Minnesota Sports Forum

kekgeek1 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:If Thibs or JVG is hired and is making draft decisions, I'd love to have a few more picks late in the first round or early second round. This is definitely a deep draft, especially with the new draft rules. If we can't buy a pick, try to flip Bazz for a pick. I'd even consider flipping Dubs for a pick if its a first rounder.

We don't need more rookies, you massively overvalue late first round picks. Also thibs is known for not playing rookies many minutes because they are not ready defensively (sort of how self handles Kansas), we have 3 roster spots open we don't need to add a player that we hope can play, we need vets. This is not a strong draft class either

Thibs played Asik, Butler and Snell plenty when they were rookies.

Camden wrote:I'm not sold on Luwawu's jumper. I know the potential could be there, but damn, it was an issue of his just a year ago. I'm not confident that he's fixed it in just a year's time.

Luwawu can get to the hole like Wiggins. He's a fearless driver, so he can score. He improved his 3 point shot to 39%. He's still 20 and his range will improve. He's already one of the better defenders in the draft. He's one of the most athletic players in the draft and has a reputation as a hard worker and passionate about improving his game. Its interesting that both the Greek Freak and Luwawu were compared to Batum on potential.

Camden0916 wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:If Thibs or JVG is hired and is making draft decisions, I'd love to have a few more picks late in the first round or early second round. This is definitely a deep draft, especially with the new draft rules. If we can't buy a pick, try to flip Bazz for a pick. I'd even consider flipping Dubs for a pick if its a first rounder.

We don't need more rookies, you massively overvalue late first round picks. Also thibs is known for not playing rookies many minutes because they are not ready defensively (sort of how self handles Kansas), we have 3 roster spots open we don't need to add a player that we hope can play, we need vets. This is not a strong draft class either

Thibs played Asik, Butler and Snell plenty when they were rookies.

Butler averages 8 minutes a game
Asik played 12 minutes a game
Snell played 16 minutes a game

Wouldn't say they played a lot

Here is an excerpt on Luwawu from DraftExpress:

"Luwawu has pretty much everything you look for in a two-way role-playing NBA wing. He has strong physical attributes for a shooting guard or small forward, standing (in his words) 6'7 without shoes, 205 pounds, with a 6'11 wingspan, and excellent athletic ability. He is very smooth and fluid, and can play above the rim with ease, sometimes in highlight reel fashion.

Luwawu has made huge strides as an outside shooter, upping his 3-point percentage this season from 29 to 39%, while tripling his total number of attempts. He's been extremely reliable shooting the ball with his feet set this season (43% in catch and shoot situations according to Synergy Sports Tech), and has also shown some flashes of being capable of coming off screens. He's also developing his ability to pull-up off the dribble, something he has the freedom to experiment quite a bit with at Mega Leks.

Luwawu is also a very good passer, demonstrating strong court vision, and the ability to distribute with either hand in drive and dish situations. He can operate at different speeds, has a powerful first step and long strides as a driver, and thus has strong potential in the pick and roll and attacking closeouts.

Perhaps Luwawu's most NBA ready attribute is his defense. He showed the ability to stay in front of point guards, shooting guards and small forwards in the game we attended, thanks to his quick feet, long arms and ability to get over screens. Mega Leks likes to utilize him at the top of their full-court press, and Luwawu has wreaked quite a bit of havoc in the Adriatic League this year with his very quick hands."

TeamRicky wrote:

kekgeek1 wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:If Thibs or JVG is hired and is making draft decisions, I'd love to have a few more picks late in the first round or early second round. This is definitely a deep draft, especially with the new draft rules. If we can't buy a pick, try to flip Bazz for a pick. I'd even consider flipping Dubs for a pick if its a first rounder.

We don't need more rookies, you massively overvalue late first round picks. Also thibs is known for not playing rookies many minutes because they are not ready defensively (sort of how self handles Kansas), we have 3 roster spots open we don't need to add a player that we hope can play, we need vets. This is not a strong draft class either

We need good backups so yeah I want rookies who can fill some useful roles. We have zero bench other than Belly and if we have injuries, we don't have much depth. Tyus is a keeper but he's still a project. Give me 2 or 3 rookies who we control for several years on cheap contracts. Remember Chicago drafted Butler during Thib's tenure in a weak draft and Thibs wanted Draymond Green but Pax overruled him, so don't sell short what we could draft in the late first or early second.

Also, we will lose our first rounder next year, so it would be nice to have more than one rookie this year.

I'm not saying that we can't find players in the late first round or second but look at our bench, it is shabazz late lottery, payne non lottery, tyus late first.

I feel like any rookie we add is a project and the odds they succeed are low, it is easy to talk about the guys who succeed but there are so many that fail. 2 players getting minutes from a playoff team who was drafted in the second round. The year before that 5 (I think I counted right) getting minutes from anywhere who was drafted in the second round.

