Draft prospects - Who do we want?

[Coolbreeze44]

I'm not wavering on Zach either. Maybe he's not a point guard, but I am really looking forward to seeing what he looks like next year.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I'm not wavering on Zach either. Maybe he's not a point guard, but I am really looking forward to seeing what he looks like next year.

Anyone else surprised at his catch-and-shoot ability, or lack thereof? For whatever reason, he's better shooting off the dribble. This needs to get addressed this off-season.

Give LaVine a left hand too while we're at it.

Plenty of time to work on himself, and I do think he has the drive. I too think 2015 LaVine will look much better.

[WildWolf2813]

I'm not wavering on Zach either. Maybe he's not a point guard, but I am really looking forward to seeing what he looks like next year.

I'm not wavering on him, but that also implies I had hope for him. I don't think he's any good. I think the only reason why anyone likes him is because he brings exciting dunks to an otherwise mundanely boring team to watch. If we're thirsting to draft another G/F to move Wiggins to SG and subsequently limit LaVine to a bit player, then at best you're gonna have a frustrated player who will seek more of an opportunity elsewhere. It's not like we're gonna be a good team next year anyway, and there will be wings at the top of the draft there too. Whether it's this summer or next summer, this fanbase will lose a lot of patience hoping to develop a guy who isn't good enough.

[Coolbreeze44]

The Zach hate really surprises me. I don't know if he's ever going to amount to a good NBA player, but I don't see any reason for all the negativity he's getting here. He came in about as inexperienced as you can be for a #1 draft pick. And then 2 weeks into his rookie season he's asked to run an NBA team from the point. Don't you realize how unfair that was to him? He should have been playing less than 10 minutes per game while getting his baptism in practice. He's had good games and bad games, which is about what you should have expected given the role he was thrust into.

My daughter wasn't allowed to play much point guard in high school. She spent most of her time at the 2. When she got to San Diego State, they needed a ball handler. So from day 1 she started at point guard. So I saw how difficult it was to walk into a higher level of play and have to run a team from the point. When she struggled in some games during the non-conference season, they stuck with her. By the end of the year she was playing over 35 minutes a game and set a freshman record for 3 pointers made. My point is Zach has never backed off and competed extremely hard, even when things weren't going well. He has immense athletic ability and is going to greatly benefit from the experience he was forced to gain. I'd much prefer to see how he is doing 12 months from now. It only makes sense, and is really what he deserves at this point.

[WildWolf2813]

The Zach hate really surprises me. I don't know if he's ever going to amount to a good NBA player, but I don't see any reason for all the negativity he's getting here. He came in about as inexperienced as you can be for a #1 draft pick. And then 2 weeks into his rookie season he's asked to run an NBA team from the point. Don't you realize how unfair that was to him? He should have been playing less than 10 minutes per game while getting his baptism in practice. He's had good games and bad games, which is about what you should have expected given the role he was thrust into.

My daughter wasn't allowed to play much point guard in high school. She spent most of her time at the 2. When she got to San Diego State, they needed a ball handler. So from day 1 she started at point guard. So I saw how difficult it was to walk into a higher level of play and have to run a team from the point. When she struggled in some games during the non-conference season, they stuck with her. By the end of the year she was playing over 35 minutes a game and set a freshman record for 3 pointers made. My point is Zach has never backed off and competed extremely hard, even when things weren't going well. He has immense athletic ability and is going to greatly benefit from the experience he was forced to gain. I'd much prefer to see how he is doing 12 months from now. It only makes sense, and is really what he deserves at this point.

I don't blame Zach for being picked up by us. I blame Flip for picking him. I don't think a little bit of love and tenderness is gonna make him figure out how to play basketball. This isn't based on this season. This is based on the mediocre season he had that led Flip to think he was a lotto pick, and if you wanna see how he's doing in 12 months, don't you think it would be kinda hard to see the progress if we're drafting someone like Johnson, Winslow or Russell to give us 3 young wings in Muhammad, Wiggins and one of those guys, all of whom would have higher priority, upside and ability than LaVine? By the time LaVine even projects these glimpses you hope to see, like your comparison for him (Crawford) he'll go elsewhere, so it feels like we're trying in vain to develop someone we won't keep because we'll have better options anyway.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I watched Turner and Oubre today. Neither were too impressive. Turner was certainly a presence at the rim, blocking a number of shots, but he reminds me of Dieng in that he seems to have a really high center of gravity, awkward gait, and skinny frame.

Oubre also looked smaller and skinnier than what he's listed on paper (he's listed at 6'7, 200lbs, which is pretty close to Wiggins, yet he looked a couple of inches shorter and 15-20 lbs lighter). It's always tough to get a feel for perimeter player skills when they go up against a zone (which is all Texas played) because there is very little opportunity to play PnR and put the ball on the floor. You just don't get to see their handles or playmaking skills much.

[Coolbreeze44]

The Zach hate really surprises me. I don't know if he's ever going to amount to a good NBA player, but I don't see any reason for all the negativity he's getting here. He came in about as inexperienced as you can be for a #1 draft pick. And then 2 weeks into his rookie season he's asked to run an NBA team from the point. Don't you realize how unfair that was to him? He should have been playing less than 10 minutes per game while getting his baptism in practice. He's had good games and bad games, which is about what you should have expected given the role he was thrust into.

My daughter wasn't allowed to play much point guard in high school. She spent most of her time at the 2. When she got to San Diego State, they needed a ball handler. So from day 1 she started at point guard. So I saw how difficult it was to walk into a higher level of play and have to run a team from the point. When she struggled in some games during the non-conference season, they stuck with her. By the end of the year she was playing over 35 minutes a game and set a freshman record for 3 pointers made. My point is Zach has never backed off and competed extremely hard, even when things weren't going well. He has immense athletic ability and is going to greatly benefit from the experience he was forced to gain. I'd much prefer to see how he is doing 12 months from now. It only makes sense, and is really what he deserves at this point.

