Prospect Watch Thread

[jade_hippo]

What Perry Jones coudl become is exactly what the Wolves need, but he's been flakey and doesn't have a mean bone on him. Kanter and Sullinger would be awesome players that I'd love to have, but with our glut of bigs and having the worst guards in the NBA, we need to draft backcourt or trade out/down. It's really sad this draft is so heavy with bigs and larger SF's

Irving, Knight Barnes, Burks, Jimmer, Huneycutt all guys I'd like to see at various draft slots.

[cpfsf]

I'm surprised Enes Kanter hasn't really been discussed as an option. Not really a sexy pick, but I think he's a decent if we fail epically in the lottery. I would rank him fifth on my board assuming he does well in the workouts.

Kanter reminds me too much of Big Al, and we all know how an Al/Love front court worked out, and on top of that, there are reports that he has bad knees. And on top of that, he hasn't played high level, competitive basketball for more than a year now, that's a major risk for a top 5 pick.

I'm not too concerned about not playing since he still practices with the team. On the bright side this big boy will have less wear and tear on his body. Heck, give me Irving over any of those other guys. I don't know too much about his knees, but the NBA physicals should be able to sort some of that out.

[cpfsf]

1. Irving
2. Sullinger
3. Barnes
4. Jones
5. Kanter

I'm leaning heavily towards making a draft day trade. If we draft Irving, we have to trade either Irving or Rubio (please don't make another thread on this topic). If Irving is off the board, I would see if we could trade down for Barnes or some legit NBA talent.

[[RCG]]

I'm surprised Enes Kanter hasn't really been discussed as an option. Not really a sexy pick, but I think he's a decent if we fail epically in the lottery. I would rank him fifth on my board assuming he does well in the workouts.

Kanter reminds me too much of Big Al, and we all know how an Al/Love front court worked out, and on top of that, there are reports that he has bad knees. And on top of that, he hasn't played high level, competitive basketball for more than a year now, that's a major risk for a top 5 pick.

The way I see it I can rationalize taking

Irving, P. Jones, Barnes, D. Williams, E. Kanter

so even getting the #5 pick wouldn't be the worst in the world

Not a fan at all of Perry Jones, he's incredibly soft and doesn't have the mentality to be a great player, all of the draft reports I've read seem to have Derrick Williams pegged as a faceup 4, so I don't see the fit on this team, and I already went over Kanter above.

To me the draft board would go Irving, Jonas V, and then trade the pick away; with Barnes being able to get in behind Irving if he keeps on having a great March.

Irving - obvious reasons, then can either flip Rubio for Barnes or keep both and sort out which one to keep at the end of the year.

P. Jones - most athletic player in the draft, may have the most potential. Randolph-type player with better handles, range.

Barnes - a lot of potential, #1 out of HS. Would seem to complement Johnson/Beasley well on the wings.

D. Williams - super-efficient, unlike Beasley. Both are tweeners. Seems to put effort into defense as well. Can shoot the three and post up. Wouldn't mind having him and AR on the second unit. If Beasley doesn't improve over next year, Williams could take over for him.

Kanter has the opportunity to mesh will with Darko. Has good BBIQ, good offensive game and can play some D as well. Seems like a safer pick. Wouldn't mind Valanciunas if this pick were to be a big though either.

[jpatrick]

I really want to love some one in this draft. I just don't. I see the lottery in three tiers.

Tier 1: Irving
Tier 2: Valancius, Sullinger, P. Jones, Williams, Walker, Vesley, Kanter, Barnes
Tier 3: T. Jones, Burks, Hanson

I think everyone in the second tier has major question marks. Perry Jones scares the crap out of me. He's so athletic but didn't dominate or really stand out in any way. The only guys in the second tier that "fit" with our team are Valancius and Barnes, so I'd probably take one of those two if we don't get the first pick assuming one of them is available.

[Devilzsidewalk]

In general I'd like to see them focus on guards that can create. Irving if they believe in him, Knight, maybe Fredette, Walker if he falls, and I'm starting to get really interested in Nolan Smith too, his game looks really smooth. I still like P Jones for his potential and size, he seems like he has a great set of skills and did pretty well for being in a poorly coached system I thought.

We don't really need him, but I like Faried quite a bit, I think he's going to be a nice value in the late 1st for somebody. Barnes and Leonard I like, but they just don't play the position we need unless we do something like move Beasley for a SG; which might not be that bad of an idea to be honest...just for the sake of getting value out of this draft pick.

Sullinger I like a lot as a prospect, but doesn't fit in any way on the team.

Henson and T Jones I'd stay away from

[skorff26]

Top 5 as of now in no specific order

Irving, Valancius, Kanter, Barnes, Sullinger

[Grits n Gravy]

i just listened to chad fraud on the bs report with bill simmons

- he thinks irvings best case is a poor mans chris paul, but doesn't think he'll even be an all star, he thinks he'll be a starting pg, but not a all star - and this is a guy who is atop espn's mock draft

from draftexpress: DraftExpress: Surprised to hear Chad Ford's opinion on Kyrie Irving. "He won't be an elite-level point guard. He's not an allstar. He is what he is."

DraftExpress: Absolutely not. I think almost exactly the opposite: http://bit.ly/fxF0oI RT @AntsGotIt: Do you agree with Chad Ford on Kyrie Irving?

- sullingers best comparisons were a slightly more skilled big baby( ) or an elton brand without the shot blocking.

