely to give up on (or resent) guys than really try to take them under his wing. Its not a fatal flaw, just not everyone is the nurturing, leader type. Just like he feels its not his job to recruit players to the team, its not his job to be their coach and/or father figure.
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Post by levine on Sept 5, 2018 12:11:46 GMT -6
Marc Stein✔@thesteinline The Wolves have launched their planned pursuit of @luoldeng9, league sources say, after the veteran forward became a free agent by clearing waivers earlier this week 9:28 AM - Sep 5, 2018
Shams Charania✔@shamscharania Sources: Free agent Luol Deng will meet with the Minnesota Timberwolves within the next week as sides discuss potential deal. 10:31 AM - Sep 5, 2018
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Post by jzwoopwoop on Sept 5, 2018 12:47:55 GMT -6
Levine, why do you think Deng is more washed up than Brewer? I will not hide my dislike of Corey so that's clearly coloring my take on the issue. But would be interested to hear a pro-Brewer (at least over Deng) argument.
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Post by levine on Sept 5, 2018 13:06:34 GMT -6
Levine, why do you think Deng is more washed up than Brewer? I will not hide my dislike of Corey so that's clearly coloring my take on the issue. But would be interested to hear a pro-Brewer (at least over Deng) argument. Because Brewer looked better last year than Deng did 2 years ago. I don't want Brewer at all, but he's still a more-or-less functional NBA player. I'm not sure Deng is - especially how Thibs is likely to use him. 3 years ago Deng was a pretty decent PF playing for a great coach on a very good team. 2 years ago, Deng was an awful SF - the role he played most of his career, and exclusively for Thibs. So *maybe* Deng has a little juice left if he's played as a PF, but I'm not sure I see Thibs doing that. I think Taj and Tolliver likely soak up all the PF minutes. My guess is Thibs wants him as a wing (as are all the guys we're working out now). And I think Deng is cooked as a SF, plus he'd be blocking the path of both rookies and Nunnally. I wouldn't sign either guy, but I'd wager that Thibs would stubbornly play Deng, while he'd bench Brewer.
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Post by jzwoopwoop on Sept 5, 2018 13:52:22 GMT -6
Levine, why do you think Deng is more washed up than Brewer? I will not hide my dislike of Corey so that's clearly coloring my take on the issue. But would be interested to hear a pro-Brewer (at least over Deng) argument. Because Brewer looked better last year than Deng did 2 years ago. I don't want Brewer at all, but he's still a more-or-less functional NBA player. I'm not sure Deng is - especially how Thibs is likely to use him. 3 years ago Deng was a pretty decent PF playing for a great coach on a very good team. 2 years ago, Deng was an awful SF - the role he played most of his career, and exclusively for Thibs. So *maybe* Deng has a little juice left if he's played as a PF, but I'm not sure I see Thibs doing that. I think Taj and Tolliver likely soak up all the PF minutes. My guess is Thibs wants him as a wing (as are all the guys we're working out now). And I think Deng is cooked as a SF, plus he'd be blocking the path of both rookies and Nunnally. I wouldn't sign either guy, but I'd wager that Thibs would stubbornly play Deng, while he'd bench Brewer. I hear you, and hard for me to disagree with any of this... except claiming that Brewer is more or less a functional NBA player :P I guess I'm more focussed on the fact that, of Brewer and Deng only one of them has played at a higher level in the recent past. But yes, I would be disappointed if Deng soaks up minutes at SF (where I'd rather see Nunnally and KBD get minutes).
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Post by vlad on Sept 5, 2018 16:50:37 GMT -6
Because Brewer looked better last year than Deng did 2 years ago. I don't want Brewer at all, but he's still a more-or-less functional NBA player. I'm not sure Deng is - especially how Thibs is likely to use him. 3 years ago Deng was a pretty decent PF playing for a great coach on a very good team. 2 years ago, Deng was an awful SF - the role he played most of his career, and exclusively for Thibs. So *maybe* Deng has a little juice left if he's played as a PF, but I'm not sure I see Thibs doing that. I think Taj and Tolliver likely soak up all the PF minutes. My guess is Thibs wants him as a wing (as are all the guys we're working out now). And I think Deng is cooked as a SF, plus he'd be blocking the path of both rookies and Nunnally. I wouldn't sign either guy, but I'd wager that Thibs would stubbornly play Deng, while he'd bench Brewer. If Deng is not playing 4 than there is no point of getting him. And Brewer had a very good year. And his shot has strangely improved. May be because he picks his spots a lot better. I doubt Thibs would play Deng a lot at 3, since AW takes 40 min/game and Butler plays at 3 as well. But I would never underestimate Thibs at this point.
