Which is why there’s no solid trade talk around Randolph.

If you look at the recent player history, it’s completely contradictory. They send Jason Richardson to the Cats basically for Branden Wright. So it looks like they want to rebuild. But then they sign Stephen Jackson to a deal, so maybe not. Then they cut Baron Davis lose for nothing, so maybe they do. Then they trade Jackson for veterans Raja Bell and Vlade Radmonavic, so maybe not. Turn down Amare to draft Steph Curry, so they do. Won’t play Curry or Randolph consistent minutes, so they don’t…..I mean, it just doesn’t make any sense what they’re doing.

So I think, at the least, you have to field an offer starting at the low end, gives-the-Warriors cap relief region, and go from there. With a team this dysfunctional, there’s no telling how badly they might rip themselves off.

I can almost gaurantee that Taylor didn’t buy this team to make money. It is so hard to make money in the pro sports industry. I like the coffee shop analogy so I’ll stick with it. As of now you have to remember that the team probably hasn’t turned a profit since the WCF run. That means it has been more than a few years of losing money, so if you owned a coffee shop that has lost money three years in a row you too would be very reluctant to increase expenses without a sure thing. If you want to take Oceanary’s view about how they sell the team to make money, as of now going only by the team’s worth he has only increased his money by 8.25% annually. Again, would you invest in a coffee shop if you were only going to make that return? I know I wouldn’t.

Basically what I am saying is that he has taken such a hit on the financial side now and thanks to McHale tossing money at stiff after stiff with very little to show for it his grip is now tighter than ever.

typically the Donald Sterling ownership approach is to pay as little money as possible, regardless of the team’s prospects (it’s worked for him, just not the fans). He tried paying big money recently, it hasn’t translated to wins, and he’ll go back to scraping the bottom of the barrell as soon as the new CBA is signed.

As a businessman outside of basketball, the guy makes Tony Soprano look like Ben & Jerry. No business can exist without leaving a few pissed off people in its wake,. but Glen’s reputation exceeds that of most billionaires.

Many people on this board seem to think that billionaires will spend whatever it takes to win games. Part of that comes from what we as fans want (and hope), and part of it comes from the bubble mentality that higher prices are always just a turn of the calendar page away.

That’s not true any more. Deflation, deleveraging, retrenching, the New Normal—call it what you want, but the notion that owners are going to throw their money down the drain year in and year out is gone.

I believe Glen Taylor very much wants the Timberwolves to win—he wouldn’t sit five feet from the bench most games if he didn’t have some emotional investment in the team and its success. But during much better economic times he lost lots of money paying too much for too few wins. He’s not going to make the same mistake during an ongoing economic malaise for the benefit of a couple thousand fans paying discounted prices at the Target Center.

Now, if the Wolves happen to get a hold of a player who can vault them into being one of the top five teams in the league, Glen will spend some money trying to make a run at a ring. But he knows how quickly the championship hopes will fade, and how fast the fans in Minnesota stop showing up when a team goes from contending to competing to conceding.

rebounding as you are. But a couple of things about that rebound:

1. If indeed his net worth does bounce back, it will mostly be in intangible book value of assets—not cash. However, the $25 million loss? That came in real money.
2. The historical economic model that Ibelieve most predicts what we’re headed for is Japan—whose stock market prices have been in a general downtrend for 20 years, and are still oodles of percentage points away from reaching those highs. Do you think Glen Taylor has a several decades long perspective on his business interest, going forward?
3. Most self-made billionaires don’t run around saying, “What difference does it make? I’M A BILLIONAIRE!!!” They pay attention to costs and revenue, and a $10 parking ticket bugs them just as much as it bugs you.
4. Even if/when the economy rebounds, no businessperson likes losing money on an enterprise indefinitely. Sooner or later team owners either get tired of the hassles, or run out of money, or get an offer that’s higher than they ever dreamed of. If the Wolves don’t get consistent fan support in the form of real ticket buyers, they’ll keep costs low and try to break even, only putting wins ahead of profits when luck strikes.

Basically they would have had to pay an extra ~$8 million/year on Lee this year. If they can’t afford that ~$8 million raise to Gay next season, they couldn’t afford the $8 million hit of adding Lee to Darko and Richardson. That’s a good point.

OTOH, if the choice is Zach Randolph and losing Gay versus having one year with a garbage PF, then using your $16 million in expirings to pay for a raise for Gay and to target David Lee in free agency (he’ll be one again next offseason), I’d still go for the latter option.