Minnesota Sports Forum

To continue a bit on Lip's desire for an infusion of youths i would like to see the team add a developmental PG to the mix. Last year there was a legit question about whether Tyus was ready to be a backup and then fill in PG for a playoff team. He proved to be pretty good as a starter. I'm pretty much assuming Rose will be back so that helps the PG situation even if you assume he will miss some games. I'd like to see the Wolves add a young or at least younger PG to the mix via draft FA (maybe there is someone out there) or a 2-way player. There is a lot of talent at PG/combo guard at the lower ends of the league and it would be great if the Wolves can find a guy that can end up giving them some decent minutes going forward...especially at a cheap price. Getting a guy that can make 3's would be great but if they were a rugged defender I would take that also. In that veinJevon Carter would be a player I would be interested in getting with our 2nd rounder depending on who else was still available.

monsterpile wrote:To continue a bit on Lip's desire for an infusion of youths i would like to see the team add a developmental PG to the mix. Last year there was a legit question about whether Tyus was ready to be a backup and then fill in PG for a playoff team. He proved to be pretty good as a starter. I'm pretty much assuming Rose will be back so that helps the PG situation even if you assume he will miss some games. I'd like to see the Wolves add a young or at least younger PG to the mix via draft FA (maybe there is someone out there) or a 2-way player. There is a lot of talent at PG/combo guard at the lower ends of the league and it would be great if the Wolves can find a guy that can end up giving them some decent minutes going forward...especially at a cheap price. Getting a guy that can make 3's would be great but if they were a rugged defender I would take that also. In that veinJevon Carter would be a player I would be interested in getting with our 2nd rounder depending on who else was still available.

Monster -- Not a bad idea, but I can't see how that developmental PG could possibly get decent minutes with Teague and Tyus ahead of him. Heck, Tyus had a hard time getting minutes as our #2 PG behind Teague. If Rose stays on the roster, then a developmental PG's chance of getting decent minutes would go from slim to none with slim out of town.

My favorite PG who could realistically be available at #20 is Aaron Holiday. He's a great shooter and would give the Wolves a true volume 3-point shooter coming off the bench. But I'd rather use the #20 pick on a wing or shot-blocking big. I like your idea of Jevon Carter with our second-round pick.

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

WildWolf2813 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

WildWolf2813 wrote:Watching the lotto tomorrow will be pressure free for once.

Yeah, I'm still a believer in Diallo. If they traded Wiggins, I could see Diallo being our 2nd chance at developing that kind of player without the lofty expectations.

Yes, draft chatter around here isn't the same as it used to be in the days of yearly lottery picks. Still, these mid to late first rounders are hugely important. We see other good teams consistently find positive contributors from this part of the draft. We need to nail one of these for once. Tyus Jones is as close as we have come recently.

Even the 48th pick needs to be someone we don't just automatically cut or throw to Iowa.

and I better not hear anyone say the team is too young, no more rookies.

I agree, Wildwolf. Any "we're too young" BS from anyone in our front office will make me vomit. When the season opens next October, here's what we'll have assuming no trades and resigning Belly:

Butler: Age 29, 7 yrs in the NBA
Teague: Age 30, 9 yrs in the NBA
Gibson: Age 33, 9 yrs in the NBA
Belly: Age 31, 3 yrs. in the NBA after many years as a pro in Europe
Gorgui: Age 28, 5 yrs in the NBA
Aldrich: Age 30, 8 yrs in the NBA
Wiggins: Age 23, 4 yrs in the NBA
Towns: Age 23, 3 yrs in the NBA
Jones: Age 22, 3 yrs in the NBA

We're obviously not too young to supplement the roster with draft picks. In fact, this roster needs an infusion of youth.

Oh yeah this team can use some youth and with the salary constraints they are facing its a pretty big deal to add young talent. Lip Aldrich is not going to be on this roster no matter how much LST wants to see him play. Lol Sorry that just made me crack up. :) I'm guessing Amile and or MGH is on the roster which adds to the youth movement but I'd also guess Rose is on the roster as well and he isn't exactly a young guy either.

