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Jonathan Watters wrote:The Wolves need to take a chance on one of these guards. Teague or Holiday would be my choice, maybe even Jennings if he's got his head on straight. It would be risky, but there is no reason not to take a risk in this draft. Your "sure thing" types are extremely unlikely to amount to players that will push our current mediocre roleplayers out of their spots.

Holiday is a heck of a player, and everybody will realize it if he goes back to UCLA sans knuckleheads like Darren Collison and Josh Shipp. Top 5 pick a year from now, so if he declares you have to take him.

Teague has fallen off quite a bit since his hot streak, but his explosiveness is super rare and he has the court vision to eventually be a point guard. It could be a rough couple of years in the process, though. Defense is a strength, that's a plus.
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I keep changing my mind on which guard I like best for this team, but I keep coming back to Curry. If anything, he stretches the defense and gives Al and Love more room to work. Unlike the other guards, he's made for a 1/2 court game. I imagine him taking all those shots we wished Miller would take this year. he would be a liability on defense, but my hope is he can wear the other teams PG out by running around off screens on offense a la Richard Hamilton.

Jonathan Watters wrote:I really wouldn't mind Aminu, either. He's not the brightest bulb on the tree, but has some good instincts in an elite physical package. At the very least he could add the shot blocking that the current lineup is so desperately lacking, so in that regard I think he actually does fit well with the Love/Jefferson frontcourt. (Note how Utah gets away with Boozer/Okur because they have Kirilenko at SF...)

That's true, but on offense Okur stands around on the perimeter and Kirilenko's game suffers as a result of playing out of position. I imagine Utah would struggle if they played Boozer, Mislap, and Kirilenko together.

Dr.Krapinsky wrote:
I keep changing my mind on which guard I like best for this team, but I keep coming back to Curry. If anything, he stretches the defense and gives Al and Love more room to work. Unlike the other guards, he's made for a 1/2 court game. I imagine him taking all those shots we wished Miller would take this year. he would be a liability on defense, but my hope is he can wear the other teams PG out by running around off screens on offense a la Richard Hamilton.

I love Curry's game in college, but I have serious doubts about his transition to the pro's. He makes some amazing shots, but he has to work so darn hard to get them. Great NBA prospects make things look easy at the college level. Curry just reminds me too much of the whole Morrison/Redick debacle from three years ago, which I fell into big time. Now Curry is more athletic than Morrison and more of a PG than Redick, but he's also the shortest of the three and the least physically developed.

Length, Strength, Explosiveness. Most prospects need two out of three, I'm not going to enthusiastically hype a player that doesn't have two out of three. PG might be the one exception, but Curry isn't proven as a PG and doesn't have any of the three.

I've learned through trial and error to never say never when it comes to a prospect - and Curry certainly does defy the odds every time he steps onto a basketball court - but my experience forces me to stay away from a player like this.

Jonathan Watters wrote:I really wouldn't mind Aminu, either. He's not the brightest bulb on the tree, but has some good instincts in an elite physical package. At the very least he could add the shot blocking that the current lineup is so desperately lacking, so in that regard I think he actually does fit well with the Love/Jefferson frontcourt. (Note how Utah gets away with Boozer/Okur because they have Kirilenko at SF...)

That's true, but on offense Okur stands around on the perimeter and Kirilenko's game suffers as a result of playing out of position. I imagine Utah would struggle if they played Boozer, Mislap, and Kirilenko together.

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I guess I'm assuming Love eventually adds a lot more range and reliability to his jumpshot. I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation. Maybe not as good as Okur, but enough to keep defenses honest. I'd also argue that AFA has a lot more potential both as a perimeter and post scorer than Kirilenko does. He's a more fluid athlete and has a much thicker frame.

If Aminu can add range to his shot, then the Wolves should target him. He already has 3 things the Wolves sorely lack, size, athleticism and defensive potential

thing that bothers me about Teague is if Jefferson will ever see the ball with a Teague/Foye backcourt

it'd be nice to have some explosion at PG though

Devilzsidewalk wrote:thing that bothers me about Teague is if Jefferson will ever see the ball with a Teague/Foye backcourt

it'd be nice to have some explosion at PG though

I'd be shocked to ever see Foye at SG for a contending team. Doable in certain specific scenarios, he's certainly a positive as a 6th man type, but highly unlikely as a starter.

Thus, I don't think you make high lotto decisions based on how a player fits with Foye.

Jonathan Watters wrote:

Devilzsidewalk wrote:thing that bothers me about Teague is if Jefferson will ever see the ball with a Teague/Foye backcourt

it'd be nice to have some explosion at PG though

I'd be shocked to ever see Foye at SG for a contending team. Doable in certain specific scenarios, he's certainly a positive as a 6th man type, but highly unlikely as a starter.

Thus, I don't think you make high lotto decisions based on how a player fits with Foye.

heh it's funny you said that because I originally spent a whole paragraph in my last post that said the exact same thing that I erased about how I thought if Foye isn't going to be able to run an offense and use his size at PG then he's not going to provide much value as a starter

he's basically a scorer that's shooting 35% from 3, makes a couple nice highlight plays defensively every once in awhile, but spends most of his time chasing his man from behind, and he doesn't get to the line a ton to make up for his low percentages. I mentioned it before, but its worth repeating for comparative emphasis - if we were rolling out Flip Murray for 36 minutes a game, would we get anything less? That being said, I still think Foye is talented and might be a starting PG in the end, but the identity crisis is starting to mount as he's pushing 26.

Yeah, he's a nice player and an asset for the future, but I just don't think he's worth taking a lesser player for - if that player is being picked in the top 8 we expect the Wolves to be picking in this year.

