HoopsFanCentral

You Want An Explanation?

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:04:00 +0000

by MJfan02

Everybody's asking the same question ... "Why in the world did the Wolves draft Jonny Flynn, a point guard, one pick after they took Ricky Rubio, another point guard?" The easy answers are the most frustrating ones.

• "They're trading Rubio because Minnesota sucks and nobody would ever want to play here."
• "They've worked out a deal to send Ricky to New York because Kahn and Donnie Walsh are friends."
• "They're just idiots and don't know what they're doing ... the Wolves are screwed."

But let's look a little deeper and try to figure out some of the other factors that may have led to the Wolves drafting both Rubio and Flynn.

• The Wolves new going in to the draft that there was no guarantee Rubio would be able (or willing) to get out of his contract in Spain. We can all agree that Minnesota isn't the most ideal location for a budding NBA superstar for a few reasons (weather, market size, etc.), if Rubio were to fall to the fifth pick then he wouldn't be paid quite as much as he expected, and he is currently having an arbitrator decide whether or not his buyout amount is a fair price. If it just so happens that Rubio is not able to come to the NBA next season for any reason other than his father pulling an Archie Manning and trying to choose what team he gets to play for, then the Wolves are still in dire need of a back court since Sebastian Telfair and Bobby Brown are their only current guards on the roster.

• Jonny Flynn in one hell of a player. Anybody in Minnesota would have been psyched to get this kid if Rubio had been off the board. He was legitimately excited to be coming here and he is the type of charismatic team leader that we needed. He's the type of player that we should be excited to have drafted and can be a staple of this team for a long time. Let's say that Rubio stays in Spain for another season or two. Jonny Flynn is going to be the Wolves starting point guard and Wolves fans are going to fall in love with him.

• If Kahn lucks out and Rubio does come over to the States for the 09-10 season, then we have to remember that this process is not complete. If the Wolves do decide to keep both Rubio and Flynn then they will be two very good players on a great team in the future. Everybody accepts that if we just had a shot blocking center to play 20-25 minutes per game and spell Jefferson or Love then our front court would be complete. We now have the same situation in our backcourt. We will need a three man backcourt rotation to be a great team and when we acquire a true shooting guard they don't have to be a star, they just have to complement Rubio and Flynn well. If we had a shooter with good size that could defend larger guards, then we would have the ability to not only match up with any team, but we would also have the ability to create mismatches of our own.

• As hard as it is to admit, there's a good chance that one of these two players will end up as more of a solid role player than a superstar. The last five sixth overall picks have been Danillo Gallinari, Yi Jianlian, Brandon Roy, Martell Webster and Josh Childress. Based on those results we have one superstar, one good role player, two unknowns and one scrub. We'd like to believe that the Wolves won't be the ones making mistakes with a top-6 pick, but it does happen. The worst case scenario (and probably most likely scenario) is that we now have one star point guard and one very solid backup point guard/third guard for the future.

• After all of this, the Wolves still have options. The have not tied themselves into one point guard and one shooting guard that have to pan out or our future is screwed. We still have a crap-load of expiring contracts and three first round picks in next year's draft (which is supposed to be stronger than this one) to complete our team. If Rubio goes to Spain for another year, we have a starting point guard. If he doesn't then we have two great players. We are the ones that get to decide whether or not to trade either of these players and now can't be pressured into making a move before we're ready. Rubio and Flynn will most likely both improve over the next season since they're both still so young and we could decide which one of them to build around after another year or scouting. We are the ones that get to decide Ricky Rubio's future in the NBA. We traded away our two top bargaining-chips in Randy Foye and Mike Miller's expiring contract to get Rubio, but we now still have infinite possibilities if we want to change direction.

Overall, the lesson is to not overreact on draft night. We haven't traded Rubio away yet and all signs point to Kahn keeping him unless there's a no-doubt-about-it better option available. If the Wolves had drafted Rubio and DeRozan, and then DeRozan had ended up being a scrub, Minnesota would have still won in this draft because we got Rubio. Instead, we got a transcendent player in Ricky Rubio, and the next best player remaining in Jonny Flynn. Nobody left the draft with more talent than we did and these moves will not be able to be judged this summer. We have to see what happens with Rubio's contract, we have to see how good both these players can be, and we have to see if Kahn is right in believing that both of these players can play together.

