Minnesota Sports Forum

Hicks123 wrote:Would anyone trade our top pick for a guy like Van Fleet (S&T) or Marcus Smart? I look at what our team needs, and man, both of those guys would be game changers for us. I would certainly think about it. Not sure those other teams would even entertain....

We made a lot of moves last year. I'd like to see what this team is now with a Beasley signing and a good PF draft pick.

BizarroJerry wrote:

Hicks123 wrote:Would anyone trade our top pick for a guy like Van Fleet (S&T) or Marcus Smart? I look at what our team needs, and man, both of those guys would be game changers for us. I would certainly think about it. Not sure those other teams would even entertain....

We made a lot of moves last year. I'd like to see what this team is now with a Beasley signing and a good PF draft pick.

FVV intrigues me because he can play with a PG or SG on offense and doesn't suck on defense. He can do a lot on offense. The problem with this scenario is it can't happen before the draft as FVV is a free agent and therefore can't be traded. In addition what is the price tag for him? How much are you willing to pay him? At this point it doesn't seem like adding FVV to a team that already has acquired Russell Beasley. I'm certainly not against it but it's different than before all these deals. In addition McLaughlin has a chance to be...not as good as FVV but IMHO he has a legit chance to a nice rotation player.

How is Marcus Smart still only 26?!? He turned 26 in March. It would be interesting to see if Boston would even do that deal depending on where the Wolves top pick was. I just looked up his contract and he is only signed for 2 more years and...at this point is a 2021-2022 season an absolute certainty? That's probably going too far but...What FVV can do on offense Smart adds to your team on defense. At one point Smart was basically a bust and then...sort of morphed into a pretty unique sort of core piece. He is an ex emotion tot he rule but I could see Culver finding his way to have some real impact by being a smart guy that can do a few different things.

PorkChop wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:I'd still take Ball regardless of his dad or the other options. The game is dominated by ball handlers and we need another one next Russell. He's 6'7 and just needs to fill out his frame more but he'll be perfectly fine at the 2 at that size. Fill in the defensive tools later. We still have a ton a weight on Russell and Towns to be an elite 2 man game to carry the whole offense and they need help via some other offensive creators even if that ends up being Ball and Russell staggering some minutes to keep a good creator on the court at all times.

We can't afford to have a guard who can't (maybe/probably) shoot the 3 well. I'm keeping Beasley and then seeing how Culver develops. I'm not to interested in a guard. Look at SF or PF who can shoot and defend.

So put out some names. We know for the most part who's in the draft. Who's the SF/PF that is stretching the floor and playing defense? I don't see that guy in the draft range where we are picking. I would pick LaMelo over Beasley every day of the week. We know what Beasley is. He's a gunner. I think we need another creator on this team and the upside of Ball is big for me. Lonzo couldn't shoot and he's up to 38% from 3 this year and LaMelo is a better FT shooter than Lonzo. If you can find a 3pt shooting, shot creating 3 or 4 who has the defensive upside of Ball at his size I'm all ears. We have too many off-ball guys already to draft yet another one in hopes they are a 3 and D guy. If Russell goes down in that scenario we have nobody to create offense off the dribble. Culver can't be the backup creator on this team without some significant improvement.

If you draft Ball you I suppose project him to be backup PG/SG? Effectively eliminating Culver from that spot. Or I guess you could let Beasley walk too. But then we have several non shooters on the team, Culver/Ball and Okogie. I'd like to keep Beasley. The guy is a competitor. Plays hard. Gritty. Tough. He's the kind of guy I like on the team. Then of course he's a good 3P shooter. Maybe Ball could become one, IDK. Maybe Culver could too, I actually am betting he will, well actually at least avg. Which would be awesome because he plays nice defense.

I see the weak link as Okogie and Juancho. So that would be the player spots I would like to see upgraded. I haven't done enough research honestly to say who I like right now. It sucks the season was cut short too.

I'm focused more long term. I think Russell/Ball/Beasley/Culver is fine short term albeit cluttered. The two long term pieces I see there are Russell and Ball and if Culver steps up then you have a good problem of too many guys needing minutes. It's gonna take Ball 2-3 years to hit his stride like his brother so I'm fine bringing him off the bench until he can build some strength and improve his shot. The bench unit desperately needs a creator that he can fill in the short term. If there was a 3 I could see being that creating offensive weapon who can shoot 3's I'd go that guy, but my preliminary view of this draft looks really weak at that spot. It's got guards and bigs, but not many wings at the top and outside of Haliburton none of these kids can really shoot.

The combination of Ball and Russell isn't stopping anyone on the perimeter from getting to the basket. Putting more pressure on Towns who isn't a good defender and finds himself getting into foul trouble far to early the way it is. Wiseman could shoulder some of that burden making Towns more available to play to his strengths. If we're looking for another pg to give Russell time off the ball then I'd use the second first and hope Mannion is available still.

Why is Lamelo an automatic negative on the defensive side of the ball? He's a legit 6'7 with a 6'10 wingspan which is a nightmare for PG's to go against that size and still big enough to guard most 2's. Any team that doesn't have a good back-court allows us to hide Russell and put Lamelo on the ball where his size can be disruptive. He has nothing physically holding him back defensively so I don't see why he is instantly a complete sieve on that end of the court. That says you have 0 faith in this organizations ability to develop players so we might as well just pack it in right now.

khans2k5 wrote:

PorkChop wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:I'd still take Ball regardless of his dad or the other options. The game is dominated by ball handlers and we need another one next Russell. He's 6'7 and just needs to fill out his frame more but he'll be perfectly fine at the 2 at that size. Fill in the defensive tools later. We still have a ton a weight on Russell and Towns to be an elite 2 man game to carry the whole offense and they need help via some other offensive creators even if that ends up being Ball and Russell staggering some minutes to keep a good creator on the court at all times.

