Patrick J: How hard do you think AdelKahn is shopping Derrick Williams and change right now for a shooting guard? And, would they do a Beal trade? Would the Wiz? This probably means nothing, but I saw that WaPo picked up a story from somewhere (maybe even the Strib) on D-Thrill, suggesting they think there’s some demand from their readers to know more about this guy whom they’re potentially interested in. He’d probably be a breath of fresh air out there, as they could move Jordan Crawford to starting SG (gag, I know, but he’s better than Beal right now), and start Williams next to Okafor instead of Chris Singleton (!) or Martell Webster (!!).
Who are the other targets?
Andy G: If we trade D-Thrill, I’d say it’s 90% because his agent, ROB PELINKA, demands it, and only 10% because we want something in return.
That is to say, don’t expect anything cool like Brad Beal (Shved is cooler than Beal anyway, and way better) and instead brace yourself for Derrick Williams, J.J. Barea, and a 2015 2nd Round Pick to Detroit for Corey Maggette (expiring) and a Top-10 Protected 1st Round Pick. (Yes, it works on the Trade Machine.)
—
What does everyone else think?
Punch-Drunk Wolves 
Is Maggette still a free throw machine? If so, Twolves games will take like 5 hours.
Nathan–
Looks like Maggette is shooting 6.7 FT’s/36, which is below his career average, but still pretty high. Yes, he would add to the free-throw disparity that the Wolves benefit from. (But if we’re being serious, I don’t think he helps this team do what it does as an offense very much. At all. I think he’d be viewed as an expiring contract that might come along with a decent draft pick down the road.)
I think Andy has this wrong. Williams/Pelinka really lack leverage to demand anything at the moment, and thus if the Wolves trade Williams (which I hope they do) it will be because they don’t see a future here for him and only see his value diminishing as time goes by.
Eric–
“Demand” may or may not be too strong a word, but Pelinka has a pretty solid–spectacular, even–client list (http://hoopshype.com/agents/rob_pelinka.htm) and if the Number 2 pick in the 2011 Draft is being squeezed for minutes by an All-NBA starter in his exact same position, he’ll feel plenty of pressure, that he as a power agent is able to then lay on the Timberwolves, to remedy the situation. Perhaps “request” is a better word, but in any case I don’t expect Williams/Pelinka to wait patiently if 10 minutes is alternated with DNP-CD’s for his entire second year. Of course, with the Timberwolves, it’s probably reasonable to expect a(nother) devastating injury to cure the problem by forcing Derrick into a meaningful role. For now, I just hope he plays well in the minutes that he gets.
A little link-o-rama on the Williams rumors, just for fun, and just to take our minds off the last two games.
First, a bunch of Williams trade scenarios were bandied about on ESPN a few days ago (Insider, sorry):
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8749486/nba-five-potential-trades-derrick-williams?addata=2009_insdr_mod_nba_xxx_xxx
The gist of the ESPN piece is that if the Wolves are able to move Williams, it’ll probably be either 1) to a bad team with lots of assets looking to buy low in hope D-Will penny stock will turn into a blue chip, or 2) to a contender for an expiring and either a low-ish first-rounder or an unproven prospect. The team would be accepting some risk by taking on D-Thrill and his guaranteed Kahntract for next season.
Some teams mentioned in the piece are: the Suns (Shannon Brown), the Hawks (Anthony Morrow and pocket lint), the Kings (Marcus Thornton and Isaiah Thomas, with either Luke or JJ going to SAC), and the Hornets (Austin Rivers and Jason Smith).
A few others are also mentioned, but I won’t quote too liberally since it’s Insider Kahntent, and ESPN has to pay the bills too.
But I can’t resist mentioning one more: “Philadelphia 76ers — Expiring contracts to offer in Nick Young and Dorell Wright, two guys who could help Minnesota at the wing.” Umm….right. He lost me at Nick Young. (Though it would be kinda fun to add someone from my All League Pass “So Bad They’re Good” first team. Swaggy Nick is in elite company there with Byron Mullens, John Salmons, ‘Dray Blatche, and Bassy Telfair: https://punchdrunkwolves.com/2012/08/31/league-pass-alert-vol-6-the-so-bad-theyre-good-first-team/)
A few more pieces of raw RUMINT to make The Morning After a bit less depressing:
1. A Cleveland reporter dismisses the notion that the Cavs would trade Anderson Verejao to Minnesota, mostly because D-Thrill would have to be the main piece coming back. That’s not enough, he opines (duh):
http://www.hoopsrumors.com/2012/12/wolves-rumors-love-derrick-williams-roy.html
2. One that Andy G (huge JJ Redick fan) is going to love: A completely unsubstantiated, unsourced rumor (from a fantasy site[!]) that a Williams-for-JJ Redick deal is “likely”(!!): http://www.examiner.com/article/nba-trade-rumors-j-j-redick-trade-to-minnesota-timberwolves-likely. Umm..okay.
3. Twolves Blog was batting around names too: http://www.twolvesblog.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&Itemid=205&catid=1&id=88811&lang=en&limitstart=60&view=topic
Does anyone see anything there that could stick?
The Redick situation is weird to analyze because he is a pure, expiring contract (not a restricted free agent). So if you trade for J.J. Redick, you’re getting 3/4 of a season plus Bird Rights. That sounds like something only a contending team would want. From Orlando’s perspective, I think there is actually a halfway decent chance that they would do a Williams for Redick type of deal, for two reasons: 1) They’re rebuilding, and Williams is a young player to potentially [sort of] build around; and 2) They’re rebuilding and a free-agent veteran like Redick is causing them to win their way out of the high lottery even though he very well might not be there after this season. The question is (and the answer is probably a resounding “yes”) whether Orlando can get more than Derrick Williams from a different team interested in Redick.
Fair points. I think the deal is very unlikely, both because Kahn won’t want to sell on Williams for a rental shooting guard, at least until it’s confirmed that his big free agent acquisition, Brandon Roy, won’t play the rest of the season. And, second, because you’re spot-on that Orlando can probably do better for Redick given how well he’s playing and what he could bring to the right team (*cough, Lakers, cough*).