To me the question of this draft at #20 is do you go for the highest ceiling guy or do you take someone you feel pretty good about being able to contribute something and likely being able to do it sooner rather than later. Last year they took more of a long play guy in Patton. There might be a project type with their 2nd rounder of maybe a guy that can help them sooner at that spot. I know where they are drafting in the 2nd is long shot territory but there will be some interesting players there.

Monster - You identified the core question for the #20 pick -- do we go for the high-ceiling guy or the most ready-to-help guy? That's a tough one. If I'm choosing between one high-ceiling player and one ready player, my answer would depend on the height of each player's ceiling, the readiness of each player and how good the more ready player will be right away. Not a very helpful answer. :)

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:To continue a bit on Lip's desire for an infusion of youths i would like to see the team add a developmental PG to the mix. Last year there was a legit question about whether Tyus was ready to be a backup and then fill in PG for a playoff team. He proved to be pretty good as a starter. I'm pretty much assuming Rose will be back so that helps the PG situation even if you assume he will miss some games. I'd like to see the Wolves add a young or at least younger PG to the mix via draft FA (maybe there is someone out there) or a 2-way player. There is a lot of talent at PG/combo guard at the lower ends of the league and it would be great if the Wolves can find a guy that can end up giving them some decent minutes going forward...especially at a cheap price. Getting a guy that can make 3's would be great but if they were a rugged defender I would take that also. In that veinJevon Carter would be a player I would be interested in getting with our 2nd rounder depending on who else was still available.

Monster -- Not a bad idea, but I can't see how that developmental PG could possibly get decent minutes with Teague and Tyus ahead of him. Heck, Tyus had a hard time getting minutes as our #2 PG behind Teague. If Rose stays on the roster, then a developmental PG's chance of getting decent minutes would go from slim to none with slim out of town.

My favorite PG who could realistically be available at #20 is Aaron Holiday. He's a great shooter and would give the Wolves a true volume 3-point shooter coming off the bench. But I'd rather use the #20 pick on a wing or shot-blocking big. I like your idea of Jevon Carter with our second-round pick.

Lip in my mind the developmental PG doesn't even have to get minutes to be worthwhile and develop. Quinn Cook is one example of a guy that took a while to get to the point he is now. With Tyus who is about to turn 22 a legit NBA backup now we don't need an Aaron Brooks vet anymore. I say go find a developmental guy that can help you even a year or 2 from now when Teague might be gone. Rose might be on the roster but if he is I have him penciled in for 55-60 games and that might even be optimistic. If Rosegets hurt the same time someone else goes down that developmental guy could get some run after all.

One other thing to mention is I might not want to draft a PG like Carter if they go with a guy that's a little more of a combo guard like Khyri Thomas because I'd like to see about getting a guy with true wing size in round 2. If they picked both of those guys...oh boy you could have a couple potential nasty on ball defenders on your squad though so I wouldn't mind that either. I just looked up Carter's 3 point percentage and...basically 39% I've the last 2 years in college is pretty good much better than I remembered. I like the idea of Holiday also but I agree with your thinking of getting a wing. Holiday has position flexibility though and if he can play I'll be happy if they pick him.

There will be 2-way guys if they don't draft a guy that can play some PG as well. I'd guess Melo Trimble will be an option unless he blows up in SL or something which is possible. I'm not tied to him but again there are talents that you can sign as 2-way players that are worthwhile or hav the potential to be worthwhile. With an actual developmental team now we might actually be able to...you know like develop some lower level guys. I know it's pretty much a foreign concept to us Wolves fans. :) I saw enough from the Iowa squad and What Scott Roth did to give them the benefit of the doubt (or at least not outright dismiss the possibility of some success) and have a little bit of hope there. It might be unfounded hope but I've been waiting for a developmental team for this franchise for years I can't help but have some optimism. :)

We talk a lot about wing targets in this year's draft, but I wonder if a big might turn out to be a more important need. Various scenarios have been thrown out here where Aldrich and Dieng are gone to allow us to extend Butler and KAT, and I've always found it doubtful that we can retain Belly with our current cap concerns (keep in mind that we have $117 million guaranteed to just players next season...and that doesn't include Belly). Potentially that could leave us with only KAT, Gibson and an untested Patton as our bigs...not a tenable situation. Our depth at wing might be better with Butler, Wig, Rose and MGH. Thibs' selection in the draft (wing vs. big) will tip his hand as to what he intends to do in free agency.

