Minnesota Sports Forum

KG4Ever wrote:I think Paul Reed would be a great get at 33. He might be available there. Last year he averaged 2.6 blocks, 1.9 steals, 10.7 Rebounds, 15.1 points, 51.6 FG%, 73.8 FT%, . He can shoot 3s (33% over college career). 7 foot 2 wingspan. I like his athleticism and motor too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRCy45OpCNk&ab_channel=HoopIntellect

Thanks for posting. I'm a huge fan of Reed as a potential Wolves pick. Unfortunately, Cam is probably right that he won't be available for our pick at #33. If he is, I'd snatch him up in a heartbeat. Depending on who the Wolves draft at #1, the Wolves should consider drafting Reed at #17. I like both Reed and Tyrell Terry at #17. Interestingly, Draft.net has Reed going at #34 to the Sixers and Terry going to the Mavs at #18.

While I don't expect the Wolves to take and keep all three picks, here's a 3-pick scenario I'd really like:

1. Wolves trade down from #1 and end up with Deni or Vassell as well as Kennard or Heurter

2. Wolves draft Tyrell Terry at #17

3. Wolves draft Paul Reed at #33

This would be a pretty impressive and balanced outcome. We'd end up with a potential starting SF in Deni or Vassell, a sharp-shooting SG off the bench in Heurter or Kennard, a highly competitive, elite perimeter shooting backup PG In Terry, and a high-energy, shotblocking, defensive PF in Reed to pair with KAT.

If the Wolves wound up with Kevin Huerter by some chance, I would hope that they'd consider starting him. Or at least making it an open competition. I don't see Malik Beasley being a guy that should be penciled into a starting role unless there are no other options -- and in that case there would certainly be another viable option. Huerter isn't as gifted an athlete as Beasley, but his overall skill level is arguably higher and he does provide more size for the position.

A couple things I've found in the little I've read about the draft the last couple of days.

Sam Vecenie of the Athletic has reported he has heard a fair amount of buzz about Wiseman from basketball folks and especially from other NBA players that don't have any stake in saying he looks good. I stil think that if Wiseman blows people away the Wolves will take him. I'm not convinced of it but ai do see a path for him to do more than just be a nice center.

Meanwhile he has Tyrell Terry going to the Mavs at 31 and Reed in the 50's in his mock draft. I think this draft is going to be wildly unpredictable. Some team might value a guy as a mid first round player and another guy might think he is a middle 2nd rounder. I'm not suggesting Vecenie is right on in his mock draft but really I think there are going to be a bunch of guys that are going to be valued really similarly and it's a pick your favorite depending on who is picking where.

I don't remember seeing it mentioned on this board but the Wolves hired 24/7 Sports Josh Gershon. He was a guy that has been doing prep and college stuff for quite a while and it sounds like he has a pretty good reputation. There have been some similar hires around the league and Baseball Teams including the Twins Hired people from Baseball America etc. One thing ai like about hiring someone like that is you add a different perspective to the organization. Someone who has been in the media has a real idea of what that was like. I think that can have value on its own and obviously hopefully this guy has some good talent, knowledge and relationships built up.

It feels like to me in the little I have heard or read nobody really has a feel of how the wolves actually value players at the top of the draft. People are making guesses based on what I for the have but I don't get the sense people have heard much from the Wolves about how they actually feel about various players. Yeah they are looking at trading the pick but that makes sense especially depending on what you can get. Maximize your assets and the #1 pick even in this draft is an asset. Danny Ainge continues to looks smart and he turned the #1 overall pick into a better player and a future pick. I'm not saying the Wolves are that smart or whatever but that's exactly what smart teams do maximize their assets and they seem to be attempting to do that. Whether they get it right is another thing.

Hard to believe we're going to roster three new rookie draft picks when it feels like we need to lock in on another starting-caliber player to slot into one of the starting forward positions and we already have multiple young guys on rookie or undrafted free agent deals that are pretty cheap.

I really hope we come out with either Jalen Smith or Paul Reed. I do like Wiseman and Okongwu, and wouldn't be disappointed if we took either, but I think we can draft a two way big later that has some star potential. I think bigs tend to fall more than we expect on draft day. Think John Collins, Jarret Allen, Brandon Clarke, Claxton all fell a bit on draft day. Bol Bol and Skal were once considered lottery picks and they both fell a lot. Then of course, some of the best bigs were late picks: Jokic, Siakam, Rudy. I'd take best big available at 33 if we haven't taken one earlier. Reed is my dream pick at 33, but if he's not there I'd consider players like Oturu, Stewart, Pokusevski and Perry.

At 17, my favorites that might be available are Aaron Nesmith, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Smith and Terry.

Desmond Bane and Jake Toolson are both great three point shooters that I'd look to sign if they go undrafted.

KG4Ever wrote:Desmond Bane and Jake Toolson are both great three point shooters that I'd look to sign if they go undrafted.

Desmond Bane is likely a mid-late first-round pick. The only way he goes undrafted is if he live streams himself smoking weed before the draft.

Agree that he's a great three-point shooter. I really like his overall game.

KG4Ever wrote:I really hope we come out with either Jalen Smith or Paul Reed. I do like Wiseman and Okongwu, and wouldn't be disappointed if we took either, but I think we can draft a two way big later that has some star potential. I think bigs tend to fall more than we expect on draft day. Think John Collins, Jarret Allen, Brandon Clarke, Claxton all fell a bit on draft day. Bol Bol and Skal were once considered lottery picks and they both fell a lot. Then of course, some of the best bigs were late picks: Jokic, Siakam, Rudy. I'd take best big available at 33 if we haven't taken one earlier. Reed is my dream pick at 33, but if he's not there I'd consider players like Oturu, Stewart, Pokusevski and Perry.

I agree with a lot of what you laid out here. What about a guy like Zeke Nnaji? I just looked at the mock draft from The Athletic again and there are a few bigs in that range most I don't know much about. The ones I do know about...I'm not sure how much different I view them after the guys that are supposed to be gone in the top 10 or so. Pick one of those guys out of a hat and hopefully get a good or at least solid player.

Camden wrote:

KG4Ever wrote:Desmond Bane and Jake Toolson are both great three point shooters that I'd look to sign if they go undrafted.

Desmond Bane is likely a mid-late first-round pick. The only way he goes undrafted is if he live streams himself smoking weed before the draft.

Agree that he's a great three-point shooter. I really like his overall game.

You are right that Bane should be gone. The reason I listed him is that he is not in NBADraftnet's latest two round mock, though he gets drafted in round 2 in CBS mock and Round 1 in the Athletic. I don't have access to Givony's draft analysis as DraftExpress is paywalled now, but if you have access, I'd be curious as to his expectations.