Why I liked the Wolves Draft

[Volans19]

Interesting board here with a lot of good insights. I've read through several of the pre and post draft threads, and I have to agree with kekgeek1 on liking this draft. I don't know if Rosas is done dealing-I suspect that he is not- but right now I'm quite excited to see what this team can do.

1st pick: It's surprising to me how much consensus there was on this board for choosing Wiseman- you guys certainly were not in line with most of the experts out there (doesn't mean they're right, of course). While intrigued with his potential, there just wasn't enough information on him for me to justify the number one pick. I've seen the video of him dunking on 6'3" guys in HS and also watched video of his 3 college games. But 2 of those games were against very poor college teams with nobody really over 6-8", and he had a decent game against a good Oregon team that had nobody over 6-9"- not enough for me to project how he will perform against NBA players. I also wasn't looking forward to watching Towns and Wiseman together (and it sounds like Wiseman also wasn't looking forward to it).
I also had reservations about Ball, so my choice was between Edwards and a trade down. It appears Rosas fielded several offers for the first pick, but eventually decided Edwards was too promising to pass on. While I don't know the offers he rejected, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one- especially since I'm really excited about Edward's upside. His shooting statistics at Georgia were not good to be sure, but he was also really the only true scoring option they had. It's fun for me to imagine how this elite athlete is going to perform with KAT and DLO attracting most of the defensive attention.
We can malign the acumen of the guys who analyzed the draft, but we can't ignore the fact that almost nobody had Wiseman as their first choice. Isn't there a good possibility that guys who watch basketball for a living know as much as we fans?

The other picks: I'll start by saying I generally don't get too excited about non-lottery picks. Sure we can all have fun talking about our favorite late 1st round and 2nd round picks, but their chance of becoming a great contributor are not very high. So to turn three non-lottery picks into Rubio and 2 intriguing long-shot prospects is a home run for me. For the record, I liked a lot of the same PF's that many of you liked. But frankly I don't think any of the PF names bandied about here are as promising as our own Jarred Vanderbilt. This guy was a consensus top ten prospect in HS, and only injuries held him back at Kentucky. He's a big body who I think has the potential to be a very good rebounding and defensive PF. And he's only 21- younger than some of the PF's we craved in the draft. I'll take Vanderbilt over any PF that was available to us in the draft after 16. And then...

Ricky Rubio: Sure, he's been an erratic shooter and finisher in the past, but he has also proven for many seasons that he flat out makes his teammates better- and KAT and DLO frankly need someone to optimize their immense talent. As does Edwards. Rubio had an excellent season last year as he again put up terrific on/off stats. And last year he showed that in addition to being an excellent free thrower, he can hit the open three point shot at a clip higher than the NBA average (and by the way, I would argue that Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down). KAT, DLO and Edwards have never had the privilege of playing with an unselfish facilitator and leader like Rubio, and I can't wait to see how he will improve their games.

Put me in the minority position on this board- I like what Rosas did with this draft, and I'm intrigued with what this roster can do.

Welcome! Nice to see people can still find this forum

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Interesting board here with a lot of good insights. I've read through several of the pre and post draft threads, and I have to agree with kekgeek1 on liking this draft. I don't know if Rosas is done dealing-I suspect that he is not- but right now I'm quite excited to see what this team can do.

