kekgeek1 wrote:Just hypothetical would you trade our first for the Greek freak and Henson
Interesting question. It really would depend on where we are drafting and who I felt I would rather have then the Freak. I might trade as high as the 4th or 5th pick for him. I don't think a team in history could match the length of Wiggins and the Freak at the wing position.
General historical data won't be as predictive as data specific to Flip. Which takes me to Cam's point. When attempting to predict how successful the Wolves will be with a top 5 pick ne t summer, we should look at Flip's track record evaluating young talent. To that end, I'll offer the following:
1. Flip having Oladipo at the top of his draft board two years ago. Based on what we've seen do far, Flip was spot on. Flip also liked KCP that year and it looks like he's going to be a very good player.
2. Flip drafting Shabazz, Dieng and Zach in the first round of his two drafts as President of Basketball Operations. Based on the evidence so far, Flip hit the mark on at least two of those three. If you saw Zach's 17-point game the other night, you saw why there's a good chance Flip will end up 3 for 3. The only potential caveats are Flip taking Dieng over Gobert and Shabazz over the Greek Freak. But the Dieng and Shabazz picks still look very good.
3. Flip holding out for Wiggins in the Love deal and having the good sense to start him.
The draft is definitely a bit of a crapshoot. But good talent evaluators can significantly improve an organization's odds of getting it right. I'd put Flips chances of getting a very good long-term player in the top 5 at significantly better than 50/50.
Lip, I can almost assure you Zach is going to make it 3 for 3. That kid has been thrown into the worst possible situation to start his career. His talent is just too great, and when you couple that with the fact he is a gym rat I don't see how he fails.
Many teams picking high reach for a big, pick an athlete who hasn't produced at the college level, or pick a college star with little tools to translate. I could be wrong, and I'm often wrong, but I see a few guys with great athletic ability that have produced in a major way in college.
Thank you Carlos for pointing this out and the absurd discussions we have on this board about how we all know who the best fit for our team is. I know we're bored and miserable so we discuss this often, but let's keep that list in mind. LST, would you invest in something with a 40% chance of success?
BizarroJerry wrote:Thank you Carlos for pointing this out and the absurd discussions we have on this board about how we all know who the best fit for our team is. I know we're bored and miserable so we discuss this often, but let's keep that list in mind. LST, would you invest in something with a 40% chance of success?
Ha, you're asking the wrong guy, Lloyd. I've been fully invested in the Wolves since inception, and the chances of success most years was less than 10%!
You invest in the player; not the draft's past success rate. Would you invest in Andrew Wiggins? Damian Lillard? Bradley Beal? My point is there are studs in every draft. Teams just have to select the right player. We should be focusing on the current prospects rather than past drafts, even though it was an interesting topic.
I think we have to be careful blowing Flip's horn too hard for his genius moves/talent evaluation. Last time I checked we were the worst team in the NBA (winning percentage). Flip's the GM (and Coach)...so, I'm not sure who could possibly have more accountability of our situation than him. Granted, we've had some injuries. But Flip assembled the roster (and coached it to last place).
And as far as getting Wiggins....nobody likes Wiggins more than me (check my posts!). But it's not like Flip fleeced anybody to get him. Love was/is a very, very good player. If Bennett had turned into something, I'd be singing Flip's praises. But really - Flip traded Love for Wiggins. It was a good/fair trade for both teams. I don't see it as one sided in Flip's favor especially when you consider he took on most of the risk (Love was known/established talent where as we hoped Wiggins would become as good or better than Love).
