Draft prospects - Who do we want?

[bleedspeed]

I honestly am not sold on Porzingis or Towns over Okafor, Stanley or Russell or Mudiay at this point.

Quote from the Nike Hoop summit that worries me - "Finishing an impressive dunk, tossing in a number of hook shots, and scoring with deft touch in practice, Towns had some truly impressive moments in Portland, but was also quiet for stretches. His skill level and ability to make shots from the perimeter was clear in drills, but he seemed coast on the outside at times and wasn't always as physical operating inside as he was at others during the competitive portion of practice.

Towns is an impact player on both ends of the floor when he's engaged."

Red Flags to me about his motor and likely the real reason he doesn't get more minutes this year.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I'm in agreement with your Top 4, bleedspeed...with Towns and the Latvian following them in the "intriguing" category. Of course everything can change in three months, but right now I think Flip is going to be faced with a challenge come draft time. Cool's guarantee of the Wolves' winning the lottery aside, I keep seeing a 5th pick in my crystal ball. I think we are going to win 20 games, and I don't think the Sixers, Knicks and Lakers will. In addition, I have a feeling one other team may flop and not get to 20, or some other team that finishes below us in the standings jumps ahead of us in the lottery. Either was, I'm sensing a 5th pick. With that in mind, I'm spending a lot of time looking at Towns and Porzingis, and based on Flip's "length" comment on the Funkadelic yesterday, I suspect he is too.

[bleedspeed]

I think you can add Myles Turner and Kevon Looney to that list for me. It will be interesting if anyone separates themselves moving forward this season. I think Harrell might be an option later in the draft that might be able to fill that need. It will be interesting if we make a trade to add a pick.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I'm never comfortable defining need as a particular physical attribute. What we need is better production or contribution in certain areas. One thing we really need is better rebounding. The best rebounders in the League include long guys like the Clippers' D. Jordan with his 9'5" overhead reach, but also include guys like Kevin Love, Kenneth Faried and Paul Millsap who have overhead reaches similar to Thad Young's at around 8'11. We could certainly benefit from better shot-blocking, which tends to correlate more with length, but length doesn't necessarily make a player a good rim protector. Strength, timing, toughness, athleticism and skill are huge factors that will ultimately distinguish bigs who are good rim protectors from those who aren't.

It may be a small point but I think it's an important one. Flip needs to focus on improving the team's productivity in certain highly deficient areas - especially rebounding. Whether that production comes with or without more length than we have in Thad Young is almost beside the point. If we can acquire someone who provides both better rebounding and better rim protection and if that guy happens to be longer than Thad, then great.

Thus far I'm leery of Towns. I'd like to see us fill the PF spot with a young vet with a track record as a very good rebounder -- someone like a Greg Monroe or Kenneth Faried. Not sure how we do that without trading our first round pick unless we can trade Pek for an expiring deal and free up enough cap space to sign a Greg Monroe as a free agent. I don't see that happening. So we'll see what Flip's able to do.

There's no question that we need to upgrade our rebounding at the 4 position, either by free agency or the draft...needs to be Flip's #1 priority. I'm a big fan of Young's offensive game and his upbeat personality, but despite his great rebounding game against the Heat, he remains a huge liability on the boards. Take a look at Philly's rebounding stats last year...only the Lakers were worse in giving up defensive rebounds. The Hassan Whiteside game aside, the Wolves have been a decent rebounding team in the 7 games Rubio and Pek have played together. Add a good rebounding PF to the starting lineup, and they can become an elite rebounding team.

I don't know...This squad has A LOT of holes, not just rebounding at the 4.

I mentioned this in the other thread, but it's downright scary to me how impotent this team is without Ricky Rubio. Most great teams have more than one catalyst that can make plays, so to me having another playmaker is nearly as big of a priority as getting more size and rebounding up front.

(we need shooters and defenders too....the list is long and diverse, so we shouldn't box ourselves in when it comes to the draft. Just take the best talent available and move on).

[bleedspeed]

Q, How do you think Russell would look next to Rubio? I really like the idea of someone like him playing next to Rubio and Wiggins. I think LaVine still has a chance, but Russell is proving he can do it in college.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Q, How do you think Russell would look next to Rubio? I really like the idea of someone like him playing next to Rubio and Wiggins. I think LaVine still has a chance, but Russell is proving he can do it in college.

Well, I'm a huge Russell fan. I think he's the type of guy that could eventually be a second catalyst. He can shoot, pass, and rebound. He tends to have a bit of a laid-back demeanor - as if things almost come too easily for him - which is a bit disconcerting, but it's hard to argue with the results.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

A concern of mine: any selection that moves/keeps Wiggins at SF moving forward could be disadvantageous for us. His best minutes have come when there was a SF on the floor with him (Muhammad/Young/Hummel). He's simply too much for SGs to handle. I want to keep it that way.

I like Russell, I do, but I don't like the idea of having Wiggins get pigeonholed in the SF spot.

Another reason why I love Stanley Johnson here.

[bleedspeed]

Cam, I get what you are saying, but I think Wiggins grows into a SF or simply if he reaches his potential it won't matter which position he plays. It would be hard picking second and having to choose between the 2.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

If Wiggins is going to be as good as everyone thinks he'll be, I'm not sure it really matters what position he plays (2 or 3). I get that this season the 2 has worked out better for him because he can more easily post those guys up. But I would certainly hope that as the years go on, he improves his strength, handles, and perimeter jumper such that he isn't solely reliant on mis-matches to score.

[thedoper]

Russell seems to be potentially a transcendent player. If you really believe in him I don't think there's any way you care about how that will affect Wiggins. Russel seems more in the Westbrook/Curry vein to me than having a bunch of skills that put Wiggins way out of position. I think size/athleticism at the 4 is still our greatest need but I would be pretty excited to throw Russell in the mix here and could see a bunch of lineups that would work with him.