1st pick: It's surprising to me how much consensus there was on this board for choosing Wiseman- you guys certainly were not in line with most of the experts out there (doesn't mean they're right, of course). While intrigued with his potential, there just wasn't enough information on him for me to justify the number one pick. I've seen the video of him dunking on 6'3" guys in HS and also watched video of his 3 college games. But 2 of those games were against very poor college teams with nobody really over 6-8", and he had a decent game against a good Oregon team that had nobody over 6-9"- not enough for me to project how he will perform against NBA players. I also wasn't looking forward to watching Towns and Wiseman together (and it sounds like Wiseman also wasn't looking forward to it).
I also had reservations about Ball, so my choice was between Edwards and a trade down. It appears Rosas fielded several offers for the first pick, but eventually decided Edwards was too promising to pass on. While I don't know the offers he rejected, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one- especially since I'm really excited about Edward's upside. His shooting statistics at Georgia were not good to be sure, but he was also really the only true scoring option they had. It's fun for me to imagine how this elite athlete is going to perform with KAT and DLO attracting most of the defensive attention.
We can malign the acumen of the guys who analyzed the draft, but we can't ignore the fact that almost nobody had Wiseman as their first choice. Isn't there a good possibility that guys who watch basketball for a living know as much as we fans?

The other picks: I'll start by saying I generally don't get too excited about non-lottery picks. Sure we can all have fun talking about our favorite late 1st round and 2nd round picks, but their chance of becoming a great contributor are not very high. So to turn three non-lottery picks into Rubio and 2 intriguing long-shot prospects is a home run for me. For the record, I liked a lot of the same PF's that many of you liked. But frankly I don't think any of the PF names bandied about here are as promising as our own Jarred Vanderbilt. This guy was a consensus top ten prospect in HS, and only injuries held him back at Kentucky. He's a big body who I think has the potential to be a very good rebounding and defensive PF. And he's only 21- younger than some of the PF's we craved in the draft. I'll take Vanderbilt over any PF that was available to us in the draft after 16. And then...

Ricky Rubio: Sure, he's been an erratic shooter and finisher in the past, but he has also proven for many seasons that he flat out makes his teammates better- and KAT and DLO frankly need someone to optimize their immense talent. As does Edwards. Rubio had an excellent season last year as he again put up terrific on/off stats. And last year he showed that in addition to being an excellent free thrower, he can hit the open three point shot at a clip higher than the NBA average (and by the way, I would argue that Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down). KAT, DLO and Edwards have never had the privilege of playing with an unselfish facilitator and leader like Rubio, and I can't wait to see how he will improve their games.

Put me in the minority position on this board- I like what Rosas did with this draft, and I'm intrigued with what this roster can do.

The one thing I'll say when it comes to the experts is it's extremely easy and safe to have a guy like Edwards with most of a college season of tape available over a guy like Wiseman who just didn't have a lot of game tape on him. Combine that with Edwards being a guard and Wiseman being a Center and there just wasn't going to be many experts on the Wiseman train. In saying that it becomes a bit contradictory to hype up Vanderbuilt for HS performance while downplaying Wiseman's. Wiseman was THE top prospect, not just one of them like Vanderbuilt. I think the experts just got too cute with this one. Wiseman showed off a wide array of skills in high school and likely would have dominated over the course of a full college season. They just got scared off by Centers getting devalued in the league, but Wiseman is a lot more versatile than people are giving him credit for. He's not just a PnR big man.

[BloopOracle]

Welcome FNG, your view almost mirror's mine. I like that we are finally a modern 3 point shooting team along with multiple great passers who will play heavy minutes that can help Edwards along.

[KG4Ever]

Interesting board here with a lot of good insights. I've read through several of the pre and post draft threads, and I have to agree with kekgeek1 on liking this draft. I don't know if Rosas is done dealing-I suspect that he is not- but right now I'm quite excited to see what this team can do.

