# What the hell is this team's 12-man roster going to look like?



## robyg1974 (Jul 19, 2002)

*What the hell is Minnesota's 12-man roster going to look like?*

Is this it?

Starting lineup

PG Terrell Brandon (32 minutes/game)
SG Wally Szczerbiak (40 minutes/game)
SF Kevin Garnett (40 minutes/game)
PF Joe Smith (32 minutes/game)
C Radoslav Nesterovic (32 minutes/game)

Key reserves: Troy Hudson (24 minutes/game), Anthony Peeler (24 minutes/game), Marc Jackson (16 minutes/game)

End of the bench (no PT): Felipe Lopez (a SG), Marcus Taylor (a PG), Maurice Evans (a SG), Igor Rakocevic (yet another SG)

The way the minutes are currently divided up, Marc Jackson gets all the minutes at backup center, KG plays 16 of his 40 minutes at PF (the other 24 at SF), Wally World plays 24 of his 40 minutes at SF), Peeler plays all his minutes at SG, Hudson plays 16 minutes at PG and 8 minutes at SG. And that's the biggest possible lineup that Minnesota can put out on the floor at the moment. NOT a very big lineup!

What can this team do to get bigger (and, therefore, better)? I don't think that re-signing Loren Woods is the answer. Neither is trading for Damon Stoudamire. What happens if one of the FIVE guys on the entire roster who can play SF, PF, or C (seven of the twelve players can play only PG and/or SG!) gets hurt (and ONE of these five players is Wally World, who is SUPPOSED to be the team's SG!)? Isn't Wally World better off playing all of his minutes at SG, where his size is a huge advantage over other Western Conference SGs?

What can this team do? It's already in luxury tax territory, so why not go ahead and sign another PF/C? Popeye Jones would be a pretty good fit, wouldn't he? What other big men are there?

And what the hell can you trade for a big guy? Nobody wants Anthony Peeler, nobody wants any of those Gs at the end of the bench, nobody wants Terrell Brandon's huge contract. KG is off limits, and so is Wally World (or he SHOULD be, anyway).

Seems like the only thing this team can do is sign Popeye Jones. Has Kevin McHale even TALKED to Popeye Jones this offseason? Why the hell NOT?

Other free agent big men available are:

1 Lee Nailon (a SF, not a PF, who will probably be re-signed by the Hornets)
2 Wang Zhi Zhi (Mark Cuban won't just let this dude walk, he'll ship him somewhere via a sign-and-trade)
3 Charles Oakley (seems to have worn out his welcome in this league)
4 Sean Marks (I'm not sure if this guy has re-signed with Miami or not, I think he HAS, but who knows; besides, this guy is a center, and the Timberwolves seem to need a SF/PF more than they need a center)
5 Darvin Ham (supposedly has already signed or will soon sign with the Warriors)
6 Grant Long (as mediocre as they come, obviously, this guy probably needs to call it quits)
7 Carlos Rogers (the quintessential 11th man, I don't see this guy playing key backup minutes for a playoff-bound team like Minnesota)

If, as I suspect, Nailon, Zhi Zhi, Marks, and Ham are not possibilities for Kevin McHale, that trims the choices down to:

1 Charles Oakley
2 Grant Long
3 Carlos Rogers

It's not looking good for Minnesota, is it?


----------



## riddler (Aug 25, 2002)

hopefully we could sign popeye


----------