I am liking Troy Brown at that 20 spot. Reminds me a bit of Tyreke Evans in skillset and size. Not a great 3-pt shooter yet, but his shot looks solid. He looks like a tough defender that has some versatility in that area....which we need. Jacob Evans is another guy I like for defensive reasons. Also, a solid 3 point shooter past 2 seasons. 3 and D candidate.

If we take a big, I think it needs to be Mitchell Robinson....despite the red flags. He is 100% upside....but man, what an upside! I just don't see any other bigs projected to go around that spot....this draft is really weak on bigs beyond top 10 guys.

I also feel like every year, there are several solid FA big guys that get signed for dirt cheap. These guys seem easier to come by than cheap (productive) wing players.

longstrangetrip wrote:We talk a lot about wing targets in this year's draft, but I wonder if a big might turn out to be a more important need. Various scenarios have been thrown out here where Aldrich and Dieng are gone to allow us to extend Butler and KAT, and I've always found it doubtful that we can retain Belly with our current cap concerns (keep in mind that we have $117 million guaranteed to just players next season...and that doesn't include Belly). Potentially that could leave us with only KAT, Gibson and an untested Patton as our bigs...not a tenable situation. Our depth at wing might be better with Butler, Wig, Rose and MGH. Thibs' selection in the draft (wing vs. big) will tip his hand as to what he intends to do in free agency.

I don't think this is a priority, even if the scenario you describe above plays out. I think we can find any number of bigs on the open market on fairly cheap deals to plug into the roster as needed, Amile Jefferson being one of them for sure.

The way the NBA is going with more positionless players, I'd prefer we do everything possible to continue to upgrade our wing situation. And I certainly don't consider Rose an upgrade. The playoffs were too small of a sample size for me to believe it!

Hicks123 wrote:I am liking Troy Brown at that 20 spot. Reminds me a bit of Tyreke Evans in skillset and size. Not a great 3-pt shooter yet, but his shot looks solid. He looks like a tough defender that has some versatility in that area....which we need. Jacob Evans is another guy I like for defensive reasons. Also, a solid 3 point shooter past 2 seasons. 3 and D candidate.

If we take a big, I think it needs to be Mitchell Robinson....despite the red flags. He is 100% upside....but man, what an upside! I just don't see any other bigs projected to go around that spot....this draft is really weak on bigs beyond top 10 guys.

I also feel like every year, there are several solid FA big guys that get signed for dirt cheap. These guys seem easier to come by than cheap (productive) wing players.

I love Robinson, but my sense is that he is going to wow teams in workouts and go way before 20 (apparently he has even developed a reliable 3-point shot). If he's there, though, and there are no concerns about his character, I would love to pick him...a Robinson/Towns combo is quite enticing. As far as I know, the red flags are mostly because he accepted a dinner in conflict with NCAA rule...am I correct on that? I think this guy is going to be a monster shot blocker in the NBA.

lipoli390 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

WildWolf2813 wrote:

Q12543 wrote:

WildWolf2813 wrote:Watching the lotto tomorrow will be pressure free for once.

Yeah, I'm still a believer in Diallo. If they traded Wiggins, I could see Diallo being our 2nd chance at developing that kind of player without the lofty expectations.

Yes, draft chatter around here isn't the same as it used to be in the days of yearly lottery picks. Still, these mid to late first rounders are hugely important. We see other good teams consistently find positive contributors from this part of the draft. We need to nail one of these for once. Tyus Jones is as close as we have come recently.

Even the 48th pick needs to be someone we don't just automatically cut or throw to Iowa.

and I better not hear anyone say the team is too young, no more rookies.

