Minnesota Sports Forum

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 10:31 pm I recall being momentarily disappointed in last year’s draft, but I quickly became enthusiastic once I looked more thoroughly into the guys we drafted. Coming off a 46-win season and what I ultimately considered a very good draft I was really excited about Summer League and the upcoming regular season. Then, as I was departing for Vegas to watch the Wolves in Summer League, news of the Gobert trade hit. I went from excited to despondent in an instant. None of us saw that deal coming and that sort of stunning (and in my view dumb) deal wasn’t something I would have seen in my wildest imagination.

Flash forward to this day following the 2023 draft. After a brief moment of disappointment that the Wolves failed to draft any of the guys I wanted, my view of the Wolves draft quickly turned positive as i got over my personal disappointment and looked objectively at the picks we made more thoroughly. I’m feeling the excitement building as I reflect on this year’s draft and on the news from Target Center about so many teammates working out in the gym together as well as Ant being in tremendous shape. Unfortunately, I’m having a hard time enjoying the moment because what happened last year has left me with something in the nature of PTSD. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop in the form of a trade that takes the joy away.

I don’t know that anything significant will happen and it’s hard to guess what it might be. I’m happy to hear the Wolves have been hanging up the phone inquiries related to Jaden McDaniels. Fingers crossed that TC continues to turn a deaf ear to those inquiries. I still don’t see the Wolves trading KAT or Rudy this summer. Sure, TC could get an offer than “knocks his socks off” as he put it. But I don’t expect it. Interestingly, as much as I’d like to see one or the other traded, I’ve hit this point psychologically where I’m getting excited about running it back with those two bigs along with Anderson and the bevy of young talent we have in Ant, Jaden, Naz, Minott, Moore, and now Leonard Miller. I think I’d be a bit shell-shocked at this point if the Wolves were to trade KAT or Rudy. Again I don’t think that will happen. But I’m trying to prepare myself mentally for the Wolves to let Naz go and also trade one of our other young guys - Miller, Moore and/or Minott.

I’d be OK trading Moore, but I’d be really disappointed if the Wolves don’t retain Minott and Miller. I thought it was particularly interesting that the Wolves drafted Miller when he’s so similar to Jaden and Minott. I don’t think they drafted him for the purpose of trading him, but I think they drafted him knowing that his 1st-round draft grade and upside could provide the Wolves with a valuable trade asset or free them to trade Minott. So my advice to myself and to everyone else is this: Don’t get too attached to Miller or any of our other young players because TC has shown us he’s full of surprises.

SameOldNudityDrew wrote: ↑Sat Jun 24, 2023 2:13 am I didn't really pay too much attention to the draft prospects in our range this year because of the low odds of second-rounders becoming important contributors, despite the notable exceptions.

But I have to admit, I have liked what I've seen from Miller and Clark. Both look like the kind of tone-setting guys we need to play with the necessary intensity.

Still, I find it tough to overlook their shooting woes. At the end of the day, NBA players these days basically have to be able to hit the 3 or be elite in another area in order to get playing time, and even then, you can't afford to have more than 1 non-shooter on the floor in the playoffs. That really puts a limit on the value of these guys if they don't develop an outside shot. If they do, awesome! We got a big versatile finisher who meets a need for size (especially if Naz leaves), and a defensive stud. If those guys can also hit 3s, teams can use guys like that. If not, eh. Nice regular-season guys maybe, but their prospects as playoff players would be seriously limited.

I think getting these guys with Minott and Moore seems to reflect a strategy of drafting guys who can definitely bring something NBA-ready to the table (Moore's playmaking and maybe defense, Minott's rim-running and length--especially as a help-defender blocking shots, Miller's size and finishing, and Clark's on-ball defense) and then gambling that at least one or two of them will develop a passable outside shot. I can see why that could be a better strategy than drafting a guy who can shoot, but doesn't have good size or any other particular NBA skill. After the lottery, it's just really rare to find a guy who can both shoot outside and has another strong NBA-level attribute. So you might as well pick a few guys with a clear NBA-level attribute, work on their shots, and hope one or two of them improve. You can't really teach size, motor, or even the playmaking instincts that Moore showed in college. But at least SOME guys learn to shoot. Fingers crossed a couple of these guys will.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sat Jun 24, 2023 9:33 am Drew's point on shooting is spot on. That will be THE difference between Minott, Clark, and Moore Jr. being end-of-the bench spot players and journeymen or super valuable role players. I think Miller might be able to play a lot of Center, so I'm not quite as worried about his ability to hit 3s, although that would obviously be valuable.

If you look back at the Wolves' history as a franchise, I can only think of one defensive-oriented prospect that they drafted and were able to turn into a solid 3-point threat, and that's Jaden McDaniels.

Corey Brewer, Ricky Rubio, Kris Dunn, Josh Okogie, Jarrett Culver...some of these guys like Ricky and Brewer were skilled enough in other ways to be regular rotation players on good teams, but all of them were significantly held back by their shooting.

Based on this track record, we'll be incredibly lucky if even one of the guys from the last two draft classes turns into a decent 3-point shooter.