Minnesota Sports Forum

TeamRicky wrote:I think if we get a top 3 pick we keep it and take Ingram, Simmons or Bender. If we don't get a top 3 pick, then I think we see if we can trade our pick for good value. Some ideas would be Sixers: Noel and 24th overall, Bucks: Middleton, Denver: 7th and 19th (we may need to add Bazz to the deal), Toronto: 9th and 29th, or Boston:16th, 23rd and a player (e.g. Olynyk).

The Denver trade would be great, as would the Sixers and bucks trades.

If Denver is enamored with a player sitting at 3-6 and wants to leap up, then you do it.
Give me either of Jaylen Brown, Deyonta Davis (his potential is as high as anyone other than ingram or simmons), or Marquese Chriss at #7, and Patrick McCaw or Taurean Prince (Really like his potential to be that small ball 4 for us), maybe Malcolm Brogdon at #19.
All guys with defensive talent, and 5 have potential as 3 point shooters.
I am not a fan of the enough youth movement. I don't want to see a patched up Twins team here so we can just make the playoffs. Only Towns is a sure thing right now, so I vote to keep stockpiling until you have at least 3 for sure things by the time Towns is entering his second contract. Remember, you have to win with 3+ stars now.

TheFuture wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:I think if we get a top 3 pick we keep it and take Ingram, Simmons or Bender. If we don't get a top 3 pick, then I think we see if we can trade our pick for good value. Some ideas would be Sixers: Noel and 24th overall, Bucks: Middleton, Denver: 7th and 19th (we may need to add Bazz to the deal), Toronto: 9th and 29th, or Boston:16th, 23rd and a player (e.g. Olynyk).

The Denver trade would be great, as would the Sixers and bucks trades.

If Denver is enamored with a player sitting at 3-6 and wants to leap up, then you do it.
Give me either of Jaylen Brown, Deyonta Davis (his potential is as high as anyone other than ingram or simmons), or Marquese Chriss at #7, and Patrick McCaw or Taurean Prince (Really like his potential to be that small ball 4 for us), maybe Malcolm Brogdon at #19.
All guys with defensive talent, and 5 have potential as 3 point shooters.
I am not a fan of the enough youth movement. I don't want to see a patched up Twins team here so we can just make the playoffs. Only Towns is a sure thing right now, so I vote to keep stockpiling until you have at least 3 for sure things by the time Towns is entering his second contract. Remember, you have to win with 3+ stars now.

Like I have said if the wolves get the 3rd pick and trade back I would rather get a vet and a pick then 2 picks. So if you say we get the third pick I would like something like 3rd pick for someone from the group of (Farid/chandler/Gallo/Nurkic) and the 9th pick I just don't think we can go into next year with 2 rookies that need to play a lot. Like at this moment we have 3 open roster spots (open/prince/Smith) so if we add 2 rookies we only have 1 spot to add a FA (I understand we can decline an option on Rudez). Even if we decline Rudez we could be in trouble bench wise because there would be a good chance a one of the players we draft end up like payne (just a player that is not that good, especially on a good team).

Our bench would consist of.
2 rookies
1 second year player (tyus)
A terrible player in Payne
2 players who at best are part time players (KG and Pek)
Belly,Bazz and 2 FA role players. (I am just going to throw in Delly and Dudley for argument sake and if we can obtain high quality FA)

I just think we would have similar struggles we had last year with bad bench defense and not that good of an offense especially when most if not all rookies are a net negative on on defense their first year.


PS: This is coming from a guy who thinks this is a weak class and I believe players from the 5 to 20 range are role players at best (I realize that there will be a couple of hits). Just don't think it is smart to trade back for multiple rookies to have 2 guarantee contracts and no promise of them being able to be more than a good role player.

If we can get creative and 76ers offer Noel and #24 For #3-#5 would also jump at it. Noel would be a huge upgrade at PF.

Would New York trade Jerian Grant for the #24? They don't have a pick this year.

Would PHX trade #28 or #35 plus TJ Warren for Shabazz and Payne? I like either Brice Johnson or Thon Maker for hustle, athleticism and motor. Plus either shoots the 15' jumper well. Plus Warren was really solid before he broke his foot...and at 6'8".

David Aldridge reports on prospects of each position. This one is the centers but it links to all of them. He has tons of quotes from various tea executives etc.

http://www.nba.com/news/features/david_aldridge/david-aldridge-big-board-centers-2016-nba-draft/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt6f

slimcalhoun27 wrote:If we can get creative and 76ers offer Noel and #24 For #3-#5 would also jump at it. Noel would be a huge upgrade at PF.

Would New York trade Jerian Grant for the #24? They don't have a pick this year.

Would PHX trade #28 or #35 plus TJ Warren for Shabazz and Payne? I like either Brice Johnson or Thon Maker for hustle, athleticism and motor. Plus either shoots the 15' jumper well. Plus Warren was really solid before he broke his foot...and at 6'8".

I do think Thon Maker would be a nice pickup that late. I don't think they'd give up both for Bazz and Payne. In fact, I think Warren is the best player of the three. I'm not sure if Payne has trade value and Bazz might get you something in the late first or second. But if we could convert Bazz and Payne into Maker, I'd definitely do it.

TeamRicky wrote:

slimcalhoun27 wrote:If we can get creative and 76ers offer Noel and #24 For #3-#5 would also jump at it. Noel would be a huge upgrade at PF.

