Feeling Minnesota
Minnesota has made the move to dump Kevin Garnett so it's time to bite the rest of the bullets in the clip and deal the remaining veterans on the team. Some of the guys are on short contracts and could leave for nothing while other players are overpaid and/or aren't the kind of players you want around.
1. Deal Mark Blount, Marko Jaric, and Gerald Green for Jerome James, Malik Rose, and two unprotected first round picks.
Gerald Green might have potential but he's a terrible fit for shooting guard alongside Randy Foye. Since Foye is a shooting guard in a point guard's body, the Wolves need a playmaking SG which Gerald Green most certainly is not. Isiah Thomas is looking for a shooter and McHale could be able to dump two of his worst contracts onto Thomas. After the deal, he could pay Jerome James 6 million dollars to opt out of the last year of his contract (which, unlike the Joe Smith maneuver, is legal) so Rose and James would be expiring contracts next offseason.
2. Juwan Howard, Trenton Hassell, Chris Richard, and Rashad McCants for Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittenton
Since it seems like no major deal is going to come out of the Kwame Brown expiring deal, the Lakers might be better off dumping the frustrating Brown for some veteran help. Howard isn't the man-defender that Kwame can be but he knows team defense and should be able to help out in the post. Also, Howard should be a solid mentor to Andrew Bynum, who moves to the starting center position, and is also more reliable off the pine than the on-and-off Kwame. Hassell gives the Lakers a lockdown defender at the 3. Richard should be, at least, 6 fouls and McCants is a backup shooting guard. The Wolves get the big point guard they need.
3. Ricky Davis and a second round pick for J.R. Smith and Eduardo Najera.
All expiring contracts but the Nuggets add a similarly troubled but more established guard in Ricky and the Wolves get a younger J.R. Smith and Najera to test drive for a year. It seems like a lot to give up but J.R. Smith is still too inconsistent and if the Nuggets are going to make a real push, they need someone else. Smith wasn't the same once Iverson came along. Davis, on the other hand, has been a third wheel before, playing alongside Antone Walker and Paul Pierce. Najera is a nice player but, as he showed in the playoffs, he isn't that nice.
All of the veterans except Mark Madsen on the team are either gone after this year or essentially have one year left. The team would be horrific and net a top 4 picks which means: OJ Majo, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Nicholas Batum would be joining the team. The team would have cap space galore and three expiring contracts to deal making them the perfect conduit for deals in next year's star-studden free agent market.
The2007 Timberwolves
(Players in parenthesis are inactive)
C: Kwame Brown/Theo Ratliff/(Jerome James)
PF: Al Jefferson/Craig Smith/Ryan Gomes/Mark Madsen/(Malik Rose)
SF: Corey Brewer/Eduardo Najera
SG: Javaris Crittenton/J.R. Smith
PG: Randy Foye/Sebastian Telfair
