Draft Day GDT

[mrhockey89]

So it's unrealistic for me to assume it's fair to give a guy who has spent his career in basketball at multiple levels, as well a top assistant in one of the most respected front offices in the NBA, has literally spent thousands of hours with other high level basketball minds watching film and crunching numbers, the benefit of the doubt to actually complete his roster reformation and view them on the court before condemning the guy as a bum who needs to be fired before his players actually see the floor, because NBA fans disagree with his picks?

C'mon man. I respect your views on it, and I actually agree with some of your points, but you don't even know if he's done making moves, nor do you know how these guys will not only play together, but even play at all on an NBA court.

Unless you can tell me you've nailed every Wolves 'should have drafted' pick in their history, or even most of them (80%+), in the context of time, accurately when the organization failed, then I'm willing to give the guys a chance to do their own job, and criticize them if they fail...which despite all the board pessimism, we don't truly know, because we can't truly know, at this point in time.

[Lipoli390]

So it's unrealistic for me to assume it's fair to give a guy who has spent his career in basketball at multiple levels, as well a top assistant in one of the most respected front offices in the NBA, has literally spent thousands of hours with other high level basketball minds watching film and crunching numbers, the benefit of the doubt to actually complete his roster reformation and view them on the court before condemning the guy as a bum who needs to be fired before his players actually see the floor, because NBA fans disagree with his picks?

C'mon man. I respect your views on it, and I actually agree with some of your points, but you don't even know if he's done making moves, nor do you know how these guys will not only play together, but even play at all on an NBA court.

Unless you can tell me you've nailed every Wolves 'should have drafted' pick in their history, or even most of them (80%+), in the context of time, accurately when the organization failed, then I'm willing to give the guys a chance to do their own job, and criticize them if they fail...which despite all the board pessimism, we don't truly know, because we can't truly know, at this point in time.

No one is in a position to "know" what the future holds for these picks or the Wolves roster. So we evaluate and comment based on what we see, applying facts, analysis and some common sense. What we see is an extremely unbalanced roster filled with an oversupply of guards and a lack of highly competitive intense mentally tough players. We have only one bona fide three-point shooter among our bevy of guards on a team that ranked third in three-point attempts last season. We did nothing to improve the team's otherwise mediocre to poor rebounding and really poor interior defense. In spite of our heavy reliance on three-point shooting, all our picks and acquisitions tonight have proven so far to be poor perimeter shooters. Two of our three draft picks are also widely recognized as having questionable motors and poor basketball judgment - concerns that are obvious when you watch them play. Our new backup PG, who I love, will be paid $17 and 17.8 million dollars the next two years. I love Ricky, but it's hard to make sense of adding him to the roster in that role at that price, especially given his relatively poor shooting.

So things may work out and there might even be another deal or two in the works. But right now knowing what we know, there are compelling reasons to criticize what Rosas and his front office cohorts did tonight. And it's not as if they earned any benefit of the doubt through their decisions in last year's draft. Things may work out and then I'll gladly concede I was wrong about the judgment calls our front office made tonight.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

So it's unrealistic for me to assume it's fair to give a guy who has spent his career in basketball at multiple levels, as well a top assistant in one of the most respected front offices in the NBA, has literally spent thousands of hours with other high level basketball minds watching film and crunching numbers, the benefit of the doubt to actually complete his roster reformation and view them on the court before condemning the guy as a bum who needs to be fired before his players actually see the floor, because NBA fans disagree with his picks?

C'mon man. I respect your views on it, and I actually agree with some of your points, but you don't even know if he's done making moves, nor do you know how these guys will not only play together, but even play at all on an NBA court.

Unless you can tell me you've nailed every Wolves 'should have drafted' pick in their history, or even most of them (80%+), in the context of time, accurately when the organization failed, then I'm willing to give the guys a chance to do their own job, and criticize them if they fail...which despite all the board pessimism, we don't truly know, because we can't truly know, at this point in time.

He wants to play small ball and jack up 3's and he's going out and getting guys too small and who can't shoot 3's. Edwards shot 29% from 3 last year (good size for a 2, small for a 3). That's not upper 30's/low 40's or even mid-30's. That's sub 30% from 3 in college which means he's not coming in here and shooting 35-38% in year 1. He's a shooting project. Culver shot 30% from 3 his sophomore year and matched that as an NBA rookie (good size for a 2, small for a 3). He's a shooting project. Ricky is a career 33% 3pt shooter (good size for a PG, small for a 2). He is what he is at this point around league average at best on low volume. He's continued to hang on to Okogie now who is a career 27% 3pt shooter (good size for a 2, small for a 3). How many guys go from 27% to even league average from 3? That's 4 of our top 5 guards who can't shoot and we supposedly want to be a volume 3pt shooting team.

