2024 Wolves Draft thread

[Coolbreeze44]

I watched the national championship game and thought Edey looked like a far better prospect than Clingan. But I see Donovan consistently rated ahead of him, why is that?

[Q-is-here]

I watched the national championship game and thought Edey looked like a far better prospect than Clingan. But I see Donovan consistently rated ahead of him, why is that?

I saw it the opposite way. I thought Clingan was much more mobile and coordinated, which makes him more versatile defensively in the modern day NBA where Centers have to be able to guard in space and close out on shooters. Edey reminds me a bit of Roy Hibbert, who eventually got played out of the NBA once pace and space started to take off. He's just so slow and plodding. Not sure his soft touch in the post can make up for all his liabilities.

[Lipoli390]

The case for drafting KJ Simpson. Will he be available at 27? Highly likely. At 37? Maybe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_WoAkiyivU

A little on the small side and only started shooting well this season. Not sure what changes he made last offseason to his shot, but they worked! I have Kolek ranked above him in terms of being an "ready now" backup PG.

As you can see in my list I also have Kolek ranked above Simpson. What my list doesn’t show is that I see a pretty significant gap between Kolek and Simpson and I suspect NBA front offices do as well. Simpson could be available at 37 but we’ll probably have to trade up from 27 to get Kolek.

[Lipoli390]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/557973 ... ards-2024/


Good stuff from the athletic, I'll just post what they said about Shannon.

Terrence Shannon Jr. | 6-6 SG/SF | 23 years old | Illinois
Western Conference executive No. 1: Initially, a nice rotational piece every night in the regular season. He’s going to get buckets. There’s going to be some nights where you scratch your head and say ‘Did he just shoot that?’ And then there’s going to be other nights when he goes for 25, 28, and you’re like, wow. He’s a man. He should be able to step in next year, because he can compete athletically, he can compete physically. And, when he wants to defend, he can. Offensively, he can go get it. I truly believe he will be, at this time next year, in the conversation for First Team All-Rookie. At worst, second team. In most cases, he will be drafted by a pretty good team. I think he’s going to be late teens at best, 20s and worst. And those are playoff teams. They have guys that know how to play. Their roles are already defined.
Is it going to take a while? Yes. But he knows the landscape of what’s in front of him. He is not a consistent defender. His role at Illinois the past two years has been, it’s fallen on his shoulders to do so much scoring, and creating offensively. But when he wanted to lock in, he can get into guys. He can get into people. Is he a Herb Jones? No. Herb is an every possession guy. Terrence, there’s going to be some times when there’s some mental lapses. But then usually, he’s going to make it up for you and will get it back with a steal three or four possessions later.

College assistant coach No. 6 (his team played Illinois): He is a good player. Really good player. He’s the best player in college that I saw last year driving the ball in transition. It’s like LeBron in his heyday — those Miami days where he would just drive the ball as hard as he could, and run right into you. That’s what Shannon did. We’d have two guys standing there, locked arms, and he would run right into you. He’s a decent 3-point shooter. I question his character a little. They say he’s a hard worker, though. He prides himself, (Illinois coach) Brad Underwood swears he’s one of the best defenders in the country. But he played us and he could not wait for somebody to come up and set a screen so he could switch. But the kid is fearless. He’s got an incredible, athletic body. And he can run. He is a very, very talented player.

College Assistant coach No. 3 (his team played Illinois): Love him. He’s one of the guys that, he has gotten better since he’s transferred to Illinois from Texas Tech. He’s definitely been in the gym working on his game. Tough, competitor. Shot has gotten a lot better. Competes on both ends. Very fast with the ball. What it will look like at the next level, I’m not sure. He has good positional size, and he’s just tough and he competes. He’s a better player than (Cam) Christie, and I think he’ll be a better pro than Christie as well. … He’s a little older. I liked him as a kid. I didn’t see him as being a guy that was a locker room guy. From what I know, teammates, (and) our guys got along with him. Inner city Chicago. Always a tough kid. I don’t think he had any underlying issues, if that makes sense. I don’t see him as being that type of kid.

