Jonathan Isaac discussion

[Monster]

Honestly there has been next to no news on how this draft will shape up since the draft lottery was set. We are about to have teams actually do some individual workouts and we will hear some reports back. Right now it's just guys working out with their trainers and agencies for teams.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

I hope DSJ and Monk have great workouts and get taken in the top 6, or at least one of them does. In that case, Tatum or Isaac falls to us. I think Isaac's the better fit, but Tatum wouldn't be bad either.

[thedoper]

I'd be fine with Issac, but would trust Thibs judgement if he went Dennis Smith too. The guy is very intriguing to me and a lot of scouts.

We absolutely cannot afford to have a player with questionable heart and motor on this team. We already have one of our franchise pillars with question marks in this area, now we'd be adding another. He had issues in high school and college. These things simply don't go away. Guys can improve in a lot of areas, but heart, motor, and/or attitude issues crop up time and time again.

I trust Thibs' judgement of heart and motor. Which is why I'm constantly in the minority on Wiggins here. If he drafted Smith, I'm not worried.

[Lipoli390]

I'd be fine with Issac, but would trust Thibs judgement if he went Dennis Smith too. The guy is very intriguing to me and a lot of scouts.

We absolutely cannot afford to have a player with questionable heart and motor on this team. We already have one of our franchise pillars with question marks in this area, now we'd be adding another. He had issues in high school and college. These things simply don't go away. Guys can improve in a lot of areas, but heart, motor, and/or attitude issues crop up time and time again.

I trust Thibs' judgement of heart and motor. Which is why I'm constantly in the minority on Wiggins here. If he drafted Smith, I'm not worried.

Doper -- We honestly don't know what Thibs thinks of Wiggins heart or motor. He inherited Wiggins, sees his tremendous talent and is trying hard to push his development. But for all we know, Thibs is quietly concerned about Wiggins' motor/heart. Since Thibs seems to put a premium on competitiveness, I'm with you in trusting Thibs judgment in that area, which is why I'm convinced Thibs won't take Smith. I agree with Q that adding a player with questions about his heart, motor or attitude is the last thing this team should do. Adding guys with high-octane motors and toughness should be a priority this summer. If Josh Jackson likely off the board by the time we're on the clock at #7, Zach Collins stands out as the available high upside prospect who seems to have the sort of motor and toughness we need. If we're going to take a PG at #7, I'd take Ntilikina -- a PG with a 7-foot wingspan, a high basketball IQ and purportedly a high performing motor.

[TheFuture]

The OG injury was the biggest disappointment for me this year. I really wish he had the chance to showcase his improvements offensively this year. Hell, even if he moved high enough to be picked top 5 then there would be a higher chance of someone like Isaac or Tatum making it to us.

OG is just the perfect fit here. Built like a brick house at 6'8 235, 7'3 wingspan yet he has quick feet. He would add to the nasty on defense that Dunn brought. He is a capable 3pt shooter with a good form, and is a damn freight train attacking the rim. Rebounds, steals, blocks shots. I love him as a prospect and he is a huge reason why I would look to move down to the 8-12 range, but I'd also take him at 7 with no issues. He is the perfect 3/4 to contribute immediately for us as our Swiss Army knife on D and let his offense come along, whereas Isaac has potential but is another skinny, wait 3 years until he has a NBA body type.

I want him on this team.

Edit: I don't mean to derail the Isaac thread, but the door was open to gush about my OG man crush. Sorry LST.

What has you believing he is a capable 3pt shooter? He increased his 3pt volume this year and got significantly worse (31% in college is really not good for projecting to the NBA). He's also a career 52% FT shooter. That seems like a huge reach to call that guy a capable NBA 3pt shooter already.

His form is very solid and it isn't slow. No real hitches. Yes, he is by no means a good shooter now, but I'm not as worried about that part of his game because he can produce in many other facets of the game. I wouldn't project him as ever being more than a 4th option, with his ceiling being a 3rd option. His defensive potential however looks like a real game changer. I love
that for the wolves considering what we have in place already.
I'm more comfortable trading back 2-5 slots and selecting OG while gaining assets than I am just taking Isaac, even though I do like him quite a bit. Not too confident in anybody in this draft to be honest.

My top three are Isaac, OG, and DSJ (assuming nobody falls out of THE top 3).

[thedoper]

I'd be fine with Issac, but would trust Thibs judgement if he went Dennis Smith too. The guy is very intriguing to me and a lot of scouts.

We absolutely cannot afford to have a player with questionable heart and motor on this team. We already have one of our franchise pillars with question marks in this area, now we'd be adding another. He had issues in high school and college. These things simply don't go away. Guys can improve in a lot of areas, but heart, motor, and/or attitude issues crop up time and time again.

I trust Thibs' judgement of heart and motor. Which is why I'm constantly in the minority on Wiggins here. If he drafted Smith, I'm not worried.