I know we're all scared that the Wolves will get bullied into making a bad move by Dan Fegan, ESPN (Chad Ford is a douche-canoe) or Donnie Walsh ... but nobody can make David Kahn do anything that doesn't benefit the Timberwolves. And until he actually starts to screw things up, we owe it to him to believe what he says and reserve judgement until there are some results.

Updating the Wolves Big Board

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:30:00 +0000

by MJfan02 and HeBeatsMe

Now that all of the combine results have been released, we took the initiative to update our Wolves draft board. We've decided to follow the tiered system of breaking up the prospects and our results are below.

If you are unfamiliar with the tier system, it basically says that you would never draft a player from one tier while a player from a better tier is still available, no matter what your team needs are. But if two players are in the same tier and you only have a positional need for one of them then you are free to draft the player that fits the bigger need.

Tier 1
Blake Griffin

Tier 2
Ricky Rubio
Hasheem Thabeet

Tyreke Evans

Tier 3
Tyreke Evans
Demar DeRozan
Stephen Curry
James Harden
Jonny Flynn

Tier 4
Brandon Jennings
Jrue Holiday
Jordan Hill
Earl Clark

Tier 5
Austin Daye
Ty Lawson
Eric Maynor
Jeff Teague
BJ Mullens
Gerald Henderson
James Johnson
DeJuan Blair

Tier 6
Nick Calathes
Chase Budinger
Darren Collison
Tyler Hansbrough
Terrance Williams

Tier 7
Omri Casspi
Wayne Ellington
Patrick Mills
DaJuan Summers
Sam Young

Fixing the Wolves

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:17:00 +0000

by MJfan02

I took on the task over the last few days of trying to find a way to use the assets that the Timberwolves have at their disposal and turning them into Championship contenders for next season. I wanted to end up with a team that is made to win now, as well as in the future, while not going over the luxury tax.

To start, let's take a look at the assets available to the Wolves.

Players under contract beyond 2009-10
Al Jefferson
Kevin Love
Corey Brewer
Randy Foye
Sebastian Telfair (player option)

Expiring contracts
Mike Miller ($9.75 million)
Brian Cardinal ($6.75 million)
Ryan Gomes ($3.8 million)
Mark Madsen ($2.84 million)
Craig Smith ($2.5 million)
Bobby Brown ($.736 million)

Draft picks
Round 1, pick 6
Round 1, pick 18
Round 1, pick 28
Round 2, pick 15 (45 overall)
Round 2, pick 17 (47 overall)

The easiest way to fill out a roster of 15 spots for next year would be to keep all of our current players and just use one of our draft picks on a European player that could come over later. But since we can all agree that that team wouldn't contend for a championship, that's not a viable option. So what I'm going to do is use our expiring contracts to acquire talent from teams looking to shed salary, draft players with a lot of upside, and use the mid-level exception to round out the roster.

Move #1
Trade Mike Miller and Craig Smith for Tyson Chandler and a future 1st round draft pick.
New Orleans isn't shedding Chandler's without giving up something valuable with him, but in this case get back a nice return. They desperately need a SG and depth at PF, and they get both in this trade. The Wolves get the defensive presence that they need next to Jefferson and Love and can play him 25 minutes a night to try to keep him healthy.

Move #2
Trade Brian Cardinal and Mark Madsen for Baron Davis or Kirk Hinrich.
There have been rumors that the Clippers and Bulls would be eager to shed these two contracts, and would be willing to take back nothing but expiring contracts in return. Davis would obviously be the first option here, but Hinrich would be a nice backup option.

Move #3
Trade Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes, Bobby Brown and New Orleans' future 1st for Gerald Wallace
Wallace has a pretty sizeable contract that Charlotte would be interested in moving, and the idea of getting back Brewer, a 1st round pick and over $4.5 million in expiring contracts in return would be a pretty good get for them.

Move #4
Sign Trevor Ariza with the full mid-level exception.
Ariza is a player that may not be a star, but is big, athletic, and can shoot from outside.

Draft
Take Demar DeRozan with the 6th pick, BJ Mullens with the 18th pick, and Darren Collison with the 28th pick.
DeRozan would start the season as a backup to Foye at the SG position, but would be ready to be the full time starter once it came time to extend Foye's contract. Mullens is a project, but has great potential and athleticism and would protect the Wolves in the case of another Chandler injury. Collison would be the team's 3rd point guard, and challenge Telfair for the backup spot.

The TWolves new depth chart now looks like this ...