We can't afford to have a guard who can't (maybe/probably) shoot the 3 well. I'm keeping Beasley and then seeing how Culver develops. I'm not to interested in a guard. Look at SF or PF who can shoot and defend.

So put out some names. We know for the most part who's in the draft. Who's the SF/PF that is stretching the floor and playing defense? I don't see that guy in the draft range where we are picking. I would pick LaMelo over Beasley every day of the week. We know what Beasley is. He's a gunner. I think we need another creator on this team and the upside of Ball is big for me. Lonzo couldn't shoot and he's up to 38% from 3 this year and LaMelo is a better FT shooter than Lonzo. If you can find a 3pt shooting, shot creating 3 or 4 who has the defensive upside of Ball at his size I'm all ears. We have too many off-ball guys already to draft yet another one in hopes they are a 3 and D guy. If Russell goes down in that scenario we have nobody to create offense off the dribble. Culver can't be the backup creator on this team without some significant improvement.

If you draft Ball you I suppose project him to be backup PG/SG? Effectively eliminating Culver from that spot. Or I guess you could let Beasley walk too. But then we have several non shooters on the team, Culver/Ball and Okogie. I'd like to keep Beasley. The guy is a competitor. Plays hard. Gritty. Tough. He's the kind of guy I like on the team. Then of course he's a good 3P shooter. Maybe Ball could become one, IDK. Maybe Culver could too, I actually am betting he will, well actually at least avg. Which would be awesome because he plays nice defense.

I see the weak link as Okogie and Juancho. So that would be the player spots I would like to see upgraded. I haven't done enough research honestly to say who I like right now. It sucks the season was cut short too.

I'm focused more long term. I think Russell/Ball/Beasley/Culver is fine short term albeit cluttered. The two long term pieces I see there are Russell and Ball and if Culver steps up then you have a good problem of too many guys needing minutes. It's gonna take Ball 2-3 years to hit his stride like his brother so I'm fine bringing him off the bench until he can build some strength and improve his shot. The bench unit desperately needs a creator that he can fill in the short term. If there was a 3 I could see being that creating offensive weapon who can shoot 3's I'd go that guy, but my preliminary view of this draft looks really weak at that spot. It's got guards and bigs, but not many wings at the top and outside of Haliburton none of these kids can really shoot.

The combination of Ball and Russell isn't stopping anyone on the perimeter from getting to the basket. Putting more pressure on Towns who isn't a good defender and finds himself getting into foul trouble far to early the way it is. Wiseman could shoulder some of that burden making Towns more available to play to his strengths. If we're looking for another pg to give Russell time off the ball then I'd use the second first and hope Mannion is available still.

Why is Lamelo an automatic negative on the defensive side of the ball? He's a legit 6'7 with a 6'10 wingspan which is a nightmare for PG's to go against that size and still big enough to guard most 2's. Any team that doesn't have a good back-court allows us to hide Russell and put Lamelo on the ball where his size can be disruptive. He has nothing physically holding him back defensively so I don't see why he is instantly a complete sieve on that end of the court. That says you have 0 faith in this organizations ability to develop players so we might as well just pack it in right now.

Im not a big Ball guy. With that said every prospect has a glaring hole in their games. There is no prospect who dosen't show big red flags. It is up to the wolves organization to develop whoever we draft. If Ball is the guy the wolves will need to develop him.

Im still in the trade the pick mode but Ball weakness isn't anymore glaring then any other prospect in this draft

I bet the NBA finds a way to give the Lakers the first pick this summer.

thedoper wrote:I bet the NBA finds a way to give the Lakers the first pick this summer.

Will every team be in the lottery because the season didn't end. So Lakers #1 pick

kekgeek1 wrote:

thedoper wrote:I bet the NBA finds a way to give the Lakers the first pick this summer.

Will every team be in the lottery because the season didn't end. So Lakers #1 pick

It's only fair right? We all know how much the NBA likes fairness.

Settle down, fellas.

The NBA isn't giving the Lakers the #1 pick...






... unless Lebron James whines and asks for it.

kekgeek1 wrote:I hate this draft. I really think the wolves are trading for Aaron Gordon this offseason.

Also what happens to the lottery if the season is canceled. Is every team now in the lottery. Why should teams be punished for being in the playoffs and not being able to play in them.

Also what does the cap look like. If no playoffs the cap will go down because less revenue coming to the league. Does that positively or negatively affect what Beasley will want and get

Someone saw the Hoopshype Rumors page.

First off, Gordon is not a $17m player anymore. The Tragic have tinkered with him to the point he doesn't know whether he's coming or going. His PF minutes are now average and his SF minutes are still bad.

And besides, the blogger who started that rumor, and who may be no brighter than some of the contributors to this board, had GSW ending up with AG, ORL ending up with JJ (as if) and MIN ending up with a trade exception. For the record, I LOVE that trade. Between the cap room and that trade exception, MIN could get good fast.

Hicks123 wrote:Would anyone trade our top pick for a guy like Van Fleet (S&T) or Marcus Smart? I look at what our team needs, and man, both of those guys would be game changers for us. I would certainly think about it. Not sure those other teams would even entertain....

1st off, no trading the #3(?) pick.

Very hard to fleece TOR. Very good front office, 10% of Canada's population lives within 100 KM's of TOR, and ownership also owns The Maple Laffs, so they're printing money. Ugly-colored money with Elton John's picture on it, but money nonetheless. I think they're adding somebody then resigning all of their own FA's.

LLLOOOVVVEEE BOS as a trade partner. 14 good players under contract, will be way over the lux, and FOUR draft picks. JO/#16 for MS/#17/#26/#30/#47. Any framework they want, just no KAT, DAR, JC, or #3.