Minnesota Sports Forum

I like both rookies but i actually like kbd more. I think he has a more rounded game and can do more things. If he can defend wings and stretch 4's at the nba level then I think he can be a solid rotation piece.

I like josh's energy and activity. But like others said, he is a raw basketball player. He will look good if paired with the right players. He can probably be effective in 5-7min strtches at a time but if he go 9-10min strtches then he will start getting exposed.

I think this was a good draft for is in that we got two rotation guys with the 21st and 48th pick.

KiwiMatt wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

KiwiMatt wrote:

Camden wrote:I guess I'll be "that guy" that brings this up. As it stands currently, it likely won't be too long into the season until Josh Okogie replaces Derrick Rose as the primary backup SG whether it's due to injury or overall production. Rose hasn't played more than 66 games in a season since... oh... his MVP (should have been LeBron James' third MVP award, but that's besides the point) season back in 2010-11. You can go ahead and write it in the history books that Rose is going to be unavailable at some point next season and I'd bet that whenever that happens, Okogie takes the reigns and runs away with it.

I know what you're thinking. Well, what if Rose miraculously stays healthy and doesn't really miss many games? The other question mark with him is production. Aside from a few sparks at the end of last season, Rose has been a massive liability unquestionably on both ends of the floor the last three seasons. If his health doesn't do him in, his inability to be a positive force on the floor probably will.

This is all the more reason why the Wolves absolutely have to continue exploring the market for another wing, whether that's via free agency somehow or more realistically by trade. Names to consider are: Jonathan Simmons (T), David Nwaba (S/T), DeMarre Carroll (T), Wesley Matthews (T), James Ennis (FA), Pat Connaughton (FA), and Iman Shumpert (T).

We don't want to have to rely on a banged up Derrick Rose or 19 year rookie in Josh Okogie as our first wing off the bench. That will make the Jamal Crawford signing last season look like a home run. And without capspace the only way to acquire someone half decent is by trading either Gorgui Dieng, Jeff Teague or Taj Gibson.

As you mentioned Cam I think DeMarre Carroll could be acquired from the Nets realistically. They also have Allen Crabbe as an 18 mil expiring. Both would help our 3pt shooting and wing depth significantly.

I'd offer Gorgui Dieng and a future 2nd for either Carroll / Crabbe. Not only would it strengthen our bench but it would give us the cap space next season to re sign Jimmy Buckets and KAT.

No way the Nets are gonna say yes to that deal. They just made a move to have a ton of space for next year's FA they aren't going to take on Dieng for a future 2nd. In addition both of those guys espcially Carroll (expecting contract) have more value around the league than Dieng. It's been reported the Wolves have called on Courtney Lee but again Dieng has all that money left and makes more each year than Lee.

Your probably right Monster. We would have to give up a future 1st. If it was top 20 protected would you do it for Carroll?

First of all I'll Say it would take more than that to get it done. They got more last offseason from Toronto to take on Carroll and again they want space for FA next year. If the strike out on FA there will likely be teams willing to give up picks to dump contracts and so that's always there for them.

My initial response is no. I hate reading draft picks. IF the Nets would do this deal I think you have to do it. You get an upgrade in Carroll over Dieng and dump around 30 million in future salary beyond this year. That's tempting. I'd consider the same deal for Crabbe but the Nets probably would t do that either.

We need to find/sign or develop our own players at those spots and also hope Dieng plus Thibs can get him back to an effective player again.

I wonder if they track the number of times you have your shot blocked in Summer League. Okogie could be setting some kind of record... :-D

But I love most everything else about his game!

60WinTim wrote:I wonder if they track the number of times you have your shot blocked in Summer League. Okogie could be setting some kind of record... :-D

But I love most everything else about his game!

They keep track of that in the regular season. Dunn I think was up there through the couple games in SL he played his first year also. Both guys are similar in how they are able and not able to use their athletic abilities. Okogie is young enough he might have some chance of progressing some though and he is more explosive and even stronger.

monsterpile wrote:

60WinTim wrote:I wonder if they track the number of times you have your shot blocked in Summer League. Okogie could be setting some kind of record... :-D

But I love most everything else about his game!

They keep track of that in the regular season. Dunn I think was up there through the couple games in SL he played his first year also. Both guys are similar in how they are able and not able to use their athletic abilities. Okogie is young enough he might have some chance of progressing some though and he is more explosive and even stronger.

Like dunn , okogie is athletic. But just like dunn, he lacks explosion.

The summer league wolves blow leads just like our regular team.

60WinTim wrote:I wonder if they track the number of times you have your shot blocked in Summer League. Okogie could be setting some kind of record... :-D

But I love most everything else about his game!

The kid has some grit

Josh Gray has some serious speed and bounce. Too bad it seems like he can't shoot.

Glad to know we added a couple more 30% shooters to our team.

I've seen enough. Wake me when the season starts.

I'm back from Vegas. I watched tonight's game on DVR after watching the Wolves first two games courtside in Vegas. Here's my overall take on what I saw.

First, I'm sad to say, I didn't see anyone on our Summer League squad who excited me.

