Comments on: Report: Minnesota dangling No. 2 pick, Pacers interested

By: awill191

awill191 — Sat, 21 May 2011 08:11:48 +0000

As a Pacer fan, but also as someone who follows the NBA enough to know what teams lack, let me tell you why I think this trade makes a lot of sense.
1) The Pacers have TOO MANY wing players (and I mean TRUE wing players). Dunleavy, Granger, George, Stephenson, and Rush are all wing players and have that 2-3 capability.
2) Most likely, the Pacers would be sending their first round pick with Granger and there may be multiple players involved. The Pacers have a ton of expiring contracts. In fact, they have over $30 mil expiring among 4 players – Dunleavy, Foster, Ford, and Jamaal Tinsley’s crap contract. This means they are willing to take on more players (i.e. Rubio and Beasley along with the pick).
3) If Minnesota is shipping Beasley, then they do not really have a solid wing player that can be go-to. This is where Kevin Love might actually feel some relief with a consistent scorer (which may be Beasley’s only questionmark).
4) As has been mentioned, with Williams the likely number 2 pick, his has no real place with Minnesota. Johnson needs a veteran to learn and grow, not another young up-and-comer. The Pacers though, have those expiring contracts which would allow Williams to learn alongside Paul George, Brandon Rush and James Posey. That gives the Pacers a core set of 2-3 for a long time.
5) In terms of salary, neither one of these teams are in trouble. Both will be under the cap for 2012 and so this deal makes perfect sense because it allows both to bolster their futures and have money for free agent signings to help complete their teams.

Like it or not, you have to admit this would be beneficial for both teams in the short and long term. The Wolves actually get more immediate impact, but both would have solidified their futures and given themselves money to be active in the present.

By: ascherber

ascherber — Fri, 20 May 2011 23:37:52 +0000

Stupid trade for both teams.

Indiana is not that far away from contending, and Rubio is no lock to be any better than Collison. Williams would be a nice piece, but only if paired with Granger.

For the Wolves, the BIGGEST weakness they have is that they have NO point guard. Even you think Rubio isn’t coming to Minnesota (which there has been NO credible evidence that he isn’t aside from the erronous east-coast-biased speculation of ESPN and the like), you have to get a PG out of any deal involving Rubio.

By: LPad

LPad — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:39:27 +0000

And the reason Indiana wants to start its rebuilding project over is they may get Ricky Rubio? Who will either stay in Europe or back up Collison for the next two years. Maybe, they make this trade for Kantor and put him next to Hibbert, but even then I don’t think Granger would be included.

Also, this is an example of why bad teams stay bad. Minnesota should just draft Kantor and put him next to Love. The guy’s 6-11, 265, he can play center and give them a low post presence to add to Love’s rebounding and perimeter game. Love could also serve as a mentor because he also entered the league at a young age.

By: 00maltliquor

00maltliquor — Fri, 20 May 2011 06:57:42 +0000

I feel you snoopy, truthfully i don’t ever want to see Gasol, Bynum, Fisher, Odom or Artest go ever. (Do I even have to mention Kobe?) I love those guys, always have. Just seems like somethings gonna happen though which makes me sad. But I think this will work for now and in the future. We add Howard, still have Odom who plays most of the PF minutes anyways, and Bryant. Williams can’t make us worse than any SF we have now. Plus we would still have Artest and/or Ebanks and Brown could come in and slide Mamba to SF at times. All you are worrying about now is Rubio, but we would still have Fisher and Blake to sub in when Rubio goes wayward so it all works for an immediate title.

By: snoopy2014

snoopy2014 — Fri, 20 May 2011 06:20:08 +0000

Hmmm…if it were to go down, it’d help the Lakers for the future. But I think it might hurt their title chances in the present. Rubio and Williams may be good in a few years, but rookies usually don’t come in and contribute seamlessly right away. There’s an adjustment period, especially for PGs. Plus Rubio’s big weakness is his shot, and the Lakers need shooters to clear space for their post game.

