2024 Wolves Draft thread

[Lipoli390]

I think Moore is garbage. I hope they move on from him. Miller you can give some time to develop but I dont like what I have seen with his disinterest in playing any defense.. I love Garza and think it's absurd he didn't get any playing time. Guy can just ball.

I really want to see is target hyper competetive players. Not only does is it helpful in games but it usually tells you about their dedication and how hard they will work to improve. This ain't the California penal league.

I share your view of Garza. I just think he was a victim of an oversupply of bigs in Rudy, KAT and Naz.

[Lipoli390]

OK. I’m in the early stages of developing my draft board for this month. It’s a work in progress and subject to lots of changes between now and draft night. I’m developing two draft boards: (1) a list of lottery or borderline lottery prospects the Wolves should consider trading up for, which would likely mean moving Rudy, KAT or Naz; and (2) a list of non-lottery prospects who have a decent chance of being available on the 27-37 range or close enough to 27 to trade up for in exchange for our 27th pick and maybe Miller or Minott. Note that I’m not ranking all prospects. My lists are limited to players I think would be good picks for the Wolves.

LOTTERY PROSPECTS:

1. Reed Sheppard (PG) — This guy looks like a future star PG. He’d be perfect for the Wolves. Projected top 4 pick.
2. Rob Dillingham (PG) - The other Kentucky PG. Projected top 10 pick.
3. Devin Carter Jr. (PG)
4. Jared McCain (PG)
5. Johnny Furphy (SG/SF)
6. Keyshawn George (SG/S)

NON-LOTTERY PROSPECTS (20-37 Range)

1. Baylor Scheirman (SG/SF) - Love what I’ve seen on film. I also love his 9 rebounds per game - a stat that reflects effort/intensity and that typically transfers from college to the NBA. His shot-making and passing reminds me a bit of Luka. As a senior he could help the Wolves right away as part of a championship contender. We’ll probably have to trade up a few slots to get him.

2. Tyler Kolek (PG) - I’m obviously focusing on PGs as a position of need, but I’d have Scheirman and Kolek 1 and 2 as the best non-lottery prospects anyway. This guy’s a shooter and playmaker. He shot nearly 50% from the field and 39% from behind the arc. He also averaged an impressive 7.7 assists per game. I’m also impressed by his 5 boards per game as a PG. He looks good on film as well.

3. Pacome Dadiet; (SF) - I’m just going by what I’ve read and seen. It’s hard to gauge anything from his Euro stats with limited playing time. He’s described as a “high energy two-way player who makes quick decisions.” Apparently, he’s a high IQ player and we need more of those. He’d be a high upside pick; not a guy to count on at all next season.

4. KJ Simpson (PG) - Averaged nearly 20 points per game along with 5 assists, 6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and only 2.2 turnovers. He shot 47.5% from the field and 43.4% from behind the arc on 5 three attempts per game. He also got to the line 5 times per game and shot over 87%. Very impressive stats. He could be available as low as 37.

5. Ajay Mitchell (PG) — Shot over 50% from the field and 39% from behind the arc. Should be available at 37.

[FNG]

Lip, thanks (to you and others) for doing the early work on this. While late first round and second round picks don't often pan out, it's at least fun to have two picks in the top 37.

Personally I don't have PG on my list as a draft target for a weird reason. We talk a lot about finding the PG of the future, but what does that really mean? I think Chris Finch is going to be here for a long time, and I don't see him as a guy who likes a classic PG in his offensive schemes (and yes...maybe that's a problem), and I see no evidence that is going to change. I would argue he had three classic PGs on his roster last year...guys who are mostly pass-first, and protect the ball. But he seemed to use Conley more off-ball as more of a SG (more often than not we would see Ant, NAW or SloMo originating the offense, even when Mike was out there), and the other two hardly saw the court in the playoffs. It wouldn't be the way I would design an offense, but in all fairness, Finchie led a team to the conference finals and I didn't/ So that's why I would target shooters who could provide some scoring punch off the bench, and good rebounding and defending PFs in case they decide to move Naz. I'm going to look for some options in the next week.

