2024 Wolves Draft thread

[Lipoli390]

FNG, One of the problems we have with our current young guys is the mis-match between what position they play and where we have needs. Heck, even Kyle Anderson found himself having to play out of position at times thanks to our depth at C and PF.

Assuming we bring back literally everyone under contract (no trades) and don't re-sign any of our free agents, here is the first two tiers of our depth chart:

C - Rudy, KAT
PF - KAT, Naz
SF - Jaden, Ant
SG - Ant, NAW
PG - Conley, ???

I realize I didn't go 10-deep here, but due to the fact KAT and Ant can play two positions, we pretty much have the 2-5 slots covered with good players. The one glaring hole is backup PG since SloMo could play this role when he was the backup SF playing with both NAW and Ant as the guards (and of course in the regular season we saw a spell where Finch used all three of his pure PGs in the rotation).

Bottom-line...I think we use one of our draft picks or bundle them to move up for a more mature PG AND we sign a free agent PG to a vet minimum deal. That could be JMac or Monte, TBD.

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I think the other position of need is a wing shooter/scorer. Josh Minott is the closest thing we have among the current young guys to help out at SF, but he's not a good shooter or defender. He's athletic as hell and has some surprisingly good passing chops. But if he can't knock down the open 3 or stay in front of other wings, he is completely useless to us no matter how fast he can fly up and down the court.

I generally agree with you, Q. But I think Minott is better defensively than you do. What I recall seeing from him most recently, it looked like he’s vastly improved his ability to stay in front of people. He certainly has the quickness to do so. His shooting remains the one thing holding him back in my view. I was hoping it would develop and it still might, but so far I haven’t seen any improvement in his shooting. Regarding Miller, I suspect he doesn’t have the drive to succeed in the NBA. The talent is there, but the mentality seems absent. We’ll see.

[Q-is-here]

Miller is probably the most talented of the young guys we have. I watched a lot of him in the G-League last year and he was often the most talented guy on the floor....offensively. He's got a decent shot, rebounds well, can grab a board and lead the break, solid passer, etc. Defensively it was both technique AND desire that is what disgusted me, even though he has the tools to be decent on that end.

If the G-League is supposed to develop players' weaknesses and make them more NBA-ready, than the Iowa staff gets a big, fat F last year. That coach needs to be fired and Connelly needs to pay more attention to that part of the operation.

Back to Miller....hopefully they gave him some candid feedback on his exit interview with coaches and staff. He certainly has time to turn things around as he definitely has NBA skills offensively. His development would make an eventual KAT or Naz trade much easier to pull off.

[FNG]

Q and Lip- the question I keep wrestling with as to why our young guys don't get meaningful minutes is this:

a) is Finchie the kind of coach who just doesn't trust young players, or
b) are they simply not NBA players that can be counted on?

The answer is somewhere in the middle I think, but I lean pretty far toward the "not good enough" side. Many fans cried out for more minutes for the M trio, but I trust that Finchie has a much better assessment of who they are than we do. He has seen them countless hours in practice and on video, and he clearly has concluded they aren't ready to contribute. And my sense is that he believes they will never be ready...otherwise, I think they would have seen the court more often than just the final 30 seconds of blowouts. (And I get that we were in a close race, but there were many games in which we either led or trailed by an insurmountable score with 5 minutes left. I think we would have seen the M boys more in these moments if Finchie hadn't already made up his mind).

So I don't see any of these guys ever suddenly showing enough that they capture Finchie's favor. They're all far behind JMac in Finchie's mind, and that buries them deep in the bench. Q has put together a nice analysis of what a post SloMo rotation might look like, and I don't think we need much if any help from either a draft pick or our young M boys as long as Finchie is willing to use Morris and JMac...which he has shown he is during the regular season. Conley is really a 1-2, so he gives us even more rotation flexibility if Morris and/or JMac get minutes.

[Lipoli390]

I'm starting to get a little more interested in the draft now that we're only a few days away. One overriding point though: if you watched Cam Christie play live at Williams Arena this season and now see a couple mock drafts that have us picking him at 27, you have some kind of an idea about the quality of available guys late in the first round ( more support for my lack of concern about the (likely) late first round picks we gave up to acquire a stud like Gobert).

