2022 NBA Draft Talk: Never too soon

moss_is_1 · Post #421 » by **moss_is_1** » Tue May 24, 2022 4:43 pm

I hope we trade up from 19 to get our guy, it seems like we are right at the start of where there's a dip in talent. Then there's a lot of guys I like in the late 1st/2nd round. Hopeful we can come away with at least 2 high potential long term guys.

Krapinsky · Post #422 » by **Krapinsky** » Tue May 24, 2022 5:59 pm

I've expressed my love for Jalen Williams, but if we're looking for front court depth instead then my guy is Jaylin Williams. He's a smart player. Composed. Plays within himself-- doesn't try to do too much. High BBIQ. Good passer. Nice touch. Gets in his stance will. Takes a lot of charges. Contests well. Wish he was more athletic, but then he would be top 10.

shangrila · Post #423 » by **shangrila** » Tue May 24, 2022 9:21 pm

NebWolvesFan wrote:
shangrila wrote:
Baseline81 wrote:With Connelly, the Wolves are destined to draft Nikola Jovic...

Read on Twitter

I hope not.

Jovic is too slow to guard the perimeter, too thin to guard the interior and is more of a ball dominant playmaker than we need. The size is nice but the rest is...eugh.

I'm a huge fan of drafting a guy and letting him sit in Europe for a year to get a lot of playing time. If the Wolves bring back Price, and sign vets with MLE and BAE, they will be at 14 players. There isn't really room for a rookie and not having to pay a FRP 3-4 million will help Connelly/Gupta stay under the tax. I'm all for drafting Jovic - he reminds me of Lauri Markkanen, who has turned out into a solid pro.

I'm not. Get them over here in our system as soon as possible.

But with Jovic in particular, I'm just not seeing the appeal. He can shoot...inefficiently. He can pass....but he's turnover prone. His REB% would be a concern if he was 6-6, let alone 6-11, and his STL% is significantly lower than Jokic's was pre-draft. When young, fat Jokic is a better perimeter defender than you what hope do you have in the NBA?

I saw a comment recently that I thought was interesting; basically every year, regardless of the talent, there seemingly HAS to be at least 2 internationals picked in the 1st round. So you get a year like '22, where the international class is ridiculously weak but everyone squints and justifies until they can feel comfortable squeezing two into the 1st. In this case it's Dieng (who I don't hate, but who I'm not high on now) and Jovic. Dieng should be a late first at best and Jovic shouldn't be in the first at all.

Stick to domestics this year.

shangrila · Post #424 » by **shangrila** » Tue May 24, 2022 9:28 pm

Krapinsky wrote:I've expressed my love for Jalen Williams, but if we're looking for front court depth instead then my guy is Jaylin Williams. He's a smart player. Composed. Plays within himself-- doesn't try to do too much. High BBIQ. Good passer. Nice touch. Gets in his stance will. Takes a lot of charges. Contests well. Wish he was more athletic, but then he would be top 10.

I do like him but he's like Trevion Williams in that I just don't think he's what we need. The team doesn't have a proper rim rolling big man and hasn't for...how long now? A decade? We need a different look behind Towns.

I'd be looking at guys like Christian Koloko and maybe Walker Kessler. Just something really different.

moss_is_1 · Post #425 » by **moss_is_1** » Tue May 24, 2022 9:34 pm

I've talked myself into TyTy Washington. He was really good before getting injured. At #19 he seems worth a risk. That is if we trade Dlo, and nobody falls.

shangrila · Post #426 » by **shangrila** » Tue May 24, 2022 9:50 pm

moss_is_1 wrote:I've talked myself into TyTy Washington. He was really good before getting injured. At #19 he seems worth a risk. That is if we trade Dlo, and nobody falls.

https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=kennedy-chandler--tyty-washington

Either would be good honestly.

moss_is_1 · Post #427 » by **moss_is_1** » Tue May 24, 2022 9:54 pm

shangrila wrote:
moss_is_1 wrote:I've talked myself into TyTy Washington. He was really good before getting injured. At #19 he seems worth a risk. That is if we trade Dlo, and nobody falls.

https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=kennedy-chandler--tyty-washington

Either would be good honestly.

Only skeptical on Chandler because he's so small, and then his ft% isn't great.

Post #428 » by **Klomp** » Tue May 24, 2022 10:27 pm

shangrila wrote:I saw a comment recently that I thought was interesting; basically every year, regardless of the talent, there seemingly HAS to be at least 2 internationals picked in the 1st round. So you get a year like '22, where the international class is ridiculously weak but everyone squints and justifies until they can feel comfortable squeezing two into the 1st. In this case it's Dieng (who I don't hate, but who I'm not high on now) and Jovic. Dieng should be a late first at best and Jovic shouldn't be in the first at all.

Stick to domestics this year.

I've heard the same about relative weakness, but is that more about NBA readiness as opposed to general NBA potential? I think we could still find a diamond late. I trust Connelly.

shangrila · Post #429 » by **shangrila** » Tue May 24, 2022 10:49 pm

moss_is_1 wrote:
shangrila wrote:
moss_is_1 wrote:I've talked myself into TyTy Washington. He was really good before getting injured. At #19 he seems worth a risk. That is if we trade Dlo, and nobody falls.

https://www.tankathon.com/players/compare?players=kennedy-chandler--tyty-washington

Either would be good honestly.

Only skeptical on Chandler because he's so small, and then his ft% isn't great.

The FT% is weird, because as far as I understand he was great from the line throughout high school and international play. That's why I'd be willing to make an exception this one time to the rule that bad FT% = non-shooter. But were I in the FO I'd need to get him in for a workout to check his form in person.