Eastern Conference executive No 2: He’s a damn good defender. Shooting is a little sporadic, but it’s gotten better. You talk about tough, now. He’s tough as s—. If he goes to a certain team, I could see him starting next year. He could start for us, probably.

Eastern Conference executive No. 5: As early as late lottery (post-dismissal). His age (23) may be a factor for rebuilding teams.
Top

Seems like he has that classic scorer's mentality and can create his own shot. Love how high of a percentage he hit on his 2 pt shots. His 3's were OK-ish, but my guess a lot of those were highly contested, so he may be a lot better on open catch and shoot 3s.

He was just found not guilty on a sexual assault charge, which may have been weighing a bit on his draft stock. My guess is he goes before we can snag him.

He’s one of the guys on my list who could still be available at 27.

His draft stock will still probably suffer from the allegations in spite of the acquittal. From what I’ve read, the fact that he was charged was a travesty. There was no trace of Shannon’s DNA on the victim and nothing in Shannon’s background or character to suggest he’d do something like that. Moreover, he testified on his own behalf. As a former prosecutor in my early years as a lawyer, that’s a sign of innocence or desperation. Given the lack of DNA evidence and no other corroborating evidence, his decision to testify clearly wasn’t an act of desperation. Really lazy police work based on what I’ve seen. The good news for Shannon is that he’ll be drafted by an NBA team and have the chance to live out his dream.

[Coolbreeze44]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/557973 ... ards-2024/


Good stuff from the athletic, I'll just post what they said about Shannon.

Terrence Shannon Jr. | 6-6 SG/SF | 23 years old | Illinois
Western Conference executive No. 1: Initially, a nice rotational piece every night in the regular season. He’s going to get buckets. There’s going to be some nights where you scratch your head and say ‘Did he just shoot that?’ And then there’s going to be other nights when he goes for 25, 28, and you’re like, wow. He’s a man. He should be able to step in next year, because he can compete athletically, he can compete physically. And, when he wants to defend, he can. Offensively, he can go get it. I truly believe he will be, at this time next year, in the conversation for First Team All-Rookie. At worst, second team. In most cases, he will be drafted by a pretty good team. I think he’s going to be late teens at best, 20s and worst. And those are playoff teams. They have guys that know how to play. Their roles are already defined.
Is it going to take a while? Yes. But he knows the landscape of what’s in front of him. He is not a consistent defender. His role at Illinois the past two years has been, it’s fallen on his shoulders to do so much scoring, and creating offensively. But when he wanted to lock in, he can get into guys. He can get into people. Is he a Herb Jones? No. Herb is an every possession guy. Terrence, there’s going to be some times when there’s some mental lapses. But then usually, he’s going to make it up for you and will get it back with a steal three or four possessions later.

College assistant coach No. 6 (his team played Illinois): He is a good player. Really good player. He’s the best player in college that I saw last year driving the ball in transition. It’s like LeBron in his heyday — those Miami days where he would just drive the ball as hard as he could, and run right into you. That’s what Shannon did. We’d have two guys standing there, locked arms, and he would run right into you. He’s a decent 3-point shooter. I question his character a little. They say he’s a hard worker, though. He prides himself, (Illinois coach) Brad Underwood swears he’s one of the best defenders in the country. But he played us and he could not wait for somebody to come up and set a screen so he could switch. But the kid is fearless. He’s got an incredible, athletic body. And he can run. He is a very, very talented player.

College Assistant coach No. 3 (his team played Illinois): Love him. He’s one of the guys that, he has gotten better since he’s transferred to Illinois from Texas Tech. He’s definitely been in the gym working on his game. Tough, competitor. Shot has gotten a lot better. Competes on both ends. Very fast with the ball. What it will look like at the next level, I’m not sure. He has good positional size, and he’s just tough and he competes. He’s a better player than (Cam) Christie, and I think he’ll be a better pro than Christie as well. … He’s a little older. I liked him as a kid. I didn’t see him as being a guy that was a locker room guy. From what I know, teammates, (and) our guys got along with him. Inner city Chicago. Always a tough kid. I don’t think he had any underlying issues, if that makes sense. I don’t see him as being that type of kid.

