***The official respectful opinions only thread***

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Thanks LST for bringing a little civility back to the board.

I don't trust anyone with neck tattoos, so I don't want WCS.

Oh, oh...I better remember to wear a turtleneck if we ever meet, Lloyd.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I'm a new Wolves fan. Living in St Louis I don't have a team. Grew up a Bulls fan because of Jordan. Turned into a Spurs fan because I loves watching Duncan take down Shaq and Kobe. With us losing our football team in St Louis I decided to become a fan of an NBA team. I chose the Wolves because I didn't want to be a front runner and this team is full of young talent and potential. I think the future is very very bright.

That being said we go as far as our next draft pick. Getting Wiggins is a huge key. You have to get another big time player to pair him with. Rubio is great, but I think you can need a guy who can share some scoring load with Wiggins. Lucky for us this draft is pretty good at the top. I'm hoping for a top 3 pick.

Not many folks would have the stomach to follow the Wolves unless they were either from the area or had a Cubs-like affection toward a bunch of lovable losers. Welcome aboard though!

I'll just quibble a bit with you on this and say that I don't think we HAVE to find a big-time player in this upcoming draft. Obviously it would be awesome if we did, but Atlanta has demonstrated that you don't need multiple superstars to play great basketball.

I do agree we need to get at least a double with this pick, but a home run is not required.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Q...yeah, a lot of it is about the fans wanting to see what we have in Payne and LaVine. But I would also argue that Flip doesn't know yet how Payne is going to blend with this roster. And I would also argue that nobody, including Flip, has seen LaVine at SG next to Rubio much this year. That's why I'd like to see Flip deemphasize the vets the final 29 games.

[TRKO [enjin:12664595]]

I'm a new Wolves fan. Living in St Louis I don't have a team. Grew up a Bulls fan because of Jordan. Turned into a Spurs fan because I loves watching Duncan take down Shaq and Kobe. With us losing our football team in St Louis I decided to become a fan of an NBA team. I chose the Wolves because I didn't want to be a front runner and this team is full of young talent and potential. I think the future is very very bright.

That being said we go as far as our next draft pick. Getting Wiggins is a huge key. You have to get another big time player to pair him with. Rubio is great, but I think you can need a guy who can share some scoring load with Wiggins. Lucky for us this draft is pretty good at the top. I'm hoping for a top 3 pick.

Not many folks would have the stomach to follow the Wolves unless they were either from the area or had a Cubs-like affection toward a bunch of lovable losers. Welcome aboard though!

I'll just quibble a bit with you on this and say that I don't think we HAVE to find a big-time player in this upcoming draft. Obviously it would be awesome if we did, but Atlanta has demonstrated that you don't need multiple superstars to play great basketball.

I do agree we need to get at least a double with this pick, but a home run is not required.

I'm a die hard St Louis Rams fan. We have had 4 winning seasons in St. Louis. There was a three year stretch of winning a total of 6 games. A five year stretch of winning a total of 15 games. Haven't had a winning season in over 10 years. I can stomach poor performances. I would rather cheer for a team that struggles than be a front runner.

As far as being a playoff team, I guess we don't have to nail this pick, but if we want to keep Wiggins long term and be a championship contender this pick is life or death. A superstar won't want to leave an organization that is treating him right and that gives him a chance at a ring.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Q...yeah, a lot of it is about the fans wanting to see what we have in Payne and LaVine. But I would also argue that Flip doesn't know yet how Payne is going to blend with this roster. And I would also argue that nobody, including Flip, has seen LaVine at SG next to Rubio much this year. That's why I'd like to see Flip deemphasize the vets the final 29 games.

Well, you certainly won't hear any arguments from me that LaVine should play SG!

These guys are under contract for multiple years on reasonable terms. There is absolutely no reason they need to be force-fed minutes. What would it impact? Certainly not our draft, where we need to take the best talent available since we are drafting so high. We aren't going to make any big free agent signings, so it shouldn't affect that either.

I wouldn't worry too much about Payne anyway. I'd be willing to bet one of our bigs gets hurt (AB, Pek, Thad, or Gorgs) and he'll have an opportunity to play. Plus AB is on shaky ground. If Payne is as good as some of you say he is, than he should have no problem earning those backup PF minutes behind Young.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I agree with you on the Big 5, Cam, although my opinion of Mudiay is based solely on other's comments since I have never seen him play. But WCS at 6 is exactly why I have a sick feeling in my stomach that we end up with the 6th pick. While he is indeed a good defensive center, I don't see him as much better if at all than Gorgui. And his offensive game just hasn't evolved in his three years...he was 8 and 6 as a freshman, and only 9 and 6 as a junior. He is a terrible free thrower, has an erratic jumper, and not much post game...and nbadraft.net says there are questions about his motor too. I honestly don't see him replacing either Dieng or Pek, and the Wolves need this lottery pick to move the needle more than I think WCS would.

It's interesting that 6'8" SG Mario Hezonja has become the consensus 6th pick on the mock draft sites I favor. From what I have read about him, he is a legitimate offensive talent and athlete, but a very bad teammate. That scares me. Flip seems to be building a team with excellent chemistry in addition to talent, and adding a headcase like Hezonja to the mix could be risky.

I'm still looking for someone I can get comfortable with in the 6 hole...I hope I don't have to.

I think WCS would be an immediate upgrade defensively actually. WCS can legitimately guard 1-5; he's that good laterally for a big. Seems to be a more impactful shot blocker too. Better athlete and just seems longer. I don't know the measurements, but that's just by the eye on that one. Most importantly, WCS seems to have a strong base. He doesn't get thrown around in the grinder.

Dieng's likely a better all-around player on offense, meaning he's better in the post, at the line and as a facilitator, but I could see WCS having tons of success being a P&R big with Ricky. He's already a better finisher in my view, reason being because he's more likely to two hand jam than G. It'd be fine in my view to have a "garbage man" that you don't have to run plays for who also is ++ on defense.

(Watched a lot of Kentucky games the last two years; fan of Randle last year, fan of Towns this year. Can say pretty assuredly that WCS has a fine motor. He's got that dog in him.)

Personally, I like Hezonja from what I've seen. I like that he can shoot, pass, good athlete, good size, youth, confidence is high. Seems to be engaged defensively. I just don't want to be the team that rolls the dice on a Euro. I know that sounds too American of me, but I'm just being honest. The same goes for Porzingis, though he has other issues that scare me.