[Q-is-here]

Lip, thanks (to you and others) for doing the early work on this. While late first round and second round picks don't often pan out, it's at least fun to have two picks in the top 37.

Personally I don't have PG on my list as a draft target for a weird reason. We talk a lot about finding the PG of the future, but what does that really mean? I think Chris Finch is going to be here for a long time, and I don't see him as a guy who likes a classic PG in his offensive schemes (and yes...maybe that's a problem), and I see no evidence that is going to change. I would argue he had three classic PGs on his roster last year...guys who are mostly pass-first, and protect the ball. But he seemed to use Conley more off-ball as more of a SG (more often than not we would see Ant, NAW or SloMo originating the offense, even when Mike was out there), and the other two hardly saw the court in the playoffs. It wouldn't be the way I would design an offense, but in all fairness, Finchie led a team to the conference finals and I didn't/ So that's why I would target shooters who could provide some scoring punch off the bench, and good rebounding and defending PFs in case they decide to move Naz. I'm going to look for some options in the next week.

He may not like the classic PG, but he definitely wants a PG-like player on the floor as a safety valve to get Ant or KAT off the ball since they have a tendency to make a mess out of things when given too much on-ball responsibility. SloMo was often that player when Conley was on the bench. And of course we saw that stretch in the regular season where he was playing all three of his PGs for a spell in the rotation. The turnovers plummeted as a result.

I think in an ideal world, Finch would love to see an Ant/NAW/KAT/Jaden/Rudy lineup to close games next season if Conley is hurt or in need of rest. But Ant needs to take a leap in his PG skills to make this work. He still struggles to find a balance between a mechanical approach of "I'm moving the ball quickly and being passive because coach told me not to hang on to it too much" versus "get the eff out of the way I'm taking this next shot no matter what!".

I definitely agree with having more shooters.

[Q-is-here]

OK. I’m in the early stages of developing my draft board for this month. It’s a work in progress and subject to lots of changes between now and draft night. I’m developing two draft boards: (1) a list of lottery or borderline lottery prospects the Wolves should consider trading up for, which would likely mean moving Rudy, KAT or Naz; and (2) a list of non-lottery prospects who have a decent chance of being available on the 27-37 range or close enough to 27 to trade up for in exchange for our 27th pick and maybe Miller or Minott. Note that I’m not ranking all prospects. My lists are limited to players I think would be good picks for the Wolves.

LOTTERY PROSPECTS:

1. Reed Sheppard (PG) — This guy looks like a future star PG. He’d be perfect for the Wolves. Projected top 4 pick.
2. Rob Dillingham (PG) - The other Kentucky PG. Projected top 10 pick.
3. Devin Carter Jr. (PG)
4. Jared McCain (PG)
5. Johnny Furphy (SG/SF)
6. Keyshawn George (SG/S)

NON-LOTTERY PROSPECTS (20-37 Range)

1. Baylor Scheirman (SG/SF) - Love what I’ve seen on film. I also love his 9 rebounds per game - a stat that reflects effort/intensity and that typically transfers from college to the NBA. His shot-making and passing reminds me a bit of Luka. As a senior he could help the Wolves right away as part of a championship contender. We’ll probably have to trade up a few slots to get him.

2. Tyler Kolek (PG) - I’m obviously focusing on PGs as a position of need, but I’d have Scheirman and Kolek 1 and 2 as the best non-lottery prospects anyway. This guy’s a shooter and playmaker. He shot nearly 50% from the field and 39% from behind the arc. He also averaged an impressive 7.7 assists per game. I’m also impressed by his 5 boards per game as a PG. He looks good on film as well.

3. Pacome Dadiet; (SF) - I’m just going by what I’ve read and seen. It’s hard to gauge anything from his Euro stats with limited playing time. He’s described as a “high energy two-way player who makes quick decisions.” Apparently, he’s a high IQ player and we need more of those. He’d be a high upside pick; not a guy to count on at all next season.

4. KJ Simpson (PG) - Averaged nearly 20 points per game along with 5 assists, 6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and only 2.2 turnovers. He shot 47.5% from the field and 43.4% from behind the arc on 5 three attempts per game. He also got to the line 5 times per game and shot over 87%. Very impressive stats. He could be available as low as 37.