1st pick: It's surprising to me how much consensus there was on this board for choosing Wiseman- you guys certainly were not in line with most of the experts out there (doesn't mean they're right, of course). While intrigued with his potential, there just wasn't enough information on him for me to justify the number one pick. I've seen the video of him dunking on 6'3" guys in HS and also watched video of his 3 college games. But 2 of those games were against very poor college teams with nobody really over 6-8", and he had a decent game against a good Oregon team that had nobody over 6-9"- not enough for me to project how he will perform against NBA players. I also wasn't looking forward to watching Towns and Wiseman together (and it sounds like Wiseman also wasn't looking forward to it).
I also had reservations about Ball, so my choice was between Edwards and a trade down. It appears Rosas fielded several offers for the first pick, but eventually decided Edwards was too promising to pass on. While I don't know the offers he rejected, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one- especially since I'm really excited about Edward's upside. His shooting statistics at Georgia were not good to be sure, but he was also really the only true scoring option they had. It's fun for me to imagine how this elite athlete is going to perform with KAT and DLO attracting most of the defensive attention.
We can malign the acumen of the guys who analyzed the draft, but we can't ignore the fact that almost nobody had Wiseman as their first choice. Isn't there a good possibility that guys who watch basketball for a living know as much as we fans?

The other picks: I'll start by saying I generally don't get too excited about non-lottery picks. Sure we can all have fun talking about our favorite late 1st round and 2nd round picks, but their chance of becoming a great contributor are not very high. So to turn three non-lottery picks into Rubio and 2 intriguing long-shot prospects is a home run for me. For the record, I liked a lot of the same PF's that many of you liked. But frankly I don't think any of the PF names bandied about here are as promising as our own Jarred Vanderbilt. This guy was a consensus top ten prospect in HS, and only injuries held him back at Kentucky. He's a big body who I think has the potential to be a very good rebounding and defensive PF. And he's only 21- younger than some of the PF's we craved in the draft. I'll take Vanderbilt over any PF that was available to us in the draft after 16. And then...

Ricky Rubio: Sure, he's been an erratic shooter and finisher in the past, but he has also proven for many seasons that he flat out makes his teammates better- and KAT and DLO frankly need someone to optimize their immense talent. As does Edwards. Rubio had an excellent season last year as he again put up terrific on/off stats. And last year he showed that in addition to being an excellent free thrower, he can hit the open three point shot at a clip higher than the NBA average (and by the way, I would argue that Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down)Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down). KAT, DLO and Edwards have never had the privilege of playing with an unselfish facilitator and leader like Rubio, and I can't wait to see how he will improve their games.

Put me in the minority position on this board- I like what Rosas did with this draft, and I'm intrigued with what this roster can do.

Absolutely, correct and I am so glad someone else pointed this out. I recall watching 4 consecutive Wolves games in which Rubio hoisted at least one end of quarter hail mary shot before the buzzer and this knocks down his FG% and 3FG% when a lot of guys are afraid of damaging their stats. Also, when Ricky steals the ball and has a clear path for an easy layup, I notice he often looks for a teammate to pass the ball too, so the teammate gets the easy layup instead of him. When people knock Ricky's shooting, I wish they would factor in that his shooting is actually better than the stats make it appear. In any event, Ricky's plus/minus numbers have consistently been very good and Ricky does make teammates better. Ricky helped Phoenix have a remarkable turn around (39 game improvement, if I recall correctly) and helped Booker have a breakout season and helped Oubre have his best season. I definitely am much more excited to watch the Wolves since the Rubio trade and I am hoping he can help Culver and Edwards reach their potential.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Interesting board here with a lot of good insights. I've read through several of the pre and post draft threads, and I have to agree with kekgeek1 on liking this draft. I don't know if Rosas is done dealing-I suspect that he is not- but right now I'm quite excited to see what this team can do.

1st pick: It's surprising to me how much consensus there was on this board for choosing Wiseman- you guys certainly were not in line with most of the experts out there (doesn't mean they're right, of course). While intrigued with his potential, there just wasn't enough information on him for me to justify the number one pick. I've seen the video of him dunking on 6'3" guys in HS and also watched video of his 3 college games. But 2 of those games were against very poor college teams with nobody really over 6-8", and he had a decent game against a good Oregon team that had nobody over 6-9"- not enough for me to project how he will perform against NBA players. I also wasn't looking forward to watching Towns and Wiseman together (and it sounds like Wiseman also wasn't looking forward to it).
I also had reservations about Ball, so my choice was between Edwards and a trade down. It appears Rosas fielded several offers for the first pick, but eventually decided Edwards was too promising to pass on. While I don't know the offers he rejected, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one- especially since I'm really excited about Edward's upside. His shooting statistics at Georgia were not good to be sure, but he was also really the only true scoring option they had. It's fun for me to imagine how this elite athlete is going to perform with KAT and DLO attracting most of the defensive attention.
We can malign the acumen of the guys who analyzed the draft, but we can't ignore the fact that almost nobody had Wiseman as their first choice. Isn't there a good possibility that guys who watch basketball for a living know as much as we fans?

