Official 2016 Draft Thread

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Good read on Bender.

http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/5/12/11662460/dx-guru-givony-croatian-dragan-bender-talks-toughness-motor

I am thinking he is the perfect guy to put next to Towns.

The draft lottery can't come soon enough. I'd be pretty happy jumping up to #3 partly because I like Bender.

We would be perfect for him. He could develop behind Dieng and Bjelica. It would make to much sense for us not to take him if we landed 3rd.

Thx for posting, bleed. I've heard so much about this guy's skills, it's nice to hear very positive comments about his motor and toughness. And he's only 18. I'd love to get him if we were able to move up to a top three pick, but that's not likely to happen without a 2015-like Coolbreeze guarantee.

Our Jerusalem correspondent Eitan hasn't posted since January, but being only an hour from Tel Aviv, maybe he has some information on Bender he can share with us.

[bleedspeed]

Another Bender take

http://nypost.com/2016/05/12/meet-this-years-porzingis-making-nba-jump-from-israel/

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Kyle Ratke Tweeted: Jaylen Brown confirms he's met with Wolves. Brown on his meeting: "Me and Tom Thibodeau are on the same page."

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Kyle Ratke tweeted: "Kris Dunn confirms that he has met with the Wolves. Very excited about the young core the team has."

He also talked about his discussions with Thibs: "I like that he's a defensive coach." and said Wolves had a "good vibe"
http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/video/teams/timberwolves/2016/05/12/kris-dunn-combine-interviewDunn interview at Combine

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Per Doogie, "Told to add Rice Lake's Henry Ellenson to the list of prospects that the #Twolves have interviewed in Chicago."

A RealGM poster said that Thibs has met with 5 guys so far: Dunn, Brown, Ellenson, Deyonta Davis and Brice Johnson. Obviously, Thibs is preparing for the possibility that Cool's luck might run out in the Draft Lottery.

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

I'm thinking the pick is Brown or Dunn at 5.

[bleedspeed]

I love Marquese Chriss skillset. Think if he has the drive he will be really good. Plenty of red flags about his motor and desire though from what I have read.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Who knows what could happen, but most likely we have the 5, 6, or maybe the 7 pick, with a chance at cracking the top 3.

Ellensen looks good, but pretty redundant with the offense we have, don't you guys think? He's supposed to be weak defensively, and that's just not what we need.

Poeltl? I know he's not a very sexy choice, but he's supposed to be solid defensively, and a legit 7 footer with some size. Could allow KAT to play more 4, which has its pros and cons.

Outside of Simmons, Ingram, and Hield, there's not much to get excited about in this draft. This is why throwing this pick in with Bazz (or Tyus if we can get a really good two-way backup PG) to get a legit player might be a good idea.

[bleedspeed]

I think there are plenty of options in this draft it is just hitting on the right player. I think Chriss is a huge boom or bust pick.

From DX

-Having grown over an inch and gained 20 pounds over the last two years, Marquese Chriss measured 6'10 in shoes with a 7'0.25 wingspan and 233-pound frame. He isn't outrageously big relative to a number of the other power forwards in this class, but came in a bit taller than expected. It will be interesting to see how the explosive freshman fares in the athletic testing portion of the combine

[bleedspeed]

Insider stuff on Baldwin.

I dropped Vanderbilt's Wade Baldwin out off my most recent Big Board as teams began to perform background checks and received some negative assessments about his leadership and coachability from the school's basketball staff. Baldwin faced tough questions from NBA teams the past few days and, by all accounts, he handled them very well.

While Baldwin acknowledged his bad body language and that he often got upset at all the losing, teams seem convinced that this is a case of a hyper-competitive player, not a locker room cancer. Given his elite measurements (6-foot-4 in shoes with a crazy 6-11.25 wingspan) and terrific athletic testing (38-inch max vertical, 10.45 lane agility and 3.19 three-quarter court sprint) I think he's going to fare well.

While not every team was convinced, most have him in the late lottery to mid-first round. We'll make the adjustment on our next Big Board on Monday.