TheFuture wrote:lipoli390 wrote:TheFuture wrote:How insane would it have been to draft Giannis and Rudy.
Well, if I had been the Wolves President of Basketball Operations that's exactly what would have happened. I didn't foresee Giannis becoming the superstar he's become, but I thought he could become a star and believed he'd be a great bet for a rebuilding Wolves team. I actually liked Gorgui better than Gobert, but the 1 for 2 trade Flip made that led to drafting Bazz provided an extra 1st round pick I would have used to take Gobert after drafting Gorgui. In fact I remember being really pissed that the Wolves sold their #27 pick for cash rather than taking Gobert. I didn't know a lot about Gobert at the time, but I knew he had a 9'7" standing reach and that he was playing well against European pros. The standing reach was enough for me to grab him at #27. The only question is whether I would have made the 1 for 2 deal Flip made because I really like McCollum at the time. But I would gone with the deal for an extra pick because I value multiple picks a lot, especially when in rebuilding mode as we were back then.
If i remember right, we already had that pick we sold. The 1 for 2 was the selection of Burke for Shabazz and Gorgui. Alas, we wouldn't have KAT or Ant, nor Gobert now. The makeup is here, it is hard to fuck this up.
Shooters, Shooters, Shooters. That is all I am hoping for.
Yes. We started with picks 9 and 27. Flip then traded the #9 pick for #14 and #21. We drafted Bazz at #14 and Gorgui at 21. I was OK drafting Gorgui at 21 and would have been equally happy if we had drafted Rudy at that point. Wow, was I wrong. :) I remember watching players come off the board after that and getting really excited that Rudy Gobert was still available as we approached #27. Then I remember hearing that the Wolves sold the #27 pick for cash. I remember how pissed I was when I saw we sold the pick and even more pissed when I saw that pick used to take Gobert. That was the last straw, which my email to Flip.
It's interesting to reflect on that draft. I never predicted that Giannis or Gobert would become the great players they've become. But like many I saw they had really high-upside potential. I could see the obviously yellow flags associated with Shabazz, including that fact that he was a wing with a poor handle and little upside. What the Wolves did in that draft violated nearly every principle I have for drafting:
Rule #1: Never waste a pick and absolutely never sell picks for cash: This is the most important rule in my view. NBA draft picks are like precious metal. NBA draft picks have tremendous value, especially for a mid-market team like the Wolves. The draft is an essential pipeline for infusing talent into the organization and they are also highly value able trade assets. And unlike the NFL, you don't have many picks in the NBA. Selling a first-round pick for cash is as dumb as it gets. Flip told me they sold the pick because they already had too many young players on the roster. That's what I would call dumb.
I thought Connelly got it right this year. He had four picks with an already pretty full and young roster. He could have chosen to sell one of his second-round picks. Instead, he maneuvered around and ended up drafting four players anyway, using one of his picks on a Euro stash. He maximized the value of each pick, which is exactly what NBA teams need to do. It's a stark contrast to past Wolves regimes that would sell picks for cash or waste picks on the likes of Ebi or a some home-town favorite.
Rule #2: When you're a lottery team (i.e., a rebuilding team), always draft for upside. The Wolves were coming off the David Kahn era as a lottery team in 2013 and were clearly in rebuild mode. That's precisely the time to take swings on players like Giannis and Gobert. Even if you overlook the yellow flags associated with Bazz (poor handle, lack of athletic fluidity, poor court awareness), it was widely understood at the time that he wasn't a high-upside pick. Flip saw him as a player more ready to contribute. That's not the way a rebuilding team should approach the draft.
I thought Connelly took the right approach in this year's draft. The Wolves were not a rebuilding team, but they weren't fully constructed yet either back in June. I thought Connelly took a sensible blended approach. He drafted a couple players, Kessler and Moore, who actually have decent upside but are more complementary players ready to contribute sooner rather than later. Yet, he also drafted a really high upside player, Minott, in the 2nd round.
Rule #3: All other things equal, more picks are better than fewer picks. One thing the Wolves got right in 2013 was trading one pick for two. But then they gave away the benefit of having an extra pick by selling one of the picks they already had. I'll admit I thought Gorgui had a higher upside than he actually did. But that's why quantity matters. My picks would have been Giannis, Gorgui and Gobert. I could miss on Gorgui and still have two home runs. The only time it makes sense to turn more picks into fewer is when it enables you to trade up for a player you truly covet.
Again, I thought Connelly did a nice job in this regard. I liked his decision to trade down from 19 for an extra 1st round pick. As it turns out, his move paid off because it gave him an asset to get Gobert while also allowing the Wolves to retain a quality pick, Wendell Moore. Rosas had the right idea trying to trade up for Garland, but his execution was poor because he didn't have a lock on getting Garland. It's interesting to ponder how things would be different if Rosas had succeeded. In all likelihood, the Wolves would not have traded for DLO or if they had it would have been Garland and Wiggins without giving up the Wolves 1st and 2nd round picks.