He traded away a bunch of the guys he signed last offseason at the deadline last year. Where was the patience for those guys? Why did he trade all the supporting pieces before he made the blockbuster for Russell last year? I'm not sure he's even executing his game plan they way he really wants to based on his personnel decisions. Some guys are good with the money part of the front office but aren't good at the talent evaluation. What has he done in your eyes so far that you see as moving this team in the right direction outside of trading Wiggins' albatross that most thought couldn't be moved (a deal which may still end up giving the Warriors a top 5 pick in which case it becomes a disaster)? What is your actual optimism for this team beyond blind hope he makes a good trade or 2 to better balance the roster? If you have that much faith in Edwards then I can't fault you because he's a really talented player. But outside of that guy where is the optimism for the other 5-6 guys who need to play in the rotation with Edwards/Russell/Towns that isn't just "well he worked for Morey so he must know what he's doing"?

Meanwhile Morey showed up in Philly and fixed their jams right out of the gate. He drafted multiple guys in spots considered much lower than where they were projected to go and everyone fits around their stars. He got a versatile 2 way guard they've needed for years now, 2 of the better shooters in the draft in Bey and Joe, a developmental PG overseas and a defensive backup to Embiid in Reed. Is Rosas good or was he just under the tutelage of the guy who's actually really good at his job? Morey showed up and fixed that shit overnight. We're in year 2 with Rosas and our future is more unclear now than it's ever been.

[Monster]

Woj just tweeted klay thompson suffered another leg injury.

So has it actually happened or will it happen in the near future? Just curious since it's Woj.....

Lol good one Q.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Hockey I'm with you. Let's play the wait and see game. Maybe Rosas has a plan to trade for another big. Rubio is better than James Johnson. And McDaniel seems to be a good late round value.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Three point marksmanship:

Towns - 39.6%
Russell - 35.6%
Rubio - 32.8%
Okogie - 27.4%
Culver - 29.9%
Edwards - 29.4% college (4 feet closer)
McDaniels - 33.9% college

Well... after 4,987 posts here over the years lamenting Rubio's shooting... at least that won't be the issue this time around. Rubio is actually one of the best shooters on the team.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Jon K (story on The Athletic):

"...But more than anything Edwards did in that practice gym during the one-on-one visit, it was a decision he made that really caught Rosas' attention. As the workout started, Edwards' trainer included some shooting drills with midrange jumpers mixed in.

"He stops the workout and tells the trainer, 'Minnesota's system is different. We're not taking those shots today,'" Rosas said. "That was him on his own, unprompted. He gets what we're doing here. He values what we're doing. That's what excites us. He's a young guy who needs a lot of support, needs a lot of development and needs more experience. But he's an incredibly intelligent young man who understands what's going on and he's willing to work to be a very special player in this league."

LOL come on, man. Come on.

[Lipoli390]

Three point marksmanship:

Towns - 39.6%
Russell - 35.6%
Rubio - 32.8%
Okogie - 27.4%
Culver - 29.9%
Edwards - 29.4% college (4 feet closer)
McDaniels - 33.9% college

Well... after 4,987 posts here over the years lamenting Rubio's shooting... at least that won't be the issue this time around. Rubio is actually one of the best shooters on the team.

You forgot Bolmaro at 32.5%. Oh, by the way, that's his career FG percentage.

[Lipoli390]

Jon K (story on The Athletic):

"...But more than anything Edwards did in that practice gym during the one-on-one visit, it was a decision he made that really caught Rosas' attention. As the workout started, Edwards' trainer included some shooting drills with midrange jumpers mixed in.

"He stops the workout and tells the trainer, 'Minnesota's system is different. We're not taking those shots today,'" Rosas said. "That was him on his own, unprompted. He gets what we're doing here. He values what we're doing. That's what excites us. He's a young guy who needs a lot of support, needs a lot of development and needs more experience. But he's an incredibly intelligent young man who understands what's going on and he's willing to work to be a very special player in this league."

LOL come on, man. Come on.

I read that, Cam. Pretty pathetic. Bottom line is that Rosas isn't very bright.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Three point marksmanship:

Towns - 39.6%
Russell - 35.6%
Rubio - 32.8%
Okogie - 27.4%
Culver - 29.9%
Edwards - 29.4% college (4 feet closer)
McDaniels - 33.9% college

Well... after 4,987 posts here over the years lamenting Rubio's shooting... at least that won't be the issue this time around. Rubio is actually one of the best shooters on the team.

You forgot Bolmaro at 32.5%. Oh, by the way, that's his career FG percentage.

I... just... don't... understand.

Again, nobody here can argue that I'm a kneejerk reactionary fan. In fact, I error on the side of fence-waffling and over-the-top pragmatism more than anything most of the time. But I have some legit reservations right now.

Obviously, Rosas isn't done filling out the squad. But that's the thing... he never had more capital to work with than last night. The Wolves were in a position to add MULTIPLE players that could help THIS season.

They got Rubio out of it. He's fine... but you can tell his value by how easily other teams (playoff teams and promising teams) have moved him for somebody else.
And Edwards. He might very well be the most promising player in the draft. So that's an obvious plus. But he's also an enigma. If he hits... all is cool. The Wolves have a big, a wing and a PG who can play. If he misses... the cupboard is empty. There's ZERO chance Towns is waiting around for things to get better.

The entire franchise is on Anthony Edwards' shoulders right now. If he does NOT reach his potential, the Wolves will be looking at TWO DECADES with only one playoff appearance.

How confident are you in one guy?