5. Ajay Mitchell (PG) — Shot over 50% from the field and 39% from behind the arc. Should be available at 37.

Thanks Lip. Yeah, I really like Kolek.

[Lipoli390]

Lip, thanks (to you and others) for doing the early work on this. While late first round and second round picks don't often pan out, it's at least fun to have two picks in the top 37.

Personally I don't have PG on my list as a draft target for a weird reason. We talk a lot about finding the PG of the future, but what does that really mean? I think Chris Finch is going to be here for a long time, and I don't see him as a guy who likes a classic PG in his offensive schemes (and yes...maybe that's a problem), and I see no evidence that is going to change. I would argue he had three classic PGs on his roster last year...guys who are mostly pass-first, and protect the ball. But he seemed to use Conley more off-ball as more of a SG (more often than not we would see Ant, NAW or SloMo originating the offense, even when Mike was out there), and the other two hardly saw the court in the playoffs. It wouldn't be the way I would design an offense, but in all fairness, Finchie led a team to the conference finals and I didn't/ So that's why I would target shooters who could provide some scoring punch off the bench, and good rebounding and defending PFs in case they decide to move Naz. I'm going to look for some options in the next week.

I agree that a classic PG isn’t necessarily the right fit or what Finch would want. But note that the PGs on my draft prospect list are all good shooters. So I wouldn’t say any of them are classic PGs. My view is that Ant desperately needs an elite ball handler who can shoot and create shots. NAW isn’t that guy. Conley is sort of that guy, but not ideal and he’s 37 years old. Ant needs his Scottie Pippen or Luka or Kyrie or Klay Thompson or Jaylen Brown or Derrick White…. Part of Ant being worn down is that he had no one to share responsibility for creating offense and yet the team still counted on him to play lock-down defense.

[Carlos Danger]

My list:

First round (#27):
Carlton Carrington (G) age 18. From a different scouting report than I posted a few weeks ago: "Carlton Carrington has an NBA-ready skillset with his shooting profile and a perimeter shot that improved throughout the season."
https://www.fearthesword.com/2024/6/10/ ... carrington

Most mocks have him going anywhere from mid to late first round. He probably won't be there at #27...but he might.

Isaiah Collier (PG) age 19. "Collier is a 6’4 215 PG/SG with a chiseled, NBA-ready frame on the perimeter, as well as very good speed, body control and burst"
https://www.nbadraft.net/players/isaiah-collier/

Similar to Carrington, most mocks I'm seeing have him going anywhere from mid-teens to mid 20s.

Either one of those guys would be a great get IMO.

I'm not spending a ton of time researching for the second round pick. But I saw they brought in Melvin Ajinca for a workout and I liked his profile:

Melvin Ajinca (Wing) age 19. "A 3-and-D prospect, Ajinca is looking to make the NBA’s top-60 come draft day"
https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2024/5/2 ... ideo-notes

Edit. I know a several on here like Baylor Scheierman. I think he might be there for our second round pick and I'd be fine taking him there (but I think he'd be a reach with our first pick).

[Phenom]

I saw that Juan Nunez says he worked out for Wolves and Bucks. Spanish point guard who is competing for a spot on Spain's national team with Wolves legends Ricky Rubio and Lorenzo Brown.

[Wolvesfan21]

Don't forget we got Jaylen Clark (stud defender from UCLA) coming up who was out last year because of an achilles injury. We could get some production from him if everything goes good. Finch said he reminds him of Jaden. Jaylen is 6-4 but a 6-9 wingspan.

[Q-is-here]

Don't forget we got Jaylen Clark (stud defender from UCLA) coming up who was out last year because of an achilles injury. We could get some production from him if everything goes good. Finch said he reminds him of Jaden. Jaylen is 6-4 but a 6-9 wingspan.

I have no doubt he could be a great, if not elite, NBA defender. It all comes down to his ability to make open 3s. He is totally useless if he can't, as we already have the #1 defense and a mediocre offense without him. What good is an elite defender that can't shoot at this point?