Wolves 2017 Draft Thread

[Monster]

FWIW JVG was on Dan Barreirro this week and 1 of the 2 Wolves related question he asked was basicically Rubio or no Rubio. JVG said that with the losing the franchise has had the last few years nothing is off the table but you don't just dump Rubio who is a good player (he said again with emphasis Rubio was a good player) because he hasn't been good enough so far. I thought his take was interesting because.

1. JVG tells you what he is thinking. He doesn't BS around.

2. He is in Thibs inner circle. He will say what he thinks but I think it's a little bit telling that JVG says this stuff because at the very least you can bet Thibs talks to him to bounce a few things off him every once in a while.

3. It matches up with what people locally (including Lip's info) say Thibs and Layden value Rubio as a good/or at least worthwhile player they aren't just giving him away.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Monster -

I guess I just consider going with the same failing product for another year and hoping for a new outcome as a terrible business idea. So we say Ricky doesn't have much value outside of here, then what kind of asset is that? I'd reckon it is one you would rather move on from than retain. Especially when you can get some value now vs. no value later. If he doesn't fit elsewhere, maybe that means we are lagging behind on where everything is inevitably going to end up? You do not build around something not working just because you've already invested in it and can't get equal value for it. You sell it while you still can.

If your pg can get 15 assists in a game, great. Doesn't mean shit if he isn't respected to score in close games. There is a definite correlation between Ricky's play and our inability to win close games the last 3+ years.

Again, I hadn't assumed he would be worth a lottery pick, I had asked what he was viewed as being worth.

So we have the most offensively gifted big man in a generation, and two 22 year olds who can average 20 pts in their sleep, but we need Ricky Rubio to set them up? I'm moving on from that party. Give me an offensive threat who isnt IT bad on D and pair him with Dunn as our PGs.

Help me understand what is not working with our top ten offense? And also, we aren't building around Ricky, we are building around KAT, Wiggins, and LaVine - three guys that need to score to be at their best. A PG that eats up a bunch of possessions shooting and finishing plays is going to mean these guys are standing in the corner a lot more often.

Frankly, Tyus Jones offensively might be the absolute perfect balance of what is needed. On the one hand he is a true set-up man, yet on the other hand can hit 3's fairly consistently along with a nice floater when he gets in the paint. Unfortunately, his defense isn't up to snuff and he struggled last year once his minutes started going up and he was playing tougher first line players.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Conspiracy Alert!

So if Thibs prefers to keep Rubio for next year and does not want to draft a PG, it would be wise to make people think he is willing to move Rubio so that it looks like he would happily take a PG in the draft. Maybe 3 or 4 PGs will go in the top 6!

Okay, you can resume with the normal non-conspiracy discussions... :)

Mmmm, not sure about conspiracy. Perhaps misdirection or reverse psychology?

[Crazysauce]

Just curious but was wondering what you guys think of harry giles? Curious how he hasnt even been mentioned really. Know it would be "reaching" at 7 but if hes healthy, how good do you guys see him becoming?

[Lipoli390]

FWIW JVG was on Dan Barreirro this week and 1 of the 2 Wolves related question he asked was basicically Rubio or no Rubio. JVG said that with the losing the franchise has had the last few years nothing is off the table but you don't just dump Rubio who is a good player (he said again with emphasis Rubio was a good player) because he hasn't been good enough so far. I thought his take was interesting because.

1. JVG tells you what he is thinking. He doesn't BS around.

2. He is in Thibs inner circle. He will say what he thinks but I think it's a little bit telling that JVG says this stuff because at the very least you can bet Thibs talks to him to bounce a few things off him every once in a while.

3. It matches up with what people locally (including Lip's info) say Thibs and Layden value Rubio as a good/or at least worthwhile player they aren't just giving him away.

Thanks for the info, Monster. I agree with your take.

Flip told me that he negotiated off his own valuation of his players, not the purported market value. In other words, he wouldn't trade a guy unless he got a return at least equal to his own valuation of his player. I sense that Thibs is the same way. He seems very disciplined and methodical. And based on what I was told, he relies heavily on metrics.

So I don't think you'll ever see Thibs trade a guy "because it's time to move on" from the player. Instead he'll evaluate each offer or make counter offers based on his valuation of the players/assets being discussed. That's exactly as it should be.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

Just curious but was wondering what you guys think of harry giles? Curious how he hasnt even been mentioned really. Know it would be "reaching" at 7 but if hes healthy, how good do you guys see him becoming?

He's a more traditional athletic big man who plays around the hoop with not much ability to stretch the floor. That's normally a perfectly fine prospect, but when you factor in both knees had torn ACL's and the left also had the MCL it's just a huge risk that high. That's a direct attack on his athleticism which was probably his best quality outside of his hands. He didn't look particularly explosive at Duke which is understandable, but adds to the potential he never fully comes back from his knee injuries. If we picked up an extra pick somehow in the middle of the first I would absolutely take a flyer on him, but he's just way too big a risk to be our only draft pick this year with so much other talent on the board. How do you ever project a guy to be "healthy" who's 6'11 with multiple torn knee ligaments? Yes the small percent chance is there that he is all good from a health standpoint moving forward and in that case he is a better version of Julius Randle, but I don't know how you put that even above 20% for a guy of his size. He really needs to go to a playoff team late in the first to come back slowly and get back in mental shape for basketball because he's way behind at this point barely playing for the last 2 years.

[Monster]

Just curious but was wondering what you guys think of harry giles? Curious how he hasnt even been mentioned really. Know it would be "reaching" at 7 but if hes healthy, how good do you guys see him becoming?

He's a more traditional athletic big man who plays around the hoop with not much ability to stretch the floor. That's normally a perfectly fine prospect, but when you factor in both knees had torn ACL's and the left also had the MCL it's just a huge risk that high. That's a direct attack on his athleticism which was probably his best quality outside of his hands. He didn't look particularly explosive at Duke which is understandable, but adds to the potential he never fully comes back from his knee injuries. If we picked up an extra pick somehow in the middle of the first I would absolutely take a flyer on him, but he's just way too big a risk to be our only draft pick this year with so much other talent on the board. How do you ever project a guy to be "healthy" who's 6'11 with multiple torn knee ligaments? Yes the small percent chance is there that he is all good from a health standpoint moving forward and in that case he is a better version of Julius Randle, but I don't know how you put that even above 20% for a guy of his size. He really needs to go to a playoff team late in the first to come back slowly and get back in mental shape for basketball because he's way behind at this point barely playing for the last 2 years.

He is perfect for the Blazers to take with one of their 3 picks.

[bleedspeed]

Yuck

http://www.aseaofblue.com/2017/6/6/15746176/2017-nba-mock-draft-chad-ford-6-0-released

[Monster]

Yuck

http://www.aseaofblue.com/2017/6/6/15746176/2017-nba-mock-draft-chad-ford-6-0-released

If you had to pick ONLY between Monk and Markkanen 2 guys who's biggest assets are shooting and why they make some sense for this team that needs shooting which guy would you pick?

Personally I may like Monk a bit better as a prospect although I haven't researched him a lot yet. I'd probably lean Markkanen tho at this point just because he makes sense adding shooting (possibly elite shooting even if that's all he does) to the big man situation. I'm not in love with either option.

[60WinTim]

I am warming up to Monk. Would love to get Isaac, or anyone else that might fall. But Monk is a fine consolation prize.

Worst case scenario in my mind for the Wolves is being forced to choose between Fox and Markkanen...