Operation: Find the next Brogdon (Kinda like a draft thread)

[WildWolf2813]

We do have a 2nd rounder from the Knicks. Basically we need to find an upperclassman who isn't valued as much but can play right away. This thread can be for guys we notice in college who could fit that bill.

I'll start off with a couple of names:

Marcus Sasser from Houston. Only 6'1'' and not really athletic but is a pest defensively and leads the current #1 team in the country.

Mike Miles from TCU. Another smallish PG. He's much more inconsistent, but he draws fouls at a crazy rate and puts the ball in the hole. Preseason Big XII player of the year. In both these cases, exude big time leadership for their teams.

Admittedly I'll be way more hesitant to draft an overseas guard this time around only so he can be the next Spagnolo.

Colby Jones from Xavier. Big guard. 6'6''. Averaging 16/6/6 at the moment. Not a volume 3 point shooter but solid shooter otherwise.

Now if it's June 2023 and all these PG options fail, just draft Oscar Tshiebwe and call it a day.

[Q-is-here]

Wow, desperate times.....Usually we crank these babies up when a first round lottery pick looks inevitable. But now we're doing it in hopeful anticipation of finding a 2nd round gem!

We need a "less is more" type point guard. Someone that organizes the offense, moves the ball, plays with pace, doesn't throw it away, and defers to others to do most of the shooting and scoring. Mmmmm, where could we find such a player???

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

1. To some degree, Minnesota needs to hit on all or most of their draft picks moving forward, as well as undrafted free agent pickups, due to the quantity/quality of outgoing assets in the Rudy Gobert trade. This is an area that Tim Connelly has been good at in his career -- scouting and talent acquisition. He'll have to continue to prove that.

2. The Timberwolves may have already found their version of Malcolm Brogdon in Wendell Moore Jr. this past summer, but it's too early to know if he'll stick or not as a meaningful contributor. The physical profile and well-roundedness of his game, albeit with a limited ceiling, should leave us optimistic, I feel. His development shouldn't be ignored or cast aside.

3. The fact Minnesota didn't draft a pure point guard prospect this summer -- when they had ample opportunities to do so -- leads me to believe at least one of several possibilities.

a.) The Wolves have much more belief in D'Angelo Russell than this board does or wants to admit. The fact they didn't include him in the trade with Utah and instead opted to trade multiple mid-level players -- Patrick Beverley and Malik Beasley -- to match salaries says something to me. Others will say, "Well, the Jazz just didn't want Russell." And that might be true, but they also didn't want Beverley, and Beasley didn't have much of any value around the league either if you believe the reporting involved. Russell's expiring status would have made him an easy salary to take back for Utah. Minnesota didn't go that route.

b.) Minnesota might be confident they already have their limited, low-usage distributor in Jordan McLaughlin. It's entirely possible that Connelly and the front office either value him and think there's more to extract out of him without reducing his effectiveness, or they simply don't plan on spending much -- in salary and draft capital -- on the point guard position moving forward, similar to how most NFL teams don't value the running back and inside linebacker positions. Perhaps they believe they have their replacement already and can backfill the position cheaply in order to beef up other areas on the roster.

c.) They have their eyes set on another established young-ish point guard that would hold down the position for the foreseeable future should they be able to acquire him. The options here are limited because Minnesota has few tradable mid-level contracts currently, but a name that makes a lot of sense to me as a trade target -- no matter what the plan is at point guard -- is Chicago Bulls' fan favorite Alex Caruso. Another interesting trade target actually plays for Minnesota's opponent tonight in Monte Morris.

[Q-is-here]

1. To some degree, Minnesota needs to hit on all or most of their draft picks moving forward, as well as undrafted free agent pickups, due to the quantity/quality of outgoing assets in the Rudy Gobert trade. This is an area that Tim Connelly has been good at in his career -- scouting and talent acquisition. He'll have to continue to prove that.

