Draft pick and who we sign

[Foye]

I'd love to get Wall or Turner...


You can't miss out on Wall and Turner would be a nice starting SG.

There are a lot of good PG's coming into the league now and we have already two under contract/hold rights in Flynn and Rubio so I'd prefer Turner at the moment although Wall seems to be the better player.

[Narf]

It depends on what pick we have. Let's assume we get pick #8, who then? Al Farouq Aminu should be there. Paul George is someone I'm personally high on, but he could go anywhere from #6-#20 depending on how he plays next year. Donatas Motiejunas probably goes top 5, but if he drops to 8 I would grab him. Willie Warren is a name I haven't seen much of. I don't really like him at #8 but some people love him. Maybe he'll change my mind this year.

If we could get Wall I would do so in a heartbeat and trade Flynn. Wall/Rubio would be a great back court..

[cpfsf]

Joe Johnson / Cole Aldrich for 2010



I think you can guess what program I used to create this.

[cpfsf]

Just to be clear the list I'm working off of is draft express.

Link: http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2010/

You don't sign a top 5 pick to sit on the bench. So if you get Aldrich, its really saying you want to trade Jefferson. [You pay a top pick too much to have them sit .]

To be fair, we acquired Flynn when we had Rubio under the impression both would play. Part of my reasoning to acquire Aldrich is because he allows Jefferson and Love to rest. Last season Al Jefferson played 36.7 MPG while Kevin Love played only 25.3 MPG (which can only go up). Aldrich is a 6'11" legitimate center unless of course we are content with Ryan Hollins. He allows Kevin Love and Al Jefferson to spend more time at the power forward position, so the Timberwolves will end any concern about being undersized.

Last year the Timberwolves were ranked #28 in blocked shots with 3.9 per game , just ahead of Milwaukee and New York. Cole Aldrich is a decent defensive player thanks to his height and 7'4" wingspan. In fact, Aldridge averaged 2.7 BPG last season, Which leads me to my next point. According to DraftExpress, "Aldrich sports an extremely unorthodox catapult-like release where he cocks the ball from way behind his head before throwing it towards the rim, though he shows very good accuracy on his shot, as evidenced by his 79% FT%, a ten-point improvement from a season earlier. While he has extremely strange shooting mechanics, and the sample size of his jump-shots leaves something to be desired, Aldrich shouldn’t have many long-term issues, as his motion is consistent, his release of adequate speed, and his shot is basically unblockable, unless you’re standing behind him." This is relevant because opponents averaged 5.9 Blocks last season against the Timberwolves.

Most already know we will have a pretty good yet young rebounding force. In fact we are ranked 14th in overall rebounds, but I see one thing that can be fixed. Last season we were ranked 5th in the NBA in offensive rebounds with 11.9 per game while our opponents averaged 9.9 ORPG. However, we are ranked #18th in defensive rebounds with 29.8 per game, while our opponents grabbed 31 DRPG. Cole Aldrich is a great complement to Kevin Love and the rest of the team because he is a beast at grabbing defensive rebounds. Last season Aldrich averaged 8 defensive rebounds a game which would fill a major hole for the team.

According to DraftExpress.com, Aldrich has range up to 18 feet and makes 60% of his shots which can be attributed to effective post moves. I think Aldrich has a high BBIQ and is very skilled in several aspects of the game. Furthermore, he's agile for a 6'11" guy which should be very useful in our new up tempo offense.

Did I mention he's from Minnesota

[john2jer]

I remember coaching AGAINST Cole when he was in middle school. I'd rather he was on our side.

[Foye]

Aldrich is actually a good option for us but I'd still rather pick a SG/SF if the talent drop isn't much.