Draft prospects - Who do we want?

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

If everyone is okay with Ricky the defensive distributor, shouldn't we be looking for a pg that offers up something in other areas? Like maybe scoring? Or is this team good enough to get next to nothing in the scoring department from one position on the floor? Last I checked there's only 5 guys playing at once. And if scoring could be hard to come by from the pf position too then ur counting on three positions and one of those include Pek and Dieng.

I wouldn't say we're getting nothing from the PG position...Rubio is still only 24 and averages over 10 a game...there's no reason to believe a 24 year old PG won't continue to improve offensively, if he can stay healthy (if he cant, we're probably screwed). And most NBA analysts think Towns will be an effective stretch PF (as well as center), so we should have more scoring at the 4 too.

But if all goes well, we should have at least two potent scorers on our second unit...Shabazz and Martin. I'd like to pair them with a PG who can stop the opposing PG from penetrating, while feeding a couple effective scorers. If our backup PG is a scorer too, then so much the better. But if not, I agree with q...I'd be satisfied with a defender/distributor.

There's been plenty of reasons to believe Ricky won't improve offensively. When u say over 10 points a game u mean to say he struggles to score 10 points every night. :)

Could be that Ricky will never improve offensively, pork, but that wouldn't be my best guess, He's only 24, and has been slowed by two major injuries during his pro career that haven't allowed him to experience the normal NBA learning curve. I'm eager to see how Ricky progresses if he can play a full season without blowing out a knee or severely hurting an ankle...I think we'd see a big leap in his offensive efficiency. But as I said, if Ricky can't stay healthy, we will continue to struggle...he's proven to be that valuable to this team.

He played 82 games in 13'-14' and averaged 9.5 PPG's on a stacked offensive team where he was not guarded like much of an offensive threat. That was also his best FG% year at 38% and 33% from 3. I don't see a big leap in offensive efficiency coming. At best he might crack the 40% mark with a mid 30 percentage from 3, but at this point I don't think it's reasonable to expect him to do much better than that. If you can't crack 40% when you are wide open which he was on that team, I don't see a magical jump up to 43-44% to make it respectable. He's pretty much been the same guy for 4 straight years now with slight variations in his numbers. That's not really a positive trend to be able to expect any kind of leap and frankly if he doesn't make the leap this year then it just isn't coming because he has no other commitments this offseason which he hasn't had before and likely won't have again for a while unless he's too injured to play for his national team.

I am going to slightly disagree with you because he basically isn't doing much for a few more weeks yet to make sure he is healed. I am not very optimistic about his shooting improving a great deal but the reality is that we don't know if his shot will have gotten any better till the 2016-2017 season IF he stays healthy these next 2 seasons. It's tough to work on a jumpshot when you are recovering from knee and ankle injuries like he has in a couple seasons so far in his NBA career. I am NOT saying he will get better but if he will we likey won't know for 2 seasons so we should plan for him to be a bad shooter (or equal to what he has been so far which is a bad shooter lol) this coming year plain and simple. Like I said Rubio staying healthy is the first step and then we will go from there.

The key to him becoming a better shooter and scorer is having a more fluid shooting motion. That shot is fine for set shots and FTs but that doesn't work in many situations and it hurts him around the rim too because that type of shooting motion does not lend itself to shots around the rim it's too mechanical with no feel. There were some positive signs of something before he went down early in the season. It we need to see a lot more of it though to get excited about anything. Hopefully we get good enough to worry about Rubio's shooting bring a problem.

2016 is the summer olympics. How is he going to work on the jump shot during an Olympic year? He'll be practicing with Spain all summer, not working on his own game.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Does anyone have stats on Rubio's catch and shoot 3 point shots? Also Rubio for a guy that's sort of terrible offensively Rubio draws a healthy amount of fouls and is a good FT% I think Rubio isn't a hapless offensive guy for those reasons. The key issue is if he can stay healthy. Let's see that first and then worry about what issues he has after that. Hopefully he has some decent players to play with this year so we can have a good sense of what we have with him after this year.

In Ricky's 82 game season he had a 34.5 FG%, a 35.1% 3pt percentage and a 48.9 eFG% off catch and shoot opportunities according to NBAdotcom. He was at 31.9 FG%, 24.2% 3pt and a 37.7 eFG% this year on catch and shoot.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

The only option? I'm laughing at that.

You appear to be easily amused tonight, cam. When you finish laughing, please enlighten us with a PG likely to be available at 31 that meets Q's criteria as an acceptable defender/distributor. Warning: most of us have seen Andrew Harrison's game.

I didn't see anyone talking about a point guard to take at 31, but merely a point guard to target in this draft whether it be mid-to-late first round or second round because it's been more than hinted that we'd trade up. And yes, I'm amused that Wright is the only option, according to you. There's a good handful of guys that I'd be satisfied with.

PS: I hate Andrew Harrison's game. I went back and forth with khans about him last season before he didn't declare for the draft. Not sure why he was the guy you threw at me...

