2020 Draft Revisited

[Lipoli390]

The 2020 draft has turned out to be a really good one for the Wolves. Our team finally got lucky in the lottery and ended up with the top pick. And it looks like we ended up with the best player in that draft, Anthony Edwards. The Wolves also had the #17 and #33 picks in that draft. Rosas traded the #17 and #33 picks in deals that landed Ricky Rubio and left us with the #23 and #28 picks, which we used to draft Bolmaro and McDaniels.

It's interesting to look back at that draft and think about what we wanted the Wolves to do back then as well as what we'd do now with 20/20 hindsight.

Back then I wanted the Wolves to trade down from #1 to pick up assets and take Okongwu or Haliburton. With hindsight, I'm glad Rosas was in charge instead of me because there's not doubt that taking Edwards was the right move, although there's an argument for taking LeMello Ball instead.

Back then I would not have done the Rubio deal. Instead, without hindsight, would have stayed at #17 and taken Saddiq Bey with that pick (he ended up getting picked at #19). I would have tried to trade up from #33 to #30 or slightly higher to take Bane, who I liked a lot at the time, but no telling whether or how I would have been able to do that. With hindsight, I'm not sure what I would have done. Saddiq Bey still looks like he would have been a very good pick at #17, but Maxey looks like an even better pick at that spot. So knowing what we know how, I'd probably take Maxey at #17. Assuming the Rubio deal, then hindsight would probably have me taking McDaniels at #23 and Bane at #28. I was high on Bane at the time, but he's been even better than I thought he'd be. And I still like McDaniels.

I guess the jury's still out on Bolmaro. I actually like what we've seen from him so far. He does seem to have some great skills.

Some other thoughts. Haliburton looks like he's turning out to be every bit as good as I thought he'd be. Okongwu has struggled through injuries and has played behind Capela, but Iike what I saw from him this past season.

[Monster]

The 2020 draft has turned out to be a really good one for the Wolves. Our team finally got lucky in the lottery and ended up with the top pick. And it looks like we ended up with the best player in that draft, Anthony Edwards. The Wolves also had the #17 and #33 picks in that draft. Rosas traded the #17 and #33 picks in deals that landed Ricky Rubio and left us with the #23 and #28 picks, which we used to draft Bolmaro and McDaniels.

It's interesting to look back at that draft and think about what we wanted the Wolves to do back then as well as what we'd do now with 20/20 hindsight.

Back then I wanted the Wolves to trade down from #1 to pick up assets and take Okongwu or Haliburton. With hindsight, I'm glad Rosas was in charge instead of me because there's not doubt that taking Edwards was the right move, although there's an argument for taking LeMello Ball instead.

Back then I would not have done the Rubio deal. Instead, without hindsight, would have stayed at #17 and taken Saddiq Bey with that pick (he ended up getting picked at #19). I would have tried to trade up from #33 to #30 or slightly higher to take Bane, who I liked a lot at the time, but no telling whether or how I would have been able to do that. With hindsight, I'm not sure what I would have done. Saddiq Bey still looks like he would have been a very good pick at #17, but Maxey looks like an even better pick at that spot. So knowing what we know how, I'd probably take Maxey at #17. Assuming the Rubio deal, then hindsight would probably have me taking McDaniels at #23 and Bane at #28. I was high on Bane at the time, but he's been even better than I thought he'd be. And I still like McDaniels.

I guess the jury's still out on Bolmaro. I actually like what we've seen from him so far. He does seem to have some great skills.

Some other thoughts. Haliburton looks like he's turning out to be every bit as good as I thought he'd be. Okongwu has struggled through injuries and has played behind Capela, but Iike what I saw from him this past season.

I think one of the questions about whether or not you do the Rubio deal comes down to whether or not you would have wanted to spend money in FA that year instead. For this season you would have had to have at least one FA that was ass good as Prince and they did turn Rubio into a pretty good 2nd rounder...although having 3 worthwhile draft picks is tricky. But what if the Wolves pick a good player this year at #40 that wouldn't be available a few picks later? What if they get a worthwhile player with a draft and stash player with a 2nd round pick that they may not have picked without an additional 2nd rounder? As always it can take a long time to fully assess a deal and there are still unknown factors that can't truly be known. It's still fun to think about!

