Minnesota Sports Forum

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 8:13 am From ESPN:

Best second-round rookie: Meleek Thomas, Cleveland Cavaliers

Thomas, the No. 34 pick out of Arkansas, enjoyed a weeklong heater. The 6-foot-3 guard led summer league by averaging 27.3 points per game on 50/44/100 shooting splits in four games. In a competition stacked with quality bucket-getters, Thomas stood alone by averaging nearly four points per game more than anyone else who played at least three games.

Of course, it helped that Thomas enjoyed the greenest light in Las Vegas and averaged a tournament-high 20.5 shots per game. His top performance was a 35-point explosion against the Miami Heat in which he hit six 3-pointers and looked very fluid on the ball.

Whether or not the Cavaliers land LeBron James in free agency, they will gladly add Thomas' pop to a bench that ranked 25th in scoring last season.



Did Tim Connelly blow it again in this year’s draft. His pick at #33, Isaiah Evans, looked horrible in Summer League at the one thing he was really good at in college. Meanwhile, the #34 pick was stellar in Summer League. Yes, it’s just Summer League, but it’s not nothing.

If Beringer pans out and becomes the player most of us think he’ll become, that will help offset TC’s parade of draft misses. If TSJ or Clark becomes a starter or high-level contributing rotation player next season, that will also help. And who knows, maybe Evans will look like a different player by the time next season rolls around. But as it stands, we have a PBO who trades away picks unlike any other PBO and misses on the picks he keeps. His trade acquisitions have been a mixed bag. The NAW and Conley acquisitions were very good, but Conley was old and aged out quickly while NAW left because TC chose to pay Randle instead. Donte was a very good acquisition but Randle was not and TC gave up a great player to them. He missed miserably trading up for Dillingham but made some lemonade out of that lemon by swapping Dilly for Ayo, although he had to give up Miller and draft capital to get him. He traded Randle for cap room with no picks in return.

Tim Connelly’s latest was trading Naz and our remaining tradeable draft assets for LaMello Ball. Under the circumstances I like the trade and I’m relatively optimistic that the deal will provide net improvement but we’ll see. This deal better work out. Tim Connelly inherited a 46-win team along with a treasure chest from Rosas in Ant, Jaden, Naz, KAT (drafted by Flip) and nearly all the Wolves draft assets still in the cupboard. I don’t think Connelly has made the of that inheritance although I wouldn’t say he’s squandered it. We now have a roster that looks like it might be poised for a sustained run as a championship contender over the next 5 years. So maybe this will have all worked out in the end.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 9:13 am

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 8:13 am From ESPN:

Best second-round rookie: Meleek Thomas, Cleveland Cavaliers

Thomas, the No. 34 pick out of Arkansas, enjoyed a weeklong heater. The 6-foot-3 guard led summer league by averaging 27.3 points per game on 50/44/100 shooting splits in four games. In a competition stacked with quality bucket-getters, Thomas stood alone by averaging nearly four points per game more than anyone else who played at least three games.

Of course, it helped that Thomas enjoyed the greenest light in Las Vegas and averaged a tournament-high 20.5 shots per game. His top performance was a 35-point explosion against the Miami Heat in which he hit six 3-pointers and looked very fluid on the ball.

Whether or not the Cavaliers land LeBron James in free agency, they will gladly add Thomas' pop to a bench that ranked 25th in scoring last season.



Did Tim Connelly blow it again in this year’s draft. His pick at #33, Isaiah Evans, looked horrible in Summer League at the one thing he was really good at in college. Meanwhile, the #34 pick was stellar in Summer League. Yes, it’s just Summer League, but it’s not nothing.

If Beringer pans out and becomes the player most of us think he’ll become, that will help offset TC’s parade of draft misses. If TSJ or Clark becomes a starter or high-level contributing rotation player next season, that will also help. And who knows, maybe Evans will look like a different player by the time next season rolls around. But as it stands, we have a PBO who trades away picks unlike any other PBO and misses on the picks he keeps. His trade acquisitions have been a mixed bag. The NAW and Conley acquisitions were very good, but Conley was old and aged out quickly while NAW left because TC chose to pay Randle instead. Donte was a very good acquisition but Randle was not and TC gave up a great player to them. He missed miserably trading up for Dillingham but made some lemonade out of that lemon by swapping Dilly for Ayo, although he had to give up Miller and draft capital to get him. He traded Randle for cap room with no picks in return.

Tim Connelly’s latest was trading Naz and our remaining tradeable draft assets for LaMello Ball. Under the circumstances I like the trade and I’m relatively optimistic that the deal will provide net improvement but we’ll see. This deal better work out. Tim Connelly inherited a 46-win team along with a treasure chest from Rosas in Ant, Jaden, Naz, KAT (drafted by Flip) and nearly all the Wolves draft assets still in the cupboard. I don’t think Connelly has made the of that inheritance although I wouldn’t say he’s squandered it. We now have a roster that looks like it might be poised for a sustained run as a championship contender over the next 5 years. So maybe this will have all worked out in the end.

