Its Lottery Eve

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

There is a logjam of players who are candidates for the 5th pick, but I'm going to remove Kris Dunn from contention. There are 3 red flags which I think disqualify him from being considered:

1) Inconsistent shooting: Made less than 45% of his shots form the floor (despite a lot of layups) and consistently made less than 70% of his free throws throughout his college career.

2) higher turnover rate than we would like to see

3) leaking that he doesn't want to play in Phoenix or Boston. I hate it when players do this. It indicates a character flaw to me...a sense of entitlement or need to control the situation.

I think Thibs is going to ride Ricky hard...perhaps 38-40 minutes a game...so backup PG is not a huge concern for me. I suspect Thibs will continue to watch video of Tyus and conclude whether he is ready for backup minutes this season. If not, there will be several stopgap options available in free agency. I'm not interested in Dunn at 5.

[60WinTim]

There is a logjam of players who are candidates for the 5th pick, but I'm going to remove Kris Dunn from contention. There are 3 red flags which I think disqualify him from being considered:

1) Inconsistent shooting: Made less than 45% of his shots form the floor (despite a lot of layups) and consistently made less than 70% of his free throws throughout his college career.

2) higher turnover rate than we would like to see

3) leaking that he doesn't want to play in Phoenix or Boston. I hate it when players do this. It indicates a character flaw to me...a sense of entitlement or need to control the situation.

I think Thibs is going to ride Ricky hard...perhaps 38-40 minutes a game...so backup PG is not a huge concern for me. I suspect Thibs will continue to watch video of Tyus and conclude whether he is ready for backup minutes this season. If not, there will be several stopgap options available in free agency. I'm not interested in Dunn at 5.

Yeah, well, you didn't want Thibs, either! :P

[kekgeek]

There is a logjam of players who are candidates for the 5th pick, but I'm going to remove Kris Dunn from contention. There are 3 red flags which I think disqualify him from being considered:

1) Inconsistent shooting: Made less than 45% of his shots form the floor (despite a lot of layups) and consistently made less than 70% of his free throws throughout his college career.

2) higher turnover rate than we would like to see

3) leaking that he doesn't want to play in Phoenix or Boston. I hate it when players do this. It indicates a character flaw to me...a sense of entitlement or need to control the situation.

I think Thibs is going to ride Ricky hard...perhaps 38-40 minutes a game...so backup PG is not a huge concern for me. I suspect Thibs will continue to watch video of Tyus and conclude whether he is ready for backup minutes this season. If not, there will be several stopgap options available in free agency. I'm not interested in Dunn at 5.

I agree with everything besides him riding rubio that much I would hope he knows better. He did manage rose pretty well after the 1st injury. But like I said Dunn would be fine but not my first choice

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I wonder what the going rate for Dunn would be if he drops to #5. We would have some leverage since he seems like the consensus #1 PG in this draft and we don't HAVE to draft him or any of the other players that might be there. Thibs has lots of options here.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

There is a logjam of players who are candidates for the 5th pick, but I'm going to remove Kris Dunn from contention. There are 3 red flags which I think disqualify him from being considered:

1) Inconsistent shooting: Made less than 45% of his shots form the floor (despite a lot of layups) and consistently made less than 70% of his free throws throughout his college career.

2) higher turnover rate than we would like to see

3) leaking that he doesn't want to play in Phoenix or Boston. I hate it when players do this. It indicates a character flaw to me...a sense of entitlement or need to control the situation.

I think Thibs is going to ride Ricky hard...perhaps 38-40 minutes a game...so backup PG is not a huge concern for me. I suspect Thibs will continue to watch video of Tyus and conclude whether he is ready for backup minutes this season. If not, there will be several stopgap options available in free agency. I'm not interested in Dunn at 5.