[MikkeMan]

Does anyone have stats on Rubio's catch and shoot 3 point shots? Also Rubio for a guy that's sort of terrible offensively Rubio draws a healthy amount of fouls and is a good FT% I think Rubio isn't a hapless offensive guy for those reasons. The key issue is if he can stay healthy. Let's see that first and then worry about what issues he has after that. Hopefully he has some decent players to play with this year so we can have a good sense of what we have with him after this year.

In Ricky's 82 game season he had a 34.5 FG%, a 35.1% 3pt percentage and a 48.9 eFG% off catch and shoot opportunities according to NBAdotcom. He was at 31.9 FG%, 24.2% 3pt and a 37.7 eFG% this year on catch and shoot.

Surprisingly Ricky's pull up shooting improved (.39 FG% vs .288 last year and .408 eFG% vs .298) this year but his catch and shoot efficiency dropped to below his pull up shooting numbers. Maybe that is just because of small sample size.

I remember that Cam wrote that Ricky's mid range shooting is not anymore problem but it is more just his ability to finish at rim. I went to check that from basketball-reference and it seems that this statement might be true.

Ricky's FG% in jump shots this year was .361. In previous years it had been: .316, .319 and .301. It seems that especially his 2-point jump shooting was improved since his FG% in those was .403. That is already better shooting that many other point guards had. For example Lillard had FG% .35 his 2-point jump shots, Westbrook had .364, Lawson .38, Lowry .367, Rose .398, Knight .342, Jennings .352 and Deron Williams .371.

Maybe the work that he did with Penberthy did really help after all. I just hope that he could keep that accuracy in 2-point jump shots and improve his 3-point shooting and finishing at rim. Even with modest improvement in finishing at rim and three point shooting would probably improve his scoring efficiency enough that he wouldn't need to be considered as liability. Actually if he could keep his this years 2-point jump shooting accuracy and return to previous years level in 3-point shooting and finishing at rim, his FG% would around .40, eFG% .44 and TS% .49.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Ricky may never consistently crack the 50 TS% mark, but I still think he's an asset on both sides of the court.

When he was on the court last season, the team's Ortg was 104.9, which would have been the 18th ranked offense in the NBA last year. That certainly isn't awe-inspiring, but think about the parts around him. The season before last, our Ortg was 112.5 when he was on the court, which would have been the league-leading Ortg that season (I've talked before about how potent our starting lineup was that year).

Either way, he has demonstrated that he can elevate an offense without great weapons and quarterback an offense to elite levels with great weapons. He is not a guy that holds a team back offensively, despite his broken shot and finishing.

[Monster]

Does anyone have stats on Rubio's catch and shoot 3 point shots? Also Rubio for a guy that's sort of terrible offensively Rubio draws a healthy amount of fouls and is a good FT% I think Rubio isn't a hapless offensive guy for those reasons. The key issue is if he can stay healthy. Let's see that first and then worry about what issues he has after that. Hopefully he has some decent players to play with this year so we can have a good sense of what we have with him after this year.

In Ricky's 82 game season he had a 34.5 FG%, a 35.1% 3pt percentage and a 48.9 eFG% off catch and shoot opportunities according to NBAdotcom. He was at 31.9 FG%, 24.2% 3pt and a 37.7 eFG% this year on catch and shoot.

Surprisingly Ricky's pull up shooting improved (.39 FG% vs .288 last year and .408 eFG% vs .298) this year but his catch and shoot efficiency dropped to below his pull up shooting numbers. Maybe that is just because of small sample size.

I remember that Cam wrote that Ricky's mid range shooting is not anymore problem but it is more just his ability to finish at rim. I went to check that from basketball-reference and it seems that this statement might be true.

Ricky's FG% in jump shots this year was .361. In previous years it had been: .316, .319 and .301. It seems that especially his 2-point jump shooting was improved since his FG% in those was .403. That is already better shooting that many other point guards had. For example Lillard had FG% .35 his 2-point jump shots, Westbrook had .364, Lawson .38, Lowry .367, Rose .398, Knight .342, Jennings .352 and Deron Williams .371.

Maybe the work that he did with Penberthy did really help after all. I just hope that he could keep that accuracy in 2-point jump shots and improve his 3-point shooting and finishing at rim. Even with modest improvement in finishing at rim and three point shooting would probably improve his scoring efficiency enough that he wouldn't need to be considered as liability. Actually if he could keep his this years 2-point jump shooting accuracy and return to previous years level in 3-point shooting and finishing at rim, his FG% would around .40, eFG% .44 and TS% .49.

Thanks for these numbers. 22 games last year isn't much of a sample to draw from but it's all we have.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

The only option? I'm laughing at that.

You appear to be easily amused tonight, cam. When you finish laughing, please enlighten us with a PG likely to be available at 31 that meets Q's criteria as an acceptable defender/distributor. Warning: most of us have seen Andrew Harrison's game.

I didn't see anyone talking about a point guard to take at 31, but merely a point guard to target in this draft whether it be mid-to-late first round or second round because it's been more than hinted that we'd trade up. And yes, I'm amused that Wright is the only option, according to you. There's a good handful of guys that I'd be satisfied with.

