Minnesota Sports Forum

CoolBreeze44 wrote:From Ford on Johnson:

Scouts have been split on Oubre, Hezonja, Winslow and Johnson all season. But when recently polling scouts, it was clear that Johnson might be losing some ground. While he has an NBA body and a reputation as a winner, he's struggled a bit lately -- not only with his shooting but also with major defensive lapses. His play against Utah (3-for-19 from the field along with some lazy defense) earned him a spot on the bench. The scouts who have closely watched Johnson say that his reputation hasn't always lived up to his play this season.

He's not the athlete everyone says he is, nor does he have the motor everyone says he does. As one veteran scout said: "He takes plays off. His motor isn't always great and with the exception of a great NBA body, his tools aren't all they're made out to be. He struggles to finish at the rim. In my opinion, he's the most overhyped player in the draft."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement from Ford or the Scout.

Not at all. I like WInslow. I think he is held back a little playing with Jones and Okafor.

Camden wrote:Just to throw this out there...

If the ping pong balls made this scenario possible, would you trade the No. 1 overall pick for the No. 4 (Philly falls) and No. 6 (Philly via LAL) picks?

You might be thinking, "Why would Philly do that?" I'm not entirely sure, but perhaps they have Russell No. 1 on their board and don't want to risk anything. Who knows? That's not the premise of this post so don't focus on it too hard.

I think from the Wolves perspective, it's definitely something to mull over. We could come away with one of the big four (Towns/Okafor/Russell/Mudiay) and one of Cauley-Stein/Johnson. That'd be a pretty sweet deal especially if the cards fell favorably and Towns slipped to No. 4 because of a "mehh" or forgettable tournament run.

All hypothetical, and probably just me wasting time with this post, but if that's how the cards fell, technically we could come away with Towns and Cauley-Stein, which would be a dream come true.

But the probability of that happening is so minimal. *sigh*

I just personally believe that once workouts are done, Okafor will have the commanding spot at the top. There will be no negative surprises for scouts on Okafor, and I feel scouts will be enamored by his size and offensive skillset. That means that even in Cam's scenario, which wouldn't be bad, you take the premier talent rather than multiple assets that are not quite as good.

If workouts happen, and there are truly 4 guys that are all the same...then you jump at the deal.

To me, Okafor should be the pick over Towns. If Towns reaches his potential as a defensive stud who can score like Bynum or maybe Deandre Jordan lately, he might be more valuable than Okafor will almost certainly be (though arguable), but Okafor is basically a lock to be a great player, and has the potential to be even better. If you ranked players 1-10, with a defensive or offensive focus, Okafor is a sure thing to be an 8 with an offensive focus, and could reasonably become a 9 overall with improved defense. Right now, I'd say Towns is probably a 6 defensive player, and if all goes well, could become an 8 with a defensive focus, and possibly a 9 overall if he could actually become the jump shooter people keep talking about but which I've never seen. To me, the smart choice is Okafor.

I really think mentioning Duncan and potentially even Olajuwon as offensive comparisons is fair, and I think he could be at least a pretty decent defender. But Okafor is basically a sure thing to be a very good player. Meanwhile, while Towns' PER is great and he'd fit a great role for any team, there's a chance Towns doesn't develop to his potential.

Most people who put Towns above Okafor seem to be basing it on the player he COULD become, assuming he will reach his potential. But Okafor is basically a sure thing to be a very good offensive player (arguably as valuable as Towns' potential) and Okafor still has the potential to get better defensively (he's shown this for stretches).

I don't see any world where Philly trades two top six picks for the number 1 pick when they would be guaranteed one of the top 4 players in this draft anyway. They'd take whoever's left between Okafor, Towns, Russell and Mudiay and then add the best wing left at 6. Hinkie is stockpiling assets and two top six picks are better than the top overall pick alone. They'd try to use 4 and their other picks to move up to 1. If this were a 3 man or less draft I would understand it, but to just give up the 6th pick to move up 3 spots doesn't make sense in a 4 man draft when their roster is just flat out barren of talent.

Would Derrick Favors be a fair comparison to Karl Towns?

I like Towns but the scary truth is he could be anywhere from Javale McGee to Blake Griffin.

KiwiMatt wrote:Would Derrick Favors be a fair comparison to Karl Towns?

My opinion: Favors is the medium for Towns. I think Towns could/will be better than Favors, but it'd be really unfair to act like Favors isn't a good player in his own right.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:I like Towns but the scary truth is he could be anywhere from Javale McGee to Blake Griffin.

Neither of these player comparisons make any sense to me in a side-by-side view (JaVale's an idiot; Blake's an athletic freak focused on offense), so I assume you mean that Towns could either be untapped potential or a star in the NBA. In that case, I see what you mean, though I think his absolute floor is still as a starter in the NBA.

If we get okafor, would be sweet if we could dump Pek on somebody

LloydBraun wrote:If we get okafor, would be sweet if we could dump Pek on somebody

Or just use him against backup bigs so he can dominate. $12M is a steep price, but it's not a bad option. I'd rather keep him another year then just dump him.

Camden0916 wrote:

LloydBraun wrote:If we get okafor, would be sweet if we could dump Pek on somebody

Or just use him against backup bigs so he can dominate. $12M is a steep price, but it's not a bad option. I'd rather keep him another year then just dump him.

I think he would be better off as a backup. I'm not sure his body can handle starters minutes.