I would rather add 2 young vets that can help instead of a big crap shoot that the player can fulfill a actual role

TeamRicky wrote:

Camden wrote:I'm not sold on Luwawu's jumper. I know the potential could be there, but damn, it was an issue of his just a year ago. I'm not confident that he's fixed it in just a year's time.

Luwawu can get to the hole like Wiggins. He's a fearless driver, so he can score. He improved his 3 point shot to 39%. He's still 20 and his range will improve. He's already one of the better defenders in the draft. He's one of the most athletic players in the draft and has a reputation as a hard worker and passionate about improving his game. Its interesting that both the Greek Freak and Luwawu were compared to Batum on potential.

Slow down. Luwawu does NOT get to the hole like Wiggins. He's got a worse handle than Wiggins and he's not nearly as explosive. Also not as good as a finisher when he does get to the rim. Comparing him to Wiggins just isn't a good idea.

Where are you getting your numbers? From what I see, he shot below 40% from the field the last two years of international play and went from 28.7% (42 games) to 37.2% (28 games) from three in the span of one year. He also shot 22.5% from three this year for his FIBA Junior team over the course of 10 games.

I'm not sold on him as a shooter. I like his body makeup. I like his athleticism. I like his defensive potential. I like his youth. I think he's a huge gamble, though, and I'm not certain the reward is as high as you (and others) think it is.

We have our first round pick for next year earliest the Payne pick can be conveyed is 2018 because this was a year that we could have not had our first round pick Because of the Wes trade.

Personally I think Most vet coaches tend to play guys that can play. If you can't play or play the way they want you won't get in much. It's not quite that simple but the idea that some vet coaches just don't play rookies or young guys seems like a way oversimplification and not really true.

monsterpile wrote:We have our first round pick for next year earliest the Payne pick can be conveyed is 2018 because this was a year that we could have not had our first round pick Because of the Wes trade.

Personally I think Most vet coaches tend to play guys that can play. If you can't play or play the way they want you won't get in much. It's not quite that simple but the idea that some vet coaches just don't play rookies or young guys seems like a way oversimplification and not really true.

Generally 1st round picks are a net negative. So I am not saying this dosen't play rookies because they are rookies but more that they are my are not ready to make am impact on the court.

I see thibs as a guy who wants to win games and he won't play a rookie to play a role for development reasons

Camden wrote:

TeamRicky wrote:

Camden wrote:I'm not sold on Luwawu's jumper. I know the potential could be there, but damn, it was an issue of his just a year ago. I'm not confident that he's fixed it in just a year's time.

Luwawu can get to the hole like Wiggins. He's a fearless driver, so he can score. He improved his 3 point shot to 39%. He's still 20 and his range will improve. He's already one of the better defenders in the draft. He's one of the most athletic players in the draft and has a reputation as a hard worker and passionate about improving his game. Its interesting that both the Greek Freak and Luwawu were compared to Batum on potential.

Slow down. Luwawu does NOT get to the hole like Wiggins. He's got a worse handle than Wiggins and he's not nearly as explosive. Also not as good as a finisher when he does get to the rim. Comparing him to Wiggins just isn't a good idea.

Where are you getting your numbers? From what I see, he shot below 40% from the field the last two years of international play and went from 28.7% (42 games) to 37.2% (28 games) from three in the span of one year. He also shot 22.5% from three this year for his FIBA Junior team over the course of 10 games.

I'm not sold on him as a shooter. I like his body makeup. I like his athleticism. I like his defensive potential. I like his youth. I think he's a huge gamble, though, and I'm not certain the reward is as high as you (and others) think it is.

I am going by what I've seen of him so far. I'm talking about his style of play. He can get to the hole. He's not a finished product. He's 20 and still developing his game but he's got great athleticism and reach. He's got great intangibles too. He can be an absolute beast on the defensive end under Thibs. He's a good passer too. Outside of the top 2, he's got as much upside as anyone in the draft. If he's another Batum I'll take it.

Cam, he does need work on his handle but so does Wiggins. Here's another excerpt on him "However, this season, Luwawu has taken off. While he benefits from an up-tempo style of play that Mega Leks employs, his offensive game has opened up and diversified, and he's taken to even being the Serbian side's lead guard at times. Luwawu's shooting mechanics have made significant improvements, too, and he's been dynamite as a catch-and-shoot weapon this season, hitting 43 percent on those looks.

Luwawu has always been a solid attacker off the dribble and in transition, but he's improved there as well by adding a pull-up jumper that has reasonable success and improving his handle to cut down on turnovers. Luwawu is still incredibly turnover prone (turning the ball over on 16.9 percent of possessions is not great), but that should be less of a factor in the NBA as he continues to improve his handle and is asked to be less of a dribbling threat.

The real draw for Luwawu, though, is as a slasher. He's always been solid at this, but he has fantastic potential as a rim-runner and in-game dunker....

Luwawu seems like a strong bet to fit into the Nicolas Batum or Jimmy Butler lineage of strong two-way guards with few visible weaknesses, and he's definitely a guy worth consideration in the back half of the lottery.