Taylor 'OK' with Taking Risks

[shrink]

Its interesting the risks Taylor has chosen not to take.

First up is Cousins, taking the more reliable, older, lower upside Wes Johnson. Is it attitude?

Second, you'll note that all our "risks" are all cheap ones. Nobody is paid more than $5 mil. Would we go "all in" on an expensive player? I like to believe that we wouldn't have paid Rudy Gay the max, hoping he grew into that deal. He's been burned by long-term contracts before -- do you think he will be shy about spending the $15 mil in raw cap space?

[EddyCool]

can you guys believe how long and athletic our team is gonna be in 2011:

Rubio 6'6"
Wesley Johnson 6'9"
Beasley 6'10"
Love 6'11"
Darko 7'2"



good luck trying to score on that lineup!

Srsly. Imagine if Jonny was 6'7" like he was going to be if not for that injury at the chemical plant or whatever.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009 ... our-090525

In the hospital Flynn got some of the most disappointing news of his life from a doctor. "He told me that the bone I broke was on a growth plate. He said there's a good chance I was done growing."

[Worm Guts]

I'm guessing Taylor had no input into who the Wolves drafted.

[EddyCool]

Its interesting the risks Taylor has chosen not to take.

First up is Cousins, taking the more reliable, older, lower upside Wes Johnson. Is it attitude?

Second, you'll note that all our "risks" are all cheap ones. Nobody is paid more than $5 mil. Would we go "all in" on an expensive player? I like to believe that we wouldn't have paid Rudy Gay the max, hoping he grew into that deal. He's been burned by long-term contracts before -- do you think he will be shy about spending the $15 mil in raw cap space?

I don't think we have any reason to think he'll be hesitant to put the money into the players his guys tell him are correct. He's been burnt by bad contract decisions like Jaric or taking on Blount, etc., not to mention the KG deal followed by the new CBA, but we don't really have any reasons to suspect that we've targeted guys that Taylor wouldn't pony up for.

If a Rudy Gay call had made it through Kahn/Rambis to Taylor, I highly doubt he would have axed it. It seems like he puts his faith in the guys making the calls, and likes to keep it there until he absolutely has to make a decision (firing McHale, signing off on trading KG and entering full rebuild phase). But if Kahn and Rambis said guy X is important to this team, and this is the price it's going to take or he's not here, Taylor will trust that their doing the job he's got them here to do. Again, I don't think Darko's money is much at all, but he's paying him because Rambis wants him and Kahn/Darko's agent worked out an agreeable figure.

[john2jer]

Did this thread seriously turn into an argument about Beasley's height? Isn't the article from a half-baked St Paul "reporter"? He probably searched on NBA.com and went with what they have. Hell, they have Love listed at 6'10" and everyone knows he's not.

The NBA inflates everyone's height. But seriously, if everyone is given an extra inch(that's what she said), what does it matter(that's definitely NOT what she said)?

Beasley is a little under-sized to be a typical PF. He's more of a Antawn Jamison type PF.

[Devilzsidewalk]

Beasley is a little under-sized to be a typical PF. He's more of a Antawn Jamison type PF.

Impossible, Antawn Jamison is only 6'8" and Beasley is 6'10"

[Breakdown777]

can you guys believe how long and athletic our team is gonna be in 2011:

Rubio 6'6"
Wesley Johnson 6'9"
Beasley 6'10"
Love 6'11"
Darko 7'2"



good luck trying to score on that lineup!

That team is long, but if we are trying to play "showtime" pace, I'd imagine that the opposition will still get enough shots up to score points at lest in the middle of the pack. Next year, with Ridnour/Flynn instead of Rubio...I can see the wolves still being in the bottom third of "points allowed".

[TyKixx]

Hopefully, Rambis can sell Beasley on the triangle as Phil did with Jordan and Kobe. If he can buy into what the coaching staff is selling maybe he can realize some of that potential.

[thesuperficial]

Standing reach is more relevant than height and Beasley's is above average. He's not small for a power forward. Put it to bed.

[eyeteeth]

Hopefully, Rambis can sell Beasley on the triangle as Phil did with Jordan and Kobe. If he can buy into what the coaching staff is selling maybe he can realize some of that potential.