PS: I hate Andrew Harrison's game. I went back and forth with khans about him last season before he didn't declare for the draft. Not sure why he was the guy you threw at me...

I threw Harrison out there because based on all the mocks I have seen, he is the guy most often slated to go early in the second round...and I don't want him. Q's premise, with which I agree, is that the Wolves need a solid defender/distributor to back up Ricky, and he asked who might be available in the second round or late in the first (the implication being that that player could fall to the second round). I still don't see any PG that meet's Q's criteria other than Wright. Now, if we were willing to give up some assets to move up several slots in the first round, we might be able to get Payne or Tyus...but I wouldn't describe them as guys that might be available late in the first round. I'm sticking with Wright as the only option, but I still think he goes before 31.

[Monster]

To put looking for a defensive distributing PG as a backup in perspective how many of those guy are backups in the league right now? One is Livingston and he is a pretty unique player for a lot of reasons. How many other guys are there that fit this criteria?

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

The only option? I'm laughing at that.

You appear to be easily amused tonight, cam. When you finish laughing, please enlighten us with a PG likely to be available at 31 that meets Q's criteria as an acceptable defender/distributor. Warning: most of us have seen Andrew Harrison's game.

I didn't see anyone talking about a point guard to take at 31, but merely a point guard to target in this draft whether it be mid-to-late first round or second round because it's been more than hinted that we'd trade up. And yes, I'm amused that Wright is the only option, according to you. There's a good handful of guys that I'd be satisfied with.

PS: I hate Andrew Harrison's game. I went back and forth with khans about him last season before he didn't declare for the draft. Not sure why he was the guy you threw at me...

I threw Harrison out there because based on all the mocks I have seen, he is the guy most often slated to go early in the second round...and I don't want him. Q's premise, with which I agree, is that the Wolves need a solid defender/distributor to back up Ricky, and he asked who might be available in the second round or late in the first (the implication being that that player could fall to the second round). I still don't see any PG that meet's Q's criteria other than Wright. Now, if we were willing to give up some assets to move up several slots in the first round, we might be able to get Payne or Tyus...but I wouldn't describe them as guys that might be available late in the first round. I'm sticking with Wright as the only option, but I still think he goes before 31.

That is correct and I agree that Wright might be the only viable option that could slip to us at 31. Otherwise, we may need to look at other options on the free agent market.

I get the chills when I see Tyus Jones bantered about as a guy worth trading up for. I think he gets destroyed on the defensive side of the ball most nights.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Does anyone have stats on Rubio's catch and shoot 3 point shots? Also Rubio for a guy that's sort of terrible offensively Rubio draws a healthy amount of fouls and is a good FT% I think Rubio isn't a hapless offensive guy for those reasons. The key issue is if he can stay healthy. Let's see that first and then worry about what issues he has after that. Hopefully he has some decent players to play with this year so we can have a good sense of what we have with him after this year.

In Ricky's 82 game season he had a 34.5 FG%, a 35.1% 3pt percentage and a 48.9 eFG% off catch and shoot opportunities according to NBAdotcom. He was at 31.9 FG%, 24.2% 3pt and a 37.7 eFG% this year on catch and shoot.

Surprisingly Ricky's pull up shooting improved (.39 FG% vs .288 last year and .408 eFG% vs .298) this year but his catch and shoot efficiency dropped to below his pull up shooting numbers. Maybe that is just because of small sample size.

I remember that Cam wrote that Ricky's mid range shooting is not anymore problem but it is more just his ability to finish at rim. I went to check that from basketball-reference and it seems that this statement might be true.

Ricky's FG% in jump shots this year was .361. In previous years it had been: .316, .319 and .301. It seems that especially his 2-point jump shooting was improved since his FG% in those was .403. That is already better shooting that many other point guards had. For example Lillard had FG% .35 his 2-point jump shots, Westbrook had .364, Lawson .38, Lowry .367, Rose .398, Knight .342, Jennings .352 and Deron Williams .371.

Maybe the work that he did with Penberthy did really help after all. I just hope that he could keep that accuracy in 2-point jump shots and improve his 3-point shooting and finishing at rim. Even with modest improvement in finishing at rim and three point shooting would probably improve his scoring efficiency enough that he wouldn't need to be considered as liability. Actually if he could keep his this years 2-point jump shooting accuracy and return to previous years level in 3-point shooting and finishing at rim, his FG% would around .40, eFG% .44 and TS% .49.

Thanks for these numbers. 22 games last year isn't much of a sample to draw from but it's all we have.

Yeah, really interesting numbers, q. I was a skeptic about the Penberthy effect, but it did seem that Ricky's jump shot looked better late last season. And it looks like the numbers back it up. The finishing at the rim continues to be an issue though, and I'm not as optimistic that Ricky is going to improve much in this area. If only he could develop a nice little floater like so many PG's have, it could dramatically improve his efficiency.