2. The Timberwolves may have already found their version of Malcolm Brogdon in Wendell Moore Jr. this past summer, but it's too early to know if he'll stick or not as a meaningful contributor. The physical profile and well-roundedness of his game, albeit with a limited ceiling, should leave us optimistic, I feel. His development shouldn't be ignored or cast aside.

3. The fact Minnesota didn't draft a pure point guard prospect this summer -- when they had ample opportunities to do so -- leads me to believe at least one of several possibilities.

a.) The Wolves have much more belief in D'Angelo Russell than this board does or wants to admit. The fact they didn't include him in the trade with Utah and instead opted to trade multiple mid-level players -- Patrick Beverley and Malik Beasley -- to match salaries says something to me. Others will say, "Well, the Jazz just didn't want Russell." And that might be true, but they also didn't want Beverley, and Beasley didn't have much of any value around the league either if you believe the reporting involved. Russell's expiring status would have made him an easy salary to take back for Utah. Minnesota didn't go that route.

b.) Minnesota might be confident they already have their limited, low-usage distributor in Jordan McLaughlin. It's entirely possible that Connelly and the front office either value him and think there's more to extract out of him without reducing his effectiveness, or they simply don't plan on spending much -- in salary and draft capital -- on the point guard position moving forward, similar to how most NFL teams don't value the running back and inside linebacker positions. Perhaps they believe they have their replacement already and can backfill the position cheaply in order to beef up other areas on the roster.

c.) They have their eyes set on another established young-ish point guard that would hold down the position for the foreseeable future should they be able to acquire him. The options here are limited because Minnesota has few tradable mid-level contracts currently, but a name that makes a lot of sense to me as a trade target -- no matter what the plan is at point guard -- is Chicago Bulls' fan favorite Alex Caruso. Another interesting trade target actually plays for Minnesota's opponent tonight in Monte Morris.

On a., I think their calculus on DLO may have changed a bit when they acquired Rudy. But as of today ( and it's still early), things aren't looking good in terms of a DLO extension.

On b., totally agree. If you have other creators at different positions or run an offense that isn't heavy pick and roll, then a shot creating PG isn't at the top of the list of things you must have.

On c., Alex Caruso would be almost ideally suited PG for this roster in my opinion. He's tough, he can defend, and he can hit the 3. He's on my Mount Rushmore of low usage Plus/Minus Gods. He and Jordan McLaughlin....we'd never lose another game with those two sharing PG duties!

[WildWolf2813]

1. To some degree, Minnesota needs to hit on all or most of their draft picks moving forward, as well as undrafted free agent pickups, due to the quantity/quality of outgoing assets in the Rudy Gobert trade. This is an area that Tim Connelly has been good at in his career -- scouting and talent acquisition. He'll have to continue to prove that.

2. The Timberwolves may have already found their version of Malcolm Brogdon in Wendell Moore Jr. this past summer, but it's too early to know if he'll stick or not as a meaningful contributor. The physical profile and well-roundedness of his game, albeit with a limited ceiling, should leave us optimistic, I feel. His development shouldn't be ignored or cast aside.

3. The fact Minnesota didn't draft a pure point guard prospect this summer -- when they had ample opportunities to do so -- leads me to believe at least one of several possibilities.

a.) The Wolves have much more belief in D'Angelo Russell than this board does or wants to admit. The fact they didn't include him in the trade with Utah and instead opted to trade multiple mid-level players -- Patrick Beverley and Malik Beasley -- to match salaries says something to me. Others will say, "Well, the Jazz just didn't want Russell." And that might be true, but they also didn't want Beverley, and Beasley didn't have much of any value around the league either if you believe the reporting involved. Russell's expiring status would have made him an easy salary to take back for Utah. Minnesota didn't go that route.

