RealGM

It’s February and we don’t have an official 2012 draft prospects thread (a couple threads where they’re being discussed, but no official prospect thread). While some of that’s due to the the lack or certainty when it comes to the Wolves having a 1st rounder (and 0% chance at a lottery pick), I think that it’s a strong statement about the improvement of the on court product Wolves fans have been treated to this year.

That being said, conference season’s about halfway over, so it’s time one gets started.

Surefire Lottery Picks (Guys the Wolves will miss out on)

Anthony Davis, PF/C, Kentucky, Freshman, 6’10”, 220
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, SF, Kentucky, Freshman, 6’7”, 228
Harrison Barnes, SF, North Carolina, Sophomore, 6’8”, 223
Jeremy Lamb, SG, Connecticut, Sophomore, 6’5”, 185
Jared Sullinger, PF, Ohio State, Sophomore, 6’9”, 280
Thomas Robinson, PF, Kansas, Junior, 6’9”, 240
John Henson, PF/C, North Carolina, Junior, 6’10”, 200
Andre Drummond, C, Connecticut, Freshman, 6’11”, 251
Bradley Beal, SG, Florida, Freshman, 6’4”, 201
Perry Jones, PF, Baylor, Sophomore, 6’11”, 220
Quincy Miller, SF, Baylor, Freshman, 6’9”, 200
Kendall Marshall, PG, North Carolina, Sophomore, 6’4”, 180

Bubble Lottery Guys (Longshots, but an outside possibility)

Tyler Zeller, PF/C, North Carolina, Junior, 6’11”, 220
Terrence Jones, PF, Kentucky, Sophomore, 6’9”, 249
Meyers Leonard, C, Illinois, Sophomore, 7’0”, 240
Austin Rivers, G, Duke, Freshman, 6’4”, 203
Patric Young, PF/C, Florida, Sophomore, 6’9”, 247
Terrence Ross, SG/SF, Washington, Sophomore, 6’7”, 197


Those are the 18 or so guys the Wolves will probably miss out on even if they get a pick. Unfortunate because most of the bubble lottery guys are nice fits for the squad. There are also a couple wildcard freshman that could find themselves in the lottery if they declare, such as Myck Kabongo and Cody Zeller.

I’m of the opinion that with Love, Rubio and the emergence of Pekovic, the Wolves should take the kitchen sink approach towards finding a competent swingman. An athletic big that can cover ground on defense would be nice as well, but those will be tough to come by in the range the Wolves may be picking.

Best Remaining SG

Will Barton, Memphis, Sophomore, 6’6”, 175
Dion Waiters, Syracuse, Sophomore, 6’4”, 210
Doron Lamb, Kentucky, Sophomore, 6’4”, 175
Brandon Paul, Illinois, Junior, 6’4”, 200
Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette, Senior, 6’2”, 215
John Jenkins, Vanderbilt, Junior, 6’4”, 215
Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara, Senior, 6’5”, 205
Evan Fournier, Poitiers (France), 19 years old, 6’7”, 206
Tomas Satoransky, Sevilla, 20 years old, 6’6”, 190


Barton, Waiters and Lamb look to be the only collegians on the list who look worthy of a 1st round selection (they’re all fringe 1st round/early 2nd round prospects). I haven’t seen enough of Fournier and Satoransky to make that call, so I’ll refrain, although both look interesting.

Barton- Lanky swingman who makes an impact on both ends of the floor. His frame and activity level can sometimes bring Corey Brewer to mind. He’s more skilled, but not quite as springy. From a size standpoint he’s the most ideal of these three, but his handle and decision making could use some tightening up. The jump shot’s also still a work in progress and at 21 he’s a bit old for a sophomore.

Waiters- The fact he goes to Syracuse is probably an automatic red flag to most Wolves fans, if not reason to cross strike him off the board completely. I don’t blame them, but Waiters is still an intriguing option later in the 1st. He’s a solidly built combo guard who seems to be in constant attack mode on both sides of the ball (he plays 22 mpg but still gets 2.2 spg). His jumper still needs improvement, but he does a good job using his strength to create space off the bounce and get to where he wants on the court. He’s also a solid passer who would give the Wolves another option in screen action when on the floor. He’s a bit reminiscent of Dominique Jones in terms of style/body type.

Lamb- Like Waiters, a bit undersized for a shooting guard, 6’4”. Still, he’s shifty and far and away the best shooter of this trio. He’s also in possession of a nice midrange game, a rarity nowadays. He’s also moonlighted at PG for UK.

