briggs, next year there will be so many free agents vying for such tiny slices of pie after the big guns are gone that some guys will fall through the cracks.

if walsh is able to work a sign and trade for lebron or whoever, the way the raptors did and the way the magic did for grant hill we will be able to hold on to our MLE and LLE. additionally, if Walsh is able to work a sign and trade that means he won't have to renounce any of our assets. i have to think walsh will try to do that if someone commits to coming here.

and if we get a lebron you can bet we will be able to get some decent pieces on the cheap.

Posted by BRIGGS:

Posted by Finestrg:

Posted by BRIGGS:

Posted by tkf:

I heard it was official, but this proves that khan had no plan and is just a carnival barker. He trades foye and miller because the team wasn't going to win with them, might as well move their contracts, right? OK, that is fine, you are selling the future, the draft and the wait and rebuild mode.. then he goes and signs session to an offer sheet.. LOL.. this guy is in the land of the lost....

I could care less about Hahn. I care about our *all in for 2010* mentality. I really think Sessions couldve really helped this team---we know Duhon did not make it through a full season nor can he penetrate like Sessions. We have some new and retooled big men and the PG position becomes more valuable. On top of it even if guys liek darko etc.. play well we will have to renounce almost everyone anyway. It setting up for a do or die scenario--atleast we couldve kept Sessions no matter what and its hard to find a young talented 6-3 PG for that money.

If we chose not to go after Sessions and Darko plays well, why would we have to renounce him? We'd have almost 6 million bucks available to keep him - that's with LeBron minus Sessions. I mean aren't you the one who kept talking about our dearth of big men being one of the major reasons why we've been so terrible?? We'll there's a chance now that a young, 7'1" player may have found a home & play himself into our future plans.

What about David Lee? Al Harrington--our PG Chris Duhon? Nate Robinson? All gone Or Darko and a boatload of other players are gone--no way around it--we shouldve signed Sessions--I mean Duhon is gonzo I think we can agree there--and we have no PG. It was a HUGE mistake not signing Sessions imho.

Who are we talking about that's really worth getting all worked up about exactly? Now that we have Jordan Hill, Lee doesn't concern me as much anymore to be honest. Sad to say but it's true, not that I want to lose him for nothing - looks like he'll be brought back for the season where his future will continue to be re-evaluated. Al Harrington? I think LeBron's a decent enough replacement, no? If 'Bron stays in Ohio, we'll keep our options open moving forward. Meanwhile, I think we're OK at that position for the time being with Gallo and Chandler. Chris Duhon? Decent enough backup PG on a good team, he was never in our future plans from the start anyway, let's be honest. The guy had 'stopgap' written on his forehead as soon as he walked through the door here. Or maybe we do bring him back - it's a totally different market now than even a year ago. I couldn't picture Duhon getting any more than the offer sheet Sessions just signed, I don't care what Donnie gave him last year. And with at least Douglas and possibly Nate Robinson coming back for the year, stat-wise, he probably won't be as productive as he was last year. He just won't get those kind of minutes (I think they like Douglas and want him to play a little - if they don't pick up anyone else, Douglas will have to play some, they won't have a choice). Speaking of Nate Robinson - nice 6th man. Fairly productive. But remember, we did go out of our way to pick up Toney Douglas. Part of the idea there had to have something to do with replacing Nate. Plus, as you like pointing out often, Chandler will most likely see some time at the 2, as he should. For depth purposes, all they'll need to do now is go out and find a backup 2 on the cheap and they have options. I have a sneaking suspicion now that Nate and Lee will both be brought back on 1-yr. deals with the idea of moving them during the season, possibly to help move another contract like Curry or Jeffries in the process. Out of all these players we're talking about here, who could we absolutely not live without or recover from if they moved on?? Darko's more of a unique player. Darko's the wild card. 7'1" legit center, still young, at the very least he's the most defensive-minded center we've had since Mutombo, plus he has other skills his new coach plans on utilizing (it appears to be Walsh/MDA's mission to get the most out of this guy). Out of all these guys, he may be the one guy we may not have a replacement for - and I don't want to hear a word about Curry. We can only hope that Curry plays well enough early on for someone to agree to take him. Above all these others, Darko may be the one we really want to hang onto. And we'll be in a position to if it makes sense. Let's see how he plays. Let's face the facts, this is a team in transition. Players are gonna move on. It happens. Initially, we'll be moving forward with our young core and a boatload of cap room most likely. I'm OK with that..

[Edited by - finestrg on 09-04-2009 4:32 PM]

what would your opinion be of walsh if he had flynn + sessions and had the rights to rubio?

Maybe now with Sessions on board (I realize Milwaukee still could match though it seems unlikely), Kahn might feel more comfortable with the idea of trading Rubio's rights to the Knicks in a package, whether it's built around David Lee (preferably) or Wilson Chandler. I wouldn't mind dealing Chandler to get Rubio's rights (imagine we sweetened it with Nate and were also able to get Wayne Ellington?) if I could then move Lee to Portland in a deal that get's me at least Travis Outlaw, Steve Blake and hopefully their 2010 1st rounder (I'd love to get Rudy Fernandez or Bayless but that may not be possible). People many not like that trade as we wouldn't be fleecing the Blazers but I think it's a good trade on several fronts. First of all, pound for pound, it's an adequate trade on talent alone. Second, moving Lee opens up a decent amount of PT in the frontcourt for Curry, Darko and Hill -- all 3 need to be getting their mins. for different reasons, whether it's to showcase, find out if a guy fits into the future plans or for development purposes. And I could also cover the loss of Chandler with Outlaw and pretty much not miss a beat. They're practically the same player. Very similar in terms of overall ability & upside (I actually might like Outlaw's game a little more). Say this scenario played out exactly and then at the end of the year we landed LeBron and also wanted to retain Outlaw, Darko AND either Duhon or Blake as a bridge to Rubio. I don't see a problem. LeBron get's his max. contract then with roughly the 5-6 million in left over cap space we go right up to the limit re-uping a combo. of two players (say Darko and Duhon or Blake) and once we reach the cap limit, the MLE kicks in and we use part of it for the 3rd guy (Outlaw). Might even have some mid-level money left over for possibly even another decent signing. We might have to get a little creative, but it looks like the opportunity should be there to keep everyone involved in a Knick uniform.