b.) Minnesota might be confident they already have their limited, low-usage distributor in Jordan McLaughlin. It's entirely possible that Connelly and the front office either value him and think there's more to extract out of him without reducing his effectiveness, or they simply don't plan on spending much -- in salary and draft capital -- on the point guard position moving forward, similar to how most NFL teams don't value the running back and inside linebacker positions. Perhaps they believe they have their replacement already and can backfill the position cheaply in order to beef up other areas on the roster.

c.) They have their eyes set on another established young-ish point guard that would hold down the position for the foreseeable future should they be able to acquire him. The options here are limited because Minnesota has few tradable mid-level contracts currently, but a name that makes a lot of sense to me as a trade target -- no matter what the plan is at point guard -- is Chicago Bulls' fan favorite Alex Caruso. Another interesting trade target actually plays for Minnesota's opponent tonight in Monte Morris.

I'll address each point you made

1. That's part of why we were cool with the Connelly hiring and pissed about the trade. He handicapped himself from his best attribute: drafting.

2. I'm gonna say this as many times as humanly possible: Wendell Moore is not an NBA PG and if that's what they believe then he will fail. He played 3 years at Duke. For whatever reason, he's still not good enough to get some minutes on this crappy team where everyone's spot should be shaky. He's a backup off guard who can be a secondary distributor. At the very minimum, if there's a future for him at all, the backcourt has minutes to spare one way or another. Again, he cannot be a PG in the NBA on a team who isn't trying to tank.

3. To every scenario you listed, none of these scenarios end positively for this team. This team can't keep thinking they can get away with having a bottom 8-10 PG at the position and think they'll get somewhere. It's pure nonsense that this team looks at what they have at that spot and thinks they're twice as good than what they really are. Then again, that sums up the entire team to this point.

[Monster]

1. To some degree, Minnesota needs to hit on all or most of their draft picks moving forward, as well as undrafted free agent pickups, due to the quantity/quality of outgoing assets in the Rudy Gobert trade. This is an area that Tim Connelly has been good at in his career -- scouting and talent acquisition. He'll have to continue to prove that.

2. The Timberwolves may have already found their version of Malcolm Brogdon in Wendell Moore Jr. this past summer, but it's too early to know if he'll stick or not as a meaningful contributor. The physical profile and well-roundedness of his game, albeit with a limited ceiling, should leave us optimistic, I feel. His development shouldn't be ignored or cast aside.

3. The fact Minnesota didn't draft a pure point guard prospect this summer -- when they had ample opportunities to do so -- leads me to believe at least one of several possibilities.

a.) The Wolves have much more belief in D'Angelo Russell than this board does or wants to admit. The fact they didn't include him in the trade with Utah and instead opted to trade multiple mid-level players -- Patrick Beverley and Malik Beasley -- to match salaries says something to me. Others will say, "Well, the Jazz just didn't want Russell." And that might be true, but they also didn't want Beverley, and Beasley didn't have much of any value around the league either if you believe the reporting involved. Russell's expiring status would have made him an easy salary to take back for Utah. Minnesota didn't go that route.

b.) Minnesota might be confident they already have their limited, low-usage distributor in Jordan McLaughlin. It's entirely possible that Connelly and the front office either value him and think there's more to extract out of him without reducing his effectiveness, or they simply don't plan on spending much -- in salary and draft capital -- on the point guard position moving forward, similar to how most NFL teams don't value the running back and inside linebacker positions. Perhaps they believe they have their replacement already and can backfill the position cheaply in order to beef up other areas on the roster.

c.) They have their eyes set on another established young-ish point guard that would hold down the position for the foreseeable future should they be able to acquire him. The options here are limited because Minnesota has few tradable mid-level contracts currently, but a name that makes a lot of sense to me as a trade target -- no matter what the plan is at point guard -- is Chicago Bulls' fan favorite Alex Caruso. Another interesting trade target actually plays for Minnesota's opponent tonight in Monte Morris.

