Why I liked the Wolves Draft

[kekgeek]

Before I start I understand based on this boards reactions I am for sure in the minority here and I know I am not going to change anyones mind on what they thought about the draft last night and there is no way we are going to know how good or bad the wolves did last until multiple years down the road. I will also say I am not a Rosas defender I think he has been a mixed bag so far and there have been lot of things I have liked in what he has done and there has been somethings I have not liked.

Anthony Edwards- I know the majority of the board wanted to either select Wiseman or trade down. I think we all agree the top of this years draft was a bunch of players who show potential but there is a lot of question marks about there games (Edwards on effort, Ball on shooting form and effort on defense, Wiseman only playing 3 games, defensive basketball IQ, the value of a Center in todays NBA and how he would fit next to KAT). The reason I like Edwards he is freak athlete, with an excellent NBA body. He actually is an above average dribble something that killed the development of Wiggins. He scored 19 pts per game with very respectable rebound and assist rates at his position in the SEC leading all scorers while playing with 5 other freshman none who were top 50 recruites. Also played on team that was 326th in the nation in 3pt %. So literally no spacing.

Edwards is the 4th youngest player in this years draft, he "missed" a development year and went to college a year early, so he didn't play his senior year of college basketball. According to The Ringer breakdown that Johnathan Tjarks did yesterday about the wolves process on the 1st round pick. Edwards has grown an inch since March. So now he is 6'6 and if it is possible he is still growing. Obviously there are concerns with him and effort level but he has said he does it for his mom and grandma who died when he was in HS to cancer. Not trying to be sad but I think the Wolves have multiple people who know what he is going through in Ryan Saunders, KAT, Rubio all have lost a parent in recent years.

Never can have to many guards and he is one of the few players if not the only player in this draft that has MVP talent even though he has flaws to work out. If his floor is Wiggins that is a pretty damn good floor.

Leanardo Bolmero- Euro Stash player that plays in the 2nd best league in the world. He is a 6'7 player with guard like passing abilities and passing abilities. He can't shoot but the wolves need secondary playmakers and he could become one. Obviously will need to learn to shoot to be effective but has the other tools to possibly be a plus NBA player. Also he is stashed for a year and the Wolves don't have roster space currently.

Jaden McDaniels- Talked about him before the draft and I legit love him as a later round pick. He was a 5 star recruit and the #1 PF recruit in the nation. The dude is a freak athlete with super long arms. He has so much potential to be a elite defender in the NBA. He has the tools to be an elite defender. He has shown flashes of being a good playmaker also. He is a hot head and an inconsistent jump shot (34% from 3). He is also a mid 70s FT shooter. He lead the Pac 12 in Ts and got moved to the bench later in the season. Even with those flaws he did drop 20pts 6rebs 3 blks and 1 stl against 1st round draft pick Zeke Nnjai late in the season. I have mentioned many times over the month that the odds getting a rotation player or better after 17 is super hard. With McDaniels he might turn into nothing but he has all the tools to be really good. Just mentally he needs to improve but he tries really hard on the court.

Rubio trade- Once again the full package hasn't come out on what the trade is but I am assuming James Johnson is heading back in the trade to the Thunder. In Rubio's 9 NBA season 8 times he has posted a positive +/- and the only time it was negative was Rubios 2nd NBA season. Look what Rubio did for Devin Booker, according to Cleaningtheglass.com Booker was a +6.3 pts per 100 possessions when Rubio was on the court with him but when Rubio was off the court he was -6.3 in any lineup Rubio wasn't on the court. A whole 12.6 pts difference for Booker when Rubio was on vs off the court. I feel like he can have similar impact on Dlo who needs it. Rubio will also help out as another playmaker what the Wolves do not have. Can really help the 2nd unit getting players really good looks. I would buy Naz stock because Ricky got Pek paid and he is about the increase Naz value getting him easy buckets. Small thing but the Wolves save a little money from moving from the 17th pick to the 28th pick. I think a bigger thing that is not being talked about is its good to have that 17 million dollar contract, especially if the guy can play. It will be great salary filler for matching for a max player. Also it gets more valuable next year when that contract is an expiring. That is something we were losing with James Johnson chip. I am assuming no star is coming on the block right now so that James Johnson chip was going to go for nothing. So we get a better player in Rubio then James Johnson and still keep that valuable contract trade chip.

Conclusion- I know people are upset based on the draft last night but I will say be patient and see how the wolves fill out the roster. I know Doogie mentioned on the radio today the Wolves were in talks with the Rockets for PJ Tucker and they will continue the talks. Wolves added in my opinion the best player in the draft in Edwards at a position of need. I have mentioned its so hard to hit on draft picks after 17 so the wolves got 2 darts at it last night including a guy we can stash away for a year and continue to develop when it doesn't hurt against the cap or roster space this year. They also added a guy who is a guy who traditionally makes his teammates better and the wolves got a better player the Johnson while keep that important contract trade chip if a superstar player would become available. Wolves for sure are better today then they were yesterday we will see if they added the best players to maximize their ceiling.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Nice write up Kek. And I'll add that of all these players in the 15-25 range everyone wanted, they'll only be a couple playing significant minutes by year 3.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Nice Kekgeek! I've been waiting for this because I knew you liked Edwards and generally had a more positive disposition on stuff.

