Rumor...TWolves may make Mike Miller available, Gordon or Hinrich Options

[Balta1701-B]

Even if it's not well sourced, hell, it's something to talk about.

I get e-mails and tips on trade rumors in my inbox every day, and recently, I've had a few friends on Twitter send me direct messages regarding what they are hearing about their favorite local team.

Yesterday, I received a note from LayupDrill.com reader Jenna in St. Paul, Minnesota, who said the T-Wolves, who have three first-round picks in this year's draft, may be interested in packaging one of them. Two deals that have been thrown around involved the Chicago Bulls.

The first would be a sign-and-trade for free agent Ben Gordon; Minnesota would team Gordon up with Randy Foye in the back court, and the Wolves would have that go-to player and flat-out scorer that they sorely need.

Now, if the Wolves aren’t able to get that done, another possibly easier deal would be acquiring Kirk Hinrich from the Bulls for Mike Miller.

Miller's contract expires at the end of 2009-2010. So moving Gordon for him puts us in Luxury tax territory this year, which is obviously a bad thing since that's a downgrade unless we're getting a really fancy pick with it. Moving Hinrich for him makes us worse offhand...but it also clears a crapload of cap space. We'd have like $25 million in cap space after next season. If we were willing to go 1 year of luxury tax with Gordon, we could actually extend Gordon and still be able to offer a max deal in 2010, depending on what other offers he gets and if he winds up being as cheap as I expect him to be (just above MLE level).

[Sanitarium]

I think I would rather give them BG than hinrich...

[ZoomSlowik]

Miller is a damn good spot-up shooter and a pretty good finisher/rebounder for a wing because of his length. Putting him at SG would hurt though, he's pretty slow.

[rockren]

This rumor makes sense. Hinrich to Minnesota was a hot rumor during the deadline and I believe Hinrich helped his trade value after returning from his injury. Hinrich straight up for Miller works under the cap for both clubs.

I'd trade Hinrich for Miller in a heartbeat. Miller's contract comes off the books after '09 and Miller would back up Deng @SF. Salmons would slide to the 2 after letting BG walk. If Miller had to give us 10 minutes a night at the 2 spot...I could live with that. Miller fits Rose like a glove as well...he's one of the best spot up shooters in the game from anywhere on the floor. Sure the Bulls would have to find a backup PG...but those can be facilitated pretty easily.

This trade almost makes too much sense for the Bulls. I'd also be surprised if small market Minnesota would want to pick up Hinrich's contract for the next three years in today's tough economy.

[SoxFan1]

Miller only started 47 games for the lowly Timberwolves and averaged 10 and 7 basically. Ew. But if it gives us a ton of cap room in 2010, then fish yes.

[Balta1701-B]

Miller only started 47 games for the lowly Timberwolves and averaged 10 and 7 basically. Ew. But if it gives us a ton of cap room in 2010, then fish yes.

It's difficult to predict exactly where the cap will be 2 seasons from now. If it stays right where it is...then Miller for Hinrich would wind us up with something like $9 million in cap space after making a max contract offer to Bosh, Wade, Lebron, etc. Amare is slightly more expensive due to being in the league longer. That assumes Gordon walks and does not require us to renounce Tyrus, so we could actually go after 2 people on that market in 2010, only 1 for a max deal, but we'd be in an ideal place to go for any veteran departing a team that is cutting salary in addition to a big name guy.

Of course, the NBA CBA comes up for renewal before the 2011 season starts and right now it's looking highly likely there will be a lockout, so everything is up in the air as far as the casual fan is concerned. Hopefully our GM's office has some idea of where the cap is likely to move to. It's plausible that the cap could move in a way that we could extend Gordon this year, pay a small amount of Luxury Tax, and still be able to offer Bosh et. al a max deal as well.