Dear Thibs,
You got your PG:
AP Source: Jeff Teague has agreed to a 3-year, $57M contract with Wolves. The 3rd year is a player option. And we're off
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) July 1, 2017
Jeff Teague is your PG.
I’m still missing Ricky Rubio, but I see where you are coming from.
https://youtu.be/UZo6qOJk_fU?t=17s
You want your PGs to be scorers, not bounce passers.
I like the deal as it is. Slightly overpriced—like, 3 mil or so—but still a comparable deal to Rubio’s contract.
Here’s the thing I don’t get though: you gave Mr. T a third year that’s a player option.
Why?
…Why?
Mm, okay maybe that’s not clear enough….let me rephrase: what happened? What does this all mean?
Here’s what I think, and it means a lot of things by the way.
Whether I’m right or wrong…you tell me Thibs. (I’m awaiting your response)
Okay. One, the relationship between you and Mr. T didn’t feel mutual. Maybe you wanted Teague, but I think Mr. Teague wanted more than just your vision.
What he wanted, more than anything—and this is all in my head now, mind you—was proof in his contract that he’s an important piece to the puzzle.
Maybe that’s why the player option is there. From his point of view, he wanted an extra layer of job security if he has a down year.
From your point of view, you wanted to lock him up ASAP. It’s (very) easy to be outbid, considering the going rate of players on the first day of free agency.
So after a couple of back-and-forths with his agent, who showed you analytics suggesting Mr. T’s worth 2-3 mil more, you FINALLY agreed to the price and the years.
https://youtu.be/b4dcNP-yazM?t=21s
Maybe that explains the timing: trading Rubio on a Friday afternoon, signing Teague immediately after midnight.
The (Thunder’s) draft pick from the Jazz tells me all. It could have been a last minute effort to shed Rubio’s salary before Teague gave you the green light.
That also explains the Knicks (awkwardly) moving on from Teague:
The Knicks have abandoned their hopes of meeting with Jeff Teague, league sources say, convinced Teague has already committed to Minnesota
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 30, 2017
Anyways. There’s a lot that went on behind the scenes that could have been true, or not, based on my analysis.
Here’s the bigger question: will this will be a precedent moving forward to attract free agents to Minnesota?
Thibs, are you going to be giving player options to most of the free agents that you’re pursuing, or just a handful of players who firmly believes in your vision?
I don’t know the answer to that question, and if I do, I’m doing your job.
Here’s what I know, and this is my overall point: You got Jeff Teague the way you wanted to get him.
That’s worthy of a celebration.
Congratulations!
—DP
Go Timberwolves! Get your howl on.
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