Grade the Draft
Re: Grade the Draft
Kessler can make this team better without the ball in his hands and hopefully eats up some of those fouls that forced Towns to the bench at inopportune times last year.
Re: Grade the Draft
SameOldNudityDrew wrote:Wait, we got Minott?? I totally missed that until just now. Says Charlotte on the draft board, and I went to sleep before we got to that point, so I missed any trade we made.
I don't know much about Minott yet, but J. Kyle Mann I think was saying on his podcast this past week that he was a huge analytical darling. Didn't play much, but when he did, apparently he was really effective. I want to say I heard the phrase "per minute monster" used in the podcast I heard about him. Guess who's about to go check out some youtube clips!! Sounds good!
EDIT: Yikes, that's an ugly looking jumper!
He does a lot of stuff in limited minutes I kinda like him. Yeah his shot doesn't look great but the positive I guess is he made his FTs. He reminds be a bit of Brandon Clarke. Dude seems to go 300mph both good and bad. Lol
Re: Grade the Draft
monsterpile wrote:SameOldNudityDrew wrote:Wait, we got Minott?? I totally missed that until just now. Says Charlotte on the draft board, and I went to sleep before we got to that point, so I missed any trade we made.
I don't know much about Minott yet, but J. Kyle Mann I think was saying on his podcast this past week that he was a huge analytical darling. Didn't play much, but when he did, apparently he was really effective. I want to say I heard the phrase "per minute monster" used in the podcast I heard about him. Guess who's about to go check out some youtube clips!! Sounds good!
EDIT: Yikes, that's an ugly looking jumper!
He does a lot of stuff in limited minutes I kinda like him. Yeah his shot doesn't look great but the positive I guess is he made his FTs. He reminds be a bit of Brandon Clarke. Dude seems to go 300mph both good and bad. Lol
We need guys with off-ball skills and scrappiness around KAT, Ant, and DLO (for now), so he fits the theme of this Wolves draft class. But yeah, right now he appears to be more of a Vando heir apparent as a bouncy, energizer bunny forward that can only be out there with four other guys that can shoot. He needs to add some strength and weight.
Re: Grade the Draft
Dane Moore
@DaneMooreNBA
·
8h
Tim Connelly talked a lot tonight about targeting players with a certain type of character.
"To say that their background is stellar would be a gross understatement"
Connelly said he had Hall of Famers calling during the draft to vouch for the character of the guys they drafted
@DaneMooreNBA
·
8h
Tim Connelly talked a lot tonight about targeting players with a certain type of character.
"To say that their background is stellar would be a gross understatement"
Connelly said he had Hall of Famers calling during the draft to vouch for the character of the guys they drafted
-
SameOldNudityDrew
- Posts: 3127
- Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Grade the Draft
monsterpile wrote:SameOldNudityDrew wrote:Wait, we got Minott?? I totally missed that until just now. Says Charlotte on the draft board, and I went to sleep before we got to that point, so I missed any trade we made.
I don't know much about Minott yet, but J. Kyle Mann I think was saying on his podcast this past week that he was a huge analytical darling. Didn't play much, but when he did, apparently he was really effective. I want to say I heard the phrase "per minute monster" used in the podcast I heard about him. Guess who's about to go check out some youtube clips!! Sounds good!
EDIT: Yikes, that's an ugly looking jumper!
He does a lot of stuff in limited minutes I kinda like him. Yeah his shot doesn't look great but the positive I guess is he made his FTs. He reminds be a bit of Brandon Clarke. Dude seems to go 300mph both good and bad. Lol
Just checked again, it was Jonathan Tjarks who was talking up Minott, but it was in that podcast with J. Kyle Mann. Interesting you bring up Clarke, since I think Tjarks was super high on Clarke too (and OG).
-
rapsuperstar31
- Posts: 608
- Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2014 12:00 am
Re: Grade the Draft
Given the cheap price New York got the 13th pick out of Charlotte I wish we would have traded up for that pick for Duren, Williams or even Eason. My initial thoughts are a bit disappointing, but I will give Connelly the benefit of the doubt here and hope that Kessler can give us solid minutes and Moore can be a good 3 and D player, possibly a good Beasley replacement if we trade him. I'll give it a B just based on Connelly's reputation and expect that he hit on these draft picks.