This is a good point. for several reasons. First off, we don't know what Beasley's ceiling is. It's pretty high, though. He has a suite of basketball skills you just don't see very often. The open floor shooting, the ball handling, the athleticism... Kinda reminiscent of superstar players like.. hhmm, Kobe and MJ! Now, to be clear, I am not saying Beasley is as good as Kobe or Jordan. (Five dollars says someone still comes along and says, "Beasley's not half the talent of those guys!!! Chill, people. ) What I am saying is that regardless of how talented he may or may not be, that he has a similarly well rounded game and we don't know just how high his relatively high ceiling is. And, to the point, there is an argument as to whether the triangle needs a player like Kobe or Jordan to really work. It's a very interesting question because no one has really tried it. It remains an open question of just how much of a challenge running the triangle without that superstar is, but it is interesting to note that Michael Beasley is the kind of all-around basketball freak that can rise to superstardom in the triangle.

[shangrila]

I like a quote earlier in the article, where Taylor talks about Rambis asking Kahn for players that better fit his offence and who basically pass and play defence. I was worried for a while that defence wouldn't be a priority for this team, but it seems it is.

[auggie doggie]

I am not sure about taking risks or playng the odds. All the players at their current salaries are low risk even if they do not pan out. I would like to have seen them take the bigger risk with Cousins rather then Johnson. Obviously they had planned on signing Pek and Millic before the draft.

Cap space is available if one or two of these guys suddenly steps forward and produces. Hopefully, with the second chance guys they will have some loyalty but in this day and age it might not be true with the lure of the "big market"

The height of all NBA players seem to be overstated and overated. The only question is whether he can produce at a given postion no matter what the height.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I like a quote earlier in the article, where Taylor talks about Rambis asking Kahn for players that better fit his offence and who basically pass and play defence. I was worried for a while that defence wouldn't be a priority for this team, but it seems it is.

yea seems like they're at least trying to get some defense, don't know if it pans out, but Webster over Babbitt and Johnson over Cousins are defensive moves for sure.

[shrink]

If he was truly OK with taking risks, I can't understand passing on Cousins.

The only reason a bad team like ours could pass on the guy with potentially the highest upside in the draft is if they think his attitude makes him too risky.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I'd say taking Johnson was the risk move, Cousins was the common sense move

[EddyCool]

If he was truly OK with taking risks, I can't understand passing on Cousins.

The only reason a bad team like ours could pass on the guy with potentially the highest upside in the draft is if they think his attitude makes him too risky.

It could be any number of things. Maybe they don't feel his strengths enhance the team they're building, and reworking the roster around Cousins could potentially yield a lesser product. Maybe the character concerns are different between the three, and they didn't feel the challenge with Cousins was worth it. Maybe the final evaluation didn't show that they feel Cousins has the highest upside, or a likelihood or reaching it. Maybe they knew they had a good shot at Beasley and they like Darko/Beasley/Johnson more than Cousins/Beasley.

Whatever the case, I don't get the frequent return to the Cousins passed pick. He showed a lot of talent at Kentucky and may develop into a sensational player, but putting a vague statement like, "with potentially the highest upside in the draft," next to him implies more than it says. Someone could have said Thabeet had potentially the highest upside in the 2009 draft because if he put on 40 lbs of muscle and learned how to score the ball and defend in the half court and get his feet off the floor he could have dominated the league. I haven't seen Cousins do anything against anyone that are of the strength, size and skill that he will encounter every game from now on, and it takes a lot of work to get to that point. Who was the last under the basket big to come in and dominate early on? Shaq?

I guess my point is that it's going to take a lot of things to go right for Cousins to really dominate this league, and the same can be said about a lot of players from every draft class. The only advantage it's fair to give to a player like Cousins (without having worked out personally and frequently with lots of players) is that he has legitimate height, a frame that looks like it can carry a lot of muscle, and is skilled and comfortable in game situations. I dislike the notion that he has a higher upside than a guy like Wes because he's younger or bigger or less refined. Most of a player's potential is in their work ethic, and all we have to go off of to judge that is vague second or third hand comments.

[Breakdown777]

Kudos on the new sig Devilz. I feel like it should be accompanied with an audio of Robin shouting "HOLY FLYING TOMAHAWKS BATMAN!!!"