- perry jones has the physical skills but has shown no ability to put it together on a basketball court and is a massive reach for one of the top picks, calls him a 6'10/6'11 2 or 3 and basically draft and hope like hell he lands in that 15% and reaches his potential

- kemba walker is small, apparently 5'9 or 5'10 but is a very hard worker and has improved each year and he's not much of a "true" point guard, has nice speed and quickness

- he sounded high on jimmer(jimmer and fraud are both mormons) seemed to agree that his best comparison is steph curry and said he has 0 defense, but what does it matter because no one can guard the top guards - westbrook, rose etc

- derrick williams has to be a 3 in nba and is in pretty much every teams top 5, but not a superstar

[AQuintus]

- he thinks irvings best case is a poor mans chris paul, but doesn't think he'll even be an all star, he thinks he'll be a starting pg, but not a all star - and this is a guy who is atop espn's mock draft

This is why you should never pay attention to anything Chad Ford says unless it starts with "Sources told me..."

[Krapinsky]

I sort of agree with Ford on Irving. Even if he is the most "can't miss guy", the player he reminds me of the most in the NBA right now is Mike Conley.

Barnes will be my guy from here on out. Last year I liked George. The year prior I liked Derozan (after Rubio). Maybe I just have a thing for wings? The wild card for me is Vanlanciunas, but I've never seen him play.

Hearing that we might be high on him, I'm all for taking a chance on Jimmer in a trade up situation (after top 8). He fits our current system great.

[cpfsf]

I'll say that Irving's legit. He was flat out dominating on what I believe was the best team in college basketball (before his injury). Nobody is expecting him to become the next Chris Paul, but calling him nothing more than a starting point guard?

With that said, I'm not really interested in the rest of the prospects. Does anyone else think Perry Jones is overrated?

[Klomp]

I'll say that Irving's legit. He was flat out dominating on what I believe was the best team in college basketball (before his injury). Nobody is expecting him to become the next Chris Paul, but calling him nothing more than a starting point guard?

They didn't exactly play elite competition. The best team they played was Kansas State.

[AQuintus]

They didn't exactly play elite competition. The best team they played was Kansas State.

And Michigan State who were 5 and 1 before Duke and ranked 6th.

Edit: Also, despite the competition, they were the number 1 team in the country and absolutely dominating everyone they played against, and Irving was easily the best player on an extremely talented and experienced roster that won it all the year before.

I sort of agree with Ford on Irving. Even if he is the most "can't miss guy", the player he reminds me of the most in the NBA right now is Mike Conley.

They're definitely similar (not surprising since Conley also had CP3 comparisons as a Freshman), but I would argue that Irving is a better Point Guard than Conley right now and much, much better when compared to Conley as a Freshman.

Barnes will be my guy from here on out.

I really wanted to like Barnes, especially after his big 40 point explosion, but there just isn't anything that he does at an elite level. At this point he's an inefficient volume scorer. More of a Marvin Williams (who's a decent role player but not a top 5 or even top 10 pick) than a Grant Hill (and not even close to a Kobe Bryant).

[Esohny]

I would say that Irving is a better shooter than Conely was as well.

[jpatrick]

Conley and Irving are somewhat comparable as freshman. Conley led OSU while Oden was out with the wrist and then played really well in the tournament. I heard alot of Tony Parker comparisons at the time even though he's not nearly as quick as Parker.

Irving and Conley are about the same size and neither is a freak athlete like the PGs that have come out in the past couple of years (Rose, Westbrook, Wall, etc.). I think Irving is a better shooter but Conley is more of a pure PG. I don't think Irving is a sure thing but to me he is a better prospect than Rubio and is a better prospect than anyone else in this draft so you have to take him #1.

I don't think DX is all that high on Barnes. They have him #12 right now and they have some tweets about how after reviewing his video and season they think he's a very very inefficient scorer.

[Krapinsky]

I'll bet Barnes will be moving up in the next DX mock.

[eyeteeth]

1. Irving: NBA ready, trade Rubio for a serious SG, count it and one.
2. Valenciunas: Golly we'd have a bunch of big guys, but damn it'd be fun when him and Randolph got their man-muscles.
(Trade)
3. Burks or Brandon Knight

I think Jimmer is gonna have some trouble in this league. I'm just not convinced he can reproduce his game in the NBA at 6'2". But maybe I'm wrong; he has been remarkably consistent.

I am very very dubious of Barnes' lack of lateral quickness. He will need to move a lot better without the ball to succeed in the NBA.

Derrick Williams is very interesting. He might become a more consistent version of Beasley. That's wicked, but do you reach for him with a top 5 pick and hope that's what he becomes? Also, I think our needs would be better met by trading the pick plus an existing player for a proven asset.

[Krapinsky]

It would be neat to get Irving and then be able trade Rubio for Barnes since I believe Irving and Barnes are good friends. Call it a rich man's version of Flynn-Johnson.

Raptors seem like a likely target.

[Esohny]

It would be neat to get Irving and then be able trade Rubio for Barnes since I believe Irving and Barnes are good friends. Call it a rich man's version of Flynn-Johnson.

Raptors seem like a likely target.

That would be ideal, if the team were continuing to go really young. But Irving won't be available at the Wolves pick, so the dream is over. Sigh.

[Worm Guts]

I don't know. Ideal seems like a strong word considering Barnes plays the same postion as Beasley and Johnson. I don't think I'd be looking for another draft pick if I'm trading Rubio.