Lottery Draft Implications
Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 8:29 pm
A couple of quick take-aways on the likely impact of tonight's lottery results on the Wolves draft:
1. I don't see any significant implications falling from #6 to #7. But ending up at #7 rather than #1-3 reduces the chances that the Wolves trade the pick for an established all-star caliber player like Jimmy Butler or Paul George. Having one of the top 2 picks would have given the Wolves a realistic chance of landing a player like Jimmy Butler in return for our pick without having to give up any core players or other significant assets and we might have been able to get the lower 1st round pick in return as well. Trading the #7 pick wouldn't land a player like Butler unless we also included someone like Wiggins or LaVine and I don't see Thibs doing that sort of deal. Nor should he!
2. The Lakers will have a roster that includes a young core consisting of Russell, Randle, Ingram and Ball. Adding Ball to that core, puts them directly in the Wolves' path to challenging the the Warriors in a few years. I still like our core of Towns, Wiggins, Lavine and Dunn, but the I think Ball will be a star and he plays the most important position in today's NBA. Moving Russell to SG will give the Lakers two terrific ball-handler/scorer/playmaker guys in their starting lineup, which is also huge in today's NBA. And of course the Lakers have the cache to attract a free agent like Paul George a year from now.
Think about this. If we want to be a legitimate title contender, we'll eventually have to get by the Warriors. They have 4 all-stars (Green, Durant, Curry and Thompson) along with a borderline allstar (Iggy). Now the Lakers have 4 young guys with all-star potential so we may have to compete with them as well.
So my new magic number is 4. We have 3 potential all-stars in Towns, Wiggins and LaVine and LaVine is a bit of a stretch. All the more reason to draft the right guy and keep him next month. Get and keep the right guy and we have our potential 4th allstar. And if one of our current 3 top prospects don't pan out, we at least have another potential 3rd. You can never have enough talent in this League because the great teams are loaded with talent and you can't be sure that the young talent your currently have will develop as you anticipated.
If we could trade our #7 pick for Jimmy Butler we'd have a proven allstar, but he'll be 28 years old wen the season starts and has played more than 67 games in only two of his NBA seasons. So you just can't count on him to be healthy and at the top of his game when the rest of our young core come into their prime. If I thought we could get Butler for our pick without giving up anything else, I might be tempted. But I'd rather take my chances on a super talented 20 year old who can make a difference in two years when our other young guys are entering their prime and who can, thereafter, become part of an extended run.
1. I don't see any significant implications falling from #6 to #7. But ending up at #7 rather than #1-3 reduces the chances that the Wolves trade the pick for an established all-star caliber player like Jimmy Butler or Paul George. Having one of the top 2 picks would have given the Wolves a realistic chance of landing a player like Jimmy Butler in return for our pick without having to give up any core players or other significant assets and we might have been able to get the lower 1st round pick in return as well. Trading the #7 pick wouldn't land a player like Butler unless we also included someone like Wiggins or LaVine and I don't see Thibs doing that sort of deal. Nor should he!
2. The Lakers will have a roster that includes a young core consisting of Russell, Randle, Ingram and Ball. Adding Ball to that core, puts them directly in the Wolves' path to challenging the the Warriors in a few years. I still like our core of Towns, Wiggins, Lavine and Dunn, but the I think Ball will be a star and he plays the most important position in today's NBA. Moving Russell to SG will give the Lakers two terrific ball-handler/scorer/playmaker guys in their starting lineup, which is also huge in today's NBA. And of course the Lakers have the cache to attract a free agent like Paul George a year from now.
Think about this. If we want to be a legitimate title contender, we'll eventually have to get by the Warriors. They have 4 all-stars (Green, Durant, Curry and Thompson) along with a borderline allstar (Iggy). Now the Lakers have 4 young guys with all-star potential so we may have to compete with them as well.
So my new magic number is 4. We have 3 potential all-stars in Towns, Wiggins and LaVine and LaVine is a bit of a stretch. All the more reason to draft the right guy and keep him next month. Get and keep the right guy and we have our potential 4th allstar. And if one of our current 3 top prospects don't pan out, we at least have another potential 3rd. You can never have enough talent in this League because the great teams are loaded with talent and you can't be sure that the young talent your currently have will develop as you anticipated.
If we could trade our #7 pick for Jimmy Butler we'd have a proven allstar, but he'll be 28 years old wen the season starts and has played more than 67 games in only two of his NBA seasons. So you just can't count on him to be healthy and at the top of his game when the rest of our young core come into their prime. If I thought we could get Butler for our pick without giving up anything else, I might be tempted. But I'd rather take my chances on a super talented 20 year old who can make a difference in two years when our other young guys are entering their prime and who can, thereafter, become part of an extended run.