Minnesota Sports Forum

northernhoops wrote:I know he's been pretty terrible all year, but Skal Labissiere was terrific against LSU. I'm really intrigued by the guy, should be interesting to see how the rest of the year goes for him.

Additionally, I'm a big fan of Timothe Luwawu, looks to be a good 3 and D wing. Would love to trade down and pick up two high upside guys when the guys around 5 are kind of bleh

Skal has tantalizing talent. He is a boom or bust. Nice stroke with the ability to block shots. I'm intruiged as well, but am scared to death of the guy all in one.

Camden wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

I have no doubt that Simmons is the most talented player in this draft and deserves to go #1 most likely. If we have the ridiculous luck to win the lottery again though, I'm not sure I ultimately would keep him on the roster. I'd probably draft him and trade his rights for a young-ish veteran that fits in better with our other players.

The two biggest issues for this squad is 1) defense and 2) 3-point shooting. I don't see how he helps with either. I'm not sure we need another player that needs the ball in his hands to be effective.

He doesn't help either of our biggest weaknesses, but he is a supremely talented player that doesn't come along too often. And his position is a position of need for us. For those reasons, I'd draft him and keep him.

For example, if Blake Griffin was a 19-year old in this draft coming out of Oklahoma, would you draft him and keep him or instead trade him for someone likely not as talented, but fills a particular weakness? I think that's a very risky play, especially when we only have one for sure, no doubt about it, absolute lock to be a star player in Towns.

I honestly don't know if I want Griffin on this squad either. We are dropping 110 Pts per game on opponents NOW without Ben Simmons or Blake Griffin. And I suspect KAT, LaVine, and Wiggins aren't done getting better offensively. There is the law of diminishing returns, where at some point, each additional scorer/offensive-minded player you add to your lineup adds less value. We may actually be close to reaching that point given how we have played lately.

I guess one thing you could do if you had a Simmons or Griffin is move LaVine to the bench as a super-sub 6th man and replace him with a big, defensive minded 3 & D wing (which don't grow on trees). That way you spread out your offensive weapons so that not everyone that needs touches is in the lineup at the same time.

What about Simmons for Noel and a 1st?

khans2k5 wrote:If we get Simmons, Dieng has to go for a defensive anchor who can rebound and defend the rim. Ben may be one of, if not the worst help defenders I've ever seen play basketball so he will need an anchor behind him at all times if we want to have any prayer of having a decent defense. The guy is a ball watcher who doesn't step up and help his teammates very much at the rim. Maybe he's trying to avoid fouls to stay on the floor, but either way you usually don't see someone who puts so little effort into team defense all of a sudden become a plus defender at the next level.

You may be right and it's a problem, because this is how bad habits start. Some of these guys who throughout their whole lives were the most gifted offensive players on their squad were taught first and foremost: "Don't foul out!" And so their #1 priority on defense is to avoid fouling. Their #2 priority is to conserve energy for offense, where they are so desperately needed. This in turn leads to weak closeouts and giving up on plays near the rim (think Kevin Love). Simmons seems like that kind of guy.

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

I have no doubt that Simmons is the most talented player in this draft and deserves to go #1 most likely. If we have the ridiculous luck to win the lottery again though, I'm not sure I ultimately would keep him on the roster. I'd probably draft him and trade his rights for a young-ish veteran that fits in better with our other players.

The two biggest issues for this squad is 1) defense and 2) 3-point shooting. I don't see how he helps with either. I'm not sure we need another player that needs the ball in his hands to be effective.

He doesn't help either of our biggest weaknesses, but he is a supremely talented player that doesn't come along too often. And his position is a position of need for us. For those reasons, I'd draft him and keep him.

For example, if Blake Griffin was a 19-year old in this draft coming out of Oklahoma, would you draft him and keep him or instead trade him for someone likely not as talented, but fills a particular weakness? I think that's a very risky play, especially when we only have one for sure, no doubt about it, absolute lock to be a star player in Towns.

I honestly don't know if I want Griffin on this squad either. We are dropping 110 Pts per game on opponents NOW without Ben Simmons or Blake Griffin. And I suspect KAT, LaVine, and Wiggins aren't done getting better offensively. There is the law of diminishing returns, where at some point, each additional scorer/offensive-minded player you add to your lineup adds less value. We may actually be close to reaching that point given how we have played lately.

I guess one thing you could do if you had a Simmons or Griffin is move LaVine to the bench as a super-sub 6th man and replace him with a big, defensive minded 3 & D wing (which don't grow on trees). That way you spread out your offensive weapons so that not everyone that needs touches is in the lineup at the same time.

What about Simmons for Noel and a 1st?

I'm still taking Simmons in that scenario despite how much I really, really like Noel. Also, how impressive is that 110 really when we're giving up 120, or whatever the actual number is? I think our offense has been better with LaVine and Dieng in the lineup, but I don't think it's THAT good. When you give up a ton of points and get into shootouts, that sort of scoring output seems better than it is.

We need to get better defensively, but not at the expense of someone as gifted as Simmons.

After watching both Simmons and Ingram this weekend, I'm not sure there's a blue chip player in this draft. I'm sure someone will turn out to be very good, but it looks like this draft is really going to be a crapshoot. Our scouts really need to do their job this year. And I would definitely consider a trade after we see our position.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:After watching both Simmons and Ingram this weekend, I'm not sure there's a blue chip player in this draft. I'm sure someone will turn out to be very good, but it looks like this draft is really going to be a crapshoot. Our scouts really need to do their job this year. And I would definitely consider a trade after we see our position.

