NBA Draft

[ALessKosherScott]

They pulled the qualifying offer to Hummel, too. Which in theory opens a roster spot back up.

[kab21]

So how do you split up the minutes for the bigs and who works well together?

 

The only pairing that definitely seems like a bad idea is Pek and Dieng.  Towns and Bjelica seems interesting long term since both can hit outside shots but Dieng/Towns could form a formidable duo.

 

I still see no way that the Wolves can move Pek.  His contract isn't as bad (still bad) since the cap is exploding but nobody wants to tie up cap dollars either.  It is too bad that the Wolves couldn't have pawned Pek off on the Knicks before they spent 54M on Lopez.  Phil Jackson is doing awful things in NY and the Knicks are going to be rebuilding for the next decade.

[ALessKosherScott]

I think it's less how you split the minutes and more what you see in them:

 

Garnett: For all the mentoring talk, he's the still the best post defender on the team. You want 15 to 20 high-leverage minutes per game. Works well with Towns (defense), Bjelica (ball movement), Dieng (rebounding), Pekovic (post scoring).

 

Dieng: It's year three. You're hoping he doesn't get pushed around in the paint and doesn't bite on as many pump fakes. If he can do that, he's going to push Towns to power forward long term. If he can't, he can still be a playoff-quality role player. Works well with Towns (rebounding), Garnett (rebounding), Bjelica (pick and roll). Doesn't work with Pekovic (no range).

 

Bjelica: The piece the team missed most last year was a stretch four who could space the floor-- Dieng, in particular. Your hope is by the end of the year that's what Bjelica gives the team. Works well with Garnett (ball movement), Dieng (pick and roll), Towns (spreading the floor). Doesn't work with Pekovic (questionable defense). 

 

Towns: He's not going to be a star right off the bat. But you're hoping people talk about him the same way they do Wiggins right now in about a year. Works well with Dieng (rebounding), Bjelica (floor spacing), Garnett (defense), Pekovic (inside-outside game).

 

Pekovic: He may not start the season healthy. And even if he does, he presents a lot of the problems that drafting Okafor would have. He's a great post scorer who gets to the line and converts, but unless he's on the floor with Garnett or Towns it presents a problem defensively and you really need to surround him with shooters.

 

Bennett: It's going to a bear to trade his cap number. In a perfect world, you'd rather have Justin Hamilton back as your sixth big. But Bennett shot decently last year and did okay rebounding, so there's hope. He was a nightmare everywhere else. The fear is "new Derrick Williams."

 

Payne: Take Bennett. Add two years in age. He's cheaper than Bennett, and maybe a little better defender. But he also has less range on his shot.  At this point, who really knows?

 

 

[ALessKosherScott]

Budinger for Rudez is an interesting flip. At the very least, it sheds some salary and brings in a nice shooter to replace one of our better shooters. 

[kab21]

Budinger is the better player but he was definitely outside of any possible 10 player rotation for next season so it makes sense to trade him for a less expensive possibly decent role player.

 

I am actually a little excited about the Wolves season.  They have a few pieces that could become a contender someday.

[ALessKosherScott]

Pretty good read on Towns' summer league performance on Grantland.

[kab21]

I can't tell if Calipari is some kind of genius or not for basically restricting Towns to the post at UK.  Was he really concerned about Towns working on the one thing that scouts had dogged him about or did Calipari only want that in his system.  Regardless my expectations are bordering on unrealistic at this point.  Anything short of doing better than Wiggins last year would be a disappointment.  I must reign that in soon.

 

I am a bit confused about what the Wolves plans are up front.  They have 5 starters for 2 positions.  Flip just commented after the Garnett signing that he sees him as a 20 min/game (not on back to backs) player.  That's fine but there has to be an odd man out (or two) until the yearly Pekovic injury.  And that isn't counting Payne and Bennett who are probably talented enough and young enough that they should get developmental minutes.

[drjim]

I wouldn't count on much Pek or Garnett. The rest will probably be matchups.

[kab21]

Pek almost has to play until he gets injured and he really isn't a bad player.  The coach just said that Garnett could be a 20 minute/night player (not on back to backs) this year.  that leads the 3 youngsters (+2 more) to getting a minutes squeeze.