The size I kind of get but he's not Isaiah Thomas either. 6-0 with a 6-5 wingspan isn't bad. Combine it with his IQ and competitiveness and I think he'd be fine defensively. And offensively he finished around the rim at a 60% clip so he's fine there.

Now, Washington was significantly better around the rim (68%, oh my) but on significantly fewer attempts (18.7% vs Chandler's 45%). And this is my main concern with Washington; he took just over half his shots as 2pt jumpers this season with only 18% of those assisted. That's a lot of pull ups from an inefficient area of the floor. So is he not just going to be a repeat of what we saw/see from DLo? An inability to beat his man off the dribble and having to settle for long 2s?

shangrila · Post #430 » by **shangrila** » Tue May 24, 2022 10:56 pm

Klomp wrote:
shangrila wrote:I saw a comment recently that I thought was interesting; basically every year, regardless of the talent, there seemingly HAS to be at least 2 internationals picked in the 1st round. So you get a year like '22, where the international class is ridiculously weak but everyone squints and justifies until they can feel comfortable squeezing two into the 1st. In this case it's Dieng (who I don't hate, but who I'm not high on now) and Jovic. Dieng should be a late first at best and Jovic shouldn't be in the first at all.

Stick to domestics this year.

I've heard the same about relative weakness, but is that more about NBA readiness as opposed to general NBA potential? I think we could still find a diamond late. I trust Connelly.

I'm talking strictly about the international class, none of whom are particularly exciting.

Dieng is ok but lacks great athleticism.
Jovic's issues I've addressed.
Kamagate has a better version in Koloko.
Besson probably doesn't deserve to be drafted at all as he has most of the same issues as Jovic just without the height
Then you get the no-name guys like Diop, Nzosa, Samar, etc that could go either way.

If you're talking overall draft talent then yeah this draft is ok. Probably the flattest I've seen in the last 10 years but that's more a problem for mock draft accuracy than anything else.

Neeva · Post #431 » by **Neeva** » Tue May 24, 2022 10:58 pm

moss_is_1 wrote:I've talked myself into TyTy Washington. He was really good before getting injured. At #19 he seems worth a risk. That is if we trade Dlo, and nobody falls.

I have tried but i am so underwhelmed with video. He is so slow and un athletic. He makes DLO look explosive. I think pgs like him can be found as undrafted free agents like jmac.

moss_is_1 · Post #432 » by **moss_is_1** » Wed May 25, 2022 12:03 am

Neeva wrote:
moss_is_1 wrote:I've talked myself into TyTy Washington. He was really good before getting injured. At #19 he seems worth a risk. That is if we trade Dlo, and nobody falls.

I have tried but i am so underwhelmed with video. He is so slow and un athletic. He makes DLO look explosive. I think pgs like him can be found as undrafted free agents like jmac.

Is it including his HS videos? I haven't gotten a chance to look at clips. I know he had a lot of nagging injuries all season, so that is also a concern.

minimus · Post #433 » by **minimus** » Wed May 25, 2022 9:36 am

After shooting the lights out in drills LaRavia withdrew from the scrimmages, which could indicate that he has a first round promise. He’s been one of the hottest names in draft circles over the past 2 months and all signs point to him being a first rounder. This is a big rise for the former Indiana State star, who transferred to Wake Forest this past season. Besides his shooting skills LaRavia has fairly nimble feet to go along with his solid frame and has shown the ability to switch on the perimeter and guard in space. This combination of defensive versatility and great shooting will make him a hot commodity.

Watch on YouTube

shangrila · Post #434 » by **shangrila** » Wed May 25, 2022 10:03 am

See, I don't see the "nimble feet". He's basically purely a small ball 4 only defensively, so while he can and will make good rotations he's not going to be a guy that can truly switch.

wolves_89 · Post #435 » by **wolves_89** » Wed May 25, 2022 1:06 pm

One thing that makes me even more optimistic about the Wolves making good decisions in the upcoming draft is that we now have in essence two organizations worth of research to work with. While I'm sure Connelly can't bring any work materials with him, he still has all the knowledge in his head that the Nuggets put together prepping for the draft, and since they pick 2 spots after the Wolves it should all be very relevant.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #436 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Wed May 25, 2022 1:08 pm

minimus wrote:
Krapinsky wrote:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

I am sold

Watch on YouTube

wow, this guy looks amazing

He looks like he could be a nice playmaking big guard next to a 3 and d PG. I wonder if he could even play PG?

life_saver · Post #437 » by **life_saver** » Wed May 25, 2022 1:13 pm

What are the chances of this Jalen Williams being available at 19?

life_saver · Post #438 » by **life_saver** » Wed May 25, 2022 1:19 pm

I have looked at 4 recent first round mock drafts and Jalen Williams has been projected to be picked at 29th, 26th, 18th in 3 of them. In the other one, he wasn't mocked to be picked in first round. So looks like an attainable target in draft but seems like his draft stock has been rising consistently in recent weeks

wolves_89 · Post #439 » by **wolves_89** » Wed May 25, 2022 1:26 pm

I could see some GM deciding to take Jalen Williams over Agbaji, Branham, Eason, or Washington. The good thing is that if Williams goes before 19 there will be one more good option that falls to the Wolves.

Devilzsidewalk · Post #440 » by **Devilzsidewalk** » Wed May 25, 2022 1:48 pm

wolves_89 wrote:I could see some GM deciding to take Jalen Williams over Agbaji, Branham, Eason, or Washington. The good thing is that if Williams goes before 19 there will be one more good option that falls to the Wolves.

Eason I'd be surprised. I think that guy is destined to be playing key minutes in the playoffs for much of his career.