I think the type of player (i.e. NBA ready player with less upside or a younger more long-term prospect) will have a lot to do with what the Wolves are doing with SloMo, Morris and JMac. The Wolves were able to begin negotiating with all three of them the moment the NBA finals ended, and they should have a very good idea about which (if any) of the three will be back next season by Wednesday. If they are not going to be back next season, I think Finchie is going to be asking for a more seasoned player who can be a rotation player right now. Shannon might be the most likely guy in this category, although unlike a few takes here, I have a higher level of concern about his alleged rape...even though he was found not guilty. But if our free agents (and especially SloMo) are returning next year (and if TC has no intention of trading any of our core rotation), I think the Wolves pick will be the player with the biggest upside...either a one-and-doner with a high ceiling or a Euro guy like Djurisic. Someone who won't likely help us this season, but who could be a factor down the road in the next Ant-centric Wolves iteration.

What about our core of non-playing young guys...do any of them have a chance of cracking the rotation if SloMo and Morris are gone? I think the fact that Finchie has been reluctant to play any of them in meaningful minutes tells us the answer is likely no. He has seen them in practices many times, and has also watched G League video of them, and I think his mind is made up about Moore, Minott and Miller. I don't think he sees much future with any of them. TC can try to package them to move up in the draft, but other GMs have seen the same video Finchie has, so I'm not sure that helps us move up.

Djurisic is the guy I'm most intrigued with in this draft at 27 and 37. I haven't seen the motor concerns WildWolf mentioned (WW-please post your source...it might impact my opinion), but I do see a terrific athlete with excellent ballhandling skills for a 6-8 guy. His shooting may be a question mark, although he did improve his 3-point shooting from 22% to 33% in the last year.

Two thoughts.

First, I’m sure you’re not the only one who still has doubts about Shannon based on the rape accusation in spite of his acquittal. I would encourage you and others in that camp to take a step back and think about how unfair that is. There’s a long list of people totally exonerated and released from prison years after a jury unanimously convicted them beyond a reasonable doubt. In Shannon’s case, he was acquitted by a jury. And just a cursory review of the trial shows no DNA or other corroborating evidence linking Shannon to the alleged assault. She probably saw him that night in the bar and perhaps she conflated him with the guy who assaulted her (assuming she was assaulted). Studies have shown that witness and victim face IDs are notoriously unreliable even though you would think the opposite. That’s why we’ve had a lot of false convictions over the years and that’s why corroborating evidence is so important. Witness and victim accounts are especially unreliable where alcohol is involved and I suspect the alleged victim was drinking since she was in a bar - an extremely crowded bar as described by the victim. I don’t know whether she was assaulted, but the jurors who were in the courtroom concluded that Shannon didn’t commit the assault. It seems fundamentally unfair to view someone through the lens of an accusation that resulted in an acquittal, especially when the case was a flimsy as this one.

Second, back to basketball, I can’t see any basketball reason to not re-sign both Slo Mo and Morris. It’s highly unlikely we’ll draft or sign a vet minimum player as good as either one. Either or both could be traded at the February trade deadline. Meanwhile, we have an open roster spot and I can see us not bringing back JMac to free up another spot. That’s two spots - one for a draft pick and the other for a vet minimum player. I suspect we’ll use our #37 pick to trade up in the first round or trade it for a future second round pick.

[Lipoli390]

Q and Lip- the question I keep wrestling with as to why our young guys don't get meaningful minutes is this:

a) is Finchie the kind of coach who just doesn't trust young players, or
b) are they simply not NBA players that can be counted on?

The answer is somewhere in the middle I think, but I lean pretty far toward the "not good enough" side. Many fans cried out for more minutes for the M trio, but I trust that Finchie has a much better assessment of who they are than we do. He has seen them countless hours in practice and on video, and he clearly has concluded they aren't ready to contribute. And my sense is that he believes they will never be ready...otherwise, I think they would have seen the court more often than just the final 30 seconds of blowouts. (And I get that we were in a close race, but there were many games in which we either led or trailed by an insurmountable score with 5 minutes left. I think we would have seen the M boys more in these moments if Finchie hadn't already made up his mind).

So I don't see any of these guys ever suddenly showing enough that they capture Finchie's favor. They're all far behind JMac in Finchie's mind, and that buries them deep in the bench. Q has put together a nice analysis of what a post SloMo rotation might look like, and I don't think we need much if any help from either a draft pick or our young M boys as long as Finchie is willing to use Morris and JMac...which he has shown he is during the regular season. Conley is really a 1-2, so he gives us even more rotation flexibility if Morris and/or JMac get minutes.

Nice analysis, FNG. I agree that Finch hasn’t played our young guys because they’re simply not good enough. I’ve been assuming that JMac won’t return, but your assessment might be more accurate — i.e., letting Slo Mo go and relying more on Morris and JMac.

