RealGM

The Wolves are an exciting team reaching soon for the playoffs but after checking the past...

2008:
Great draft with the trade for Love and the 2nd round steal Pekovic

2009:
Rubio steal at #5 and the wtf Flynn pick at #6 instead of switching to the projected #7 pick Curry, who definatly could play and shine beside Rubio

Curry instead of Flynn wouldnt change the winning record much back in that year

2010:
Reaching for Johnson at #4 with Cousins still on the board and Brewer (their 2007 #7 pick) still developing. Monroe at #7 projected. Allready obvious that a Love/Jefferson frontcourt isnt working.

2011:
Taking Derrick Williams at #2.

Yes probably less ping pong balls with Curry and Cousins/Monroe but still a possibility to land Williams

Rubio
Curry
Williams
Love
Cousins or Monroewith Pekovic as backup

A what if game for sure but this one is a pretty close one...

The worst part imo is they also drafted, BUT traded Ty Lawson and Nikola Mirotic, leaving themselves with Flynn and Derick Williams instead.

Eh, the draft give and the draft taketh away. As bad as their last handful of years were, they were also very fortunate that a) Memphis thought Mayo was better than Kevin Love, b) Washington handed them the Rubio #5 pick in one of the worst trades of all time (Miller/Foye), c) Pekovic late 1st round. A player of Wes Johnson's talent getting taken over a player of Demarcus Cousins' should never happen, though

Lawson wasn't their pick, they picked him for Denver, then traded him there; had they kept the pick, its arguable they would have picked him.

Passing on Cousins was the worst since it was soooo obvious at the time. I was hoping for Warriors to move up and get Cousins, I think they tried but couldn't.

Frank Mulely wrote:Passing on Cousins was the worst since it was soooo obvious at the time. I was hoping for Warriors to move up and get Cousins, I think they tried but couldn't.

The funny part is Wes over Cousins still isn't the worst pick of that draft, Udoh over Monroe is. Udoh over Monroe was one of the most inexplicable bizarre picks I've ever seen. Same position, no dramatic character flaw differences, there was absolutely no reason for a team to like Udoh more than Monroe that draft, none

derrick williams was a consensus top 2 pick, hard to blame em there.

Draft "what if" threads suck because of the effect the players would have on their teams, meaning their next pick wouldn't be in the same spot.

Dr Mufasa wrote:

Frank Mulely wrote:Passing on Cousins was the worst since it was soooo obvious at the time. I was hoping for Warriors to move up and get Cousins, I think they tried but couldn't.

The funny part is Wes over Cousins still isn't the worst pick of that draft, Udoh over Monroe is. Udoh over Monroe was one of the most inexplicable bizarre picks I've ever seen. Same position, no dramatic character flaw differences, there was absolutely no reason for a team to like Udoh more than Monroe that draft, none

Don't get me started...

Yes they traded Nikola Mirotic for a lesser pick and a 2nd Rd Pick they could have easily purchased in a weak draft. Bad move.

You can't fault them for taking Derrick Williams. He's a consensus 2nd overall pick. What they should have done is traded him along with Wes Johnson in a deal. Let's say with Denver, Gallanari, Afflalo and a future 1st. They could have also bluffed and ask for the two picks Utah had that year for their second.

theGreatRC wrote:Draft "what if" threads suck because of the effect the players would have on their teams, meaning their next pick wouldn't be in the same spot.

+1

theGreatRC wrote:Draft "what if" threads suck because of the effect the players would have on their teams, meaning their next pick wouldn't be in the same spot.