I don't blame Zach for being picked up by us. I blame Flip for picking him. I don't think a little bit of love and tenderness is gonna make him figure out how to play basketball. This isn't based on this season. This is based on the mediocre season he had that led Flip to think he was a lotto pick, and if you wanna see how he's doing in 12 months, don't you think it would be kinda hard to see the progress if we're drafting someone like Johnson, Winslow or Russell to give us 3 young wings in Muhammad, Wiggins and one of those guys, all of whom would have higher priority, upside and ability than LaVine? By the time LaVine even projects these glimpses you hope to see, like your comparison for him (Crawford) he'll go elsewhere, so it feels like we're trying in vain to develop someone we won't keep because we'll have better options anyway.

Let me ask you this Wild - What we're your thoughts on Shabazz at this time last year?

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

From a physical/athletic standpoint, there is nobody outside of Towns and maybe Johnson in this draft with a higher potential than Lavine. He is off the charts athletic. He has a good handle and a good looking shot that better shot selection and practice should improve going into next year. Zach to me is the ideal SG in this league. He has the ability to be a secondary ball handler/playmaker, he has 3 point range and he is athletic enough to get to the rim when he wants. His biggest problems right now are his poor shot selection and he is playing a position he is not ready to play. If he can have an offseason like Bazz to get stronger he should be much better going into next year. It may take 2 years, but he fits the perfect role between Ricky and Wiggins being able to defend the 3rd best perimeter player while having a scoring mentality and physical ability to get to the rim at will once he gets stronger and is more comfortable being aggressive. He is playing like a rookie often deferring to the easier play rather than being aggressive and attacking the defense. All I can say is lord help the other team if he learns to split the hard hedge in the PnR. He'll be posterizing guys for days. Lavine looks and plays like a 19 year old. That should get better next season and into the future.

If anything, I would think Bazz would be the odd man out in the future if we got a player like Johnson in the draft because Wiggins, Lavine and Johnson all are more likely to be competent 2 way players and Bazz lacks the quickness to be a plus defender down the line in my opinion. From a 6th man standpoint, I'd rather have Lavine over Bazz because he'll be able to create his offense off the dribble as opposed to Bazz's unorthodox post/offensive board put back game. Lavine also has a better looking shot which makes me think he doesn't have as far to go for that to be a serious weapon in the future. Crawford with defense is a starter in this league so imagine if that is our 6th man. He's super young and playing out of position. I'm really excited for his future on this team in between Ricky and Wiggins. We talk a lot about how stuff would look on paper and Lavine between Ricky and Wiggins is the perfect 1-3 in my opinion. 2 future elite defenders with 1 solid defender to guard the perimeter. 1 creator for others and 2 creators for themselves. 2 guys who can run a pick and roll and two guys who should be good shooters around Ricky. You pretty much have an A and a B option in all facets of the game allowing any off nights by 1 guy to be covered up by the other 2.

[WildWolf2813]

The Zach hate really surprises me. I don't know if he's ever going to amount to a good NBA player, but I don't see any reason for all the negativity he's getting here. He came in about as inexperienced as you can be for a #1 draft pick. And then 2 weeks into his rookie season he's asked to run an NBA team from the point. Don't you realize how unfair that was to him? He should have been playing less than 10 minutes per game while getting his baptism in practice. He's had good games and bad games, which is about what you should have expected given the role he was thrust into.

My daughter wasn't allowed to play much point guard in high school. She spent most of her time at the 2. When she got to San Diego State, they needed a ball handler. So from day 1 she started at point guard. So I saw how difficult it was to walk into a higher level of play and have to run a team from the point. When she struggled in some games during the non-conference season, they stuck with her. By the end of the year she was playing over 35 minutes a game and set a freshman record for 3 pointers made. My point is Zach has never backed off and competed extremely hard, even when things weren't going well. He has immense athletic ability and is going to greatly benefit from the experience he was forced to gain. I'd much prefer to see how he is doing 12 months from now. It only makes sense, and is really what he deserves at this point.

I don't blame Zach for being picked up by us. I blame Flip for picking him. I don't think a little bit of love and tenderness is gonna make him figure out how to play basketball. This isn't based on this season. This is based on the mediocre season he had that led Flip to think he was a lotto pick, and if you wanna see how he's doing in 12 months, don't you think it would be kinda hard to see the progress if we're drafting someone like Johnson, Winslow or Russell to give us 3 young wings in Muhammad, Wiggins and one of those guys, all of whom would have higher priority, upside and ability than LaVine? By the time LaVine even projects these glimpses you hope to see, like your comparison for him (Crawford) he'll go elsewhere, so it feels like we're trying in vain to develop someone we won't keep because we'll have better options anyway.

Let me ask you this Wild - What we're your thoughts on Shabazz at this time last year?

That there was no excuse for him not being out there on the court. Absolutely none and it reflected upon a coach who didn't trust him and a GM who regretted picking him (sure Flip talks him up now, but Bazz forced his hand by performing whenever he got a chance-- and I still think he's harder on him than anyone else). You can ask Q, tim, whoever else, I was very much in the minority amongst Wolves fans, many who couldn't wait for him to fail. I thought by using him more last year we would have won more and he'd be further ahead than he is now.

[Coolbreeze44]

Well Bazz is worlds better this year than he was last year. You may have liked him, but he took a giant leap forward. I think he could have and should have gotten more run last year, but if you think his level of play was the same you are wrong.