Center: Chandler, Jefferson, Mullens
Power Forward: Jefferson, Love, Wallace
Small Forward: Wallace, Ariza, DeRozan
Shooting Guard: Foye, DeRozan, Ariza
Point Guard: Davis/Hinrich, Telfair, Collison

The best part about all of those moves is that the team's payroll actually goes down almost a million dollars from where it was last year. The have the ability to go big, to go small, to have an athletic lineup, to have a 3-pt shooting lineup or to matchup with any team in the league.

Now, do I expect the Wolves to make these deals? No. But this just goes to show that there are no excuses for the Wolves leaving this offseason without dramatically improving the team. With a little bit of creativity David Kahn could take the Wolves from the cellar to perennial power house very quickly.

All salaries were acquired from hoopshype.com and trades were checked using the ESPN.com Trade Checker.

2009 Mock Draft 1 (Finishing the First Round)

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Check out the top-14 picks of the hoopsfancentral.com mock draft here.

15. Detroit Pistons: BJ Mullens
I don't think that Mullens is good enough to be drafted this high, but center is the greated position of need for the Pistons and if they don't trade this pick they'll have to look long and hard at taking Mullens.

16. Chicago Bulls: James Johnson
The Bulls could use a player that can create his own shot in the post. Johnson is a bit of a tweener, but will mesh well next to the shot blocking of Noah and Thomas (assuming they're both still there).

17. Philadelphia 76ers: Ty Lawson
The Sixers need to invest in their point guard of the future this offseason whether Andre Miller bolts in free agency or not. Lawson will provide some much needed outside shooting to the team and would be a steal at 17.

18. Minnesota Timberwolves: Nick Calathes
Fred Hoiberg has stated that the team's goals this offseason are to add athleticism and size. DeRozan added both at pick No. 6, and Calathes will continue to increase the size of the Wolves backcourt. Going from Telfair and Foye to Calathes and DeRozan will dramatically increase the length and defensive presence of the Wolves starting guards.

19. Atlanta Hawks: Jonny Flynn
Flynn is projected to be a lottery pick, so being able to grab him at 19 would be a coup for the Hawks. They still need a long-term answer at the point guard position since the pick of Acie Law IV hasn't panned out.

20. Utah Jazz: Austin Daye
There weren't any big men left to replace Carlos Boozer if he leaves via free agency, so the Jazz will take the 6'10" Daye as an eventual replacement for Andrei Kirilenko.

21. New Orleans Hornets: Chase Budinger
The Hornets are another team that could use front court depth, but they also are desperate for an athletic shooting guard to play between Paul and Stojakovic. Budinger provides them with that athleticism and has a nice outside shooting touch to help spread the floor.

22. Dallas Mavericks: Jeff Teague
The Mavs are another team that needs to start getting younger at key positions, and with no way of knowing how much longer they'll have Jason Kidd the drafting of Jeff Teague as the point guard of the future makes sense. He partially replicates what Jason Terry does, but is too good to pass up at this point.

23. Sacramento Kings: Tyler Hansbrough
The Kings addressed their need for a point guard by drafting Jrue Holiday with the 4th pick, and now will look to add depth to their front court by taking Hansbrough. The power forward from UNC is they type of scrappy, hard-working player that would complement Hawes and Thompsen well.

24. Portland TrailBlazers: Omri Casspi
The Blazers biggest need is a true point guard, but it feels like they would like to address that need by bringing in a veteran like Andre Miller or Jason Kidd ... so they will look to draft the best foreign prospect available in Casspi from Israel. They can let him play overseas for a couple years and then bring him over when he's ready.

25. Oklahoma City: Gani Lawal
The Thunder need a power forward now that Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox are both gone, and Lawal is the best prospect available.

26. Chicago Bulls: Wayne Ellington
The Bulls have depth at every position except shooting guard, especially with the potential of Ben Gordon leaving, and also need to get taller in their backcourt. Ellington would solve both those problems and be a nice addition to the Bulls.

27. Memphis Grizzlies: Derrick Brown
The Grizzlies need a backup SF since their only option there now is Marco Jaric and they also need a stronger option at PF. Brown will help address both of those needs as he has great size and skill for a SF but played PF at Xavier.

28. Minnesota Timberwolves: Terrance Williams
The Wolves get a player who has the talent to be a lottery pick in Williams and hope that he can put it all together. With Minnesota potentially looking to trade Mike Miller to bring in a big name player this offseason they could use another wing player, even after drafting DeRozan earlier.