2020 draft COULD be that draft that fans and teams dream about where you get multiple players that becomes legit pieces. Even if Bolmaro doesn't do anything (It will be fun to see him play in Vegas) if Edwards and McDaniels are true core pieces that's a hell of a draft and McDaniels is ahead of where many people guessed he would be which is fantastic. Let's hope the Wolves can continue to be good at building at the end of the roster. They have found worthwhile players or prospects in the 2nd round Nowell, undrafted Reid and G-league McLaughlin. If they can get another worthwhile player that route this year hats off to them. Wright and Knight seem like a solid pair of players this year and I think either of them could end up being more legit contributors in the future.

[Lipoli390]

Monster - Good points. But with 20-20 hindsight, I think the question about whether you do the Rubio deal turns mainly on Saddiq Bey and Desmond Bane. Then it boils down to a simple question in my mind. Do you keep the pick and take Maxey? Or do you make the Rubio deal and take McDaniels and Bane.

If up to me - with 20/20 hindsight - I'd do the Rubio deal and take both McDaniels and Bane. I can't think of a better fit from the bottom half of the 2020 draft for this team right now than Desmond Bane. On the other hand, it's hard to pass on Maxey knowing what we know now. He certainly would have made the DLO question much easier to answer.

I'll admit that Bolmaro could emerge as a stud from the bottom of the 2020 draft. He hasn't had enough PT to allow an informed judgment. But we already know that Maxey, Bey, and Bane are high-caliber NBA players. Maxey looks like a future allstar. We know that McDaniels is already a bona fide NBA player with all-star upside. I don't see anyone else in the 17-30 range who we'll look back on and wish we had drafted.

[Monster]

Monster - Good points. But with 20-20 hindsight, I think the question about whether you do the Rubio deal turns mainly on Saddiq Bey and Desmond Bane. Then it boils down to a simple question in my mind. Do you keep the pick and take Maxey? Or do you make the Rubio deal and take McDaniels and Bane.

If up to me - with 20/20 hindsight - I'd do the Rubio deal and take both McDaniels and Bane. I can't think of a better fit from the bottom half of the 2020 draft for this team right now than Desmond Bane. On the other hand, it's hard to pass on Maxey knowing what we know now. He certainly would have made the DLO question much easier to answer.

I'll admit that Bolmaro could emerge as a stud from the bottom of the 2020 draft. He hasn't had enough PT to allow an informed judgment. But we already know that Maxey, Bey, and Bane are high-caliber NBA players. Maxey looks like a future allstar. We know that McDaniels is already a bona fide NBA player with all-star upside. I don't see anyone else in the 17-30 range who we'll look back on and wish we had drafted.

I kinda forgot that the Wolves gave up a future 2nd rounder 2024 in all the draft trades. Still I think with the hindsight (wolves got a 2nd rounder back for Rubio) it would be hard to argue against getting 2 players like Bane and McDaniels although if we picked Maxey at 17 we could have taken Tillman at 33. Heck in hindsight I wouldn't mind ending up drafting Kenyon Martin Jr in the 2nd round. The bottom line is that here again there was good players well outside the lottery.

Going farther down the list who is the best undrafted guy from that class? Was there anyone we missed when we whiffed on Hagens with a 2-way contract? We have Knight on the roster right now but was there anyone else we should have gotten? Looking at the list on Wikipedia nobody jumps out at me but it's early.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I wanted the Wolves to trade down, get an extra asset and nab Brandon Clarke.

Then, I wanted the Wolves to trade down, get an extra asset (Wendell Carter Jr?) and draft Haliburton.

One win. One likely loss. The potential SUPERSTAR status of Edwards sorta trumps all of it. If he pans out, none of the extra assets matter. Point is that sometimes drafting for the best talent is the best way to go.


[Note: I'm still certain Bolmaro will never make it. And I'm up in the air about whether McDaniels ever gets there offensively to become a more elite type of two-way player.]