Would New York trade Jerian Grant for the #24? They don't have a pick this year.

Would PHX trade #28 or #35 plus TJ Warren for Shabazz and Payne? I like either Brice Johnson or Thon Maker for hustle, athleticism and motor. Plus either shoots the 15' jumper well. Plus Warren was really solid before he broke his foot...and at 6'8".

I do think Thon Maker would be a nice pickup that late. I don't think they'd give up both for Bazz and Payne. In fact, I think Warren is the best player of the three. I'm not sure if Payne has trade value and Bazz might get you something in the late first or second. But if we could convert Bazz and Payne into Maker, I'd definitely do it.

I appreciate your insight. I feel this draft is the craziest "lopsided" draft in years. Denver, Phoenix, 76ers, Boston have so many picks it's insane. These teams are already young like us. Plus teams like NY have nothing at all. I just would like to see The Wolves Brass be proactive and aggressive knowing we have youth, talent and cap space. But that doesn't mean buy into Vets....follow the Blazers rebuild model and get guys like Grant from NY and Warren from PHX who give us a more well rounded squad. Plus use the draft and go for a high ceiling hustle player like Maker or Brice Johnson late.

Shooting is needed, but a starting 5 that can run and defend against this 3 point era is what I'm hoping for. No more slow footed or non agile big men. Quick feet equals switching and better defense of the high screen and roll which Steph loves to exploit.

Trading back from 3-6 and trading Payne, Shabazz and or Jones to get a Noel, Maker and Warren or Grant would be amazing. Add Henderson in FA and I will be kissing old ladies in the streets.

Why does Philly trade Noel for 3? Colangelo isn't Hinkie. They need a superstar and nobody outside the top 2 has higher potential than Noel in terms of NBA potential. Colangelo is going to try to build a respectable team right away and dumping a productive player for a rookie doesn't fit that mold. I could see them offering Noel and a pick for a top 2 pick, but not anything else after 2. In fact I don't see most teams giving up real quality for anything outside the top 2 because like many have said here, the gap between the rest of the first round isn't as big as it normally is. The only real options I see are desperate rebuilding teams like the Knicks and Brooklyn who will take any young guy they can get, but I don't see them having any assets we want.

One thing I would not do is include KAT, Wiggins, Zach or Gorgui in any deal that includes our draft pick. I'd be willing to include Shabazz for the right price, but I'm interested in seeing how Shabazz develops under an elite coach like Thibs. Shabazz improved enormously from year one to year two under Flip. He stalled or regressed under Sam.

If we end up with a top 2 pick, we should take Simmons or Ingram and call it a night. If we're picking 3-6, we should take one of the following depending on who's available and what our organization learns between now and June 23: Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray, Kris Dunn or Denzel Valentine. Hield and Murray are terrific long-range shooters who have a good feel for the game. Dunn is a defensive force with the ability to penetrate and an improving perimeter shot. Valentine is my sleeper. He has such a great feel for the game to go with very good size for his position and a nice perimeter shot. Any of these 4 could step into our rotation right away and provide nice depth at the 1, 2 and/or 3 positions. Murray and Dunn have very nice upside beyond that.

If we do trade down for a player and lower pick, I'd have my eye on Sabonis, Poeltl, Taurean Prince or Diamond Stone depending on how far down we go.

lipoli390 wrote:One thing I would not do is include KAT, Wiggins, Zach or Gorgui in any deal that includes our draft pick. I'd be willing to include Shabazz for the right price, but I'm interested in seeing how Shabazz develops under an elite coach like Thibs. Shabazz improved enormously from year one to year two under Flip. He stalled or regressed under Sam.

If we end up with a top 2 pick, we should take Simmons or Ingram and call it a night. If we're picking 3-6, we should take one of the following depending on who's available and what our organization learns between now and June 23: Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray, Kris Dunn or Denzel Valentine. Hield and Murray are terrific long-range shooters who have a good feel for the game. Dunn is a defensive force with the ability to penetrate and an improving perimeter shot. Valentine is my sleeper. He has such a great feel for the game to go with very good size for his position and a nice perimeter shot. Any of these 4 could step into our rotation right away and provide nice depth at the 1, 2 and/or 3 positions. Murray and Dunn have very nice upside beyond that.

If we do trade down for a player and lower pick, I'd have my eye on Sabonis, Poeltl, Taurean Prince or Diamond Stone depending on how far down we go.

No love for Bender? For me if we get #3 I'm thrilled because I take Bender be able to take time developing him and possible have a pretty nice talent that fits with the guys we already have.

I was just wondering, why isn't Hield considered for the #3 pick? And it got me thinking.

I get that he turns it over and isn't known for his defense, but with the way 3 point shooting is going these days, seems like having a sharpshooter like that is really valuable. Kid's supposed to be really high character, a crazy-hard worker, and still improving despite his (relative) age. But then I got to thinking about the track record of NCAA scoring leaders making it in the NBA.

So the broader question is: how can you tell whether these big-time college scorers are going to pan out in the NBA?

This is the real question about guys like Hield I think. Seems like some of them do (Redick, Curry) while others don't (Morrison, Jimmer, Erick Green, Reggie Hamilton, Aubrey Coleman)? Yeah, I had to look up those last couple guys too. They all led the NCAA in scoring.

So how can you tell whether you're drafting a Curry or Redick or an Aubrey Colemen or Jimmer? And any guesses where Hield will land on that spectrum?