Minnesota Sports Forum

TeamRicky wrote:DraftExpress has McCaw going at 45. If Houston makes the playoffs we'd have a pick right about there. He might not be ranked in all the services as there may be some question as to whether he declares or not. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Patrick-McCaw-71486/

Mmmm, I have him going #22 in DX's 2017 draft.

Either way, it's not very flattering. They either don't think his stock is high enough to come out and even if deferred for another year, he's still ranked fairly low.

I'm not knocking him as a prospect by the way - I have no clue about the guy. Just commenting on how he's ranked by DX.

Q12543 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:DraftExpress has McCaw going at 45. If Houston makes the playoffs we'd have a pick right about there. He might not be ranked in all the services as there may be some question as to whether he declares or not. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Patrick-McCaw-71486/

Mmmm, I have him going #22 in DX's 2017 draft.

Either way, it's not very flattering. They either don't think his stock is high enough to come out and even if deferred for another year, he's still ranked fairly low.

I'm not knocking him as a prospect by the way - I have no clue about the guy. Just commenting on how he's ranked by DX.

McCaw is a 20 year old sophomore who was like 3rd banana on offense behind Rashad Vaughn and someone else last year. He had a growth spurt and now he's a lanky 6"7. This season he's become the team's number one scoring option, sometimes running the point and yet his defense is as good as ever. He's significantly improved on nearly every stat from his freshman year despite getting only a few minutes more of playing time. Buddy Hield and Denzel Valentine weren't projected as high as him when they were McCaw's age. He has a good chance to develop into a glue guy or 3 and D guy in the NBA and with some potential to eventually become like a Crowder or Demarre Carroll.

TeamRicky wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:DraftExpress has McCaw going at 45. If Houston makes the playoffs we'd have a pick right about there. He might not be ranked in all the services as there may be some question as to whether he declares or not. http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Patrick-McCaw-71486/

Mmmm, I have him going #22 in DX's 2017 draft.

Either way, it's not very flattering. They either don't think his stock is high enough to come out and even if deferred for another year, he's still ranked fairly low.

I'm not knocking him as a prospect by the way - I have no clue about the guy. Just commenting on how he's ranked by DX.

McCaw is a 20 year old sophomore who was like 3rd banana on offense behind Rashad Vaughn and someone else last year. He had a growth spurt and now he's a lanky 6"7. This season he's become the team's number one scoring option, sometimes running the point and yet his defense is as good as ever. He's significantly improved on nearly every stat from his freshman year despite getting only a few minutes more of playing time. Buddy Hield and Denzel Valentine weren't projected as high as him when they were McCaw's age. He has a good chance to develop into a glue guy or 3 and D guy in the NBA and with some potential to eventually become like a Crowder or Demarre Carroll.

Yeah, like I said, I'm all for getting gritty defensive types that can hit open 3's. We desperately need one or two of these guys in our perimeter rotation. It's one of the reasons I didn't like the Tyus Jones pick (along with the price of obtaining it - three 2nd rounders!).

Its interesting that this board has talked up Valentine, Baldwin and McCaw. Those 3 were named in the http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2602117-the-5-biggest-early-risers-in-2016-nba-draft-conversationBiggest Early Risers article along with Deyonta Davis, a young MSU big with potential.

How good is Ivan Rabb? I am curious about him and Deyonta Davis as young bigs with potential.

It's kind of ridiculous how much better a basketball player Buddy Hield has made himself become. Work ethic is a huge plus with him. Check out this "then and now" video from DX. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w_DVvCmYAQ

Camden0916 wrote:It's kind of ridiculous how much better a basketball player Buddy Hield has made himself become. Work ethic is a huge plus with him. Check out this "then and now" video from DX. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w_DVvCmYAQ

That's what's so intriguing about him is despite being a senior he has growth potential due to his work ethic. The guy has that competitiveness and will work his butt off. That's a good attribute to have. I think at minimum the guy is a good bench scorer for you. I would be happy with a Hield pick.

We should at least hire whoever is helping him.

I need to retract something I said before. I said I wouldn't draft Jakob Poeltl in the top-seven, but I take that back. I'd probably take him as high as No. 3 overall for the Wolves. There's a handful of guys that have higher upside (Brown, Murray, Hield, Dunn), but there's a feeling I get that with Poeltl, you know what you're getting. He's a going to be a modern NBA defensive anchor who's an excellent finisher around the rim offensively. 7'1", 240 lbs, 7'1" wingspan with above average mobility, strength and ups. I don't see him becoming an annual All-Star, but I do see him being a really, really good role player and that's perfectly fine with me. If we believe that we have our potential stars, then we need to start putting pieces around them that will help them grow and compete by playing a role. I think Poeltl would be a really good selection should we not luck our way into the top-two.

It would also allow us to save some money in that we wouldn't have to pay big money for a PF/C in free agency. We could focus on perimeter players with that cap space (backup PG, SG and SF are some weak areas).

Lastly, with the league trying to go small more often, I think that the right counter is to load up on bigs that can play both styles, which is hard to do. If we were to move forward with Towns, Poeltl and Dieng as our rotation of bigs, I think it would present a problem for the opposition. We'd have a big, long, mobile and athletic frontcourt that is capable of playing fast or pounding it inside. That intrigues me. It's why I wanted us to go after Horford hard.

I went to the Purdue vs Nebraska game last Tuesday and I didn't do a good job of scouting players because it was NE last game of the year and final home games for Shavon Shields and little Benny Parker. Shields put up 32 and probably would have gotten 40 if he wasn't so gassed the last few minutes. Benny Parker is an athletic freak like Nate Robinson but instead of being able to score he puts all that energy in to hustle and defense. I've seen him a couple times as a rim protector making weak side blocks on people it's crazy.

So I did pay some attention to AJ Hammonds who I first saw play live 2 years ago in Lincoln and was impressed actually. He has gotten leaner and while his game doesn't blow you away I think he would be a guy I would be interested in taking a flyer on in the middle or late part of the 2nd round. He already plays a limited role and he has some talent beyond being a fairly physically gifted 7' tall dude. I could see him being a solid bench center for the right team. His numbers this year are quite a bit better but how much is that playing on a good team with other big dudes and him being a senior etc. I'm not saying I think he is a magical gem waiting to be uncovered but I can see him being a worthwhile guy on a roster and his limited role in college may help him transition better than some other guys that are used to playing big minutes.