[Lipoli390]

I wanted the Wolves to trade down, get an extra asset and nab Brandon Clarke.

Then, I wanted the Wolves to trade down, get an extra asset (Wendell Carter Jr?) and draft Haliburton.

One win. One likely loss. The potential SUPERSTAR status of Edwards sorta trumps all of it. If he pans out, none of the extra assets matter. Point is that sometimes drafting for the best talent is the best way to go.


[Note: I'm still certain Bolmaro will never make it. And I'm up in the air about whether McDaniels ever gets there offensively to become a more elite type of two-way player.]

Ah, you're now taking us back to the 2019 draft. The Wolves traded up from #11 and draft Culver. We all know how that turned out. Trading down and taking Brandon Clarke would have been a good move. Here's a list of the players who would have been great targets for trading down after #11:

#12. PJ Washington
#13 Tyler Herro
#20 Thybulle
#21 Brandon Clarke
#28 Jordan Poole

To your point about drafting for best talent, I'd say that it's almost always the way to go at any spot in the first round. The challenge is discerning who has the most talent (or more talent than others otherwise available). Thankfully, Rosas drafted Edwards rather than heed your advice or mine. But I don't think the Edwards pick trumps all of it. It's critical to make the most out of all your picks in the NBA. Having Bane on the Wolves instead of Bolmaro would have likely made a material difference. I don't think Rosas botched our other picks that year at all. But he certainly missed some opportunities revealed by hindsight. But I'm quibbling. I really like what Rosas did in 2020. It's that 2019 draft that still sticks in my craw. And I didn't need hindsight to tell me he screwed that one up.

[Monster]

Let's look back at a non-wolves player from the 2020 draft Jalen Smith. I can't remember all the reasons why but I thought it was somewhat of an odd pick for them but they had been making a lot of the right draft decisions the last couple years so...ok! He was so bad his rookie year they declined his third year which is pretty rough. Then this season he seemed to be better and was getting some decent minutes on the best team in basketball. Then he got traded to the Pacers and performed well there. He is going into this offseason as a somewhat intriguing young FA option. I would assume the Pacers would want to keep him if the price is at all reasonable but what if there is a better opportunity for him elsewhere? Maybe the Pacers draft a big and the fit isn't there anymore for either Smith or the team? The Suns are doing just fine but usually teams that basically cut loose a top 10 pick that quickly are not in a good space. Fortunately for Smith he is likely going to get another NBA contract and I think based on his stats last year he actually deserves it.

[Lipoli390]

Let's look back at a non-wolves player from the 2020 draft Jalen Smith. I can't remember all the reasons why but I thought it was somewhat of an odd pick for them but they had been making a lot of the right draft decisions the last couple years so...ok! He was so bad his rookie year they declined his third year which is pretty rough. Then this season he seemed to be better and was getting some decent minutes on the best team in basketball. Then he got traded to the Pacers and performed well there. He is going into this offseason as a somewhat intriguing young FA option. I would assume the Pacers would want to keep him if the price is at all reasonable but what if there is a better opportunity for him elsewhere? Maybe the Pacers draft a big and the fit isn't there anymore for either Smith or the team? The Suns are doing just fine but usually teams that basically cut loose a top 10 pick that quickly are not in a good space. Fortunately for Smith he is likely going to get another NBA contract and I think based on his stats last year he actually deserves it.

Jalen Smith would be an intriguing free agent target for the Wolves.

[Q-is-here]

Seems like both that 2020 and 2019 drafts had a lot of damn good players in the mid to late 1st.

[Lipoli390]

Seems like both that 2020 and 2019 drafts had a lot of damn good players in the mid to late 1st.

Yep. During the Memphis series I was wishing we had drafted Bane. I remembered he was the last pick in the first round. Then I started thinking about Maxey and Bey, as well as our own McDaniels, which prompted me to go on line and look. It's a really impressive list of players drafted in the bottom half of that draft. Abe's post about Clarke prompted me to look at the 2019 results. Another impressive list from #11 on down.

It's a reminder that we shouldn't underestimate the value of the Wolves pick this year at #19.