The other picks: I'll start by saying I generally don't get too excited about non-lottery picks. Sure we can all have fun talking about our favorite late 1st round and 2nd round picks, but their chance of becoming a great contributor are not very high. So to turn three non-lottery picks into Rubio and 2 intriguing long-shot prospects is a home run for me. For the record, I liked a lot of the same PF's that many of you liked. But frankly I don't think any of the PF names bandied about here are as promising as our own Jarred Vanderbilt. This guy was a consensus top ten prospect in HS, and only injuries held him back at Kentucky. He's a big body who I think has the potential to be a very good rebounding and defensive PF. And he's only 21- younger than some of the PF's we craved in the draft. I'll take Vanderbilt over any PF that was available to us in the draft after 16. And then...

Ricky Rubio: Sure, he's been an erratic shooter and finisher in the past, but he has also proven for many seasons that he flat out makes his teammates better- and KAT and DLO frankly need someone to optimize their immense talent. As does Edwards. Rubio had an excellent season last year as he again put up terrific on/off stats. And last year he showed that in addition to being an excellent free thrower, he can hit the open three point shot at a clip higher than the NBA average (and by the way, I would argue that Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down)Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down). KAT, DLO and Edwards have never had the privilege of playing with an unselfish facilitator and leader like Rubio, and I can't wait to see how he will improve their games.

Put me in the minority position on this board- I like what Rosas did with this draft, and I'm intrigued with what this roster can do.

Absolutely, correct and I am so glad someone else pointed this out. I recall watching 4 consecutive Wolves games in which Rubio hoisted at least one end of quarter hail mary shot before the buzzer and this knocks down his FG% and 3FG% when a lot of guys are afraid of damaging their stats. Also, when Ricky steals the ball and has a clear path for an easy layup, I notice he often looks for a teammate to pass the ball too, so the teammate gets the easy layup instead of him. When people knock Ricky's shooting, I wish they would factor in that his true shooting percentages are actually better than they appear. In any event, Ricky's plus/minus numbers have consistently been very good and Ricky does make teammates better. Ricky helped Phoenix have a remarkable turn around (39 game improvement, if I recall correctly) and helped Booker have a breakout season and helped Oubre have his best season. I definitely am much more excited to watch the Wolves since the Rubio trade and I am hoping he can help Culver and Edwards reach their potential.

Using any end of quarter shots as a reason for why a player's shooting percentage isn't as high as it should be is ridiculous. You're literally saying a handful of shots a year are the reason his percentages aren't as high when the reality is he's just not a good shooter or finisher. This is one of the biggest reaches I've ever seen for arguing for a player's ability to do something.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Interesting board here with a lot of good insights. I've read through several of the pre and post draft threads, and I have to agree with kekgeek1 on liking this draft. I don't know if Rosas is done dealing-I suspect that he is not- but right now I'm quite excited to see what this team can do.