I didn't like the picks; still don't. However, none of these guys have given me any reason to NOT root for them. They are Wolves now and start with a clean slate.

(the added tidbits on Edwards is interesting)

((PJ Tucker would be an absolute dream vet presence on this team. Also gives us a legit "modern" 4, which is a big hole for us right now))

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I appreciate the optimism. Go Wolves.

[kekgeek]

I appreciate the optimism. Go Wolves.

I want to say I know you hated the draft, I get that and I appreciate all the hard work you put into the draft. This draft will come down to Edwards vs Wiseman. I don't think Rosas was an idiot for selecting Edwards. I think Wiseman has to be heads and shoulders above Edwards to kill him. We will see and once again thank you for all the hard work you put into the draft it does increase the value of this board even though we have disagreed through most of this draft process.

Cheer Cam!

[Monster]

I think a lot of people would be more willing to buy in on Edwards if he was a couple inches taller so he could play SF. So yeah if he is actually already more like 6'6' 6'7" And could grow another inch instead of 6'5" With long arm and a stout frame then...yeah that helps. Measurements aren't everything (Lip will never know my standing reach!) but it sure helps to be bigger longer more athletic and strong.

[kekgeek]

Nice Kekgeek! I've been waiting for this because I knew you liked Edwards and generally had a more positive disposition on stuff.

I didn't like the picks; still don't. However, none of these guys have given me any reason to NOT root for them. They are Wolves now and start with a clean slate.

(the added tidbits on Edwards is interesting)

((PJ Tucker would be an absolute dream vet presence on this team. Also gives us a legit "modern" 4, which is a big hole for us right now))

That is completely fair to not like the picks. I know you liked Wiseman also. Obviously I will be more optimistic because I didn't love Wiseman like others did. I still hate that the Wolves never play 2 bigs together. Personally think Edwards will be a at worst a starting NBA wing with good potential.

Now that Johnson is officially traded it will be interesting how they fit the rest of the roster out. In that same Dougie segment he is saying the wolves are loving what they are seeing from Vanderbilt this offseason.

[Crazysauce]

Nice post. A more positive way to look at it. I still think it was the wrong decisions that were made but some things I have read on Edwards after the draft have made me feel better and things Crean said about him.

One thing that really bothers me is his teams (Georgia) plus minus with him on court to off. Thats really worrisome to me. Also our culture on our team is so terrible. Hear murmurs that Russell didnt want to play with Lamelo and Kat didnt want to play with Wiseman. That stuff angers the hell out of me. Im not a Ball fan but I would want the best player to be on my team and we will make it work whoever that is. Also I hear we moved up to draft Bolmaro so we wouldnt have to spend the money qnd would have more cap room available which I also hate.

That said I like the upside with Edwards and really think he could be great. I just hope he wants it bad enough. I love Rubio as we all do but we just have too many guards. I may be in the minority but think we need to keep Beasley and give hima shot. He looked really good last year and can really shoot it. Help him get his head on straight.

Just dont see how our current lineup wouldnt have looked much better as Russell Beasley Johnson Wiseman and Towns. Saddiq Bey off the bench and ready to replace Johnson after the year. Now we just have a hodgepodge of guys and we are talking about Layman and Vanderbilt and Juancho at our 4 spot. Just hard to wrap my head around what the plan is here.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Nice Kekgeek! I've been waiting for this because I knew you liked Edwards and generally had a more positive disposition on stuff.

I didn't like the picks; still don't. However, none of these guys have given me any reason to NOT root for them. They are Wolves now and start with a clean slate.

(the added tidbits on Edwards is interesting)

((PJ Tucker would be an absolute dream vet presence on this team. Also gives us a legit "modern" 4, which is a big hole for us right now))

That is completely fair to not like the picks. I know you liked Wiseman also. Obviously I will be more optimistic because I didn't love Wiseman like others did. I still hate that the Wolves never play 2 bigs together. Personally think Edwards will be a at worst a starting NBA wing with good potential.

Now that Johnson is officially traded it will be interesting how they fit the rest of the roster out. In that same Dougie segment he is saying the wolves are loving what they are seeing from Vanderbilt this offseason.

Yeah, that's my guy!

If Vandy somehow blows up a bit and plays the role we need him to (defender/rebounder/swiss army knife 4), then that solves a ton of problems for this team. It's a lot to expect, but I really liked what I saw from him in the G-League.....just needs to cut down the TOs.

[Monster]

A different way to look at Bolmaro is would you have liked it if they traded #25 and #33 for a 2021 pick? Yes it's a different draft but that's kinda what they did. He turned 20 in September. As for his shooting...he did shoot well from the FT line the last 2 years including 89.3% in 16 games this current season. Some of these guys in Europe play pretty limited minutes so the sample size can be not exactly perfect. He has probably played against better competition than Ball and Hampton did last year for a couple years.