Anyway, there are obviously a lot more prospects to talk about, I just figured I’d get the ball rolling.

I’m just glad (as I’m sure we all are) that the most interesting part of this season will actually happen while basketball is still being played. It’s been too long since Wolves fans could say that.

beal and satoransky or bust. wouldn't mind meyers leonard either.

Fournier looks like the real deal at times but I doubt he can go with NBA 2 guards. He is a tweener which is the last thing we need.

Ezeli could be worth a shot as another big man project.

Ezeli would be nice. Fournier could be good, although he's probably more of a 3/2 than a 2/3.

I really want Satoransky though. Big guard (6-6) with point guard skills and great intangibles (smart, competitor, worker, etc). All he really needs to do is add muscle and he should be a good player in this league.

Austin Rivers would be nice too, although I understand he'll probably go higher than that Utah pick.

where's Tony Wroten?

Vindicater wrote:Ezeli could be worth a shot as another big man project.

Like I said in another thread, Ezeli and Moultrie are two bigs I really like this draft. In the second, I like SG Orlando Johnson of UCSB.

Beal/Young vs. Davis on ESPN right now

Klomp wrote:Beal/Young vs. Davis on ESPN right now

Beal has been impressive. Too bad we have very little shot of getting him

give me Will Barton

What about Adonis Thomas? Is your assumption, Ho-Wo, that he's returning?

I like Jared Cunningham more than any of your best remaining SG's. He's my guy this year I'm picking to gain traction as the draft gets near (a la George and Brooks).

I'd trade Derrick Williams for the rights to Lamb fwiw

Krapinsky wrote:What about Adonis Thomas? Is your assumption, Ho-Wo, that he's returning?

I kind of just avoided making assumptions in slapping this together, and went from the guys DX has going in their 2012 mock*.

Resulted in the omissions of most of the Pac 12 guys, like Wroten, Cunningham and Lockett.

I also haven't really had the chance to dig into college hoops as much as I'd like this year. I work evenings and most weekends, and now that I upgraded from tube to HD games take up like 15% of the DVR as opposed to 3, maybe 4%.

The past few years I've monkeyed around with stats for most prospects, and I haven't even started doing that yet.

That reminds me, does anybody know of a way to pull numbers off a website to a spreadsheet other than manually? I have less free time than I used to and I feel like there has to be a quicker way to get it done.

EDIT: *Mostly. Brandon Paul got thrown in there because I'd just watched Illinois the day before since I had the day off and they were the game after the Gophers.

Seriously, I'm like in love with this Moultrie kid

"Most big guys play on the wing, they don't want to do the dirty work," Moultrie said. "My mentality, as long as I can remember, is I want to get every rebound. With my mentality and athleticism, defenders might have me boxed out, but I'm so long and quick I beat them to the ball."

He puts in extra time shooting before and after practice. When he finishes, he thanks the support personnel member, whether it's a manager or a coach, for rebounding his shots and passing him the ball.

The additional work has paid off.

"When we got Arnett last year, I thought his engine ran in rebounding," State coach Rick Stansbury said. "But I thought he was limited offensively. How well he could score was a question."

Moultrie also transformed himself physically, drinking a case of Muscle Milk per week and living in the weight room. Now he's a solid 230 pounds with a Kevin Garnett-type body ("I watch a lot of film on him, I love his energy and toughness," said Moultrie).

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... or-boards/

People here have said they want more of an athletic big who could play with either Love or Pekovic. Moultrie fits that bill.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drYl3P4omzw[/youtube]

He has a good chance of being on the board for us to take him with the Utah pick.

Klomp wrote:Seriously, I'm like in love with this Moultrie kid

"Most big guys play on the wing, they don't want to do the dirty work," Moultrie said. "My mentality, as long as I can remember, is I want to get every rebound. With my mentality and athleticism, defenders might have me boxed out, but I'm so long and quick I beat them to the ball."

He puts in extra time shooting before and after practice. When he finishes, he thanks the support personnel member, whether it's a manager or a coach, for rebounding his shots and passing him the ball.

The additional work has paid off.

"When we got Arnett last year, I thought his engine ran in rebounding," State coach Rick Stansbury said. "But I thought he was limited offensively. How well he could score was a question."