1st pick: It's surprising to me how much consensus there was on this board for choosing Wiseman- you guys certainly were not in line with most of the experts out there (doesn't mean they're right, of course). While intrigued with his potential, there just wasn't enough information on him for me to justify the number one pick. I've seen the video of him dunking on 6'3" guys in HS and also watched video of his 3 college games. But 2 of those games were against very poor college teams with nobody really over 6-8", and he had a decent game against a good Oregon team that had nobody over 6-9"- not enough for me to project how he will perform against NBA players. I also wasn't looking forward to watching Towns and Wiseman together (and it sounds like Wiseman also wasn't looking forward to it).
I also had reservations about Ball, so my choice was between Edwards and a trade down. It appears Rosas fielded several offers for the first pick, but eventually decided Edwards was too promising to pass on. While I don't know the offers he rejected, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one- especially since I'm really excited about Edward's upside. His shooting statistics at Georgia were not good to be sure, but he was also really the only true scoring option they had. It's fun for me to imagine how this elite athlete is going to perform with KAT and DLO attracting most of the defensive attention.
We can malign the acumen of the guys who analyzed the draft, but we can't ignore the fact that almost nobody had Wiseman as their first choice. Isn't there a good possibility that guys who watch basketball for a living know as much as we fans?

The other picks: I'll start by saying I generally don't get too excited about non-lottery picks. Sure we can all have fun talking about our favorite late 1st round and 2nd round picks, but their chance of becoming a great contributor are not very high. So to turn three non-lottery picks into Rubio and 2 intriguing long-shot prospects is a home run for me. For the record, I liked a lot of the same PF's that many of you liked. But frankly I don't think any of the PF names bandied about here are as promising as our own Jarred Vanderbilt. This guy was a consensus top ten prospect in HS, and only injuries held him back at Kentucky. He's a big body who I think has the potential to be a very good rebounding and defensive PF. And he's only 21- younger than some of the PF's we craved in the draft. I'll take Vanderbilt over any PF that was available to us in the draft after 16. And then...

Ricky Rubio: Sure, he's been an erratic shooter and finisher in the past, but he has also proven for many seasons that he flat out makes his teammates better- and KAT and DLO frankly need someone to optimize their immense talent. As does Edwards. Rubio had an excellent season last year as he again put up terrific on/off stats. And last year he showed that in addition to being an excellent free thrower, he can hit the open three point shot at a clip higher than the NBA average (and by the way, I would argue that Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down)Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down). KAT, DLO and Edwards have never had the privilege of playing with an unselfish facilitator and leader like Rubio, and I can't wait to see how he will improve their games.

Put me in the minority position on this board- I like what Rosas did with this draft, and I'm intrigued with what this roster can do.

Absolutely, correct and I am so glad someone else pointed this out. I recall watching 4 consecutive Wolves games in which Rubio hoisted at least one end of quarter hail mary shot before the buzzer and this knocks down his FG% and 3FG% when a lot of guys are afraid of damaging their stats. Also, when Ricky steals the ball and has a clear path for an easy layup, I notice he often looks for a teammate to pass the ball too, so the teammate gets the easy layup instead of him. When people knock Ricky's shooting, I wish they would factor in that his true shooting percentages are actually better than they appear. In any event, Ricky's plus/minus numbers have consistently been very good and Ricky does make teammates better. Ricky helped Phoenix have a remarkable turn around (39 game improvement, if I recall correctly) and helped Booker have a breakout season and helped Oubre have his best season. I definitely am much more excited to watch the Wolves since the Rubio trade and I am hoping he can help Culver and Edwards reach their potential.

Using any end of quarter shots as a reason for why a player's shooting percentage isn't as high as it should be is ridiculous. You're literally saying a handful of shots a year are the reason his percentages aren't as high when the reality is he's just not a good shooter or finisher. This is one of the biggest reaches I've ever seen for arguing for a player's ability to do something.

It's an even worse argument when you realize that Ricky Rubio has seven -- SEVEN -- statistical heaves in his nine-year career. There are reaches and there's this discussion. Oof. Swing and a miss.

I think most of us like the person and the player that Ricky Rubio is. We don't need to cook up reasons as to why he has certain weaknesses. At the end of the day he's still a productive player, but far from a perfect player.