I agree, Wildwolf. Any "we're too young" BS from anyone in our front office will make me vomit. When the season opens next October, here's what we'll have assuming no trades and resigning Belly:

Butler: Age 29, 7 yrs in the NBA
Teague: Age 30, 9 yrs in the NBA
Gibson: Age 33, 9 yrs in the NBA
Belly: Age 31, 3 yrs. in the NBA after many years as a pro in Europe
Gorgui: Age 28, 5 yrs in the NBA
Aldrich: Age 30, 8 yrs in the NBA
Wiggins: Age 23, 4 yrs in the NBA
Towns: Age 23, 3 yrs in the NBA
Jones: Age 22, 3 yrs in the NBA

We're obviously not too young to supplement the roster with draft picks. In fact, this roster needs an infusion of youth.

Oh yeah this team can use some youth and with the salary constraints they are facing its a pretty big deal to add young talent. Lip Aldrich is not going to be on this roster no matter how much LST wants to see him play. Lol Sorry that just made me crack up. :) I'm guessing Amile and or MGH is on the roster which adds to the youth movement but I'd also guess Rose is on the roster as well and he isn't exactly a young guy either.

To me the question of this draft at #20 is do you go for the highest ceiling guy or do you take someone you feel pretty good about being able to contribute something and likely being able to do it sooner rather than later. Last year they took more of a long play guy in Patton. There might be a project type with their 2nd rounder of maybe a guy that can help them sooner at that spot. I know where they are drafting in the 2nd is long shot territory but there will be some interesting players there.

Monster - You identified the core question for the #20 pick -- do we go for the high-ceiling guy or the most ready-to-help guy? That's a tough one. If I'm choosing between one high-ceiling player and one ready player, my answer would depend on the height of each player's ceiling, the readiness of each player and how good the more ready player will be right away. Not a very helpful answer. :)

You nailed it Lip! I would also add what percentage (obviously this is theoretical) is it that the high ceiling guy pans out.

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:We talk a lot about wing targets in this year's draft, but I wonder if a big might turn out to be a more important need. Various scenarios have been thrown out here where Aldrich and Dieng are gone to allow us to extend Butler and KAT, and I've always found it doubtful that we can retain Belly with our current cap concerns (keep in mind that we have $117 million guaranteed to just players next season...and that doesn't include Belly). Potentially that could leave us with only KAT, Gibson and an untested Patton as our bigs...not a tenable situation. Our depth at wing might be better with Butler, Wig, Rose and MGH. Thibs' selection in the draft (wing vs. big) will tip his hand as to what he intends to do in free agency.

I don't think this is a priority, even if the scenario you describe above plays out. I think we can find any number of bigs on the open market on fairly cheap deals to plug into the roster as needed, Amile Jefferson being one of them for sure.

The way the NBA is going with more positionless players, I'd prefer we do everything possible to continue to upgrade our wing situation. And I certainly don't consider Rose an upgrade. The playoffs were too small of a sample size for me to believe it!

I agree with Q this isn't a priority. Dieng is highly unlikely to bring going anywhere. Dieng and Patton are in one way or another sunk cost guys for this upcoming season. I think you have to plan to play them or in Patton's case don't pick another road block to him having a chance if he is actually healthy.

Crawford opting out I think gives the Wolves more wiggle room to keep Belly. It's not a certainty though either. If the Wolves didn't have Amile around (he is a FA so I suppose he could get signed elsewhere) then yeah maybe draft a guy but get me wings!!!

I don't have much interest in the paint protecting big next to Towns. He is basically going to have to be Gobert level of a defender to make it worth it and even then you have 2 big dudes that may end up having to deal with some perimeter guy attacking them out near the 3 point line. No thanks. Get me some good sized wings so we can play small with another wing playing PF.

If we pick a big it would be nice to get one that can shoot the ball. Mo Wagner would intruige me in the 2nd round but a smaller stretch big sounds good to me. Or we could just throw a guaranteed deal at a guy like Tyler Cavanaugh and hope he takes it. If a big at #20 is clearly BPA then yeah you have to consider taking him but that would be a good problem to have but I also hope that doesn't happen.

On the other LST has a point that...this team does not seem to have the long term answer in the frontcourt with Towns regardless of what type of player it is. I still think I would try and figure that out later and get some perimeter players.