Source: C's offered Wolves 6 + 17, KO, our future 1st

[Fafnir]

Playing a good but not great SG a max contract to keep him is troubling. Doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

Still this is why getting Love is a low percentage play for any team, you never know what the other side is going to want.

[BballTim]

Lee, Barnes and Klay is better than 6, 17 and Oly... its not even close, really.  Would need more

Better for the immediate mediocrity Flip seems to be gunning for, not for the long term future of the franchise.

Wow.  The opportunity cost is the 6, a couple of middling first rounders and Olynyk and/or Sullinger. Yeah, thats gonna bring a team out of the cellar.  Accept it, mediocrity or not, Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson are both young, proven, and just plain better.

  You're missing the point. If they take the GS offer they'll be in the hunt for a playoff spot, nowhere near contending. Their best player will be 25 or so and is, what, a top 30-40 player in the league if you're lucky? Where does that leave the franchise?

  If they take the Celts offer they'll have a young player (not a star, but a decent player), the #6 pick in the draft, (probably a future first as well) and they'll be bad enough that they'll have their own top draft picks for the next couple of years. Considering their own picks as well, would you rather the the Wolves with Thompson and Barnes and 12-16 range picks in the next couple of drafts or the Wolves with KO, the #6, and picks in the 3-6 range for the next couple of years?

I think it boils down to the Wolves having no desire to rebuild yet again when they've been out of the playoffs for a decade now, and hoping Thompson and/or Barnes (if they can get him) will blossom into a legit elite star. 

It's a long shot, especially since Klay and Barnes would probably flee town ASAP, but I can see why they'd rather go that route than sell "this time bottoming out will pay off!" to a frustrated fan base.  Plus it's difficult to apply "rational actor" thinking to Minnesota's front office even in the best of situations.

  True. I wasn't talking about what they want to do, just that which offer is better depends on which direction the team wants to go in.

[Endless Paradise]

Thompson and Barnes are both going to be restricted free agents, they won't flee town unless Minnesota lets them.

[cman88]

Thompson and Barnes are both going to be restricted free agents, they won't flee town unless Minnesota lets them.

or if Minnesota doesnt want to pay what the players are looking for. Worst thing you can do as a team is lock in long term deals with role-players.

[Endless Paradise]

I understand that, but that still ultimately comes down to Minnesota letting them go.  Regardless, I said that just to challenge the notion that it's risky to trade for those two if they don't really want to be in Minnesota, as the Wolves can call their bluff and work on convincing them that they want to stay by matching any offers.  It's much riskier trading for a soon-to-be unrestricted free agent like Love, who's free to sign with whomever he wants after this season (provided he opts out).

[BballTim]

Thompson and Barnes are both going to be restricted free agents, they won't flee town unless Minnesota lets them.

  But they'll have Minny over quite a barrel. If some team makes Klay a huge offer Minny has to either match or get nothing in return for the centerpiece of the Love trade. Thompson can also tell the team if they don't give him a large enough offer he'll stay for a year and then bolt. Where are they then?

[kozlodoev]

If the Timberwolves are hellbent on unloading Kevin Martin, this may get hairy.

[Fafnir]

Thompson and Barnes are both going to be restricted free agents, they won't flee town unless Minnesota lets them.

Thompson is going to demand a max contract, and if they wont' give him a big offer another team will put out a pretty big offer sheet.

[Fafnir]

If the Timberwolves are hellbent on unloading Kevin Martin, this may get hairy.

They should be trying to hard in any love trade.

[indeedproceed]

If the Timberwolves are hellbent on unloading Kevin Martin, this may get hairy.

They should be trying to hard in any love trade.

That's my read as well. Kevin Martin's inclusion and replacing him with Thompson has to be appetizing for Minny from a financial standpoint.

[Fafnir]

If the Timberwolves are hellbent on unloading Kevin Martin, this may get hairy.

They should be trying to hard in any love trade.

That's my read as well. Kevin Martin's inclusion and replacing him with Thompson has to be appetizing for Minny from a financial standpoint.

If they're not getting good picks, then they need to get talent + salary relief.

The fact that David Lee is necessary in any GSW deal would almost kill the deal outright if I was running Minnesota.

[KCattheStripe]

Lee, Barnes and Klay is better than 6, 17 and Oly... its not even close, really.  Would need more

Better for the immediate mediocrity Flip seems to be gunning for, not for the long term future of the franchise.

Wow.  The opportunity cost is the 6, a couple of middling first rounders and Olynyk and/or Sullinger. Yeah, thats gonna bring a team out of the cellar.  Accept it, mediocrity or not, Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson are both young, proven, and just plain better.

I accept they're better, but all they do is delay the inevitable mediocrity. The six and 17 starts their rebuild.

[Jailan34]

Lee, Barnes and Klay is better than 6, 17 and Oly... its not even close, really.  Would need more

Better for the immediate mediocrity Flip seems to be gunning for, not for the long term future of the franchise.

Wow.  The opportunity cost is the 6, a couple of middling first rounders and Olynyk and/or Sullinger. Yeah, thats gonna bring a team out of the cellar.  Accept it, mediocrity or not, Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson are both young, proven, and just plain better.

I accept they're better, but all they do is delay the inevitable mediocrity. The six and 17 starts their rebuild.

Sure, if the TWolves were thinking logically this would matter to them. However, both the fans and management are itching to compete. Even if its for a low seed and first round exit Minny wants to compete and compete now. They're tired of rebuilding and blowing their picks on players like Johnny Flynn.

[Rondo9]

I think the Wolves fans want to rebuild, judging how they favor the Celtics and the Bulls offer.

[joepatsfan]

Flip Saunders is way off if he wants a package of Lee/Thompson and a Warriors pick for Klove and Martin.

Lee and Thompson are combined worse than Love-Martin (mainly because of Love). The Warriors pick will be nothing better than a early 20s selection.

Lee/Thompson will give the Warriors less wins if anything and maybe keep them even. If the deal includes Lee/Thompson/Barnes then ok, I see where he's going with it but Lee and Klay will make them even if not worse and the pick isn't close to valuable.

We can offer #6/#17 and BKN picks in the future which is probably be lottery picks by then and Sullinger, who I really like but he's never going to turn into some All-NBA guy, just a 16-10 at best, can replace Love at the 4 for the time being.. Olynyk is another piece that could turn into something decent as well.

I honestly think Saunders is just blowing smoke right now. He knows that Klay/Lee doesn't put Minny anywhere and they wont even resign in Minny too. Like others have said, this puts them right where they were and maybe worse because Klay and Lee aren't sticking around...

Saunders knows that the Celtics have the best assets to offer but he and the owner cannot stand that they may give their best player to Boston again for the second time in 7 years. Their in denial over there folks.

Unless Minny gets Lee/Klay/Barnes and a 1st (which is highly unlikely), then the Celtics are the frontrunners or Minny just keeps him