lipoli390 wrote:longstrangetrip wrote:Just 8 days until the draft, and mostly silence from the Wolves and the local media. I'm not saying this is bad, but quite a difference from the Saunders era. I don't even know who have been here for workouts.
If a SG is our first priority, I'm quite encouraged by the talent that may be available at 20 and 48. I'm not so optimistic about Thibs' ability as a talent evaluator though based on his drafting Dunn and Patton with his first two efforts. With Shamet, Thomas and Milton all projected to be available at 20, I'm hoping he selects one of those three.
Our "bigs" situation is also potentially problematic too. Signing Belly will be difficult, Patton is an unknown, Dieng is coming off a poor season, and Gibson isn't getting any younger. If Thibs drafts a PF or C at 20, that will be a good indicator that he is not interested in signing Belly, and maybe even is thinking about moving Gorgui. The problem is I can't find a big I would be interested in drafting at 20. If Thibs takes a good Sg at 20 though, he might want to take a look at Chimezie Metu at 48...good athlete with excellent 2-way potential.
Pretty quiet here...what are you hoping for in the draft?
Glad you posted this LST. I too was struck by how quiet this Board has been on the draft when it's now just over a week away. Like you, I'm encouraged by the talent likely to be available at #20, but not so optimistic about Thibodeau's ability to evaluate that talent. Nonetheless, I'm hoping Thibodeau hit a home run, or at least a double with at #20.
As for my favorites, I'm not crazy about Shamet. I like Milton's length, IQ and shooting, but I'm concerned about his lack of athleticism. He looks so slow on the court and his combine testing did nothing to counter the eye test. He's slow in so many ways, not just slow-footed, but slow on his shot release.
My favorites among those who many believe might be available at #20 are Khyrie Thomas, Josh Okogie, Troy Brown, and Melvin Frazier. I have some concerns about the quickness and athleticism of Brown and Thomas, but neither looks as slow on the court as Milton. Here's my order of preference among these four thus far:
1. Okogie -- Three key stats stand out for me: His 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 6.8 free throw attempts. Importantly, he hit 82% of those 6.3 freethrow attempts. Look deeper and you'll find he excelled in these three areas as a freshman as well. These are key stats for me for three reasons. First, they tend to translate well to the NBA. Second, they are difference-making stats that a player can bring to the court every day, even when his shot isn't falling. Third, these three stats are all indicative of overall effort, hustle and instinct. When you watch a lot of video on Okogie, you can see him attacking on both ends and you also see him getting rebounds on second and third efforts. Thibs should like him because Thibs is always talking about "multiple effort players." Beyond these three stats, Okogie has also proven to be a very good college three-point shooting, hitting 38% of his threes in both of his college seasons, albeit on low volume. Added to all of these performance indicators, are some great combine numbers. He has tremendous length for a SG with a 7'0 wingspan. He also has a 42" max vertical to go with great speed reflected in his 3.04 sprint and 3.03 shuttle times. Watch his highlights and you can see his speed on the court as sell. Note that Okogie is still 19 years old with 2 years of college so he should have more upside left than Thomas, DiVincenzo or Milton. My main concern Okogie is his underwhelming 41.6% FG shooting his sophomore season. That doesn't bode well in projecting him as a shooter in the NBA. But he is young and has so many other things going for him that he'd be my pick at #20 among all the others mentioned as possible picks. Interestingly, he's projected by most mocks at the bottom of the 1st round or the top five of the 2nd round. So I'm obviously valuing him more than those who inform the mock drafts.
2. K. Thomas -- He's already 22 years old with 3 seasons of college, but I love the way he plays. He has a great motor and looks intense. Like Okogie, he excels on both sides of the ball. Although not quite as long as Okogie, he has an excellent 6'10.5 wingspan. His athletic performance at the combine was respectable (35" vertical and 3.18 sprint time), but not impressive although he had a slightly better agility time than Okogie (10.96 v 11.08). What I really like about Thomas are his shooting a steal stats. He shot nearly 54% from the field last season and over 50% the season before as a sophamore. He shot an excellent 41% from behind the arc last season and 39% the year before. This is a guy who will be a very good shooter at the nexts level. At the same time, he's a tough, intense defender. You can see it in his 1.7 steals per game last season (better than Okogie on a per minute basis) and you can also see it in his video highlights.
3. Melvin Frazier -- He strikes me as more of a gamble than Thomas or Okogie. He also seems more of a SF than SG. But he really came on strong his Junior season at Tulane and put up some terrific numbers -- 16 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 steals. He shot 55.6% from the field on 10.7 attempts and 38.5% from behind the arc, albeit on only 3 attempts. He has great length with a 8'9 overhead reach and a 7'2" wingspan, which is stunning for a SF. Watching him reminds me a bit of K. Leonard.
4. Troy Brown -- He is a super-smart player with a great motor and very good skills. What I like most abou this is his ballhandling. I think he's the best ballhandler of the four and that counts a lot in my view in project NBA success for a wing. I also think he's the best passer of the four, although Thomas looks good in that department as well. He has great length for a SG with an 8'9" overhead reach and 6'10.25 wingspan. He's also the tallest of the four. He's the youngest of four and only a freshman, so he should have the highest upside based on age and experience. But two things hold me back. First, is his terrible perimeter shooting. He shot 29% from behind the arc. I just don't think the Wolves can afford to cast their lot with a guy whose 3-point shooting is so suspect. I'm also concerned about his lack of athleticism. His combine numbers were terrible -- 26" no-step vertical, 33" max vertical, 11.51 agility time, 3.33 sprint time and 3.29 shuttle time. Thomas didn't stand out in the athletic testing, but he was respectable. Troy Brown's numbers are troublesome.
Another guy I've considered is Donte DiVincenzo. But I'm always suspect of guys who suddenly emerge in the tournament their last season after three full college seasons of relative mediocrity. And I'm also troubled by his lack of length -- an 8'1.5 overhead reach and 6'6.5 wingspan. This guy has really short arms. I don't like to put too much stock in measurements and Donte did really well in the athletic testing, but when someone is this lacking in length it tends to seriously impede their chances of success at the NBA level.
