Minnesota Sports Forum

Defensive mindset, toughness, shooting, lower body strength.....over and above actual production, those are the key attributes I want this team to prioritize. That Creighton guard seems to exhibit all four.

WildWolf2813 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

WildWolf2813 wrote:At 20 and 48, I don't have confidence in this front office to address needs (and they need to address glaring needs. They CANNOT do BPA if they have no interest in player development)

My early guys for the #20 pick


Svi Mykhailuk, G, Kansas. 20 year old senior, really hit his stride, was more aggressive, very good three point shooter, good height for a guard.

Hamidou Diallo, G/F, Kentucky- he's basically Andrew Wiggins without the albatross of a contract but with better coaching is much more salvageable than Wiggins is. I've seen him play in person (he's from Lefrak City in Queens, NY, and Queens has been a hotbed for talent)

Khyri Thomas, G, Creighton. To me he's a Kris Dunn do-over, only I think he can definitely contribute to the team even off the bench.

Rodions Kurucs, F, Barcelona. He's a stash guy we can bring over who can be molded into a Hedo Turkoglu type of player

Kostas Antetokounmpo, F/C, Dayton, Giannis' younger brother, strictly draft and stash in round 2.

I'm confused why you think the coaching staff have no interest in player development.

At his old job thibs did a damn good job with young players in Rose/taj/butler/noah/asik.

With the wolves Lavine had his best year under thibs, bazz had his best year of his career last year, tyus has developed into at minimum a very solid backup pg, Kat has gotten better, Wiggins has gotten better (maybe not to the degree we need but he has gotten better). Dunn showed one way potential. And Patton was hurt all year.



Now on Svi I have watched him a lot being Kansas fan. I'm torn on him. I think his ceiling is Joe Ingles but I think there is a very good chance he just flames out. Don't know if he will be able to defend or get to the whole well enough to stick in the league. But I did love his game at Kansas

I don't see them seeking these young guys out and integrating them into this team. I still don't really see how a healthy Patton fits this team. I don't see them saying to themselves, "this guy can alleviate a major weakness on this team." I never saw this need to constantly seek out talent. The Iowa Wolves were 24-26 and barely made transactions on the roster, all for guys we might see at all next season. Thibs came to a team filled with young players. Almost all of them are gone. 5 guys on this team are under the age of 25. Towns seems to be the only one we can even see here past 3 years except for Wiggins but that's because his contract is problematic. If there's actual player development to be made, then guys like Jefferson and Brown better have a good chance of being rotation guys next year, but we don't know since Thibs never used them in games.

Agreed. I'm struggling with where Patton fits. Right now his path to the rotation is to displace Dieng as the backup Center.

Q12543 wrote:Defensive mindset, toughness, shooting, lower body strength.....over and above actual production, those are the key attributes I want this team to prioritize. That Creighton guard seems to exhibit all four.

Speaking of guys like this...I caught a little more than the last quarter of The Celtics Bucks game last night. Boston started Ojeleye and he played Giannis. McHale was raving about job he did him. I saw a couple possessions he was very successful. One time Giannis tried to post him up. He gained no more than an inch banging his way in and was forced into a tough turnaround fall away jumper which Ojeleye also contested with a hand in his face. He stripped Giannis clean on another play. I actually thought he was Marcus Smart at one point which is actually a pretty high compliment. Credit to Giannis who had a near triple double but the Bucks scored 87 points and that was with Bazz chipping in 11 points in the 3rd quarter. Not a bad night for a rookie starring in the playoffs against a guy being talked about as a top 6 player. :)

Of course Smart came back in this game and had plenty of impact. He actually looked a little slimmer to me than I remember. One play there were literally 3 bucks going for a loose ball but it was Smart that got it while laying and wiggling all around sort of wriggled out of the scrum and was able to pass the ball from the floor to a wide open Horford.

So yeah getting another guy that can just physically be strong and play D would be great. I think we have Taj and Butler who donalot of that and do the dirty work. Amile Jefferson and MGH look like guys that one way or another might be guys that do some of this as well MGH has the body to be one of those guys and has no issue putting it to use as a defender. We need more and some guys with some more legit talent. Khyri Thomas from Creighton does look super appealing it's crazy how much I would be pleased if we drafted him.

