Timberwolves Draft-Day Grades Thread

[Leado01]

I'm with Tim on this. I'm sure Lip had some inside information on us moving up to get Garland, but Garland was a risky choice and Culver, in spite of having two tough games at US Bank stadium, had a full outstanding season with steady improvement and virtually NONE of the boards I saw had him falling to or past 6.


Having a bevy of athletic wings with some athleticism and the ability to guard multiple positions is a blessing.  Don Nelson style teams that can play defense is a legitimate strategy . . . And i couldn foresee 3 of our top 4 wings on the floor together.

We have to defend the 3 more effectively (Culver checks that box at 3 positions). We have to bring movement and playmaking to the offense and Culver checks that box.

Mostly, Culver is a versatile player. Not an ISO scorer per se, but very good in pick and roll and good enough and smart enough to make good things happen as a piece in a high movement offense.

This is step in the right direction. We have NO IDEA what Garland will be.

Culver is like the au gratin potatoes at Murray's, a perfect compliment. I look forward to both in the next year.

[Duke13]

There is no way I believe Rosas thought it was 100% certain Garland would be there. There was plenty of speculation Cleveland would take him despite having taken a PG last year. We aren't privy to all those conversations but I don't believe he thought it was 100% certain Garland was going to be there as Lip is stating. I would of prolly given up RoCo if Garland is supposed to be that good. Too me it's worth that gamble. I can make an argument White should of been the pick at 6 due to the importance of a PG and the skills set he brings. However, it seem White was definitely the prospect most pundits were all over the board on.

[Duke13]

You guys are spinning sour grapes if you think the Rosas was "caught off guard" when Garland was not available at 6. As Jon has reported, the Wolves were perfectly happy "settling" for Culver at #6 if that was the way it played out. And yes, they did look for other opportunities to improve the roster when they were on the clock, but that is just good due diligence.

And I suggest you catch the Rosas presser last night. The Wolves are changing the way they play! A traditional PF will not be part of the starting lineup, which means Dario was not going to start the season as a starter. As of now, that role belongs to Covington.

Personally, I love what the Wolves did last night. When was the last time we had a FO actually move up in the draft?!? The draft is a crapshoot, but the higher the pick, the more weight the dice are in your favor. I really like what I see in Culver and am glad Rosas is holding true to his philosophy that you win with high end players.

Bringo!! And we should all be thankful he's changing the way we play and philosophy of our outdated organization. And totally agree, he wasn't caught if guard with the Garland pick, insane to think so.

[WildWolf2813]

Not that I love giving draft grades, but I'd say this draft is an A-.

It's ok to be disappointed that Garland didn't fall to us at 6. But that's not anyone's fault. If Garland was there, it's a slam dunk pick and then we figure out how Teague gets moved to give Garland all the time he needs to be the starter we need.

At 6, Culver was the best guy. He does too much well to be worried about whether he'll be a great outside shooter (which he still can be). It would be more alarming if we didn't have evidence of him being a solid shooter from the field but we do. He has stuff to work on (if he didn't he woulda been first pick). They didn't trade Covington. They didn't overthink things once Garland was off the board. Thankfully they didn't reach at 6 nor did they pick Coby White.

The Jaylen Nowell selection to me was exactly what I wanted in round 2. He's consistent. He doesn't have dominant games but rarely has awful ones. He's a combo guard (more of a SG admittedly) but off the bench he can offer up some good minutes and for a franchise that has always had bench issues a solid helping hand is more than acceptable.

Naz Reid on a two way deal is actually worth a flier and at the moment, there's opportunity for him to turn that two way deal into an NBA contract. We'll see if he makes good but I'm rooting for him.

If the lament is that the outside shooting needs work still, that wasn't something that would be fixed completely through this draft. Nowell adds shooting and I think Culver in time will be very solid from outside. Not 200 3's a year great like Covington, but not impossible for him to make 140-150 3's at a decent clip. Guys can build off what they did in college and improve. For example: Donovan Mitchell for his college career shot .329% from 3. This year in Utah he shot 36% from 3 and made 188 of them. There's no reason to believe Culver can't become a good three point shooter and once he gets that down pat, we have ourselves a two-way wing which is everything we wanted Wiggins to be.

[rapsuperstar31]

You guys are spinning sour grapes if you think the Rosas was "caught off guard" when Garland was not available at 6. As Jon has reported, the Wolves were perfectly happy "settling" for Culver at #6 if that was the way it played out. And yes, they did look for other opportunities to improve the roster when they were on the clock, but that is just good due diligence.

And I suggest you catch the Rosas presser last night. The Wolves are changing the way they play! A traditional PF will not be part of the starting lineup, which means Dario was not going to start the season as a starter. As of now, that role belongs to Covington.

Personally, I love what the Wolves did last night. When was the last time we had a FO actually move up in the draft?!? The draft is a crapshoot, but the higher the pick, the more weight the dice are in your favor. I really like what I see in Culver and am glad Rosas is holding true to his philosophy that you win with high end players.

Bringo!! And we should all be thankful he's changing the way we play and philosophy of our outdated organization. And totally agree, he wasn't caught if guard with the Garland pick, insane to think so.

Going to break that wheel...with another mid range jump shooter. I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and hope we get a good pg either this Summer with Russel, or in next years stacked pg draft.

[Duke13]

Losing Saric not even a year after the Butler trade makes said trade look terrible.

"Said trade" I hope you're referring to last years Butler trade and the return we got? Just because Saric was part of that poor trade and return by the wolves doesn't change his value currently.

[WildWolf2813]

Long story short, Lip is bitter that he didn't get the guys he wanted even though his guys have major flaws in their games also.

[Porckchop]

I don't hate the pic but if one of the knocks on him is his shooting the timberwolves are not the destination to figure it out. If history had shown us anything

[Monster]

I'm listening to the podcast where Sam V and his buddy talk about the top 10 guys leading up to the draft. I haven't got to Culver yet. They talked about Seko and both guys really liked him as they had him in their top 10 but they also said he was really a ways away and my end up being a 2nd draft guy because it may take him a while to develop. They said that he is a guy that if you draft you are drafting for keeps as drafting him because he is far away his value may actually drop. This was before I saw Wolfson report that the Wolves did have some conversations that didn't go anywhere with Charlotte about #12 with Seko in mind. Seko was one guy I would have been excited about at #11 so hearing these guys take on things make me feel somewhat better about not staying put and taking him. I was right about Porzingis but was very wrong on Dragan Bender.

[thedoper]

I don't hate the pic but if one of the knocks on him is his shooting the timberwolves are not the destination to figure it out. If history had shown us anything

Can't dribble and can't shoot. Sounds like a Timberwolf wing.