I'll address each point you made

1. That's part of why we were cool with the Connelly hiring and pissed about the trade. He handicapped himself from his best attribute: drafting.

2. I'm gonna say this as many times as humanly possible: Wendell Moore is not an NBA PG and if that's what they believe then he will fail. He played 3 years at Duke. For whatever reason, he's still not good enough to get some minutes on this crappy team where everyone's spot should be shaky. He's a backup off guard who can be a secondary distributor. At the very minimum, if there's a future for him at all, the backcourt has minutes to spare one way or another. Again, he cannot be a PG in the NBA on a team who isn't trying to tank.

3. To every scenario you listed, none of these scenarios end positively for this team. This team can't keep thinking they can get away with having a bottom 8-10 PG at the position and think they'll get somewhere. It's pure nonsense that this team looks at what they have at that spot and thinks they're twice as good than what they really are. Then again, that sums up the entire team to this point.

Did you watch Moore Jr play PG at Duke last year?

[KG4Ever]

Nembhard was a second rounder who was one of the point guards I liked and he is playing well for a rookie. There are several second round starters in the NBA including Tre Jones, Monte Morris, Kyle Lowry etc. Fred VanVleet was undrafted. There are always opportunities. Its too early for me to check free agency status but among the best backup point guards out there-here are some: Dennis Smith, Cameron Payne, Tyus Jones, Shake Milton, Gabe Vincent, Ricky Rubio, TJ McConnell, Killian Hayes, Delon Wright, Andrew Nembhard, Immanuel Quickley, Fultz or Cole Anthony. Then there's old vets that are there for the taking like Conley and Russ and other old vets like Kemba and Dragic who probably are making minimal salary. We need a point guard that can protect the ball, pass and play decent defense and one that is not prone to shot hunt when there are more efficient scorers on the floor.

[Lipoli390]

Wow, desperate times.....Usually we crank these babies up when a first round lottery pick looks inevitable. But now we're doing it in hopeful anticipation of finding a 2nd round gem!

We need a "less is more" type point guard. Someone that organizes the offense, moves the ball, plays with pace, doesn't throw it away, and defers to others to do most of the shooting and scoring. Mmmmm, where could we find such a player???

Lol. That's what I was thinking, Q. We have JMac. Hopefully, he'll be back healthy soon.

[Lipoli390]

1. To some degree, Minnesota needs to hit on all or most of their draft picks moving forward, as well as undrafted free agent pickups, due to the quantity/quality of outgoing assets in the Rudy Gobert trade. This is an area that Tim Connelly has been good at in his career -- scouting and talent acquisition. He'll have to continue to prove that.

2. The Timberwolves may have already found their version of Malcolm Brogdon in Wendell Moore Jr. this past summer, but it's too early to know if he'll stick or not as a meaningful contributor. The physical profile and well-roundedness of his game, albeit with a limited ceiling, should leave us optimistic, I feel. His development shouldn't be ignored or cast aside.

3. The fact Minnesota didn't draft a pure point guard prospect this summer -- when they had ample opportunities to do so -- leads me to believe at least one of several possibilities.

a.) The Wolves have much more belief in D'Angelo Russell than this board does or wants to admit. The fact they didn't include him in the trade with Utah and instead opted to trade multiple mid-level players -- Patrick Beverley and Malik Beasley -- to match salaries says something to me. Others will say, "Well, the Jazz just didn't want Russell." And that might be true, but they also didn't want Beverley, and Beasley didn't have much of any value around the league either if you believe the reporting involved. Russell's expiring status would have made him an easy salary to take back for Utah. Minnesota didn't go that route.

b.) Minnesota might be confident they already have their limited, low-usage distributor in Jordan McLaughlin. It's entirely possible that Connelly and the front office either value him and think there's more to extract out of him without reducing his effectiveness, or they simply don't plan on spending much -- in salary and draft capital -- on the point guard position moving forward, similar to how most NFL teams don't value the running back and inside linebacker positions. Perhaps they believe they have their replacement already and can backfill the position cheaply in order to beef up other areas on the roster.

c.) They have their eyes set on another established young-ish point guard that would hold down the position for the foreseeable future should they be able to acquire him. The options here are limited because Minnesota has few tradable mid-level contracts currently, but a name that makes a lot of sense to me as a trade target -- no matter what the plan is at point guard -- is Chicago Bulls' fan favorite Alex Caruso. Another interesting trade target actually plays for Minnesota's opponent tonight in Monte Morris.

