We were “lucky” enough to land the second overall pick this year, as most of you already know. There was a 25% chance that we would get our rightful draft position of #1 overall, because $tern is a joke and the lottery sucks. In this weak draft (understatement), our best (only?) hope is Kyrie Irving. And that just got a lot more bleak. I guess there’s a chance that Cleveland passes on Irving with their top pick, but let’s just move on for now.
Last year, TWolves Blog Staff didn’t do too bad with our draft Big Board. You can see it HERE. Debate it all you want, but you can clearly see that we would have drafted DeMarcus Cousins with our #4 overall pick. Maybe Wesley Johnson makes us forget Cousins before his career is over, maybe not. Maybe Cousins’ immaturity makes us forget Cousins before his career is over. Who knows. Ok, so we had Hassan UPside at #6 overall, but a lot of people liked him. And it’s not like we would have drafted him, as we had Cousins and Wesley Johnson ranked higher. So don’t overreact on that. The rest looks reasonably solid, considering we went 30 players deep and all. Check out the entire Big Board from last year if you have any interest.
The NBA Draft is a Thursday, June 23rd. As of right now, the T-Wolves have two first round picks (#2 overall, and Memphis’ pick at #20.) No one has any idea what’s going to happen, or whom the Wolves will pick. (Does Kahn??? I doubt it.) Who do you readers want us to draft? ; Should we trade either (or both) of the picks? Is it Irving or bust? A BIG wildcard here is what happens with Rubio. There are some rumors that Rubio is already essentially signed, sealed, and delivered for next season. That would be fantastic, but I’m still overly cautious as of right now. ; If he comes over this season, we don’t necessarily need Irving or Knight. But it sure would be nice to have two competent/very good PG’s for the first time in… forever.
Derrick Williams is widely regarded as the consensus #2 pick. But he’s a terrible fit for our team, as we’ve already got Love, Beasley, Randolph, Tolliver, and Pekovc (among others.) Let’s just pray that Cleveland doesn’t take Irving #1, which in turn “forces” Kahn to take Bismack Biyombo #2… since no other teams will trade with our lunatic GM. That would be disaster of epic proportions.
The draft looks like one of the worst overall drafts of the past 10-15 years, if not even longer. There’s just no great talents. ; Too bad the 2012 draft is absolutely LOADED, and we don’t have a pick; but alas, that’s another story for another day. There are probably some nice players in this draft that can contribute to NBA squads, but if I had to pick a surefire All-Star, I’m not sure I could do so at this point in time. So besides Irving, the #2 pick may as well be the same as the #10-15 pick(s). Maybe it’s not that drastic, but there’s a large group of players that could all be pretty good, or bench players. No one knows yet. And therin lies the problem with this draft, because the TWolves really need to hit a homerun at #2 overall.
Instead, perhaps we should trade the pick? There is a TON of TWolves and draft chatter going on right now in the TWolves Blog Forums. Check it out with us:
– Rumor Mongering: The Danny Granger Edition
– Sixers Blog says Iggy for TWolves #2 Overall Pick
Without further ado, here is your T-Wolves Blog 2011 NBA Draft Minnesota Timberwolves “Big Board”…
To see the TWolves Blog Big Board, please click “Read More” to continue…
To reach the consensus for the T-Wolves Top 10 ranked players below, we averaged the rankings of mock big boards from three of the TWolves Blog Staff members: myself, Pants, and Mike Reynolds; as well as TWB Forum member “Roundhouse.” Thusly, all four of us had Kyrie Irving either #1 or #2 overall for the Wolves. Brandon Knight and Derrick Williams have the same average ranking, as you can see. However, Knight gets placed above Williams because he got a #1 overall vote and Williams did not.
This “Big Board” is a ranking of the Top 10 players for the T-Wolves. It is NOT a mock of the lottery for this upcoming NBA draft. ; No other teams except the T-Wolves are being taken into consideration for this list. Keep that in mind if you could.