Doper -- We honestly don't know what Thibs thinks of Wiggins heart or motor. He inherited Wiggins, sees his tremendous talent and is trying hard to push his development. But for all we know, Thibs is quietly concerned about Wiggins' motor/heart. Since Thibs seems to put a premium on competitiveness, I'm with you in trusting Thibs judgment in that area, which is why I'm convinced Thibs won't take Smith. I agree with Q that adding a player with questions about his heart, motor or attitude is the last thing this team should do. Adding guys with high-octane motors and toughness should be a priority this summer. If Josh Jackson likely off the board by the time we're on the clock at #7, Zach Collins stands out as the available high upside prospect who seems to have the sort of motor and toughness we need. If we're going to take a PG at #7, I'd take Ntilikina -- a PG with a 7-foot wingspan, a high basketball IQ and purportedly a high performing motor.

Thibs gave Wiggins a green light on offense without reservation and had him guarding the other team's best player every night. Odd choices for a coach who is worried about a player's motor. Maybe youre right but there were hardly any public teaching moments with Wiggins and his motor. Which is what you would expect if it was really a problem. You're assuming a "secret" when the evidence, Thibs' repeated praise, playing time, and responsibility, points to the opposite.

My point still stands if Thibs drafts a guy I am confident that he is ok with his motor. Unless Thibs doesn't care about motor. But I know he does and if Smith ends up being his guy I'll be ok. I'm sure the motor police here will be watching him like a hawk though.

[Lipoli390]

Doper -- Giving Wiggins the green light to shoot and having him guard the opposing team's best player doesn't tell me that Thibs had confidence in Wiggins' motor. It tells me Thibs recognized Wiggins' scoring prowess and considerable defensive potential. It also tells me Thibs was trying to push Wiggins by challenging him in games. Thibs knows how talented Wiggins is and how important he is to this franchise. So Thibs really has no choice. He has to put Wiggins to the test in games on both sides of the ball. As for praise, the only players Thibs consistently went out of his way to praise were Gorgui and Dunn. Those two guys are Thibs-type players -- serious, intense and highly competitive.

Again, we both agree that we can trust Thibs to avoid drafting players with motor issues. Thibs decision to draft Kris Dunn is Exhibit A. :)

[Monster]

About Dennis Smith's motor and other issues...Does anyone have any links to articles about Dennis Smith's motor or issues in HS? I looked around last night and I can't find anything specific. I wonder if some of that is based on the fact that he was doing some acting for Empire and stuff like that.

What I did find when reading is that he actually liked school had a 3.9 GPA in HS and when he was in the hospital after surgery realized he should graduate early so he would be able to go to NC State early to get a head start on school have a higher level of help recovering and also of course get a head start preparing to be on the team his first year. He took 18 credits his first semester and again really enjoyed it. His college coach said he is extremely competitive and that goes into the classroom also. One article said that one of the events he went to during the summer or whatever he and his dad weren't happy with it because there was no structure it was just glorified pickup games.

It's hard to sift though all this stuff because most articles say good stuff but this guy wasn't a top recruit his entire like but kinda burst onto the scene in HS and then had to rehab the ACL (doctor said he had an extra ligament like AP does he is an athletic freak) so he has already faced some adversity. I'm not saying this guy doesn't have issues but I really wish there was something more to go off of than some draft profile that said some vague stuff about questions about him in HS.

[thedoper]

About Dennis Smith's motor and other issues...Does anyone have any links to articles about Dennis Smith's motor or issues in HS? I looked around last night and I can't find anything specific. I wonder if some of that is based on the fact that he was doing some acting for Empire and stuff like that.

What I did find when reading is that he actually liked school had a 3.9 GPA in HS and when he was in the hospital after surgery realized he should graduate early so he would be able to go to NC State early to get a head start on school have a higher level of help recovering and also of course get a head start preparing to be on the team his first year. He took 18 credits his first semester and again really enjoyed it. His college coach said he is extremely competitive and that goes into the classroom also. One article said that one of the events he went to during the summer or whatever he and his dad weren't happy with it because there was no structure it was just glorified pickup games.

It's hard to sift though all this stuff because most articles say good stuff but this guy wasn't a top recruit his entire like but kinda burst onto the scene in HS and then had to rehab the ACL (doctor said he had an extra ligament like AP does he is an athletic freak) so he has already faced some adversity. I'm not saying this guy doesn't have issues but I really wish there was something more to go off of than some draft profile that said some vague stuff about questions about him in HS.

The motor police having shifting criteria. For them motor issues are like pornography, hard to define but they know it when they see it.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

A lot of you guys have me convinced on Isaac as a solid pick at #7, but I'm fairly convinced he'll be gone by then.

Q, that was my reason for teeing up this thread. There seemed to be two consensi on this board:

1)Isaac is a good choice at 7
2)And he'll be gone by then.

But then 7 of the 8 recent mocks I looked at had him available at 7, so I began questioning our second consensus...and asking for other mocks that have him gone. So far, nobody has found a mock other than nbadraft.net (which frankly I generally find one of the least accurate mocks) that has him gone at 7, so I wonder is our assessment is wrong. After all, many of the guys doing the mocks do this for a living and have access to scouts and GMs, so wouldn't their opinion have some validity? Things may change as workouts progress, but perhaps a sharpshooter like Monk or a freaky athlete like Smith might be strong candidates to soar.

I'm changing my assessment. As things stand now, I'm guardedly optimistic our Wolves will end up with Isaac, and that he will be a good fit.