Re: Grade the Draft
rapsuperstar31 wrote:Given the cheap price New York got the 13th pick out of Charlotte I wish we would have traded up for that pick for Duren, Williams or even Eason. My initial thoughts are a bit disappointing, but I will give Connelly the benefit of the doubt here and hope that Kessler can give us solid minutes and Moore can be a good 3 and D player, possibly a good Beasley replacement if we trade him. I'll give it a B just based on Connelly's reputation and expect that he hit on these draft picks.
Moore is likely to see minutes next season, especially if Prince goes. He will be an 8th or 9th man wing defender that will likely play with Nowell or Beasley (I think one of those two will be our 6th man scorer, depending on if Beasley gets traded). Kessler will have to duke it out with Naz for minutes, assuming Naz isn't traded.
Re: Grade the Draft
Ok I've seen how ally he picks shook out for the wolves in this draft so I'll expand on that and my grade for how the Wolves didn't in moving around the draft. I think I gave them an A- but I may move that up to an A.
The Wolves went into the draft with 4 picks and when the dust settled selected 4 players with 4 picks.
19, 40, 48, 50
22, 26, 45, 50
What did they give up? They gave up 3 of their own 2nd round picks (currently they now have none of their own picks from 2023-2027) and acquired a 2023 Knicks 2nd and the least favorable of Indians Spurs and Miami 2nd rounders in 2026. So basically to move up in the draft they gave up 1 more pick than they gave up and then a pick that is more likely to be worse than theirs since it's the worst of 3 teams. If the Wolves are pretty good in 2026 then basically all they gave up was one second round pick.
I think most of us would agree the Wolves didn't give up a whole lot to move up. They moved down 3 spots frok 19 to 22 but also ended up picking 26 and 45.
I'll be honest before draft if you had said the Wolves traded three 2nd round picks ( 2 this year and a future one) to get 26 I would have been like ok cool. I like those 2nds but that's probably still good value. Overall I think the Wolves did very well moving around getting in position to take good players. You can disagree with the players they picked or maybe even argue they could have stayed at 40 and picked a player there but I liked what they did in terms of moving around the draft.
I'm mostly posting about just want they were able to do in terms of moving up in the draft and the assets they used to do so. I'll say this about them moving up. If you were like me and you liked Wendell Moore then if you wanted him then it seemed likely you would have to move up from 40 to get him. The Wolves clearly liked him and made it happen. I think there are a few players everyone on this board would have been happy moving up to take there even if we had taken someone other than Kessler at 22.
I'll also add that the Wolves didn't include any players in these deals. Connelly likely can find ways to replenish 2nd rounders I'm years that the wolves don't have them by dealing players that are worthwhile but don't fit onto the roster like he did in Denver quite effectively.
The Wolves went into the draft with 4 picks and when the dust settled selected 4 players with 4 picks.
19, 40, 48, 50
22, 26, 45, 50
What did they give up? They gave up 3 of their own 2nd round picks (currently they now have none of their own picks from 2023-2027) and acquired a 2023 Knicks 2nd and the least favorable of Indians Spurs and Miami 2nd rounders in 2026. So basically to move up in the draft they gave up 1 more pick than they gave up and then a pick that is more likely to be worse than theirs since it's the worst of 3 teams. If the Wolves are pretty good in 2026 then basically all they gave up was one second round pick.
I think most of us would agree the Wolves didn't give up a whole lot to move up. They moved down 3 spots frok 19 to 22 but also ended up picking 26 and 45.
I'll be honest before draft if you had said the Wolves traded three 2nd round picks ( 2 this year and a future one) to get 26 I would have been like ok cool. I like those 2nds but that's probably still good value. Overall I think the Wolves did very well moving around getting in position to take good players. You can disagree with the players they picked or maybe even argue they could have stayed at 40 and picked a player there but I liked what they did in terms of moving around the draft.
I'm mostly posting about just want they were able to do in terms of moving up in the draft and the assets they used to do so. I'll say this about them moving up. If you were like me and you liked Wendell Moore then if you wanted him then it seemed likely you would have to move up from 40 to get him. The Wolves clearly liked him and made it happen. I think there are a few players everyone on this board would have been happy moving up to take there even if we had taken someone other than Kessler at 22.
I'll also add that the Wolves didn't include any players in these deals. Connelly likely can find ways to replenish 2nd rounders I'm years that the wolves don't have them by dealing players that are worthwhile but don't fit onto the roster like he did in Denver quite effectively.