TWolves Blog 2011 NBA Draft Big Board
;
|
Average |
Player |
Pos. |
Height |
Weight |
Comments and Analysis | |
|
1.25 |
Kyrie Irving |
PG |
6’2″ |
185 |
Seems like the For-Sure-Can’t-Miss-Prospect of the entire draft. Everyone has him #1 overall. He’s the consensus top player (albeit in a very weak draft.) ; Assuming Rubio doesn’t come over next season (if there even is one?!?), then Irving has got to be the pick here. – College Wolf I know, I know. Very cliche’. But you cannot deny the talent level he showed in…11 games. Still, he is the king poop of turd island in this draft. Regardless, his inexperience and the Duke PG-injury/flop curse is scary. – Mike Preseason top guy, concensus top guy. He’s knocked from #1 to #2 on my board because I never got to see him play at the top of his game. Sorry Kyrie. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
2.75 |
Brandon Knight |
PG/SG |
6’3″ |
175 |
I do love Knight, almost as much as Irving. Has elite athleticism, and is another guy on the long list of Calipari’s potentially great NBA Point Guards. I think he has the most potential of “under the radar guys that could become the next Russell Westbrook” in the NBA. – College Wolf Comes from a very reputable program. He is young and is already a game changer amongst elite NCAA competition, which is nothing to sneeze at. Appears to have a solid head on his shoulders…..a major factor in player evaluation which has worked wonders for the Wolves in the last two drafts. – Mike When it counted most UK put the ball in Knight’s hands. Knight and Irving are the two premere level prospects going back to their high school careers. Knight is on top for me because he was playing thoughout the season. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
2.75 |
Derrick Williams |
PF |
6’8″ |
235 |
Doesn’t fit in our on squad at all (as currently constructed); but I think most all of us believe in taking the “Best Available Player.” That’s what Williams is here. – College Wolf While a horrible fit, he is the next best NBA prospect hands down. With a top pick we have to go best available and screw the need. – Mike Loved watching him play last year, but I just don’t see the fit. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
4.25 |
Alec Burks |
SG |
6’6″ |
195 |
Is he the only Shooting Guard in the draft? I don’t really know, but it sure seems so. Luckily for us, he appears to be a pretty good player. And we still do have that gaping void at SG… – College Wolf A shooting guard who can handle the rock, defend, create his own shot, and is a shocking 1,635 years younger than Wes “potential” Johnson. Have we ever seen something such as this? It’s hard to fathom, indeed. – Mike We’ve just dropped a talent tier. He fits a need and played bit. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
4.75 |
Kemba Walker |
PG |
6’0″ |
170 |
I know a lot of people like him, but… I’m just not sold. He reminds me waaaaay too much of a souped up Jonny Flynn 2.0 – College Wolf A bit undersized. But, personally I value a guy who brings it all year long. Walker did, yet he still suffered from tourney-inflation when he lead the Huskies to the national championship. He should be in the mix as much as any based on his accolades and production. – Mike The move to off guard when it mattered most is troubling. The guy made big, tough shots. He is likely what Kahn told us Flynn would be on draft day. Kahn has been trying to build. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
7.75 |
|
PF/C |
6’9″ |
240 |
A 7’7″ wingspan and a 9’3″ standing reach?!? Sign me up! He’s also probably the best big man prospect in the draft, and god knows we still need help there. I just hope his age is closer to 18 years old than 23 years old (which has been the dispute since apparently no one really knows.) – College Wolf Too much hype. Too raw. People see his country of origin, look at Serge Ibaka being the convenient victim of Durant-osmosis and assume Bismack will produce at that level. His stock rose because of a single game which is gigantic knee-jerk failure. While he has defensive potential, he is far too raw to consider drafting at 2. – Mike Could he be our Ibaka or Perk? Maybe. Worth a look. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
8 |
Enes Kanter |
PF/C |
6’11” |
255 |
He plays Center, right? Plus he’s European so he’s in the running whether we like it or not (of course.) – College Wolf A year out of competitive basketball and a guy cracks the top 5 in all mock drafts? What on earth? Regardless, he appears to be a skilled, physical center who might not immediately be in over his head at the next level. And yes, the previous sentence represents about the quality of player we can expect in the top 5 in this draft. – Mike From what I gather he plays the Center position when he isn’t playing the Power forward position. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
8.25 |
|
SF |
6’7″ |
225 |
Carried an excellent SDST team. Generating some rave reviews of late. He’s worth a long look, at the very least. – College Wolf Excellent predraft reviews. He carried a SDST team to the top of the NCAA heap out of no where. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
9 |
|
SF/PF |
6’11” |
235 |
Can he play Center? European, check. See above. – College Wolf From what I gather he player the Small forward position when he isn’t playing the Power forward position. He is also 21 so more likely to be decent right away. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
|
|
9.25 |
|
C |
6’11” |
240 |
Can he play Center? European, check. See above. – College Wolf From what I gather he plays the Center position. – Pants ——————————————————————– |
Others Receiving Top Ten Consideration: Jimmer! Rank = 9.75, Donatas Motiejunas Rank = 10.25
Players of interest to watch with the T-Wolves #20 overall pick:
(Check out NBA Draft.net or Draft Express for player profiles and info):
Marshon Brooks SG – He put up big big numbers on a terrible Providence team. Ideal size and position for us. Unless we take Alec Burks at the top of the draft it will be hard to let this guy pass. He is 22 and we’ve had our trials with older players but that was always at the top of the draft.
Lucas Nogueira C – Very raw project center who would probably be stashed overseas for a couple of years.
Jordan Williams PF/C – Good all-around player who lost all his baby weight in a few weeks of pre-draft training.
Nikola Mirotic PF – It is hard to incorportate two new players. He has a tough contract to get out of this year, so we’d stash him.
Nolan Smith PG/SG – A leader, high basketball IQ, good size at PG, and doesn’t turn the ball over. These are all things the wolves desperately need. It wold be cool if the Wolves got both Kyrie and Nolan.
Tyler Honeycutt SG/SF – Length. check. Athleticism. check. Defensive ability. check Kind of looks like Tayshaun Prince. check. Meh, good enough for me, it’s a weak draft.
JaJuan Johnson PF – because it would be funny to have 2 Anthony Randolphs on the same team.
Klay Thompson SG/SF – Players whose parents were players tend to fair well. They know what it takes to make it. If Klay was this years “Landry Fields”, we wouldn’t be shocked.
Josh Selby PG – Last season was a disaster at KU. He was suspended, he was hurt and he was ineffective. What he wasn’t was slow. The guy is blazingly fast with tons of athleticism. If we take a big man with the top pick, Selby could be an option. He’s definately more of a project than Knight or Irving.
Malcolm Lee/Shelvin Mack PG’s – See above regarding taking a big man early, and being much more of a project than Knight or Irving.
In an ideal world, I guess I’d personally like Irving or Knight at #2, and Marshon Brooks or Biyombo/Noguira at #20. Like I said, in an ideal world. Irving will probably go #1, and Biyombo should be gone before #20. Possibly the same with Brooks as well. And Noguira has some great potential and size, but he’s super young and super raw. He’ll probably stay overseas for a few years yet, regardless of who drafts him.
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