Minnesota Sports Forum

We should have drafted the Greek Freak and Tim Hardaway Jr.

The Greek freak was my first choice at the 15 spot....I'd still love him on this team.

I never liked the Shabazz pick. And I agree with Q's assessment of what that pick says about Flip. When McCollum gets healthy and gets some playing time we're going to really wish Flip had drafted him. I already wish we had drafted the Greek Freak and/or Hardaway Jr.

I liked the Shabazz/Dieng choice (over an undersized SG McCollum) and still do, although I was not impressed with either in the only significant minutes I have seen them in (summer league, FWIW). Q has pointed out Shabazz's inefficient scoring numbers at UCLA, and he is right. But Muhammad faced two obstacles in college that he will not see in the NBA: 1) a point guard whose main goal seemed to me to freeze Shabazz out, causing him to have to create offense almost entirely on his own, and 2) defenses designed every night to shut him down. Despite these two enormous obstacles, he still finished the year as the highest scoring freshman in the history of the Pac 12, and there's some very impressive competition there. I also am excited about Lip's inside reports that Shabazz is the hardest working guy on the team. I see him as a solid 16 point a night guy once he establishes himself.

Absent any significant injuries this year, however, Shabazz is destined for a long year of DNP-CD's. The trade for Luc and the return of Bud (practiced full contact today), only buries him deeper in Adelman's bench, just as the return of Turiaf buries Dieng deeper. In fact, one of both are likely to actually be inactive once everyone is back.