Moultrie also transformed himself physically, drinking a case of Muscle Milk per week and living in the weight room. Now he's a solid 230 pounds with a Kevin Garnett-type body ("I watch a lot of film on him, I love his energy and toughness," said Moultrie).

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... or-boards/

People here have said they want more of an athletic big who could play with either Love or Pekovic. Moultrie fits that bill.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drYl3P4omzw[/youtube]

He has a good chance of being on the board for us to take him with the Utah pick.

Draft express's write up saying that he is horrific at team defense worries me. Everything else about his game looks good though. Still, I think we really need a scorer. If Austin Rivers or Jenkins is there, I think we need to take one of them

I wonder if part of that is because he was a guard most of his early years. From 9th grade to 12th grade, he grew from 6'1" to 6'10", which also meant new positions. I know hes 4 yrs removed from HS, but I think hes still learning how to play in the post.

BTW I like someone like Ezeli too, but I think hes more of a C than a C/PF combo, which is what we should be looking for IMO

Klomp wrote:I wonder if part of that is because he was a guard most of his early years. From 9th grade to 12th grade, he grew from 6'1" to 6'10", which also meant new positions. I know hes 4 yrs removed from HS, but I think hes still learning how to play in the post.

Well, if the wolves do an interview with Moultrie and we ask what you need to improve on most, and he says help D and protecting the rim, well, I wouldnt be salty if we drafted him. Plus, it sounds like he improved his defensive fundamentals from the write up, so thats definitely good. Working hard on the non-flashy stuff is always a good sign

Piecake wrote:Draft express's write up saying that he is horrific at team defense worries me. Everything else about his game looks good though. Still, I think we really need a scorer. If Austin Rivers or Jenkins is there, I think we need to take one of them

BTW just for fun I looked up the DX draft profile of someone currently an NBA starter.

Defensively, he does not make as much as an impact as you might hope at this juncture of his career, especially considering the physical tools he has at his disposal. He gets pushed around due to his lack of strength, giving up too much space in the post waiting for the shot to go up, but does not display the instincts and reactivity you might hope for once it does. His awareness defensively is clearly average, both in the man to man setting and as far as team defense is concerned. He’s only blocking 1.2 shots per game (2.2 per-40 minutes pace adjusted), which is a pretty disappointing number when all's said and done. He clearly lacks some toughness on the defensive end, as his motor is average and he doesn’t seem like one who is willing to do the dirty work.

Doesn't sound very good, right?

Well, thats the draft profile of the man who is averaging the 2nd most blocks per game in the league, and one of the better post defenders in the NBA. The prospect is DeAndre Jordan.

I'm not saying that is Moultrie's upside, but just thought it was interesting to read.

Klomp wrote:

Piecake wrote:Draft express's write up saying that he is horrific at team defense worries me. Everything else about his game looks good though. Still, I think we really need a scorer. If Austin Rivers or Jenkins is there, I think we need to take one of them

BTW just for fun I looked up the DX draft profile of someone currently an NBA starter.

Defensively, he does not make as much as an impact as you might hope at this juncture of his career, especially considering the physical tools he has at his disposal. He gets pushed around due to his lack of strength, giving up too much space in the post waiting for the shot to go up, but does not display the instincts and reactivity you might hope for once it does. His awareness defensively is clearly average, both in the man to man setting and as far as team defense is concerned. He’s only blocking 1.2 shots per game (2.2 per-40 minutes pace adjusted), which is a pretty disappointing number when all's said and done. He clearly lacks some toughness on the defensive end, as his motor is average and he doesn’t seem like one who is willing to do the dirty work.

Doesn't sound very good, right?

Well, thats the draft profile of the man who is averaging the 2nd most blocks per game in the league, and one of the better post defenders in the NBA. The prospect is DeAndre Jordan.

I'm not saying that is Moultrie's upside, but just thought it was interesting to read.

Eh, I dont know if I would use Jordan as an example. Besides blocks, he is not a very good defender. And I think blocks are very overrated. Most of the time, blockers get way too far out of position for the offensive rebound or get schooled by pump fakes or fouls. Much better to just use your length to contest the shot and stay in front of your man and in position.

Darko's game against Griffin comes to mind. If he would have just stayed down the whole game and not have bitten on so many pump fakes he would have played much better D

Now, thats not to say that all blocks or blockers are bad, just the people who absolutely sell out. I have been real real really impressed with Anthony Davis' shot blocking ability. Too bad we have no shot at him...