Carlos Danger wrote:I think a strong case can be made for most of the options. I took Bender because he seems like one of the higher upside guys and is also the position of greatest need. That said, I'm not convinced the Wolves would grab him even if he's there. My gut is telling me Thibbs might want to flip the switch from "build" to "win now", so I'm not sure he'd be interested in adding an 18 year old. We'll find out soon enough I guess.
We also don't know what play he and Layden have for FA. Maybe they have some contingency where they shore up the roster with some FA so it doesn't matter if Bender doesn't play this year. Is that the plan? I doubt it but it sounds like they are literally prepared for anything.
Critical events taking place tonight. Some of these guys are going to bust, maybe one or two will be all stars. Let's see if we can make the right pick. I like the high floor guys - Murray, Dunn, and Hield. I would stay away from the high risk / high reward types like Bender, Chriss, and Brown.
CoolBreeze44 wrote:Critical events taking place tonight. Some of these guys are going to bust, maybe one or two will be all stars. Let's see if we can make the right pick. I like the high floor guys - Murray, Dunn, and Hield. I would stay away from the high risk / high reward types like Bender, Chriss, and Brown.
And that's why Bender seems to be sliding. To me what I like about Bender (compared to those other guys even though he is less proven) is even if he doesn't become really good he also has a possible floor as a role player. Sort of a bigger version of Bjelica. You obviously want more out of #5 but he isn't a guy that just has scoring as the way he makes it as a good player in the league he has a diversity to his game at least in theory. He just looks like a guy that will know how to play. I know that's subjective but that's what I see.
CoolBreeze44 wrote:Critical events taking place tonight. Some of these guys are going to bust, maybe one or two will be all stars. Let's see if we can make the right pick. I like the high floor guys - Murray, Dunn, and Hield. I would stay away from the high risk / high reward types like Bender, Chriss, and Brown.
The one thing I would say this is probably the last time the wolves will have a chance to hit a home run. That is why I am not as anti the big risk players
I've been going back and forth on Buddy and Dunn for awhile, but I voted for Buddy.
Dunn would be a better fit in terms of rotations and defense and athletic intensity. Because he can play both guard positions, that would allow a little breathing room in the rotations to still play Wiggins at the 2 for stretches (hopefully with a guy like Deng at the 3). I also think his on-the-ball defense on the perimeter could really help us out. I also like his athleticism and enthusiasm.
I lean toward Buddy in part because of his three point shooting and how much we need it. People here have raised some good questions about how predictable college shooting stats can be. But his range, his quick-trigger, the volume he shot from 3 last year, and his consistently improving percentage all point to a guy who will be great 3 point shooter in a league where that is an increasingly valuable skill. It also happens to be a crucial need for us, and would really allow us to open up the floor and do more offensively.
In addition to his key elite skill, I really like Buddy because of his track-record of improvement as a shooter. This indicates he's not only on an upward trajectory, but that he's also the kind of player who is capable of learning and growing and turning himself into a smarter, better player, though he needs to prove it in other areas as well. He has improved at getting blocks and finishing at the rim. He's not as athletic as Dunn, but he's not bad, and he certainly has the length and tools to improve defensively.
There are other reasons, too. He provides other stuff, like rebounding and ballhandling, that would be helpful to us. More importantly, I like what I hear about his work ethic and likability, and that he stepped up when it mattered most in big games.
There are reasons why Hield is not as good a fit as Dunn. He might not fit as well as Dunn in the rotations. He'd pretty much assure that Wiggins wouldn't see time at the 2. And we can't automatically count on Hield's defense like we can count on Dunn's. But Hield could definitely fit into our current lineup at least for a few years (we might have to make a choice between LaVine and Hield someday--that's maybe the strongest argument for Dunn, actually). And if we did draft Hield, I'd maybe look to trade Bazz for some defense.
Dunn looks pretty good, but for all the reasons discussed, I voted for Hield (today!).
EDIT: [Naturally, as soon as I post that, I start thinking about all the reasons why Dunn makes sense. Ugh.]
khans2k5 wrote:I think it's telling at least to me that a couple teams are reportedly trying to move up into the top 5 to get Dunn according to Jon K on twitter.
It's telling that this is an insanely thin point guard class. After Dunn, there's a huge drop off in talent. Supply and demand.
khans2k5 wrote:I think it's telling at least to me that a couple teams are reportedly trying to move up into the top 5 to get Dunn according to Jon K on twitter.
It's telling that this is an insanely thin point guard class. After Dunn, there's a huge drop off in talent. Supply and demand.
This is true. A guy like Wade Baldwin is flirting with the lottery.
