I have been watching Ben Simmons highlights
If we could get Simmons, skills-wise, even without 3pt shot, he will be an ideal fit here:
* - he would be the most athletic PF we had in MIN in post KG era. It means all sorts of alley-oop dunks, acrobatic finishes at rim. He would be a rim-runner we need
* - he would help us to beat other teams on boards
* - he would form an elite passing trio with KAT, DLo
* - he would be our best defender. strong, mobile, versatile
Unfortunately, his contract (179mil/5yrs + 15% trade kicker) makes every trade scenario with him heading to MIN unrealistic. But then I realised one thing. Ben can help us to identify two archetypes of starting PF who might be an answer to our problems. So desirable skillset of starting MIN PF is following:
"Archetype I": see Giannis, Ben Simmons, Bam Adebayo, Aaron Gordon
* - he is an elite athlete
* - he is versatile defender who can defend C-PF-SF positions
* - he is be able to finish well at rim
* - he is a good passer
"Archetype II": see PJ Tucker
* - he is an solid athlete
* - he is versatile defender who can defend C-PF-SF positions
* - he can hit 3s with league average accuracy 35%
I think for "Archetype I" PF being an elite athlete helps his passing game: short rolls, kick out, dump off passes etc. Being a good finisher at rim also helps passing game. So triangle of essential skills is: elite athlete ===> good finisher at rim ===> good passer
I think for "Archetype II" PF being an elite athlete is not necessary, but he must have toughness to play against bigger opponents. He also must be average 3pt shooter. So triangle of essential skills is: solid athlete + a tough guy + can stretch the floor
As well as we all know, right now, only one of MIN PFs fits these archetypes: JJ. But JJ has an expiring contract and he is a declining 33yo. Juancho is RFA, he is a very good 3pt shooter, but he is a below average athlete, rebounder and defender. Vanderbilt might fit "Archetype I", but he is unproven and has missed a lot of time with injuries. However, recently he got a lot of praises from Rosas, Saunders and MIN media, who underline his work ethic, offseason improvements. Which leads to assumption that our FO sees PF position in similar way. Some top prospects in this draft might be considered as "Archetype I", but they lack some important skills: Okongwu did not play enough as faceup bigman, he has potential as passer and shooter, but it is still unknown whether he can be full time PF. Avdija lacks elite athleticism, his FTs % is very concerning, it looks like he does not have touch. Aaron Gordon fits this archetype ideally, however ORL might ask more than JJ, #17 and MIN rightfully might not be willing to pay more.
As for PF "Archetype II", I cant find a more promising draft prospect than Xavier Tillman. Because he can be considered as kind of hybrid of these two archetypes: he is not an elite athlete, but he is very good at finishing at rim and he is already an elite passer. He is not a league average 3pt shooter, not yet, but his is not a non shooter as well. He might develop at least a consistent corner 3pt shot.
Both archetypes fits well KAT/Reid at C. And would be happy if after draft we will end up with KAT/Reid/"Archetype II"/"Archetype I"/Vanderbilt bigmen rotation. Something like KAT/Reid/Aaron Gordon/Tillman/Vanderbilt offers a lot of potential and address all of our issues at PF position. BUT I would not spend our #1 to acquire these players. Bam Adebayo, Giannis, Draymond Green, Siakam, PJ Tucker, Paul Millsap. They all are not top5 picks.