Lotto day GDT

[Lipoli390]

Two good things about tonight's draft lottery:

1. An Eastern Conference team got the top pick, which means the only likely franchise player in this year's draft won't end up with a Western Conference rival.

2. Our pick that goes to the Warriors dropped one slot from #6 to #7.

As Volans noted, the Wiggins saga is now behind us. We have two really talented, exciting young players from last year's draft and we have another talented, exciting player, Bolmaro, coming here next season from Europe. We already have two top picks and a #2 pick on this roster. In addition, we have a #20 pick and a #28 pick. Bolmaro comes in as last year's #25 pick. Would I have liked another top 3 pick? Absolutely. But I'm ready to move on with what should be an exciting young team next season.

Let's hope that we're not sweating another lottery draw next summer. I expect this Wolves team to make the playoffs next season and I think that expectation is realistic given the talent we have, the way we finished this past season and the quality of our head coach. If I'm wrong, then we can get a lot of valuable assets in return for KAT and DLO for a rebuild and we'll already have four terrific young pieces to build around in Ant, McDaniels, Naz and possibly Bolmaro. Assuming Glen doesn't F-up the deal, we'll have a refreshIng change in ownership in a year or two as well.

I should add how relieved I am that my nightmare scenario didn't come true - i.e., Minnesota getting the 4th pick, which would have still gone to the Warriors. Interestingly, Toronto at #7 in the lottery jumped to #4. That's how close we came to the worst-case scenario. Imagine how we all would have felt as we waited through the long string of commercials with visions of Cunningham, Mobley, Green and Suggs in our heads only to find out in an instant that we won't end up with any of them and a conference rival, the Warriors, will get one of the latter three with what should have been our pick.

[Lipoli390]

Predictions? I predict the Pistons will take Cade Cunningham. I know I'm way out on a limb with that one. :). But I'll be bold here and product that Houston takes Jalen Green with their #2 pick. The Cavs will take Mobley at #3 and the Raptors will take Suggs at #4 as they move on from Lowry and start their rebuild.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Yeah, I personally think this is for the best. Rosas is on the hook to augment his current core of guys instead of kicking the can down the road in terms of the playoffs by trying to integrate yet another 19 or 20 year old into an already young and immature bunch of guys. While he doesn't have a top 3 pick, he does have other assets he could deploy this summer to bring in some more veteran help.

[Monster]

Two good things about tonight's draft lottery:

1. An Eastern Conference team got the top pick, which means the only likely franchise player in this year's draft won't end up with a Western Conference rival.

2. Our pick that goes to the Warriors dropped one slot from #6 to #7.

As Volans noted, the Wiggins saga is now behind us. We have two really talented, exciting young players from last year's draft and we have another talented, exciting player, Bolmaro, coming here next season from Europe. We already have two top picks and a #2 pick on this roster. In addition, we have a #20 pick and a #28 pick. Bolmaro comes in as last year's #25 pick. Would I have liked another top 3 pick? Absolutely. But I'm ready to move on with what should be an exciting young team next season.

Let's hope that we're not sweating another lottery draw next summer. I expect this Wolves team to make the playoffs next season and I think that expectation is realistic given the talent we have, the way we finished this past season and the quality of our head coach. If I'm wrong, then we can get a lot of valuable assets in return for KAT and DLO for a rebuild and we'll already have four terrific young pieces to build around in Ant, McDaniels, Naz and possibly Bolmaro. Assuming Glen doesn't F-up the deal, we'll have a refreshIng change in ownership in a year or two as well.

I should add how relieved I am that my nightmare scenario didn't come true - i.e., Minnesota getting the 4th pick, which would have still gone to the Warriors. Interestingly, Toronto at #7 in the lottery jumped to #4. That's how close we came to the worst-case scenario. Imagine how we all would have felt as we waited through the long string of commercials with visions of Cunningham, Mobley, Green and Suggs in our heads only to find out in an instant that we won't end up with any of them and a conference rival, the Warriors, will get one of the latter three with what should have been our pick.

Not getting a lottery pick also means the Wolves don't have to work as hard to stay under the Lux tax. Note that Edwards sung the praises of Rubio when Rachel interviewed him before the lottery.

[WildWolf2813]

Great day for the team.

This damn near guarantees Bolmaro comes over since that will be the main acquisition this summer.

Also, the Warriors have the 7th pick in a 6 player draft at best. If that pick is Keon Johnson or Jalen Johnson or Davion Mitchell or whoever, it's a small price to pay to know Wiggins will never suit up for this team again.

[FNG]

I'm mixed on last night's lottery results, but I appreciate the positive spin you guys are putting on it and am coming around. I'd like to agree that the Wiggins era is now officially behind us, but for me it won't be until we have successfully moved on from DLO. If we ultimately get Simmons, I will be happy to close the book on the Wig era by saying we traded him and the 8th pick in the draft for Simmons...that's good. But until we move on from the DLO era. every time I see him playing lazy defense, I won't be able to help thinking "Was that really worth a 19/5/2.4 SF and the 8th pick?" The answer will always be no for me.