[KG4Ever]

Interesting board here with a lot of good insights. I've read through several of the pre and post draft threads, and I have to agree with kekgeek1 on liking this draft. I don't know if Rosas is done dealing-I suspect that he is not- but right now I'm quite excited to see what this team can do.

1st pick: It's surprising to me how much consensus there was on this board for choosing Wiseman- you guys certainly were not in line with most of the experts out there (doesn't mean they're right, of course). While intrigued with his potential, there just wasn't enough information on him for me to justify the number one pick. I've seen the video of him dunking on 6'3" guys in HS and also watched video of his 3 college games. But 2 of those games were against very poor college teams with nobody really over 6-8", and he had a decent game against a good Oregon team that had nobody over 6-9"- not enough for me to project how he will perform against NBA players. I also wasn't looking forward to watching Towns and Wiseman together (and it sounds like Wiseman also wasn't looking forward to it).
I also had reservations about Ball, so my choice was between Edwards and a trade down. It appears Rosas fielded several offers for the first pick, but eventually decided Edwards was too promising to pass on. While I don't know the offers he rejected, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one- especially since I'm really excited about Edward's upside. His shooting statistics at Georgia were not good to be sure, but he was also really the only true scoring option they had. It's fun for me to imagine how this elite athlete is going to perform with KAT and DLO attracting most of the defensive attention.
We can malign the acumen of the guys who analyzed the draft, but we can't ignore the fact that almost nobody had Wiseman as their first choice. Isn't there a good possibility that guys who watch basketball for a living know as much as we fans?

The other picks: I'll start by saying I generally don't get too excited about non-lottery picks. Sure we can all have fun talking about our favorite late 1st round and 2nd round picks, but their chance of becoming a great contributor are not very high. So to turn three non-lottery picks into Rubio and 2 intriguing long-shot prospects is a home run for me. For the record, I liked a lot of the same PF's that many of you liked. But frankly I don't think any of the PF names bandied about here are as promising as our own Jarred Vanderbilt. This guy was a consensus top ten prospect in HS, and only injuries held him back at Kentucky. He's a big body who I think has the potential to be a very good rebounding and defensive PF. And he's only 21- younger than some of the PF's we craved in the draft. I'll take Vanderbilt over any PF that was available to us in the draft after 16. And then...

Ricky Rubio: Sure, he's been an erratic shooter and finisher in the past, but he has also proven for many seasons that he flat out makes his teammates better- and KAT and DLO frankly need someone to optimize their immense talent. As does Edwards. Rubio had an excellent season last year as he again put up terrific on/off stats. And last year he showed that in addition to being an excellent free thrower, he can hit the open three point shot at a clip higher than the NBA average (and by the way, I would argue that Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down)Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down). KAT, DLO and Edwards have never had the privilege of playing with an unselfish facilitator and leader like Rubio, and I can't wait to see how he will improve their games.

Put me in the minority position on this board- I like what Rosas did with this draft, and I'm intrigued with what this roster can do.

Absolutely, correct and I am so glad someone else pointed this out. I recall watching 4 consecutive Wolves games in which Rubio hoisted at least one end of quarter hail mary shot before the buzzer and this knocks down his FG% and 3FG% when a lot of guys are afraid of damaging their stats. Also, when Ricky steals the ball and has a clear path for an easy layup, I notice he often looks for a teammate to pass the ball too, so the teammate gets the easy layup instead of him. When people knock Ricky's shooting, I wish they would factor in that his true shooting percentages are actually better than they appear. In any event, Ricky's plus/minus numbers have consistently been very good and Ricky does make teammates better. Ricky helped Phoenix have a remarkable turn around (39 game improvement, if I recall correctly) and helped Booker have a breakout season and helped Oubre have his best season. I definitely am much more excited to watch the Wolves since the Rubio trade and I am hoping he can help Culver and Edwards reach their potential.