Another guy to supplement our toughness?!? Yuk, give me a guy who can shoot and create, I'll take Donte DiVincenzo.

https://dunkingwithwolves.com/2018/04/26/the-minnesota-timberwolves-need-grayson-allen/

Interesting perspective on Allen. Don't know if he's our best bet, but at the very least he could come in and get chippy with the Utah's and Houstons right away.

thedoper wrote:https://dunkingwithwolves.com/2018/04/26/the-minnesota-timberwolves-need-grayson-allen/

Interesting perspective on Allen. Don't know if he's our best bet, but at the very least he could come in and get chippy with the Utah's and Houstons right away.

I guarantee that if we draft him, he'll never shoot better than 34% from 3 while in a T-Wolves uniform. Some years later, with another organization, he will become a deadly shooter.

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:https://dunkingwithwolves.com/2018/04/26/the-minnesota-timberwolves-need-grayson-allen/

Interesting perspective on Allen. Don't know if he's our best bet, but at the very least he could come in and get chippy with the Utah's and Houstons right away.

I guarantee that if we draft him, he'll never shoot better than 34% from 3 while in a T-Wolves uniform. Some years later, with another organization, he will become a deadly shooter.

Haha. You're probably right. Which is insane because his mechanics look perfect. Sounds like his defense would keep him off the floor a bit.

thedoper wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:https://dunkingwithwolves.com/2018/04/26/the-minnesota-timberwolves-need-grayson-allen/

Interesting perspective on Allen. Don't know if he's our best bet, but at the very least he could come in and get chippy with the Utah's and Houstons right away.

I guarantee that if we draft him, he'll never shoot better than 34% from 3 while in a T-Wolves uniform. Some years later, with another organization, he will become a deadly shooter.

Haha. You're probably right. Which is insane because his mechanics look perfect. Sounds like his defense would keep him off the floor a bit.

I've been a fan of his talent for a while but he hasn't really progressed like I thought he would. I don't know if there is anything he is really that good at. Good but not great 3 point shooter. Solid ball handler for a SG probably smart enough and has enough experience to play some PG but not as a starter. How good of a defender is he? How athletic is he? Idk I wouldn't mind taking him at #20 depending on who was available but to me at this point he just doesn't seem dynamic enough in any way for me to get excited about him. Maybe if I compared him to some other guards I would feel more positively but that's where I am at. I'd be curious to know where Cam is at with him.

monsterpile wrote:

thedoper wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

thedoper wrote:https://dunkingwithwolves.com/2018/04/26/the-minnesota-timberwolves-need-grayson-allen/

Interesting perspective on Allen. Don't know if he's our best bet, but at the very least he could come in and get chippy with the Utah's and Houstons right away.

I guarantee that if we draft him, he'll never shoot better than 34% from 3 while in a T-Wolves uniform. Some years later, with another organization, he will become a deadly shooter.

Haha. You're probably right. Which is insane because his mechanics look perfect. Sounds like his defense would keep him off the floor a bit.

I've been a fan of his talent for a while but he hasn't really progressed like I thought he would. I don't know if there is anything he is really that good at. Good but not great 3 point shooter. Solid ball handler for a SG probably smart enough and has enough experience to play some PG but not as a starter. How good of a defender is he? How athletic is he? Idk I wouldn't mind taking him at #20 depending on who was available but to me at this point he just doesn't seem dynamic enough in any way for me to get excited about him. Maybe if I compared him to some other guards I would feel more positively but that's where I am at. I'd be curious to know where Cam is at with him.

Allen's lack of progression scares the hell out of me. He strikes me as the typical guy who hits his ceiling at the college level.

Q12543 wrote:Defensive mindset, toughness, shooting, lower body strength.....over and above actual production, those are the key attributes I want this team to prioritize. That Creighton guard seems to exhibit all four.

I've been thinking the same thing. And I love Khyri's shooting percentages 54% from the field and 41% from behind the arc. Add 1.7 steals in 31 minutes per game and you have an efficient scorer who also makes his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball. With 3 years of college under his belt, he's well prepared to possible make a difference for the Wolves right away. But mock drafts show him gone by the time the Wolves are on the clock.

My one reservation about Khyri Thomas is a review I read that questioned his ballhandling. I've never see him play and want to explore that issue more. One thing that's crystal clear is that you can't be a good NBA guard or wing unless you're a very good ballhandler. The really good ones handle the ball like it's part of them -- a motor skill developed very early in life. Donovan Mitchell is a great recent example of a recent rookie who displays that kind of ballhandling. I remember that was one of the things that caught my eye about Brandon Roy years ago when I put him at the top of my personal draft board.