But it's time to move on, so I'm going to join the positive chorus. NBAdraft.com has the Warriors drafting James Bouknight with "our" pick. He's a 6-5 sophomore SG who doesn't defend very well, had more TOs than assists last year, and shot under 30% on threes his sophomore year. How excited would that prospect be? In fact this draft looks very Wolfian to me...at first glance I think we may have had the 8th pick in a 7-player draft. I think there may have been a lot of angst on this board had we kept our pick and ended up 8th last night,

Further, I'm loving next year's "double draft", with HS seniors eligible. Most experts I have read conclude the 2022 draft will be stronger than this year's, so what we really have is a case of "delayed gratification" with a nice payoff in the end. While I'm not high on DLO long-term, this team showed me enough promise at the end of last year that I think we can challenge for a low playoff spot and end up with a pick in the low to mid teens. There are some really exciting prospects that are already appearing in the teens for the '22 draft, and that's without current HS juniors appearing in most mocks I'm looking at. I'm convinced we will get a nice prospect in '22 even if we have a respectable season next year.

I'm also on board with the Q position that we already have several young players to develop, especially with the possibility of Bolmero coming over, and adding one more to next year's mix might be difficult. Better to develop what we have, knowing another good prospect is a year away.

So while I would have loved to get one of the first three picks and I was disappointed with last night' not-unexpected result, I didn't jump off when I was walking the Stone Bridge last night, and I'm even gradually coming around to the general consensus here that last night was mostly good for this franchise.

Now, if we can pull off a Simmons for DLO deal...

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I have no issue continuing to get a pipeline of young talent. My issue is that when it's a high lottery pick, you are forced as a franchise to give that player significant minutes. In most cases, they are net negatives to team performance in their first year.

But when you are bringing in lower 1sts and 2nd rounders, the expectation is to earn their way into playing time, just like McDaniels had to do. I love those kind of picks.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I have no issue continuing to get a pipeline of young talent. My issue is that when it's a high lottery pick, you are forced as a franchise to give that player significant minutes. In most cases, they are net negatives to team performance in their first year.

But when you are bringing in lower 1sts and 2nd rounders, the expectation is to earn their way into playing time, just like McDaniels had to do. I love those kind of picks.

Q, you've long been one of the guys whose takes I respect the most on this board. I share your appreciation for the meritocracy of guys earning their playing time, and I get the appeal of rooting for later picks (most of my favorite guys are role players). But I can't get behind that sentiment. It's like saying, "I don't really want to win a million dollars in the lottery. Think of all the paperwork!"

To me, the drawback of having to play a high pick more minutes than a lower pick is a small price to pay for the benefit of having a much better chance of getting a star.

I knew we only had a 27% chance of keeping the pick, but I'm still disappointed. I think the top 4 picks in this draft are almost a lock to become very impactful players. We could've gotten one in time to potentially still salvage the KAT era, not because of their play in their first year, but because of their contributions in the years following and the opportunities that having a promising young potential star would open up for us to trade for another contributor.

As it is, we're going to have to hope for a huge turnaround next year and the year following, probably only with Bolmaro as an addition. I expect there to be improvement if we can have a more healthy season, continued growth from Ant and Jaden, and a chance for Finch to really shape the team from the start. That will be nice, but it will mean longer odds on next year's draft, I don't think we'd be that much worse if we had one of those top 3-4 guys on the roster, and I definitely think we would have been better off after this year if we did have Cade, Mobley, Suggs, or Green (if it would've been Green, I could see either him or Ant being moved at some point in the future, probably for a really good contributor, given their high potential).

Sorry to be a downer guys, but I'm bummed.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Drew, It's fair to be bummed. And from a pure asset collection standpoint, yes, it would have been good to land one of those top slots because it gives Rosas more options.

My particular issue is specific to the Timberwolves: a) We have been drafting in the lottery for years. How successful has that been?, b) Always relying on lottery picks indirectly leads to a lack of creativity and laziness in finding other ways to unearth, trade for, and develop talent in my opinion, c) you might THINK these particular guys are all going to be all-stars, but mathematically speaking, the history of the lottery doesn't back that up. There is about a 40% chance of that happening. d) I want us to compete for a playoff slot next season, not nurse along another young rookie that may or may not ever be that good.e) and lastly, this team needs elite role players - guys that CAN be found in later rounds, through trades, or free agency. We have our volume scorers and creators at this point.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Yep. If former #1 pick, Towns, and former #1 pick, Edwards, and former #2 pick, Russell, aren't good enough to even compete for the playoffs next season... the Wolves have bigger fish to fry.

Obviously, every fan wants the marquee talent via the draft. But it does come with a caveat... built-in excuses.

"Wiggins is so young. Just wait."
"Towns is so young. Just wait."
"Okogie will get better. Just wait."
"Culver was the #6 pick only two years ago. Just wait."
"But the timeline!"

... and this started well before Wiggins.

Meanwhile, literally every other franchise has been better than the Timberwolves. EVERY single one.

In an ideal world, landing Cunningham or a top 3 pick would be awesome. I'd definitely have welcomed it. I'd have preferred it. Obviously. BUT... it's time to swim or sink deeper. The days of the Timberwolves draft futility is over. They've had their chances at top picks. Multiple times. It's time to get something real from them.