Eastern Conference executive No 2: He’s a damn good defender. Shooting is a little sporadic, but it’s gotten better. You talk about tough, now. He’s tough as s—. If he goes to a certain team, I could see him starting next year. He could start for us, probably.

Eastern Conference executive No. 5: As early as late lottery (post-dismissal). His age (23) may be a factor for rebuilding teams.
Top

Seems like he has that classic scorer's mentality and can create his own shot. Love how high of a percentage he hit on his 2 pt shots. His 3's were OK-ish, but my guess a lot of those were highly contested, so he may be a lot better on open catch and shoot 3s.

He was just found not guilty on a sexual assault charge, which may have been weighing a bit on his draft stock. My guess is he goes before we can snag him.

He’s one of the guys on my list who could still be available at 27.

His draft stock will still probably suffer from the allegations in spite of the acquittal. From what I’ve read, the fact that he was charged was a travesty. There was no trace of Shannon’s DNA on the victim and nothing in Shannon’s background or character to suggest he’d do something like that. Moreover, he testified on his own behalf. As a former prosecutor in my early years as a lawyer, that’s a sign of innocence or desperation. Given the lack of DNA evidence and no other corroborating evidence, his decision to testify clearly wasn’t an act of desperation. Really lazy policy work based on what I’ve seen. The good news for Shannon is that he’ll be drafted by an NBA team and have the chance to live out his dream.

Nice perspective Lip. I have no background in law but I've always believed willingness to testify on your behalf is a pretty good indicator of innocence. I'm happy to know he did that and will be pulling for him going forward.

[Lipoli390]

This is the latest draft.net mock draft. It’s very similar to all the other mocks with some relatively minor differences. For example, all the mocks I’ve seen have Reed Sheppard going in the top 3. This one has Kolek going slightly lower than most others. It has Scheierman going in the second round rather than late first as in other mocks. The biggest variance between mocks seems to be Nikola Topic.

1. Atlanta Zaccharie Risacher 6-9 200 SF/PF France Intl.
2 Washington Alexandre Sarr 7-1 225 C France Intl.
3 Houston Reed Sheppard 6-3 180 PG/SG Kentucky Fr.
4 San Antonio Stephon Castle 6-7 210 PG/SG UConn Fr.
5 Detroit Matas Buzelis 6-10 195 SF/PF G-League Fr.
6 Charlotte Donovan Clingan 7-3 280 C UConn So.
7 Portland Cody Williams 6-8 180 SF Colorado Fr.
8 San Antonio Tidjane Salaun 6-9 210 PF France Intl.
9 Memphis Ronald Holland 6-8 195 SF G-League Fr.
10 Utah Dalton Knecht 6-6 210 SG/SF Tennessee Sr.
11 Chicago Devin Carter 6-3 195 PG/SG Providence Jr.
12 Oklahoma Cty Carlton Carrington 6-5 195 PG/SG Pittsburgh Fr.
13 Sacramento Ja'Kobe Walter 6-5 200 SG Baylor Fr.
14 Portland Jared McCain 6-3 205 PG/SG Duke Fr.
15 Miami Tristan da Silva 6-9 215 SF Colorado Sr.
16 Philadelphia Isaiah Collier 6-4 205 PG USC Fr.
17 LA Lakers Yves Missi. 7-0 230 C Baylor Fr.
18 Orlando KyShawn George 6-8 210 SF Miami Fr.
19 Toronto Rob Dillingham 6-2 165 PG Kentucky Fr.
20 Cleveland Nikola Topic 6-6 200 PG Serbia Intl.
21 New Orleans Zach Edey 7-5 300 C Purdue Sr.
22 Phoenix DaRon Holmes 6-10 235 PF/C Dayton Jr.
23 Milwaukee Jaylon Tyson 6-7 220 SG/SF California Jr.
24 New York Terrence Shannon 6-7 225 SG Illinois Sr.
25 New York Kel'el Ware 7-1 230 C Indiana So.
26 Washington Tyler Kolek 6-2 195 PG Marquette Sr.
27 Minnesota Cam Christie 6-6 190 SG Minnesota Fr.
28 Denver Kyle Filipowski 7-0 230 PF/C Duke So. Fr.
29 Utah Johnny Furphy 6-9 190 SG/SF Kansas Fr.
30 Boston Pacome Dadiet 6-8 210 SF France Intl.