I'm not sure I believe Donnie when he says he's had no dialogue with Kahn since the draft. In light of what the Wolves just did with Sessions, Rubio to the Knicks may not be dead. Not by a longshot. In fact, there's a good chance it really gains some momentum now. That wouldn't surprise me. Jonny Flynn, now Sessions AND the rights to Rubio? The Wolves are really cornering the market on PGs huh? Something's gotta give now. I don't think Rubio wants to play for the Wolves anyway. I think he's made that clear. Come on, Kahn finally reaches a solution with the buyout in the 11th hour only to have Ricky come out and say he not ready for the NBA and basically sign that 6-yr. deal with FC Barcelona right in Kahn's face?? After all the hard work the man put into working on his buyout? I mean what does that tell ya? One thing's for sure, Rubio will not play 1 game in a Minnesota uniform. Bank on it. I really can't think of a bigger attraction for a free agent than the idea of eventually teaming up with a superior young pass-first talent like Ricky Rubio in NYC - the Mecca - playing for a player's coach in Mike D'Antoni, even if everyone involved had to wait a year for it. Donnie needs to initiate talks right now, if they haven't been going on behind the scenes all along..



[Edited by - finestrg on 09-05-2009 01:10 AM]

Posted by Finestrg:

Maybe now with Sessions on board (I realize Milwaukee still could match though it seems unlikely), Kahn might feel more comfortable with the idea of trading Rubio's rights to the Knicks in a package, whether it's built around David Lee (preferably) or Wilson Chandler. I wouldn't mind dealing Chandler to get Rubio's rights (imagine we sweetened it with Nate and were also able to get Wayne Ellington?) if I could then move Lee to Portland in a deal that get's me at least Travis Outlaw, Steve Blake and hopefully their 2010 1st rounder (I'd love to get Rudy Fernandez or Bayless but that may not be possible). People many not like that trade as we wouldn't be fleecing the Blazers but I think it's a good trade on several fronts. First of all, pound for pound, it's an adequate trade on talent alone. Second, moving Lee opens up a decent amount of PT in the frontcourt for Curry, Darko and Hill -- all 3 need to be getting their mins. for different reasons, whether it's to showcase, find out if a guy fits into the future plans or for development purposes. And I could also cover the loss of Chandler with Outlaw and pretty much not miss a beat. They're practically the same player. Very similar in terms of overall ability & upside (I actually might like Outlaw's game a little more). Say this scenario played out exactly and then at the end of the year we landed LeBron and also wanted to retain Outlaw, Darko AND either Duhon or Blake as a bridge to Rubio. I don't see a problem. LeBron get's his max. contract then with roughly the 5-6 million in left over cap space we go right up to the limit re-uping a combo. of two players (say Darko and Duhon or Blake) and once we reach the cap limit, the MLE kicks in and we use part of it for the 3rd guy (Outlaw). Might even have some mid-level money left over for possibly even another decent signing. We might have to get a little creative, but it looks like the opportunity should be there to keep everyone involved in a Knick uniform.

I'm not sure I believe Donnie when he says he's had no dialogue with Kahn since the draft. In light of what the Wolves just did with Sessions, Rubio to the Knicks may not be dead. Not by a longshot. In fact, there's a good chance it really gains some momentum now. That wouldn't surprise me. Jonny Flynn, now Sessions AND the rights to Rubio? The Wolves are really cornering the market on PGs huh? Something's gotta give now. I don't think Rubio wants to play for the Wolves anyway. I think he's made that clear. Come on, Kahn finally reaches a solution with the buyout in the 11th hour only to have Ricky come out and say he not ready for the NBA and basically sign that 6-yr. deal with FC Barcelona right in Kahn's face?? After all the hard work the man put into working on his buyout? I mean what does that tell ya? One thing's for sure, Rubio will not play 1 game in a Minnesota uniform. Bank on it. I really can't think of a bigger attraction for a free agent than the idea of eventually teaming up with a superior young pass-first talent like Ricky Rubio in NYC - the Mecca - playing for a player's coach in Mike D'Antoni, even if everyone involved had to wait a year for it. Donnie needs to initiate talks right now, if they haven't been going on behind the scenes all along..

Finest - I agree with you on Rubio. And perhaps this has all been orchestrated as one of a few possible scenarios.??

Kahn couldn't just come straight out and trade Rubio to Donnie Walsh, his mentor. The fans would lynch him. So Kahn tried continually to sign Rubio. But Rubio won't come to Minny and everyone knows this. Therefore Kahn signs Sessions. Now Minny fans are satisfied that Kahn is actively doing something positive to fill the Rubio vacancy. And Rubio becomes very much available as Minny has an abundance of young PG and they need to get back some value for the #5 draft pick. Kahn can save face and trade Rubio. We offer a fair package for Rubio; it fills out the T'Wolves team; we sign Rubio and everyone is happy.

Just wishin; and hopin; and prayin.