Cam - I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to what the Wolves front office was likely thinking when they passed on drafting a PG and passed on signing any undrafted free agent PGs. But as Q suggested, I suspect the font office's view of DLO has probably changed over the past couple months.

Personally, I don't think Moore an NBA-caliber PG right now and don't know that he'll ever be. I think Caruso would be a great fit for the Wolves. Among other things, he'd bring some of the high energy and toughness we lost when Connelly traded Vando and Pat Bev. Monte Morris is an interesting idea too.

[Monster]

1. To some degree, Minnesota needs to hit on all or most of their draft picks moving forward, as well as undrafted free agent pickups, due to the quantity/quality of outgoing assets in the Rudy Gobert trade. This is an area that Tim Connelly has been good at in his career -- scouting and talent acquisition. He'll have to continue to prove that.

2. The Timberwolves may have already found their version of Malcolm Brogdon in Wendell Moore Jr. this past summer, but it's too early to know if he'll stick or not as a meaningful contributor. The physical profile and well-roundedness of his game, albeit with a limited ceiling, should leave us optimistic, I feel. His development shouldn't be ignored or cast aside.

3. The fact Minnesota didn't draft a pure point guard prospect this summer -- when they had ample opportunities to do so -- leads me to believe at least one of several possibilities.

a.) The Wolves have much more belief in D'Angelo Russell than this board does or wants to admit. The fact they didn't include him in the trade with Utah and instead opted to trade multiple mid-level players -- Patrick Beverley and Malik Beasley -- to match salaries says something to me. Others will say, "Well, the Jazz just didn't want Russell." And that might be true, but they also didn't want Beverley, and Beasley didn't have much of any value around the league either if you believe the reporting involved. Russell's expiring status would have made him an easy salary to take back for Utah. Minnesota didn't go that route.

b.) Minnesota might be confident they already have their limited, low-usage distributor in Jordan McLaughlin. It's entirely possible that Connelly and the front office either value him and think there's more to extract out of him without reducing his effectiveness, or they simply don't plan on spending much -- in salary and draft capital -- on the point guard position moving forward, similar to how most NFL teams don't value the running back and inside linebacker positions. Perhaps they believe they have their replacement already and can backfill the position cheaply in order to beef up other areas on the roster.

c.) They have their eyes set on another established young-ish point guard that would hold down the position for the foreseeable future should they be able to acquire him. The options here are limited because Minnesota has few tradable mid-level contracts currently, but a name that makes a lot of sense to me as a trade target -- no matter what the plan is at point guard -- is Chicago Bulls' fan favorite Alex Caruso. Another interesting trade target actually plays for Minnesota's opponent tonight in Monte Morris.

Cam - I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to what the Wolves front office was likely thinking when they passed on drafting a PG and passed on signing any undrafted free agent PGs. But as Q suggested, I suspect the font office's view of DLO has probably changed over the past couple months.

Personally, I don't think Moore an NBA-caliber PG right now and don't know that he'll ever be. I think Caruso would be a great fit for the Wolves. Among other things, he'd bring some of the high energy and toughness we lost when Connelly traded Vando and Pat Bev. Monte Morris is an interesting idea too.

Alex Caruso is an example of all the roster spots an NBA team has available to them are important and you never know when you will find a guy that's a nice player. Heck the Lakers may have found another undrafted guy in Austin Reaves who can play.