Minnesota Sports Forum

I want to be hopeful about the wolves' taking Towns based on this board's 18-11 verdict, but I'm having a difficult time getting there. Almost all the sports guys in town are saying Okafor, and they're with Saunders et al frequently. I want Towns, but all evidence seems to point to Okafor unless Saunders is the greatest smokescreener ever.

longstrangetrip wrote:I want to be hopeful about the wolves' taking Towns based on this board's 18-11 verdict, but I'm having a difficult time getting there. Almost all the sports guys in town are saying Okafor, and they're with Saunders et al frequently. I want Towns, but all evidence seems to point to Okafor unless Saunders is the greatest smokescreener ever.

I tend to agree, but Flip would have a lot of explainin' to do after all his talk of getting two-way players.

I think Okafor has the tools to be solid defensively (and Flip will certainly talk this up big time in his rationalization of the pick - his great footwork, huge hands, and strong core/legs). But man, Okafor plays like he's had it engrained in him since he was a little kid dominating smaller opponents on offense to basically have one goal on defense: Don't get into foul trouble!

I certainly saw a passivity at Duke that to me screamed "don't foul!" versus any sort of physical shortcomings. But those are hard habits to break after so many years.

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:I want to be hopeful about the wolves' taking Towns based on this board's 18-11 verdict, but I'm having a difficult time getting there. Almost all the sports guys in town are saying Okafor, and they're with Saunders et al frequently. I want Towns, but all evidence seems to point to Okafor unless Saunders is the greatest smokescreener ever.

I tend to agree, but Flip would have a lot of explainin' to do after all his talk of getting two-way players.

I think Okafor has the tools to be solid defensively (and Flip will certainly talk this up big time in his rationalization of the pick - his great footwork, huge hands, and strong core/legs). But man, Okafor plays like he's had it engrained in him since he was a little kid dominating smaller opponents on offense to basically have one goal on defense: Don't get into foul trouble!

I certainly saw a passivity at Duke that to me screamed "don't foul!" versus any sort of physical shortcomings. But those are hard habits to break after so many years.

The draftexpress scouting video lists potential defense as a strength for Okafor, and they list all the positives you mention...plus a wingspan that is actually an inch more than Towns. But he does seem to play below the rim, and I just don't know if he will ever be a great NBA defender. Hope I'm wrong.

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:I want to be hopeful about the wolves' taking Towns based on this board's 18-11 verdict, but I'm having a difficult time getting there. Almost all the sports guys in town are saying Okafor, and they're with Saunders et al frequently. I want Towns, but all evidence seems to point to Okafor unless Saunders is the greatest smokescreener ever.

I tend to agree, but Flip would have a lot of explainin' to do after all his talk of getting two-way players.

I think Okafor has the tools to be solid defensively (and Flip will certainly talk this up big time in his rationalization of the pick - his great footwork, huge hands, and strong core/legs). But man, Okafor plays like he's had it engrained in him since he was a little kid dominating smaller opponents on offense to basically have one goal on defense: Don't get into foul trouble!

I certainly saw a passivity at Duke that to me screamed "don't foul!" versus any sort of physical shortcomings. But those are hard habits to break after so many years.

The draftexpress scouting video lists potential defense as a strength for Okafor, and they list all the positives you mention...plus a wingspan that is actually an inch more than Towns. But he does seem to play below the rim, and I just don't know if he will ever be a great NBA defender. Hope I'm wrong.

Anticipation and positioning. Plenty of great offensive players develop these attributes. Not sure many bigs ever develop the footwork Okafor has already. He is a manchild.

Q12543 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:I forgot to mention one other Flip comment in addition to K-Mart starting or coming off the bench. He said LaVine is a 2-guard, but his experience at the point this past year will help make him an even better 2-guard.

I do believe we are looking at a K-Mart/LaVine platoon at SG, with the starting spot going to LaVine when he is ready for it (which is probably not right away).

That makes me feel better.

Hey, I wonder if anyone has any opinions on Kevin Martin staying with our squad? :o

I'm not in favor of dumping him, but I would shop him. To me Miami makes a great trade partner for him provided they are willing to give up pick 10. With Wade and Bosh's ages and Riley's age they are probably in a win now mode. With a starting 5 potentially of Whiteside, Bosh, Deng, Wade, and Dragic they can compete with anybody in the league. Their bench is their weakness along with Wade's durability. Martin makes a great bench guy and a guy that can fill in for Wade when needed. It's hard to imagine a guy picked at 10 having a bigger impact than Martin could next year.