Thomas was easily my guy for months at pick 28 before we moved down, and he was still there at 33. That being said, it's Summer league, and Johnny Flynn was Summer League MVP.

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 9:58 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 9:13 am

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 8:13 am From ESPN:

Best second-round rookie: Meleek Thomas, Cleveland Cavaliers

Thomas, the No. 34 pick out of Arkansas, enjoyed a weeklong heater. The 6-foot-3 guard led summer league by averaging 27.3 points per game on 50/44/100 shooting splits in four games. In a competition stacked with quality bucket-getters, Thomas stood alone by averaging nearly four points per game more than anyone else who played at least three games.

Of course, it helped that Thomas enjoyed the greenest light in Las Vegas and averaged a tournament-high 20.5 shots per game. His top performance was a 35-point explosion against the Miami Heat in which he hit six 3-pointers and looked very fluid on the ball.

Whether or not the Cavaliers land LeBron James in free agency, they will gladly add Thomas' pop to a bench that ranked 25th in scoring last season.



Did Tim Connelly blow it again in this year’s draft. His pick at #33, Isaiah Evans, looked horrible in Summer League at the one thing he was really good at in college. Meanwhile, the #34 pick was stellar in Summer League. Yes, it’s just Summer League, but it’s not nothing.

If Beringer pans out and becomes the player most of us think he’ll become, that will help offset TC’s parade of draft misses. If TSJ or Clark becomes a starter or high-level contributing rotation player next season, that will also help. And who knows, maybe Evans will look like a different player by the time next season rolls around. But as it stands, we have a PBO who trades away picks unlike any other PBO and misses on the picks he keeps. His trade acquisitions have been a mixed bag. The NAW and Conley acquisitions were very good, but Conley was old and aged out quickly while NAW left because TC chose to pay Randle instead. Donte was a very good acquisition but Randle was not and TC gave up a great player to them. He missed miserably trading up for Dillingham but made some lemonade out of that lemon by swapping Dilly for Ayo, although he had to give up Miller and draft capital to get him. He traded Randle for cap room with no picks in return.

Tim Connelly’s latest was trading Naz and our remaining tradeable draft assets for LaMello Ball. Under the circumstances I like the trade and I’m relatively optimistic that the deal will provide net improvement but we’ll see. This deal better work out. Tim Connelly inherited a 46-win team along with a treasure chest from Rosas in Ant, Jaden, Naz, KAT (drafted by Flip) and nearly all the Wolves draft assets still in the cupboard. I don’t think Connelly has made the of that inheritance although I wouldn’t say he’s squandered it. We now have a roster that looks like it might be poised for a sustained run as a championship contender over the next 5 years. So maybe this will have all worked out in the end.

Thomas was easily my guy for months at pick 28 before we moved down, and he was still there at 33. That being said, it's Summer league, and Johnny Flynn was Summer League MVP.

If we picked him there would have been all kinds of posts about his size and weight. Would he have had as much success if he would have basically shown up and then played the next day instead ready of having some days to prepare? Can he play PG? He took 7 FTs in 4 games. What did he look like defensively? Unfortunately I didn't see him play much if any while I was in Vegas. There was only one day I would have been able to see him. Clearly the powers that be were trying to hide him from me!

His stats definitely look good and Evans was disappointing because he couldn't hit 3's but he did some other things that looked pretty promising in terms of a more well rounded player. Is Philly concerned about Philon because he shot the ball poorly overall in SL? Chris anderson jr? Acuff? Should those teams have selected Maleek Thomas? Maybe. We will see. Meanwhile we have Zyon Pullin!

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 9:58 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 9:13 am

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 8:13 am From ESPN:

Best second-round rookie: Meleek Thomas, Cleveland Cavaliers

Thomas, the No. 34 pick out of Arkansas, enjoyed a weeklong heater. The 6-foot-3 guard led summer league by averaging 27.3 points per game on 50/44/100 shooting splits in four games. In a competition stacked with quality bucket-getters, Thomas stood alone by averaging nearly four points per game more than anyone else who played at least three games.

Of course, it helped that Thomas enjoyed the greenest light in Las Vegas and averaged a tournament-high 20.5 shots per game. His top performance was a 35-point explosion against the Miami Heat in which he hit six 3-pointers and looked very fluid on the ball.

Whether or not the Cavaliers land LeBron James in free agency, they will gladly add Thomas' pop to a bench that ranked 25th in scoring last season.



Did Tim Connelly blow it again in this year’s draft. His pick at #33, Isaiah Evans, looked horrible in Summer League at the one thing he was really good at in college. Meanwhile, the #34 pick was stellar in Summer League. Yes, it’s just Summer League, but it’s not nothing.