Simmons had a 17 pt, 11 reb, 4 ast, 7 stl game this weekend and it's being talked about as a disappointment from most people. It was a little disappointing, but that's because of how talented the guy is. He didn't even play well and was still arguably the best player on the floor.

Camden wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:After watching both Simmons and Ingram this weekend, I'm not sure there's a blue chip player in this draft. I'm sure someone will turn out to be very good, but it looks like this draft is really going to be a crapshoot. Our scouts really need to do their job this year. And I would definitely consider a trade after we see our position.

Simmons had a 17 pt, 11 reb, 4 ast, 7 stl game this weekend and it's being talked about as a disappointment from most people. It was a little disappointing, but that's because of how talented the guy is. He didn't even play well and was still arguably the best player on the floor.

He's a talent, but there are a lot more questions about him today, then there were at the beginning of the year.

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Camden wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:After watching both Simmons and Ingram this weekend, I'm not sure there's a blue chip player in this draft. I'm sure someone will turn out to be very good, but it looks like this draft is really going to be a crapshoot. Our scouts really need to do their job this year. And I would definitely consider a trade after we see our position.

Simmons had a 17 pt, 11 reb, 4 ast, 7 stl game this weekend and it's being talked about as a disappointment from most people. It was a little disappointing, but that's because of how talented the guy is. He didn't even play well and was still arguably the best player on the floor.

He's a talent, but there are a lot more questions about him today, then there were at the beginning of the year.

That tends to happen to a lot of phenomenal prospects that get insane amounts of hype from the very beginning. It happened to Wiggins. It happened to Okafor. It's happened to Simmons. It'll happen to some kid next year too.

Camden wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

Camden wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

I have no doubt that Simmons is the most talented player in this draft and deserves to go #1 most likely. If we have the ridiculous luck to win the lottery again though, I'm not sure I ultimately would keep him on the roster. I'd probably draft him and trade his rights for a young-ish veteran that fits in better with our other players.

The two biggest issues for this squad is 1) defense and 2) 3-point shooting. I don't see how he helps with either. I'm not sure we need another player that needs the ball in his hands to be effective.

He doesn't help either of our biggest weaknesses, but he is a supremely talented player that doesn't come along too often. And his position is a position of need for us. For those reasons, I'd draft him and keep him.

For example, if Blake Griffin was a 19-year old in this draft coming out of Oklahoma, would you draft him and keep him or instead trade him for someone likely not as talented, but fills a particular weakness? I think that's a very risky play, especially when we only have one for sure, no doubt about it, absolute lock to be a star player in Towns.

I honestly don't know if I want Griffin on this squad either. We are dropping 110 Pts per game on opponents NOW without Ben Simmons or Blake Griffin. And I suspect KAT, LaVine, and Wiggins aren't done getting better offensively. There is the law of diminishing returns, where at some point, each additional scorer/offensive-minded player you add to your lineup adds less value. We may actually be close to reaching that point given how we have played lately.

I guess one thing you could do if you had a Simmons or Griffin is move LaVine to the bench as a super-sub 6th man and replace him with a big, defensive minded 3 & D wing (which don't grow on trees). That way you spread out your offensive weapons so that not everyone that needs touches is in the lineup at the same time.

What about Simmons for Noel and a 1st?

I'm still taking Simmons in that scenario despite how much I really, really like Noel. Also, how impressive is that 110 really when we're giving up 120, or whatever the actual number is? I think our offense has been better with LaVine and Dieng in the lineup, but I don't think it's THAT good. When you give up a ton of points and get into shootouts, that sort of scoring output seems better than it is.

We need to get better defensively, but not at the expense of someone as gifted as Simmons.

#1 offense in February; #3 offense in February + March; and #6 offense over the past 20 games (which goes back to some time in January). And this is offensive rating I'm talking about, which normalizes for pace of play.

We basically swapped out KG for Dieng and LaVine went 100% to SG, which has cut into Prince's minutes. Thus it was pure offense for defense tradeoff. I just don't see how Simmons fits into that mix. I guess you start him in place of Dieng at PF. Now we're even worse defensively and marginally better offensively.

If we didn't already have what I thought were the key building blocks of the team, I'd be all for Simmons.

Camden wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:

Camden wrote:

CoolBreeze44 wrote:After watching both Simmons and Ingram this weekend, I'm not sure there's a blue chip player in this draft. I'm sure someone will turn out to be very good, but it looks like this draft is really going to be a crapshoot. Our scouts really need to do their job this year. And I would definitely consider a trade after we see our position.

Simmons had a 17 pt, 11 reb, 4 ast, 7 stl game this weekend and it's being talked about as a disappointment from most people. It was a little disappointing, but that's because of how talented the guy is. He didn't even play well and was still arguably the best player on the floor.

He's a talent, but there are a lot more questions about him today, then there were at the beginning of the year.

That tends to happen to a lot of phenomenal prospects that get insane amounts of hype from the very beginning. It happened to Wiggins. It happened to Okafor. It's happened to Simmons. It'll happen to some kid next year too.

A little different with Simmons. His issues have more to do with intangibles and what he has between the years. And remember, in a basketball game you spend approximatelyl 50% of the time playing defense. Simmons hasn't shown that he cares much about that end of the floor.