To be honest, I want to see Gasol stay a Laker. But if they did decide to make trades, they could do a lot worse, agreed.

By: 00maltliquor

00maltliquor — Fri, 20 May 2011 06:13:26 +0000

Now i know that is, to quote Chris Bosh, “pie in the sky”, but this can actually happen. Not saying that it should…but if LA is really looking to go that route, this would be the move to make. Plus the bench stays in tact so as not to mix it up that bad. I don’t know, what do you Laker fans think of that scenario? It seems legit, 2 stars in Bryant and Howard, youth and athelticism in Williams and Rubio (and maybe Randolph? Is that asking too much from the T wolves, I think not!) and have L.O. stick around plus Shannon Brown and give Devin Ebanks more minutes. I think thats a team to get excited about.

By: 00maltliquor

00maltliquor — Fri, 20 May 2011 06:03:46 +0000

Okay guys, stay with me here on this one…1st off, I am a devout Lakers fan and am by no means wishing to blow up our proven roster just ’cause we couldn’t get it done this year, but how about this for a craaaazy scenario…. Since the Lakers are said to be looking to get younger and more athletic and get a younger PG, and the ‘Wolves are willing to give up the 2nd AND Rubio for a veteran who can run in Kurt Rambis’ triangle offense, how about trading Pau Gasol who 1. Knows Rambis and the triangle 2.Is a proven vet who will imediatly fill their biggest hole which is the C position and will be a nightmare combo of Gasol and Love. Rubio gets to go to his precious big market next to Kobe in LA and will move to The States for that! We get a younger, exciting PG of the future and draft the young athletic Derrick Williams (Who i feel is gonna be better than many of you think) and some other big in the throw in (Maybe a combo of Tolliver and Pekovic, a 6″11, 290 backup C or Anthony Randolph to make the deal work. I’m pretty sure that would be over 10-12 million from the Wolves side and they can absorb the rest of Pau’s 18 or so million.) Now for the kicker that would make all this nonsence seem just and fair… Bynum and someone like Walton to make the trade amount work for Dwight Howard, who has been said to be acceptive of an LA move. The Magic don’t just lose Howard for nothing and get a young upcoming C in ‘Drew, which will probably happen anyways? If anyone can pull this off, it’s definatly the Lakers Lineup… PG Ricky Rubio, SG Kobe Bryant, SF Derrick Williams, PF Lamar Odom, C Dwight Howard

By: snoopy2014

snoopy2014 — Fri, 20 May 2011 02:42:24 +0000

See I thought Rubio didn’t want to come over because of the city and the “cold.” But yeah if he’s judging it on organization, Indiana is probably in better hands than self-destructive Kahn.

By: goforthanddie

goforthanddie — Fri, 20 May 2011 02:31:26 +0000

Any place is an improvement over Minnesota. Except maybe the Clippers, but they do have Blake.

By: jstrizzle

jstrizzle — Thu, 19 May 2011 22:48:55 +0000

This seems fishy. We are overloaded at the wing so this pick is expendable. We trade that logical pick of a wing player for…….. another wing player? We are also weak at PG so we throw in Rubio as well? As a Minnesota fan I still wouldn’t be surprised.

By: snoopy2014

snoopy2014 — Thu, 19 May 2011 22:43:06 +0000

Seems lopsided for the Pacers. Granger isn’t a top franchise player, but he’s worth more than that.

So Rubio won’t come to Minnesota, and Larry Bird thinks he’ll hop on a plane to Indiana? Interesting.

By: andrejohnsonforpresident

andrejohnsonforpresident — Thu, 19 May 2011 22:01:44 +0000

Gah i’m a huge granger fan as I see him as more than a perimeter player.. I’m not sure I like this for a pacers team who did not do so bad in the playoffs. They just had a bug problem, an injury bug problem that is.