If Beringer pans out and becomes the player most of us think he’ll become, that will help offset TC’s parade of draft misses. If TSJ or Clark becomes a starter or high-level contributing rotation player next season, that will also help. And who knows, maybe Evans will look like a different player by the time next season rolls around. But as it stands, we have a PBO who trades away picks unlike any other PBO and misses on the picks he keeps. His trade acquisitions have been a mixed bag. The NAW and Conley acquisitions were very good, but Conley was old and aged out quickly while NAW left because TC chose to pay Randle instead. Donte was a very good acquisition but Randle was not and TC gave up a great player to them. He missed miserably trading up for Dillingham but made some lemonade out of that lemon by swapping Dilly for Ayo, although he had to give up Miller and draft capital to get him. He traded Randle for cap room with no picks in return.

Tim Connelly’s latest was trading Naz and our remaining tradeable draft assets for LaMello Ball. Under the circumstances I like the trade and I’m relatively optimistic that the deal will provide net improvement but we’ll see. This deal better work out. Tim Connelly inherited a 46-win team along with a treasure chest from Rosas in Ant, Jaden, Naz, KAT (drafted by Flip) and nearly all the Wolves draft assets still in the cupboard. I don’t think Connelly has made the of that inheritance although I wouldn’t say he’s squandered it. We now have a roster that looks like it might be poised for a sustained run as a championship contender over the next 5 years. So maybe this will have all worked out in the end.

Thomas was easily my guy for months at pick 28 before we moved down, and he was still there at 33. That being said, it's Summer league, and Johnny Flynn was Summer League MVP.

If we picked him there would have been all kinds of posts about his size and weight. Would he have had as much success if he would have basically shown up and then played the next day instead ready of having some days to prepare? Can he play PG? He took 7 FTs in 4 games. What did he look like defensively? Unfortunately I didn't see him play much if any while I was in Vegas. There was only one day I would have been able to see him. Clearly the powers that be were trying to hide him from me!

His stats definitely look good and Evans was disappointing because he couldn't hit 3's but he did some other things that looked pretty promising in terms of a more well rounded player. Is Philly concerned about Philon because he shot the ball poorly overall in SL? Chris anderson jr? Acuff? Should those teams have selected Maleek Thomas? Maybe. We will see. Meanwhile we have Zyon Pullin!

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:01 am

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 9:58 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 9:13 am

Thomas was easily my guy for months at pick 28 before we moved down, and he was still there at 33. That being said, it's Summer league, and Johnny Flynn was Summer League MVP.

If we picked him there would have been all kinds of posts about his size and weight. Would he have had as much success if he would have basically shown up and then played the next day instead ready of having some days to prepare? Can he play PG? He took 7 FTs in 4 games. What did he look like defensively? Unfortunately I didn't see him play much if any while I was in Vegas. There was only one day I would have been able to see him. Clearly the powers that be were trying to hide him from me!

His stats definitely look good and Evans was disappointing because he couldn't hit 3's but he did some other things that looked pretty promising in terms of a more well rounded player. Is Philly concerned about Philon because he shot the ball poorly overall in SL? Chris anderson jr? Acuff? Should those teams have selected Maleek Thomas? Maybe. We will see. Meanwhile we have Zyon Pullin!

lol. Well done, Monster! . I’ll add that Steph Curry did not shoot well in Summer League and he had three years of high-usage college ball under his belt compared to Isaiah’s 2 years. Hopefully we’ll see Isaiah, Rocco, Joan, TSJ and Jaylen Clark all blossom into very good possibly great NBA players.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:26 am I'm not as worried about Thomas, even though I did want him. Now not taking Fleming at pick 31 the previous draft, is not looking like a good move if we knew we could have moved on from Randle and or Naz a year later. Of course I'm sure the future 2nd round pick we got in the trade either went to Chicago for Ayo or Charlotte for Ball.

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:44 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:26 am I'm not as worried about Thomas, even though I did want him. Now not taking Fleming at pick 31 the previous draft, is not looking like a good move if we knew we could have moved on from Randle and or Naz a year later. Of course I'm sure the future 2nd round pick we got in the trade either went to Chicago for Ayo or Charlotte for Ball.

Flemming would have taken up a full NBA roster spot last year. Would that have kept the Wolves from signing Bones Hyland who ended up being a worthwhile regular season contributor? Maybe they sign a different 2-way player than the spot they used on Rocco. I haven't seen anything from Flemming (not that I've paid super close attention) that makes me think wow we should have picked that guy.

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:53 am

Monster wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:44 am

rapsuperstar31 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2026 10:26 am I'm not as worried about Thomas, even though I did want him. Now not taking Fleming at pick 31 the previous draft, is not looking like a good move if we knew we could have moved on from Randle and or Naz a year later. Of course I'm sure the future 2nd round pick we got in the trade either went to Chicago for Ayo or Charlotte for Ball.

Flemming would have taken up a full NBA roster spot last year. Would that have kept the Wolves from signing Bones Hyland who ended up being a worthwhile regular season contributor? Maybe they sign a different 2-way player than the spot they used on Rocco. I haven't seen anything from Flemming (not that I've paid super close attention) that makes me think wow we should have picked that guy.

You have to take chances on some young players for future years. Ingles may have provided some leadership, but he was a wasted spot. I do think Fleming is going to be more than worth the low salary he's on.