The Wolves have no chance of making the playoffs. Everyone calm down. Here is who I think the Wolves should target in Free Agency.
To start I am not going to bother talking about Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade or Lebron James. It ain’t gonna happen. We would have to give them ownership of the team and even then it’s iffy. Here are my top 5:
1. Rudy Gay SF, Memphis-He is my number 1 target. He will also be tough to get now because Memphis is playing well and perhaps on the verge of a playoff berth. Also, he is a restricted free agent so Memphis can match whatever we would offer. If he really doesn’t want to play there, then a sign and trade is the most likely option. All that being said this is why I want him. Great athlete, good instincts and a decent shooter. He can be the scorer on the wing we really need. He can stretch the floor with his decent 3 point shot and ability to drive to the basket or pull for the short jumper. Also, only 23 years old and about to go into the prime of his career. I think he would mesh well with Love, Jefferson, Flynn etc. He would open more space on the floor on offense and capably defend the 3.
2. Joe Johnson SG, Atlanta-In just about any other year Johnson would be the top free agent available but 2010 is a totally different. Atlanta probably won’t keep him so we have a shot. He is underrated in my book and would fit great at the 2 for the Wolves. He’s a proven 20 point scorer night in and night out. He would also spread the floor for Love and Jefferson. His 3 point shooting needs to improve though. Right now he is only a 32% 3 point shooter but possibly with more spacing because of Love and Jefferson taking care of the paint he would get more open looks. At 28 he is in the prime of his career and would provide loads of leadership to a young team. Signing him would allow us to bring Brewer off the bench as a sixth man/lockdown defender. Gomes would have to go.Most likely to go to the Bulls though.
3. JJ Redick G, Orlando. Ok I can catch some grief for this one but hear me out. JJ has steadily improved in his career as his playing time has increased. He is a great shooter. I am not telling you anything new there. He hits 3s at nearly a 40% clip. I don’t think he would be a starter for us but our sixth man who can provide some instant offense. He is not a great defender so we would suffer with Brewer on the bench and Redick in the game. He is a restricted free agent so the Magic would the right to match if they wanted. However, with the Magic’s current salary situation they may be willing to let him go. Signing him to a more modest contract than Gay or Johnson would allow us to attempt to find a true ce nter as well. More bang for the buck.
4. Kyle Korver G/F, Utah-As you may have noticed there is a theme with my picks: Shooters. The Wolves lack good shooters to space the floor and make defenses respect the 3 point shot. Right now, we don’t have a true good 3 point shooter on the roster. Korver would certainly provide that. He is a 40% 3 point shooter. He would also provide a veteran presence to an extremely young team. Again, he would be a moderately priced free agent that would give us options to sign a big man. Although I am unsure if he would be willing to come here since we are in full blown rebuilding mode. At 28 he might want a team that’s closer to contention.
5. David Lee C/F, New York-This is my bid for more of a big man. Lee is the definition of an improving player. He is rebounding and scoring at his highest level right now. He is also about to go to his first All-Star Game. With the Knicks concentrated on Lebron, Bosh etc. I think Lee will walk. Plus, he was dicked around last year by the Knicks so there might be some hard feelings. Having a starting lineup of Lee, Love, and Jefferson might put us at a bit of high disadvantage but I think with the athleticisum and rebounding capability of the 3 that that would be negated. Lee can help provide more interior scoring which would make defenses needing to collapse more inside and therefore give more space to the guards on the wing. At only 26 Lee would give us an in his prime big man to help a rebuilding team. With his All-Star selection his price probably went up a bit though.
There’s my top 5. Feel free to give me your top 5. To many Wolves fan a list like this might be a little disappointing considering who is available in this year’s Free Agent class. We have to be realistic though. The big 3 don’t want to be in the middle of another major rebuilding project.
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Feel you on Rudy Gay & Joe Johnson. If we could land either of those two it would be an amazing off-season. With the CBA about to completely change I almost hope we don’t spend too much this summer. Not that we have tons of talent that I want us to be able to afford but I’d love it if we had freedom. In a few years when quality players have to shed due to the hard cap, we could sweep in and get some guys really cheap. I don’t think I can wait that long for the Wolves to not suck. Right now we need help scoring, and on the wing. What ever we have to do to punch up the quality there, needs to be done.
Not that I hate on JJ Redick, Kyle Korver or David Lee; but I just don’t see either of those three changing our team overnight. Overnight change is what I think we need to bring in the fans. How many tickets would Rudy Gay sell? Or Joe Johnson? Korver might be the best fit for our team right away but he doesn’t have the sex appeal. We’ll see if we make any moves before the deadline. Then we’ll have to see what happens in the draft. Then it’ll become the Euro-watch with those two talented studs we’ve got stored over there. When ever we bring Rubio over to the NBA that’s a game changer right there. Going to be two interesting off-seasons to come with the Wolves. Let’s just hope they do it right.