I liked the hustle, grit and quick hands of Okogie and he looked like he has the makings of a decent, perhaps really good, 3-point shot. He has a knack for drawing fouls and rebounds well. Watching him confirmed what we all read about him coming out of college -- the good and the bad. Scouting reports questioned his handle and those reports were correct. His handle needs a lot of work before he can become an effective wing player at the NBA level. I also recall reading that he tended to get his shot blocked a fair amount. That tendency was readily apparent in the 3 Summer League games so far. I think he can contribute this upcoming season off the bench con the defensive end, but I'm not sure how much more we'll get out of him. Eventually, I think he'll become a very good NBA player because of his wingspan, athleticism combined with his intensity and drive. He's also a decent passer with pretty good court awareness. But unfortunately, Okogie is not the second coming of Donovan Mitchell. Let's hope that, with patience, he turns out to be the second coming of Jimmy Butler.

I really like Bates-Diop's length and shot. He also knows how to defend, not biting on pump fakes and staying with his man. He's also a good rebounder who boxes out fairly well and uses his length well on the boards. Flip used to say that you're position is determined by who you can guard. In that case, KBD can play the 2, 3 and 4 positions. He has quick feet to go with his incredible wingspand and he has a pretty good knack for defending. Unfortunately, his ballhandling is terrible for an NBA wing. So on the offensive end, I see him strictly as a stretch 4 unless he can substantially upgrade his ballhandling.

Only three other players on the Wolves Summer League squad looked like they have any chance of playing in the NBA -- Amile Jefferson, Jared Terrell and Jonathan Stark. I guess I should include Charles Cooke since his played in the NBA last season, but he wasn't impressive at all.

Stark has super quick hands and has great lateral quickness. He plays super hard. But he's not a great shot-maker and he's not a particularly good playmaker either although he's the best playmaker on the squad. Combining those limitations with his size and he's a marginal NBA player at best. But I liked him enough to hope he ends up on our G-League team.

Terrell looked terrible in the first game, but he came on in the second game and played well tonight as well. I guess I understand why the Wolves game him a two-way, although I think there are better unsigned young players on other Summer League squads. He has a nice mid-range shot, but he's not much from 3-point range. Fits right in with the Wolves I guess.

The more I watched Amile Jefferson, the more I liked him. He's all over the court and has such a great nose for the ball. He doesn't look particularly good on the court. He's awkward and not physically strong. But he makes an impact and he plays hard every single second he's on the court. He has a very high basketball IQ to go with great heart and intensity. At a minimum, he should get our other 2-way contract. And I wouldn't mind if he ended up taking our 14th roster spot.

So there you have it. Nothing to get excited about, but our two draft picks don't look like mistakes. In fact, KBD looks like a really nice get at #48 in the second round. Now if Patton can eventually get healthy we might have 3 young guys who can eventually be decent NBA players making positive contributions to the Wolves down the road. Okogie and KBD might be able to contribute to some degree this upcoming season. But we'd better acquire a good veteran wing player if we're serious about upgrading our bench from last season.

Finally, an observation on Lucas as a coach. I liked what what I saw from him. It was fun to watch him courtside. We were 12 feet from him in the huddles in yesterday's game against the Raptors. He made some terrific play calls that worked well. He gave the young guys some rope to fail, but not too much rope. Lucas kept telling Josh Gray to take the ball inside and look for a cutter or an open 3-point shooter. When he did that he was often successful. But he repeatedly refused to follow instructions, snapping back at Lucas a couple of time. Lucas as brushed it off the first time, but sat him down the second time. It was the right thing to do and the team's play improved. Lucas finally was at his wits end with Andrew White who proved pretty early in the second game that he has no place in the NBA. Lucas started White the first game, but not the second game. When Lucas put him in for the first time in the second game, White was characteristically horrible. Lucas eventually pulled him. Lucas then put him back in a second time in that second game. White was so bad, that Lucas called a timeout after one possession, rolled his eyes and sat White down for the rest of the game.

We also watched the Charlotte-Heat game yesterday. I really liked Charlotte's Dwayne Bacon, Willy Hernangomez and Devonte Graham. The first two already have NBA experience, so it's a bit unfair to compare them to all the rookies. But you can see that Bacon and Hernangomez are NBA players. I was especially impressed by Bacon. Devote Graham looks like a very nice second round pick for Charlotte. He has a great handle and uses chance of pace and direction to slice and dice his way through the paint. I also liked Petrosak. He's long and has a really nice 3-point stroke. The only guy on the Heat squad who stood out for me was Derrick Jones Jr. He played like he was on springs with great quickness and explosiveness. Unfortunately, he went down early with some sort of ankle injury. It looked pretty bad and I felt sorry for the guy. He's already 2 years to of UNLV and was fighting for NBA career. Hate to see any of these guys go down.

Well, that's it for my report from Vegas. We don't have what I would consider any elite talent on our Summer League squad. But all our guys played hard with a lot of intensity on both ends of the court. And our two rookies look like they'll be NBA players eventually. Whether they become allstars, starters or even just significant rotation players remains an open question in my view based on what is admittedly a very small sample side.