The only position that ought to be set for the Wolves is PF - even then, if the clear-cut BPA is a shot blocking PF you've got to consider it.

I just saw this on the wire tap and thought is was extremely interesting.

There are rumors, according to Sports Illustrated, that Ricky Rubio could be moved for cash to a wealthier European club because current employer DKV Joventut of Spain is in trouble financially.

Two insiders have shot down the rumors, suggesting that Rubio will remain with Joventut for the rest of the year.

I wonder how this might affect a potential buyout?

Interesting Rubio update.

Mr. Watters, be careful we are almost agreeing on something. I have been the biggest Holiday supported on this board. I would love to have him on this team. He reminds me of a more athletic Antonio Daniels. He is big, strong, defends, plays as a teammate. Is a true pg and wow the defense. I think he is humble enough to take a backseat on UCLA but could be putting up crazy numbers.

If we went 5/3 with our pick then I would consider Curry for the Miami pick, but he would be projected as a depth guy then. Holiday I would take with out pick.

Lets assume that the worse we can draft is 7th. Here are the only 7 guys I consider in the first round

Rubio (*please God, Please)
Holiday
Thabeast (*Mchale saw this team in the image of his celtics teams and those teams had a strong 3 big man rotation. Often with Mchale himself off the bench)
Evans? (*Devils is a good draft mind and he sees something special here)

After that is is tough, You need to put Griffin on that list if we struck the Number 1 and Rubio was not in, but he would be trade bait.

Does that mean we only have 5 guys I would consider in the top 7? That is a rough spot.

The AFA love is purely as a long term prospect. His offensive game right now is very post dependant, but he has tools that could transistion. But it would be a serious risk. Similar to earlier this year when some thought Monroe could transistion to SF.

needless to say, we need a top 3 pick. Top 4 at most. This draft is too much of a crap shoot after that. There is still some talent, but no real difference between most of the guys.

Avoid Jennings, Hill, Teague, Henderson, etc with the MN pick.

Curry would be great with the Miami pick, but do we consider him with a pick in the 7-10 range?

Getting a fresh look at Thabeet against Pitt right now. Beeters has 14 pts, 9 rebs and 4 blks, most of which came in the first half, which I missed. He runs well, but looks lost most of the time. Looks especially ineffectual on offense, no one on his team ever looks for him.

I fear he is a big time project with massive bust potential. I've never been so hot/cold on a prospect. He has a lot of problems with post defense and athletic players... however, one intriguing thing about him is he can make a mistake in man to man and then recover quickly to get the block, or 2 or 3 in a row.

Btw, how would you guys feel about an Aminu and Evans draft? I love the prospect of an Aminu, Brewer, Evans defense on the perimeter. Outside shooting would be a problem for sure though. Still, size, defense and athleticism is drool inducing.

Being that I see Thabeast as the 3rd big in a great 3 man rotation then his bust potential goes down. Also, considering the weakness of the draft I am cool with that calculated risk. If his at-worse is Diop then a diop at the 3rd big is a good piece.

I cant see if Evans will be more than a role player at the next level. I think he is a good kid, with nice tools, but he seems more inclined to be a role player and there are a million offensive role playing wings in the NBA. I like him, but not as a starter on a good team. I think most of it is mental for him.

Aminu (or AFA as i call him) is the biggest "potential" pick in the draft. He could be a very, very good SF, but likely wont give anything for 2 years. He has nice BBIQ (*even point fwd potential) is very smooth, good defender and rebounder but still just a kid and needs to develop his offensive game. If our pick was a 5-10 range I would strongly consider him. Perhaps a "good guy" Josh Smith?

Ty Evans is going to be my love/hate until the draft. Devil has a good feel for him and thinks he is special. But he looks like Crawford to me.

110 days left.

Is there any way we can draft and keep Blake Griffin? After watching him and Thabeet back to back, I have no interest in trading down.

You know I like the 3 headed monster at 4/5, but with thabeast that is a lot easier than Griffin. WHo might only be 6'9. I think it would be ironic if we get the #1 pick, but the value will be us trading that pick for a legit 3 or 1. I think the best moves could be OKC working something out for green+pick or Green+westbrook.

Maybe atlanta with Josh Smith?

I just feel that the value is not there with Blake Griffin for us. I am also not as sold on him to move love or Al.

I know that Thabeet is alot better fit, but I just think there's a huge gap between him or Harden and Griffin. If we could get another legitimate player to move down, it might be worth it. Like you said, Green to move down.
I'm not sure what I would do right now.

Yet another great game this week by Ricky (altough his team lost to Real Madrid)

15 points
10 assist
7 boards
3 steals

in just 26 minutes.

http://acbtv.acb.com/video/1518

I think if MIN gets the #1 pick, there is no way we can afford to pass on Blake Griffin. His value is just too far above everyone else at this point.

http://dcprosportsreport.com/mockdraftdatabase/nba.html

In this collection of mock drafts, Griffin is #1 over 90% of the time.

Most of that mocks doesn't have Ricky Rubio coming this year, and believe me, right now the chances ar 50% IMO, considering the financial trouble in many spanish teams and particulary Joventut.

But I agree with you. If Rubio is out of the board, the nº1 pick must be Blake Griffin, then we can trade him and get more value in return than picking anyone else.

hard call on Griffin, on one hand I'd hate to not get a guard, but I guess worst case scenario if you take him and can't work out a trade right away is that you have Al Jefferson insurance so he doesn't have to rush back and a 3 man rotation at PF/C that's going to own the paint

Yes, Griffin's value is high, Timberwolves could parlay the pick into a very nice young guard or SF. This Draft is going to very interesting even tho it's a weak one.