[Lipoli390]

Looking at that draft.net mock, my first thought is that I hope we don’t end up picking Cam Christie. It’s not that I don’t like his game. I just like other prospects far more based on talent and need.

As I think about my list of top 11 prospects for the Wolves, I’ve placed each one into one of four different categories based on roughly what it would take to get them:

Category 1: Prospects likely available at 27 and therefore prospects we can draft outright:

KJ Simpson is the only prospect in my list who I’m certain will be available at 27. In fact, I think he’ll likely be available at 37 so I wouldn’t use our #27 pick on him. I wouldn’t be surprised if Scheierman is available at 27, but I wouldn’t count on it. So I see him as either a Category 1 or Category 2 prospect.

The conservative side of my nature inclines me to prefer drafting Scheierman at 27 and KJ at 37, assuming they’re both available in those two slots. If I were TC and my intelligence reports indicated that they’ll be available for those picks, I might just do that. On the other hand, there’s another side to me that says be aggressive and go for something bigger. It’s an unusual draft in that there are no obvious future stars. That should make the draft more fluid and present opportunities for the more astute front offices to make winning moves on draft day.

Category 2: Prospects likely available in the 20-26 range and therefore possibly gettable by packaging our two picks and maybe Clark, Moore and/or a future 2nd.

Based on the mocks out there, it looks like two of my 11, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Tyler Kolek, fall into this category (more likely in the 23-26 range. These are two guys the Wolves should be able to trade up for without giving up more than both our picks along with Clark and/or Moore. I’d make that deal for either one even if Scheierman is available at 27. I’m inclined to put Dillingham in this category as well. In fact, I can envision Dillingham falling to 27 in which case I’d nab him.

This strikes me as the most realistic category for a Wolves draft day trade. If I could get Tyler Kolek or Terrence Shannon by simply trading both our picks plus Moore or Clark, I’d do it.

Category 3: Prospects likely available in the teens and therefore possibly gettable by packaging our two picks along with Clark/More and probably Miller and/or Minott.

This category houses the biggest subset of my 11 favorites for the Wolves, including Topic, McCain, Carter, and Bub Carrington. I doubt a package without one of our core 6 would be enough to get Carter but the others might be gettable if we empty the coffers by including all or nearly all our young prospects along with our two picks.

This is probably the toughest category to gauge and a move for one of the players on my list in this category seems unlikely.

Category 4: Top 10 prospects who the Wolves can get only by trading one of their core players (KAT, Rudy, Ant, Jaden or Naz). (Note: I’m convinced Naz has far more value than reported. Those reports likely reflect posturing by front office execs)

I have one of my 11 in this category - Reed Sheppard, although Carter arguably falls into this category as well. Bottom line: If the Wolves want Reed, they’ll have to trade Rudy, KAT, Jaden or Naz. I’m not sure exactly what it would take or what the packages to and from would look like, but no doubt one of those four core Wolves players would have to be included in the Wolves outgoing package. As I see it, the trading partner would have to be Atlanta or Washington. Both those teams would probably love to get Naz, although how much they’d like to get him is unknown. Of those two teams, only Atlanta might have an interest in either Rudy or KAT. I don’t think Atlanta wants to rebuild and because there’s no sure fire star in this draft I expect them to deal their pick to get win-now players to fit with Murray and Young. They might be interested in shoring up their interior defense and rebounding by reuniting their head coach with Rudy. Or they might like to add an elite offensive big like KAT. I’d give up any of those three (Rudy, KAT or Naz) to get Reed Sheppard who I see as a future John Stockton and perfect fit in the back court next to Edwards. Meanwhile, he’d have a season to study under one of the better PGs in Mike Conley.

[WildWolf2813]

I watched the national championship game and thought Edey looked like a far better prospect than Clingan. But I see Donovan consistently rated ahead of him, why is that?