Re: Grade the Draft
I will also add this observation: as 19 approached, they must have had enough good choices on their board that they could still get a player they liked at 22, and then a second player at 29. But when 26 rolled around, they must have been worried that a player they really liked, Moore, might be taken in the next couple picks, so they were willing to spend two future 2nds to move up 3 spots to get their guy.
They could have taken Minot at #40, but were either confident he would slide further, or had enough other players on their board that they didn't mind dropping 5 spots go replace one of those future 2nd rounders.
It does seem like Connelly played the draft pretty well.
They could have taken Minot at #40, but were either confident he would slide further, or had enough other players on their board that they didn't mind dropping 5 spots go replace one of those future 2nd rounders.
It does seem like Connelly played the draft pretty well.
-
Camden [enjin:6601484]
- Posts: 18065
- Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:00 am
Re: Grade the Draft
I'll echo what monster and [s]Tim[/s], err, Doug, discussed above. I also thought Tim Connelly and the front office navigated the draft well in terms of deal-making and preparation. Those trades don't typically come together out of thin air or while you're on the clock. Those teams likely had conversations prior to draft night about moving around and what would be an agreeable deal for both sides in the event that their boards shook a particular way. Sachin Gupta probably deserves a shout out in that regard considering that's an area he's had notable success in.
Specifically, I liked the value Minnesota got in those trades. As I noted in the draft thread, the Wolves got a very attractive return for the 19th overall pick (1210) by receiving the 22nd (1040) and 29th overall picks (690), according to Kevin Pelton's draft pick trade value chart. My best players available were TyTy Washington and Malaki Branham -- either of which would have been good value at 19 -- but with the group of talent remaining still strong it made sense to take the two-for-one there.
Furthermore, I really liked the decision to trade up from 29 to 26 to ensure that they got their intended target in Wendell Moore Jr. I like that they established a player they wanted, and then they executed a deal to get him. Two things stand out to me about that decision. Firstly, the Timberwolves were slated to pick behind the Heat (27) and Warriors (28). Both organizations were a threat to take a wing at their draft slots, perhaps even Moore Jr., given that they're well-situated in the frontcourt. Secondly, there was a run on talented wings that started with their initial trade: Jake LaRavia (19), Malaki Branham (20), Christian Braun (21), David Roddy (23), MarJon Beauchamp (24), and Blake Wesley (25). That potentially signaled to the Wolves' front office that if they waited for Moore Jr. to fall they weren't going to get him. Considering he was likely in play for them at 19 it made sense to relinquish two future second-round picks to get their guy.
To me, that showed excellent patience in making the two-for-one deal at 19, and then showed a sense of urgency in trading back up to secure who they wanted. Not to mention, they backfilled those future second-round picks by maneuvering again at 40 and 48. No wonder they felt like they had a great draft.
Specifically, I liked the value Minnesota got in those trades. As I noted in the draft thread, the Wolves got a very attractive return for the 19th overall pick (1210) by receiving the 22nd (1040) and 29th overall picks (690), according to Kevin Pelton's draft pick trade value chart. My best players available were TyTy Washington and Malaki Branham -- either of which would have been good value at 19 -- but with the group of talent remaining still strong it made sense to take the two-for-one there.
Furthermore, I really liked the decision to trade up from 29 to 26 to ensure that they got their intended target in Wendell Moore Jr. I like that they established a player they wanted, and then they executed a deal to get him. Two things stand out to me about that decision. Firstly, the Timberwolves were slated to pick behind the Heat (27) and Warriors (28). Both organizations were a threat to take a wing at their draft slots, perhaps even Moore Jr., given that they're well-situated in the frontcourt. Secondly, there was a run on talented wings that started with their initial trade: Jake LaRavia (19), Malaki Branham (20), Christian Braun (21), David Roddy (23), MarJon Beauchamp (24), and Blake Wesley (25). That potentially signaled to the Wolves' front office that if they waited for Moore Jr. to fall they weren't going to get him. Considering he was likely in play for them at 19 it made sense to relinquish two future second-round picks to get their guy.
To me, that showed excellent patience in making the two-for-one deal at 19, and then showed a sense of urgency in trading back up to secure who they wanted. Not to mention, they backfilled those future second-round picks by maneuvering again at 40 and 48. No wonder they felt like they had a great draft.