Using any end of quarter shots as a reason for why a player's shooting percentage isn't as high as it should be is ridiculous. You're literally saying a handful of shots a year are the reason his percentages aren't as high when the reality is he's just not a good shooter or finisher. This is one of the biggest reaches I've ever seen for arguing for a player's ability to do something.

No, I'm saying that his shooting may be a few percentage points better than the stats show. Ricky is an elite free throw shooter and his three point shooting was above 36% last year and may have been closer to 38% when you factor in his unselfishness. Ricky's shooting is not as bad as you make it out and Ricky's always been an above average defender and rebounder and an elite passer. The best way to measure Ricky's value has been comparing Ricky's plus minus stats with his teammates.

[KG4Ever]

Interesting board here with a lot of good insights. I've read through several of the pre and post draft threads, and I have to agree with kekgeek1 on liking this draft. I don't know if Rosas is done dealing-I suspect that he is not- but right now I'm quite excited to see what this team can do.

1st pick: It's surprising to me how much consensus there was on this board for choosing Wiseman- you guys certainly were not in line with most of the experts out there (doesn't mean they're right, of course). While intrigued with his potential, there just wasn't enough information on him for me to justify the number by the way, I would argue that

Interesting board here with a lot of good insights. I've read through several of the pre and post draft threads, and I have to agree with kekgeek1 on liking this draft. I don't know if Rosas is done dealing-I suspect that he is not- but right now I'm quite excited to see what this team can do.

1st pick: It's surprising to me how much consensus there was on this board for choosing Wiseman- you guys certainly were not in line with most of the experts out there (doesn't mean they're right, of course). While intrigued with his potential, there just wasn't enough information on him for me to justify the number one pick. I've seen the video of him dunking on 6'3" guys in HS and also watched video of his 3 college games. But 2 of those games were against very poor college teams with nobody really over 6-8", and he had a decent game against a good Oregon team that had nobody over 6-9"- not enough for me to project how he will perform against NBA players. I also wasn't looking forward to watching Towns and Wiseman together (and it sounds like Wiseman also wasn't looking forward to it).
I also had reservations about Ball, so my choice was between Edwards and a trade down. It appears Rosas fielded several offers for the first pick, but eventually decided Edwards was too promising to pass on. While I don't know the offers he rejected, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one- especially since I'm really excited about Edward's upside. His shooting statistics at Georgia were not good to be sure, but he was also really the only true scoring option they had. It's fun for me to imagine how this elite athlete is going to perform with KAT and DLO attracting most of the defensive attention.
We can malign the acumen of the guys who analyzed the draft, but we can't ignore the fact that almost nobody had Wiseman as their first choice. Isn't there a good possibility that guys who watch basketball for a living know as much as we fans?

The other picks: I'll start by saying I generally don't get too excited about non-lottery picks. Sure we can all have fun talking about our favorite late 1st round and 2nd round picks, but their chance of becoming a great contributor are not very high. So to turn three non-lottery picks into Rubio and 2 intriguing long-shot prospects is a home run for me. For the record, I liked a lot of the same PF's that many of you liked. But frankly I don't think any of the PF names bandied about here are as promising as our own Jarred Vanderbilt. This guy was a consensus top ten prospect in HS, and only injuries held him back at Kentucky. He's a big body who I think has the potential to be a very good rebounding and defensive PF. And he's only 21- younger than some of the PF's we craved in the draft. I'll take Vanderbilt over any PF that was available to us in the draft after 16. And then...

Ricky Rubio: Sure, he's been an erratic shooter and finisher in the past, but he has also proven for many seasons that he flat out makes his teammates better- and KAT and DLO frankly need someone to optimize their immense talent. As does Edwards. Rubio had an excellent season last year as he again put up terrific on/off stats. And last year he showed that in addition to being an excellent free thrower, he can hit the open three point shot at a clip higher than the NBA average (and by the way, I would argue that Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down)Rubio's 3-point percentage is understated, because unlike many selfish NBA players who worry about their stats, he's never shy to put up the end-of-quarter 3/4 court shot that knocks his % down). KAT, DLO and Edwards have never had the privilege of playing with an unselfish facilitator and leader like Rubio, and I can't wait to see how he will improve their games.

