The Timberwolves, if you haven’t heard, suck at life. Recently ESPN the Magazine ranked the teams from the four major sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL) and the Wolves finished 118th out of 122 teams. They have not had a remotely successful season since Kevin Garnett was fatefully gifted to Boston, and have become a national punching bag thanks to David Kahn and his wit, among other things. But perhaps the biggest contributing factor to the T-Wolves’ woes, especially recently, has been their draft history. So to lend a hand, here is one man’s effort to help the cause.
First of all, it would help to have a plan in the first place. So to begin, let’s identify the Wolves’ greatest needs. In order to do so, however, let’s identify their greatest strengths:
1. Power Forward. Kevin Love is the team’s best, most valuable, and most marketable player, by far. I’m not saying he should be untouchable, but when heading into a draft, unless there’s a clear-cut player with superior, can’t miss skills, you don’t draft at his position. In addition to Love, arguably the two next best players on the roster also play this same position: Michael Beasley and Anthony Tolliver. Tolliver may not be as valuable on the trade market as a Wesley Johnson, or even a Johnny Flynn (hopefully), but nobody played harder and gave a more consistent effort, especially on defense, in addition to being a very good outside shooter. Throw in the fact that Anthony Randolph impressed in Love’s absence at the end of the season, and the fact that Nikola Pekovic might be undersized for center, that leaves the Wolves with an embarrassment of riches of sorts at this position. And when you have an embarrassment of riches at a position, you do not draft that position. I repeat: YOU DO NOT DRAFT AT THAT POSITION!!!
And that’s about where it ends. No seriously. That’s the only position that could be considered a position of strength for the Timberwolves. Which means, the Timberwolves should be at least open to drafting any position but power forward. But let me be clear, just for the record: DO NOT DRAFT AT THAT POSITION!!!
Now, you may be thinking, “Wait, we have Ricky Rubio, you can’t be saying we should draft another point guard after the whole ‘Ricky Rubio/Johnny Flynn Scandal of 2009’.” Well, here’s what I have to say about that: I agree. But, and this is a big but, if you know what I mean: Our guys must be damn sure that Ricky is who they think he is, which is a “Transformational Player”. I don’t have a problem with them sticking to their guns with that. Also, if they have made any sort of promises to Ricky that they feel like they would lose credibility around the league if they rescinded on those, which is very possible that they did, then they should not draft a point guard.
However, if the whole deal with Ricky is what many think it is, which is, here is a mediocre European point guard with a flair for a highlight every now and again who doesn’t really want to play in Minnesota and doesn’t hide that fact, then the Timberwolves should have no qualms with picking a point guard if the shoe fits. Which means: if one of my top three point guard prospects is available when the Wolves choose according to the plan detailed below, they should consider taking him. If that doesn’t make sense, don’t worry, it might later. And if it doesn’t later, then, I’m sorry.
So now that we know what is a position of strength, let’s identify what are positions of need for the upcoming season, and thus, the draft (specific needs in parentheses):
1. Shooting Guard (scoring/defending); 2. Center (defending/scoring); 3. Small Forward (defending/scoring); 4. Point Guard (passing/defending/scoring).
Notice, the biggest specific need on our team is most definitely defense. We have scorers on our team at every position, except point guard and, arguably, shooting guard. Perhaps it’s worth saying at this time that Wesley Johnson could very well turn out to be a very good off guard, but my bet is that he’s got a better chance of being a very good small forward, where he played in college, and that it would do him well to move him back there permanently. Therefore, if you consider him a forward, then we have no legitimate scoring threat at the off guard position.
That all being said, overall team defense is Minnesota’s biggest flaw at this time. That will only be remedied by a competent defensive coach, which they do not possess at this time. In the meantime, the team needs to get better individually at defense, even to the point that David Kahn should be very hesitant to draft anybody who is not at least a competent defender already, and not just potentially. This means you, Jimmer.
That all being said, you don’t draft someone #2 overall because of his defense. This means you, Hasheem Thabeet. And, perhaps more importantly, you don’t over-think it. If there is someone who is obviously the 2nd best player in the draft, you take him at #2. If you don’t particularly like that player, trade down.
In case you’re wondering if a team should reach at #2 in order to fill a need, the answer is no. If a player doesn’t deserve to be to be taken that high, don’t take him. Here’s what I’m getting at: there’s no player in this draft that deserves to be taken at #2 that fills either of our top two position needs, shooting guard or center. Therefore, we should either take the best player available, or trade down.
All of this means that the Timberwolves should not expect to draft a player that significantly improves their team. That doesn’t mean they can’t get better in this draft, but they should look to make a big splash elsewhere: through free agency or a trade. In a later post, I will identify players the Wolves should target in free agency, as well as in a trade. In the meantime, my next post will detail a specific, detailed suggested draft plan for the Wolves.
Until then.
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