Wolves Miss on Shooting Target

That gif is a metaphor for the Wolves right now, as they reportedly offered Nick Young, affectionately known as Swaggy P, a two-year deal. He ultimately turned it down.

In recent days, rumors started swirling that Minnesota was targeting the wing player, along with Golden State, but Darren Wolfson first reported that an offer had been made:

More on the first part of that tweet in a bit. Young would have filled the room exception the team holds which is $4.328 million in the first year, with a 5% raise in year 2. Essentially the deal would have been about $9 million over two years.

Then Woj came in to spoil any thought of that:

Can anyone blame the guy? He’s getting more money this year and barring any extreme circumstances, he will likely get another contract next year. Oh, and it’s Golden BLEEPING State.

I might be one of few people that actually wanted Nick Young here, even before the talks started that the Wolves were targeting the wing player:

No one can deny the team desperately needs shooting and Young would have filled that. He took seven threes a game last year, a number that no current player on the roster comes close to. He hit those at a 40% clip while having a career year this past season.

While it wasn’t his highest scoring season, Young posted the best percentages in every major shooting category including effective field goal percentage at 56.4 percent. That would have qualified for top 20 in the NBA had he not been shut down by the Lakers to evaluate youth. He started all 60 games he played in last year.

Young’s defense has been much maligned throughout his career but according to tweets I saw this weekend, he showed improvement this past year. The stats don’t really stand out as anything exceptional but 3 and D guys are few and far between at this point, so you may as well get the 3.

I am optimistic that Young could have been the bench scoring cult hero the Wolves need at this point. His attitude and motivation have been questioned in the past, but with players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler, as well as Tom Thibodeau, are we really worried about something like that?

Alas, it was not meant to be. Whether you wanted him or not, the Wolves offered him a contract and he declined, so this is a miss.

Now, on to C.J. miles rumors. Don’t you just love rumors? Here’s a guy that is basically a better, less-risky Nick Young. Better on defense, better at three-point shooting, and doesn’t have the baggage that Mr. P totes around.

The only way to get Miles would be to do a sign-and-trade with the Pacers. The Wolves would need to send them Cole Aldrich, which may require giving them the newly acquired OKC draft pick as well, to ensure the cap space situation would work.

And then there is this:

It was also reported the Wolves are reluctant to give up their new asset from the Ricky Rubio trade, a top-14 protected first round pick via the Thunder. That most certainly will convey since they ended up with Paul George last week.

No Nick Young. Likely, no C.J. Miles.

Within the last 24 hours, the Wolves could have had two desperately needed wing players to fill out their bench. Now, it seems they are back to square one. NBA life comes at you fast.