Put me in the minority position on this board- I like what Rosas did with this draft, and I'm intrigued with what this roster can do.

Absolutely, correct and I am so glad someone else pointed this out. I recall watching 4 consecutive Wolves games in which Rubio hoisted at least one end of quarter hail mary shot before the buzzer and this knocks down his FG% and 3FG% when a lot of guys are afraid of damaging their stats. Also, when Ricky steals the ball and has a clear path for an easy layup, I notice he often looks for a teammate to pass the ball too, so the teammate gets the easy layup instead of him. When people knock Ricky's shooting, I wish they would factor in that his true shooting percentages are actually better than they appear. In any event, Ricky's plus/minus numbers have consistently been very good and Ricky does make teammates better. Ricky helped Phoenix have a remarkable turn around (39 game improvement, if I recall correctly) and helped Booker have a breakout season and helped Oubre have his best season. I definitely am much more excited to watch the Wolves since the Rubio trade and I am hoping he can help Culver and Edwards reach their potential.

Using any end of quarter shots as a reason for why a player's shooting percentage isn't as high as it should be is ridiculous. You're literally saying a handful of shots a year are the reason his percentages aren't as high when the reality is he's just not a good shooter or finisher. This is one of the biggest reaches I've ever seen for arguing for a player's ability to do something.

It's an even worse argument when you realize that Ricky Rubio has seven -- SEVEN -- statistical heaves in his nine-year career. There are reaches and there's this discussion. Oof. Swing and a miss.

I think most of us like the person and the player that Ricky Rubio is. We don't need to cook up reasons as to why he has certain weaknesses. At the end of the day he's still a productive player, but far from a perfect player.

Cook up?, Are you out of your mind?. I have better things to do with my life than to make up facts relating to the Wolves. I didn't initiate this narrative, I agreed with it and gave some supporting observations. Cam, I have witnessed with my own eyes that Ricky's buzzer beating shots are much more frequent than you assert. Your stats might be back court shots or some other garbage stat, but I'm talking long distance desperation shots even in front court. I never kept track until it occurred 4 games in a row, but I assure you the tenor of my comments are accurate. And tell me how many times has Ricky given up the easy layup so that a teammate got the bucket? You sure seem to have a lot of animosity towards Ricky and have criticized the trade, called Ricky overpaid and asserted that Ricky was a backup without any evidence.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Good insights FNG and welcome.

It is nice to see some different perspectives on how Rosas did draft night. We now have a few folks who are pretty supportive of what he did.

I am a mixed bag. Hated Edwards, loved Rubio, didn't particularly care for the other two picks.

The Edwards one I have started to come around a bit on just based on his age. Jeebus he is young. We'll see if he has the mentality to put in the work and become more disciplined. There is reason to be skeptical, but he just turned 19 a couple months ago, so there is a long runway allowed here.

[mrhockey89]

Welcome to the board FNG! Good to hear another take on things, and you seem to be both informed and well thought out as a poster.

One thing I like about this board is that while many of us disagree with each other on various topics, we can usually grow to agree to disagree on things and at the very least respect each other's takes without getting too personal most of the time.

I really wish we could have nabbed Millsap, but regardless of what happens the rest of this offseason, I'm excited to finally get a chance to see all of our young pieces together. Last year we had a lot of young players logging lots of minutes, but they were either underdeveloped players or backups. This year, at least our 1-3, while young, all have talent and upside, and our best player (KAT) is back healthy and hopefully will stay that way.

Hopefully we can at least grab a solid FA PF/C and likely finish balancing the roster over the next year or so.
I'm excited that we're 2 deep at the 1-3 though.