Yeah, well, you didn't want Thibs, either! :P

Tim, I wouldn't say that I "didn't want Thibs"...I think it's fairer to say that my preference was for a younger, fresher face like Ollie. NBA owners generally prefer taking a safer route and going with a "recycled" coach (just look at the merry-go-round going on now with coaches), but I would argue that the teams willing to take a chance on a fresher face are experiencing the most success. Look at the four teams in the finals...3 of them are led by coaches that were not recycled, and even Casey would not be considered an NBA insider. I love how Billy Donovan has revitalized the Thunder. Brad Stephens is another example of a fresh face overachieving.

So while Thibs was not my first choice as coach, he was certainly in my top 5 and clearly the best option of the experienced coaches available. I think he will do a good job here.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I wonder what the going rate for Dunn would be if he drops to #5. We would have some leverage since he seems like the consensus #1 PG in this draft and we don't HAVE to draft him or any of the other players that might be there. Thibs has lots of options here.

Are there any teams behind us who both need a PG and have multiple picks in the first round? I think that might be the most likely scenario where a team may want to give us value in order to move up and get Dunn.

[Monster]

LST while it bugs the heck out of me when players try and force their way into certain situations you can't rule guys out because of that. For example Curry didn't work out for the Wolves. Also can you blame Dunn for not wanting to go to the Suns or Boston? Those teams have no spot for him if he wants to play PG.

Personally when I've seen Dunn I see a nice player but I just don't get this star type guy people seem to be hoping for. Q's idea that he can be a "do shit" type strikes me as about where I am with him. Basically you are very likely to get something out of the guy but I just don't see the manic upside. I've been wrong though and I won't be upset if we pick him because he does bring a true attacking ball handling player that the Wolves don't really have at this point although Zach and Wiggins have grown in those areas in different ways.

[Monster]

I wonder what the going rate for Dunn would be if he drops to #5. We would have some leverage since he seems like the consensus #1 PG in this draft and we don't HAVE to draft him or any of the other players that might be there. Thibs has lots of options here.

Are there any teams behind us who both need a PG and have multiple picks in the first round? I think that might be the most likely scenario where a team may want to give us value in order to move up and get Dunn.

The Kings are at 8 and rumored to like Dunn a lot. The Bucks may have use for a PG also. Neither team has multiple picks and the Kings already traded a bunch of future picks so I don't know if you can keep fleecing them for a future first rounder but it may be worth a shot. Lol. The other option would be to trade down a couple spots and pick up a useful/interesting player from the other team's roster. McLemore or Belineili from the Kings wouldn't move the needle enough probably but it would interest me. The Bucks could trade a future first to move up but would they? Fun stuff to think about it this point of the whole process. With some team having a bevy of picks and the way it seems teams value guys at this point it's gonna be a really interesting draft.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I can see the Wolves trading that #5 pick.

But I'd be shocked if it was for a lower 1st round pick. I think it's more likely it's used to land a veteran player of significance.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

LST while it bugs the heck out of me when players try and force their way into certain situations you can't rule guys out because of that. For example Curry didn't work out for the Wolves. Also can you blame Dunn for not wanting to go to the Suns or Boston? Those teams have no spot for him if he wants to play PG.

Personally when I've seen Dunn I see a nice player but I just don't get this star type guy people seem to be hoping for. Q's idea that he can be a "do shit" type strikes me as about where I am with him. Basically you are very likely to get something out of the guy but I just don't see the manic upside. I've been wrong though and I won't be upset if we pick him because he does bring a true attacking ball handling player that the Wolves don't really have at this point although Zach and Wiggins have grown in those areas in different ways.

I'm not necessarily going to rule a player out because he tries to control the process, but I do see it as a red flag. It means one of two things to me, neither of which I like:

1) the player is an entitled prima donna who is used to getting what he wants
2) the player doesn't think he is good enough to beat out someone at the same position on a certain team

If Dunn doesn't think he is good enough to challenge Thomas or Smart for a starting job, he doesn't belong in the lottery. If the Celtics draft him, they clearly are doing it because they have plans for him. I really believe players need to STFU prior to the draft and let the process work on its own.