The Wolves altered their roster quite a bit with the recent draft-day trade that brought in Mike Miller, Kevin Love, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins while dispatching O.J. Mayo, Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric and Greg Buckner. The main rotation guys seem fairly clear: Randy Foye, Miller, Ryan Gomes*, Rashad McCants, Al Jefferson, Kevin Love, Corey Brewer, Craig Smith* and, likely, Collins, even though is PER is absolutely brutal. (*Denotes restricted free agents that received qualifying offers). With the onset of free agency, we want to ask what they still need.

1) A true point guard to back up Foye. (Sebastian Telfair might still be an option, but he was woeful in the Hollinger Efficiency Rating last season, ranking 270th out of all players and 58th among point guards).

2) Perhaps another workmanlike big man to bang down low.

3) Perhaps a veteran swingman who can play some D.

The big thing, though, is point guard. Since Foye is somewhat of a combo guard, they need a true point. They’re not going to get the opting-out Baron Davis or someone of that ilk, but what they need is someone who could play 15-20 steady minutes and potentially start if Foye is injured. Someone like Anthony Carter, who was unremarkable in his first stint here but had a nice run last year with cash-strapped Denver, might be a decent addition. An intriguing option at the right price would be Shaun Livingston, who was emerging with the Clippers before a knee injury two seasons ago put him on the shelf. He was recently cleared to play again and, if healthy, would be a fantastic addition.

We’re less inclined to take a stab at any big men or swing men the Wolves would make a run at. We’ve been fans of UFA DeSagana Diop, a 7-footer, ever since we saw him throw LeBron’s shot about 500 feet in person a couple years back, but that’s not a basis for a multi-million dollar contract.

It will be interesting to see if the Wolves make more of a splash than what we’re expecting. Your thoughts on the whole ordeal and any big names that might be headed elsewhere?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 2:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.