[60WinTim]

Q and Lip- the question I keep wrestling with as to why our young guys don't get meaningful minutes is this:

a) is Finchie the kind of coach who just doesn't trust young players, or
b) are they simply not NBA players that can be counted on?

The answer is somewhere in the middle I think, but I lean pretty far toward the "not good enough" side. Many fans cried out for more minutes for the M trio, but I trust that Finchie has a much better assessment of who they are than we do. He has seen them countless hours in practice and on video, and he clearly has concluded they aren't ready to contribute. And my sense is that he believes they will never be ready...otherwise, I think they would have seen the court more often than just the final 30 seconds of blowouts. (And I get that we were in a close race, but there were many games in which we either led or trailed by an insurmountable score with 5 minutes left. I think we would have seen the M boys more in these moments if Finchie hadn't already made up his mind).

So I don't see any of these guys ever suddenly showing enough that they capture Finchie's favor. They're all far behind JMac in Finchie's mind, and that buries them deep in the bench. Q has put together a nice analysis of what a post SloMo rotation might look like, and I don't think we need much if any help from either a draft pick or our young M boys as long as Finchie is willing to use Morris and JMac...which he has shown he is during the regular season. Conley is really a 1-2, so he gives us even more rotation flexibility if Morris and/or JMac get minutes.

Nice analysis, FNG. I agree that Finch hasn’t played our young guys because they’re simply not good enough. I’ve been assuming that JMac won’t return, but your assessment might be more accurate — i.e., letting Slo Mo go and relying more on Morris and JMac.

I think Monte is a lock to re-sign with the Wolves. And unless we draft PG at #27, I think there is a good chance we bring back JMac as well, unless he finds a better opportunity somewhere else...

[FNG]

Lip, I would re-sign SloMo and Morris also. I know they could start negotiating with them last week, but I don't know if they can announce a deal...maybe deals are already in place. And I think both will have much better years next year. SloMo's eye injury clearly impacted his shooting, and Morris's injury also had an impact...I'm hoping some recovery by both of them can bring them back to their normal level of play. Of course I would re-sign JMac also, but not if Finchie has totally lost confidence in him.

[Phenom]

I found this tidbit on the HoopsHype mock, which has KJ at 49.

"KJ Simpson is a candidate to watch with the Minnesota Timberwolves higher in the draft, HoopsHype has learned."

I assume that means 37.

Then ESPN had this nugget.

"The Timberwolves, who also have the No. 37 pick, have come up as a team that could look to trade around in the draft."

I could definitely see the Wolves packaging both picks together to snipe a guy that slips through the cracks.

[Lipoli390]

Lip, I would re-sign SloMo and Morris also. I know they could start negotiating with them last week, but I don't know if they can announce a deal...maybe deals are already in place. And I think both will have much better years next year. SloMo's eye injury clearly impacted his shooting, and Morris's injury also had an impact...I'm hoping some recovery by both of them can bring them back to their normal level of play. Of course I would re-sign JMac also, but not if Finchie has totally lost confidence in him.

That’s what I would do too, FNG. But if we’re going to keep one of our two draft picks and sign a vet minimum FA we’ll have to clear a roster spot. I was thinking the Wolves would simply cut Moore until kek pointed out that the Wolves picked up their team option on him. The more I think about it, the more I anticipate the Wolves making a draft-day trade. I think they’ll package 27 and 37 along with one of our young guys (Moore, Miller or Minott) to move up in the 1st round. That sort of deal won’t get them into the lottery but it could get them as high as Orlando’s #18 pick.

[Lipoli390]

I found this tidbit on the HoopsHype mock, which has KJ at 49.

"KJ Simpson is a candidate to watch with the Minnesota Timberwolves higher in the draft, HoopsHype has learned."

I assume that means 37.

Then ESPN had this nugget.

"The Timberwolves, who also have the No. 37 pick, have come up as a team that could look to trade around in the draft."

I could definitely see the Wolves packaging both picks together to snipe a guy that slips through the cracks.

That’s what I was thinking, Phenom. To elaborate on my last post, I see a couple different scenarios.

1. Wolves package 27, 37 and Moore to move up several slots for Kolek or Terrence Shannon.

2. Wolves package 27, 37, Miller and possibly a future 2nd rounder to move up into the late teens or early 20s for Topic, McCain, or Carlton Carrington.

On the other hand, there’s a good chance Kolek or others the Wolves like will be there at 27, in which case the Wolves might trade down and pick up another asset. It could get interesting.