Bingo...

lol another what if Minnesota would have drafted player x thread. It's been a solid week since I've seen one of these

1999 1 23 Devean George United States SF Augsburg
1999 2 30 John Celestand (from Vancouver)[o] United States SG Villanova
2000 1 29 Mark Madsen United States PF/C Stanford
2002 1 27 Chris Jefferies (traded to Toronto)[q] United States SF Fresno State
2003 1 24 Brian Cook United States PF Illinois
2003 2 32 Luke Walton

Jellybeans8 wrote:1999 1 23 Devean George United States SF Augsburg
1999 2 30 John Celestand (from Vancouver)[o] United States SG Villanova
2000 1 29 Mark Madsen United States PF/C Stanford
2002 1 27 Chris Jefferies (traded to Toronto)[q] United States SF Fresno State
2003 1 24 Brian Cook United States PF Illinois
2003 2 32 Luke Walton

LOL. Screw all those guys. I just wish we kept Marc Gasol and Toney Douglas.

theGreatRC wrote:Draft "what if" threads suck because of the effect the players would have on their teams, meaning their next pick wouldn't be in the same spot.

Sure but like i mentioned in this case because of the Rubio absense not that much difference with the ping pong balls!

Pretty obvious for me that even with Curry instead of Flynn they would have gotten the #4 pick a year later. Only obvious question mark was the #2 in 2011 with Curry/Cousins instead of Flynn/Johnson.

So you would still look at a Rubio/Curry/-/Love/Cousins core.

theGreatRC wrote:Draft "what if" threads suck because of the effect the players would have on their teams, meaning their next pick wouldn't be in the same spot.

Agreed, but in this case the only thing that would differ would be that Minny probably wouldn't have gotten the #2 pick in 2011 (DWilliams), and would probably have been picking in the mid-to-late lottery. IMO, though, a lot of the guys picked in the mid-to-late lottery in that draft would have been just as valuable to Minny. They'd probably have the same number of wins regardless of whether they have DWilliams or one of these guys: http://www.nbadraft.net/nba_final_draft/2011. They would have been in the market for a sf, so maybe they'd have taken Klay Thompson, Marcus Morris, or Kawhi Leonard. (If they got Thompson, they'd probably start small with Rubio/Curry/Thompson, with Thompson sliding down to sg when only one of Rubio/Curry is in the game.)

Rubio
Curry
Klay Thompson (or Marcus Morris or Kawhi Leonard)
Love
Pek/Monroe

That would've been a great 6-man core.

Rubio gets 3/4 of the pg minutes
Curry gets 1/4 of the pg minutes and 1/2 of the sg minutes
Thompson gets 1/2 of the sg minutes and 1/2 of the sf minutes
some stud sf defender gets the other 1/2 of the sf minutes
Love gets 3/4 of the pf minutes
Pek gets 2/3 of the c minutes
Monroe gets 1/4 of the pf minutes and 1/3 of the c minutes

Kaner wrote:lol another what if Minnesota would have drafted player x thread. It's been a solid week since I've seen one of these

I don't know, the fact that Minnesota drafted two PGs back-to-back in the high lottery deserves AT LEAST one "what-if" thread per week.

I guess the next best player everyone is mentioning (Curry) is also a PG, albeit closer to a combo guard than Flynn. I didn't follow the draft as in-depth as I do now, so I'm not sure who people expected Minny to take in that situation. Just seemed like a very odd choice the minute I saw it.

One thing few people actually know is that Minnesota apparently had a deal lined up with Sacramento on draft day in 2008. If James Johnson had been available at #18 he and Flynn would have been sent to Sacramento for Tyreke. But Johnson was picked at #16 by the Bulls making the offer invalid. I wish I could find a link to prove this, though.

Not that I think Kahn wouldn't have drafted Flynn anyway without any kind of deal on his mind. Even when he was drafted it was quite a stretch. Unlike Wes Johnson, who at the time when being drafted, was not a stretch. Not that I've been overly happy about what Wes Johnson offered, or rather didn't, but I still never questioned the pick. Cousins showed some huge red flags prior to being drafted. Also, for the record, Corey Brewer was a finished product by the time Johnson was drafted. That didn't really have any kind of affect in terms of which player has more potential.