Charlotte is another possibility, although I think they probably want someone younger than Martin.

TRKO wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:I forgot to mention one other Flip comment in addition to K-Mart starting or coming off the bench. He said LaVine is a 2-guard, but his experience at the point this past year will help make him an even better 2-guard.

I do believe we are looking at a K-Mart/LaVine platoon at SG, with the starting spot going to LaVine when he is ready for it (which is probably not right away).

That makes me feel better.

Hey, I wonder if anyone has any opinions on Kevin Martin staying with our squad? :o

I'm not in favor of dumping him, but I would shop him. To me Miami makes a great trade partner for him provided they are willing to give up pick 10. With Wade and Bosh's ages and Riley's age they are probably in a win now mode. With a starting 5 potentially of Whiteside, Bosh, Deng, Wade, and Dragic they can compete with anybody in the league. Their bench is their weakness along with Wade's durability. Martin makes a great bench guy and a guy that can fill in for Wade when needed. It's hard to imagine a guy picked at 10 having a bigger impact than Martin could next year.

Charlotte is another possibility, although I think they probably want someone younger than Martin.

Very few teams are willing to trade the 10th pick for insurance on the bench.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

TRKO wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:I forgot to mention one other Flip comment in addition to K-Mart starting or coming off the bench. He said LaVine is a 2-guard, but his experience at the point this past year will help make him an even better 2-guard.

I do believe we are looking at a K-Mart/LaVine platoon at SG, with the starting spot going to LaVine when he is ready for it (which is probably not right away).

That makes me feel better.

Hey, I wonder if anyone has any opinions on Kevin Martin staying with our squad? :o

I'm not in favor of dumping him, but I would shop him. To me Miami makes a great trade partner for him provided they are willing to give up pick 10. With Wade and Bosh's ages and Riley's age they are probably in a win now mode. With a starting 5 potentially of Whiteside, Bosh, Deng, Wade, and Dragic they can compete with anybody in the league. Their bench is their weakness along with Wade's durability. Martin makes a great bench guy and a guy that can fill in for Wade when needed. It's hard to imagine a guy picked at 10 having a bigger impact than Martin could next year.

Charlotte is another possibility, although I think they probably want someone younger than Martin.

Very few teams are willing to trade the 10th pick for insurance on the bench.

Which is probably true, Martin is a great fit for them though. The only attractive piece they have to trade is their pick.

TRKO wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

60WinTim wrote:I forgot to mention one other Flip comment in addition to K-Mart starting or coming off the bench. He said LaVine is a 2-guard, but his experience at the point this past year will help make him an even better 2-guard.

I do believe we are looking at a K-Mart/LaVine platoon at SG, with the starting spot going to LaVine when he is ready for it (which is probably not right away).

That makes me feel better.

Hey, I wonder if anyone has any opinions on Kevin Martin staying with our squad? :o

I'm not in favor of dumping him, but I would shop him. To me Miami makes a great trade partner for him provided they are willing to give up pick 10. With Wade and Bosh's ages and Riley's age they are probably in a win now mode. With a starting 5 potentially of Whiteside, Bosh, Deng, Wade, and Dragic they can compete with anybody in the league. Their bench is their weakness along with Wade's durability. Martin makes a great bench guy and a guy that can fill in for Wade when needed. It's hard to imagine a guy picked at 10 having a bigger impact than Martin could next year.

Charlotte is another possibility, although I think they probably want someone younger than Martin.

It's funny how we always think of the great places where Martin and his outside shooting could be a fit (Memphis is another) and conveniently forget that we were by far the worst outside shooting team in the league last season.

(by the way, I believe Flip mentioned last night or today that he thinks if we stay healthy, we could be in a "win now" mode next season, meaning he thinks we could actually be pretty good. I don't think that means he completely abandons developing the young talent, but it doesn't bode particularly well for those that want to jettison Martin).

Very few teams have two #1 picks on the roster. (actually 3...)

That SHOULD be the foundation. Two guys who could potentially be All Stars in this league. Now, it's time to build up around them.

Or, more importantly... now is the time to finally start winning games.

If we were in the East I would be in the win now mode. I think the win now mode screwed us last year and will screw us this year. If I can get a long term piece for Martin I take it. Sell while the stock is still high. If we were in the East I would hold on to him. We aren't, so we need to be realistic and build this thing for the long run. We will have great cornerstone pieces to build with. Add some more young guys.