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Post by Bonecrusher on Sept 5, 2018 18:31:00 GMT -6
Starting this thread to hopefully keep the new place from getting too cluttered too fast. I put a sticky on this so it should stay at the top similar to the old board. Thanks for starting it.
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Post by cory on Sept 5, 2018 20:42:27 GMT -6
I'm not sure if Deng is washed up entirely but I don't believe he is really a wing anymore. On this team he looks like he would be a better backup 3 then Tolliver but his best position at this point is probably a backup 4 like he was in Miami. If he's used in that way he's a worthwhile gamble but I doubt we use him like that and it would likely require a G trade which seems very unlikely.
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Post by kingsxman on Sept 6, 2018 5:25:42 GMT -6
I heard Barreiro talking about Deng yesterday afternoon and kind of ripping everyone who was going nuts about Thibs potentially looking at another ex Bull. In a vacuum Deng may be a fine player for the Wolves to pick up. But we're not in a vacuum and one of our biggest gripes with Thibs is his inability to move beyond his "comfort zone" and to find new players and "turn them into" the types of players he wants. I go back to what player has improved under Thibs time with the wolves BECAUSE of Thibs? I actually have a lot of hope for Okogie in that regard though..
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Post by tjstyles on Sept 6, 2018 10:04:03 GMT -6
Because Brewer looked better last year than Deng did 2 years ago. I don't want Brewer at all, but he's still a more-or-less functional NBA player. I'm not sure Deng is - especially how Thibs is likely to use him. 3 years ago Deng was a pretty decent PF playing for a great coach on a very good team. 2 years ago, Deng was an awful SF - the role he played most of his career, and exclusively for Thibs. So *maybe* Deng has a little juice left if he's played as a PF, but I'm not sure I see Thibs doing that. I think Taj and Tolliver likely soak up all the PF minutes. My guess is Thibs wants him as a wing (as are all the guys we're working out now). And I think Deng is cooked as a SF, plus he'd be blocking the path of both rookies and Nunnally. I wouldn't sign either guy, but I'd wager that Thibs would stubbornly play Deng, while he'd bench Brewer. I hear you, and hard for me to disagree with any of this... except claiming that Brewer is more or less a functional NBA player I guess I'm more focussed on the fact that, of Brewer and Deng only one of them has played at a higher level in the recent past. But yes, I would be disappointed if Deng soaks up minutes at SF (where I'd rather see Nunnally and KBD get minutes). I suspect you are right about how Thibs will use Deng. That said, I am mildly optimistic that Thibs will move Deng to PF given that he says he is planning on playing Rose more at the 2 than the 1. Part of me thinks that Thibs may actually be able to adjust small amounts of his style, especially when it is for "his guys". If Deng feels better at PF, I think Thibs would give him minutes there. On the flip side, if Deng decides he is a SF and asks Thibs for time at the wing, I think he gets it, even if he is ineffective there. So, it is a double-edged sword. That said, I simply cannot believe that Brewer or Deng is going to bring anything better either short term or long term than some prospect from the D-League. And, with the way Thibs does his roster management, if Deng comes, he will likely take minutes away from someone more effective. I agree that Brewer probably wouldn't see much of the floor, so it would be a non-issue there.
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Post by levine on Sept 6, 2018 11:10:31 GMT -6
The other thing with Deng is potential locker room issues.
Deng, on his own, is a good guy - and apparently a strong locker room presence. But by all accounts, there absolutely is a rift between the former Bulls and the kids. Is Deng likely to bridge that gap or make it even worse?
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Post by kingsxman on Sept 6, 2018 11:25:44 GMT -6
The other thing with Deng is potential locker room issues. Deng, on his own, is a good guy - and apparently a strong locker room presence. But by all accounts, there absolutely is a rift between the former Bulls and the kids. Is Deng likely to bridge that gap or make it even worse? My understanding is Deng is a strong locker room presence but from a GOOD point of view. Not a negative. But...as you say...it just adds to the "us vs them" aspect of the locker room issues. At some point I am hoping that the kids maybe realize that there may be something to what Butler and others are trying to teach them.
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Post by Nick K on Sept 6, 2018 12:15:10 GMT -6
I've always liked Deng. The thing I don't get now is we don't need another SF-PF. If anything, we need a backup center. Everybody talks Gorgui as a PF but he's really a center and not a very good one at his salary. If the Knicks settle things with Noah, I'd rather have him as a backup center. He and Deng are only 33 years old or so. Noah can still play.
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Post by jzwoopwoop on Sept 7, 2018 14:53:07 GMT -6
Just listened to the last Jon K podcast with Jim Souhan. FWIW, Jon K says he believes Deng will be signed.
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Post by Nick K on Sept 8, 2018 5:42:34 GMT -6
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