Official 2016 Draft Thread

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Like clockwork, with our visions of grandeur turning out to be just another illusion, our attention begins to turn to college prospects. It's all part of the yearly cycle. I expect things to get worse before they get better. Hell, the injury bug hasn't even hit us yet. That'll be next.....

Sooooo, we turn our forlorn eyes toward the draft.

Who do you like?

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Right now we are 5th in the ping pong ball derby. Looks like Ben Simmons is the crown jewel. Then it looks like the next 2 are Skal Labissiere and Brandon Ingram. Jaylen Brown was highly touted but is off to a rough start. Kris Dunn looks good but he's 21. I sure hope the Lottery Gods are kind to us again as a top 3 pick would be awesome.

[Lipoli390]

Right now it's Ben Simmons and everyone else. If we could just have the same lottery luck we had last season it would make up for all those many years of unbelievably bad luck. I'm convinced Simmo s will be the best player in the NBA with 5 years after he's drafted.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I'll say this...

... I'm going to be pissed if the Wolves tank at all this season. That's a significant step back and it should be embarrassing to have to still play those types of silly games considering the team has the last two #1 picks on the roster.

It's time these players, this team, this organization figures out how to win games. Fuck the losing culture that tanks for draft lottery spot year after year.

That mentality isn't lost on the players. Tanking served its purpose. Figure out how to win... even if it's only 25 games. Move forward.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I'm not participating in this thread until the Wolves are at least 5 game out of the playoffs...right now they are a whopping 2 games out, and the teams we are behind look as flawed as we are. After the top four teams, the West just isn't very good this year...36 wins means playoffs.

2 games out with only 57 left to play may seem like an insurmountable deficit to make up and it would certainly be an historic comeback, but I've done the math and it appears we are not yet mathematically eliminated. I'm not giving up despite the enormous 2 game deficit.

NO 2016 PICK...WE DON'T NEED IT!

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Agreed Abe, no tanking this year, but without the injuries yet and no discipline on this team, the playoffs seem unlikely. How about trading next year's 1st and Martin for a good PF? I can't think of any names right now, but I don't want another rookie getting playing time next year.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I'm not participating in this thread until the Wolves are at least 5 game out of the playoffs...right now they are a whopping 2 games out, and the teams we are behind look as flawed as we are. After the top four teams, the West just isn't very good this year...36 wins means playoffs.

2 games out with only 57 left to play may seem like an insurmountable deficit to make up and it would certainly be an historic comeback, but I've done the math and it appears we are not yet mathematically eliminated. I'm not giving up despite the enormous 2 game deficit.

NO 2016 PICK...WE DON'T NEED IT!

The thing is... several teams in the West are underachieving. I don't think that's going to continue. Houston is winning more than it's losing... and that team has too much talent to end up below .500. Utah is playing without Gobert and it shows. The guy really makes the difference. Last year, the Jazz turned around their season with him manning the middle. And they're 3 - 7 without him this season... with 4 straight losses. He returns in mid January.

While you bring up a good point about being only 2 games out of the playoffs... there are 4 teams in front of us. And I expect the Pelicans to play better moving forward too. We can't assume all those teams are going to start playing worse and only the Wolves will get better.

Let's not forget only 4 teams in the entire league are worse than the Wolves. And the Wolves beat one of them twice by one point and beat another after trailing for most of the 4th quarter. I'm just not seeing this as a viable playoff contender this season.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I'm not participating in this thread until the Wolves are at least 5 game out of the playoffs...right now they are a whopping 2 games out, and the teams we are behind look as flawed as we are. After the top four teams, the West just isn't very good this year...36 wins means playoffs.

2 games out with only 57 left to play may seem like an insurmountable deficit to make up and it would certainly be an historic comeback, but I've done the math and it appears we are not yet mathematically eliminated. I'm not giving up despite the enormous 2 game deficit.

NO 2016 PICK...WE DON'T NEED IT!

Haha, nice post!

[bleedspeed]

I can't believe what I am seeing. Draft night is the best day of the year for a Wolves fan and people want to make the playoffs and miss it. Shame on you sorry souls.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I think the natural development of this team will prevent us from both making the playoffs and tanking like we're used to seeing. We're going to want to win as much as possible to try to carry momentum into next year. The problem is the talent isn't there yet to be able to do it consistently yet so we'll probably end up between 5-10. I don't think we can make the playoffs even with our best foot forward so I'd still like to see smaller moves like playing Tyus as the backup and limiting Martin and Prince's role so Lavine/Bazz/Wiggins can get the most run.