I saw it the opposite way. I thought Clingan was much more mobile and coordinated, which makes him more versatile defensively in the modern day NBA where Centers have to be able to guard in space and close out on shooters. Edey reminds me a bit of Roy Hibbert, who eventually got played out of the NBA once pace and space started to take off. He's just so slow and plodding. Not sure his soft touch in the post can make up for all his liabilities.

the irony is that he tested similarly to Clingan at the combine.

[WildWolf2813]

Top 5 realistic picks for me at 27 (I'll be at the draft)

1. Baylor Scheierman. He rebounds and shoots threes. He checks off everything we need.
2. Jaylon Tyson- tough kid, big time scorer, and NAW's potential exit looms large, so address this early.
3. DaRon Holmes. Kinda like him as a small ball 5, change of pace guy. If the long term goal is to pay Naz Reid and make him a starter, Holmes and Miller give us 2 cracks at it and could be a good bench pair together.
4. Tyler Kolek- Not super excited about this but he's a shooter, upperclassman, plug and play guard for a team I hope is not disregarding the position.
5. Nikola Djurisic- kinda has a motor issue, BUT off talent alone he's really really good. That guy thinks he's gonna be awesome. Kinda reminds me a bit of McDaniels in terms of temperament.

Top 5 picks I don't want at 27.

1. Tyler Smith- super young, has upside and TC has an affinity for Ignite guys, but this guy is so far away defensively that I don't think it's ever coming
2. Ryan Dunn- might be the best defensive player in the class, but a 6'7'' Josh Okogie is still Josh Okogie. Offensively he sucks.
3. Johnny Furphy- I don't think he's ready to help us and won't be of help for a while.
4. KJ Simpson- talented guy and I might be open to it at 37, but man I don't know how this team's gonna find a PG successor. I know it's not him. I don't want him as anything more than a backup.
5. Kevin McCullar- older prospect. Not a great shooter. He's the kind of guy Glen Taylor used to like; okish players on great teams with pedigree.

[Lipoli390]

Top 5 realistic picks for me at 27 (I'll be at the draft)

1. Baylor Scheierman. He rebounds and shoots threes. He checks off everything we need.
2. Jaylon Tyson- tough kid, big time scorer, and NAW's potential exit looms large, so address this early.
3. DaRon Holmes. Kinda like him as a small ball 5, change of pace guy. If the long term goal is to pay Naz Reid and make him a starter, Holmes and Miller give us 2 cracks at it and could be a good bench pair together.
4. Tyler Kolek- Not super excited about this but he's a shooter, upperclassman, plug and play guard for a team I hope is not disregarding the position.
5. Nikola Djurisic- kinda has a motor issue, BUT off talent alone he's really really good. That guy thinks he's gonna be awesome. Kinda reminds me a bit of McDaniels in terms of temperament.

Top 5 picks I don't want at 27.

1. Tyler Smith- super young, has upside and TC has an affinity for Ignite guys, but this guy is so far away defensively that I don't think it's ever coming
2. Ryan Dunn- might be the best defensive player in the class, but a 6'7'' Josh Okogie is still Josh Okogie. Offensively he sucks.
3. Johnny Furphy- I don't think he's ready to help us and won't be of help for a while.
4. KJ Simpson- talented guy and I might be open to it at 37, but man I don't know how this team's gonna find a PG successor. I know it's not him. I don't want him as anything more than a backup.
5. Kevin McCullar- older prospect. Not a great shooter. He's the kind of guy Glen Taylor used to like; okish players on great teams with pedigree.

I agree with your stay-aways. I like KJ, but like you at 37 not 27. Among the five guys you like, Kolek and Scheierman are the two who interest me although I think we’ll have to trade up a few spots to get Kolek. I’m intrigued by Jaylon Tyson’s toughness but I hate to draft someone with a questionable perimeter shot. We’re loaded at the 5 so I wouldn’t use one of our precious few picks the remainder of this decade on another big unless he knocks our socks off. Djurisic is intriguing but any whispers of motor issues are a giant red flag that says STAY AWAY.