The Minnesota Timberwolves remain interested in Luol Deng and Joakim Noah.

I think the Wolves are probably “interested” in those two castoffs specifically because they are castoffs.

If you are creating an all-time great team and had as first pick any of the guys on the list in his prime, it would be hard not to pick Kareem, Jordan or LeBron. I could see not taking Wilt, if only for the ego and FT shooting issues, even though the record books say otherwise. But taking prime Bird or Magic certainly wouldn’t be a blunder. And who knows with Russell? Or Duncan? Or even Hakeem?

The Minnesota Timberwolves remain interested in Luol Deng and Joakim Noah.

If the Wolves are really interested in Noah, it makes sense for us to try to work some deal where we eat most of his upcoming salary but get something back. But I don’t know if there is any mechanism for some team getting something back from another team in return for stretching and waiving a player. There doesn’t seem to be any reasonable player for such a trade on the Timberwolves

But I will say this makes the Knicks look smarter than the Lakers (and I hope saying this doesn’t jinx us). The Knicks aren’t waiving Noah instantly, but the Lakers are waiving and stretching Deng right away. I don’t see the need for waiving either of them unless you really want the roster spot.

He was not a great defender though. That is a legit criticism of him.

The year before he came to the Celtics, they ranked 6th out of 8 teams in defensive rating. Then he joined the team and they led the league in defensive rating every single year that he played except one, and they finished second that year. Then when he retired they sank to 8th out of 14 in defensive rating despite returning almost the exact same roster minus Russell. They didn’t keep track of blocks during his career, but Russell probably blocked over six shots per game in his career, and maybe more than that. If that sounds like a high number, consider that he also averaged 22 rebounds per game.

I don’t know if that makes him a GOAT candidate, but he was an extremely valuable player in the NBA of that time, which was played mostly under the rim and of course had no three-point shot. He pretty much singlehandedly wrecked opposing offenses. You can make the case that he was such a monster on defense that he was more impactful than Wilt. I personally wouldn’t make that case, but the case can be made.

@Jowles, What about Rodman?

I’d add him to the second list for his otherworldy production. He’s not nearly the all-around player that you see above, but he’s extremely valuable. If I had to make a starting five to win a single playoff series, Rodman could very well be on the list.

Also I’d add Curry to the 2nd list for his extreme value over the last four years. Definitely not a GOAT contender (I’ll add him to the list when he makes eight consecutive Finals), but had arguably the greatest offensive season ever.

To me peak Bird is clearly a step below peak LBJ or Jordan . Heck, LBJ’s BPM and VORP this season at 33- let alone what he put up in his mid-20s- would have been career bests for Bird. I think Bird is absolutely in the top ten discussion but absolutely not in the GOAT discussion.

Stats matter, but those are not the stats that measure how good a player is.

Those are the stats that more or less measure how productive a player was given the rules and knowledge at the time, his teammates, the system he played in, the defense he faced, and the role he had on his team. Even there they are incomplete. Also, since they all the common models weight the various factors differently, it’s hard to use them beyond a rough guideline for what they measure.

Bird became super elite when he realized shooting 3s had a lot of value to himself and the team and he decided he would be better than everyone else at it. At that stage, he could do everything. Then his back went out and he was never the same.

As great as Magic was, I am the one person on earth that thinks he was a hair below the other guys. He was a matchup nightmare, an all time great playmaker, and an excellent rebounder. That what’s made him great. But he could not shoot and he was weak on defense He was smart enough to limit his usage to where he had an advantage (which is very important), but shooting matters. The value is just not a stand alone boxscore metric and should be (as should many other things).