29. Los Angeles Lakers: Darren Collison
The Lakers point guards have really struggled over the last few months are are easily the weak link of the team, so bringing in a player like Collison who is a tenacious defender, great outside shooter and amazingly quick would be a big upgrade.

30. Cleveland Cavaliers: DaJuan Summers
The Cavs need to get bigger at the 2 and replace Szczerbiak at the 3 if he leaves, so drafting Summers from Georgetown makes sense. He is primarily a jump shooter, but that's what the Cavs look for in players to surround LeBron.

2009 Mock Draft 1 (Lottery Edition)

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Below is the initial HoopsFanCentral.com NBA mock draft for 2009. We'll get through the lottery today (the first 14 picks) and come back and complete the first round tomorrow.

Update: click here to view the rest of the mock draft.

1. LA Clippers: Blake Griffin
Even with a log jam in the frontcourt, Griffin is the right pick here. They'll just have to do what they can to get him the minutes he needs.

2. Memphis Grizzlies: Ricky Rubio
This is a tough one between Rubio and Thabeet, since both would have to replace a young player for the Grizzlies, but Rubio is better than Thabeet so he gets the nod here.

3. OK City Thunder: Hasheem Thabeet
This seems like an easy pick to me, as taking Thabeet would give them the defensive center they were trying to acquire in the Tyson Chandler trade, except at less than half the price.

4. Sacramento Kings: Jrue Holiday
Sacramento doesn't have a need for a PF, so Hill is out. They have Kevin Martin already, so Harden is out. Beno Udrih is awful, so it has to be a point guard. They were horrible on defense last year, so Holiday is the pick.

5. Washington Wizards: James Harden
Harden can come in and contribute right away at a position of need for the Wizards.

6. Minnesota Timberwolves: DeMar DeRozan
While PG is a greater need, the Wolves probably feel that they can wait until pick 18 to address it, and thus they will start trying to fix their complete lack of athleticism by taking DeRozan.

7. Golden St. Warriors: Jordan Hill
The Warriors could use a PG, SG or PF ... and will take Hill who has the talent to be a top-5 pick.

8. New York Knicks: Stephen Curry
Even if you ignore the rumors that the Knicks will take Curry to try to lure LeBron in 2010, you can't ignore the fact that whatever team drafts Curry will be immediately better on offense. And that works perfectly for Mike D'Antoni.

9. Toronto Raptors: Tyreke Evans
The Raptors need a SG with Anthony Parker hitting free agency and Evans' ability to get into the paint will be a nice complement to all of the jump shooters that the team has assembled.

10. Milwaukee Bucks: Brandon Jennings
With Sessions most likely leaving in free agency, the Bucks have a need for a PG and luckily for them Jennings is still available. He has the potential to be the best player in the draft but is a bit of a question mark after being mostly unproductive in Europe over the last year.

11. New Jersey Nets: DeJuan Blair
The Nets need a horse of a power forward who isn't afraid to get into the paint and mix it up. Sounds like Blair to me.

12. Charlotte Bobcats: Gerald Henderson
The Bobcats biggest need is SG and Henderson is a defensive minded player that Larry Brown could love.

13. Indiana Pacers: Eric Maynor
The Pacers really need a center, but none that remain are good enough to take here, so they'll try to replace Jarrett Jack with a point guard that can complement TJ Ford well ... and Maynor's size allows him to do that.

14. Phoenix Suns: Earl Clark
Clark could be the second coming of Shawn Marion in the Suns system with his ability to play the three and the four as well as score from inside and out.

Not So Fast MJfan02!

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:41:00 +0000

editor's note: After seeing my original big board, HeBeatsMe decided that he needed to to break his silence and post his rebuttal in the form of his initial entry to the HoopsFanCentral blog. Below are his thoughts, so take a moment and help me welcome HeBeatsMe as Editor #2 for HoopsFanCentral.

OK, so a few of these guys I am unsure whether they are still in the draft … I don’t have ESPN Insider, so I can only see Ford’s top 20: and BTW, my board looks pretty different from Ford's… which bodes well for me ;)

Wolves Board:

1. Blake Griffin- The one position the Wolves don't need, but too good to pass up

2. Ricky Rubio- Fills a huge need, as well as compliments Randy Foye in terms of size and skill set, big time play making ability, cat like reflexes, shifty fast, and plays with a passion

3. Hasheem Thabeet- Fills a need of being a defensive, legit center despite being a project; compliments Jefferson nicely

4. Stephen Curry- shifty quick, and an incredible scorer with unbelievable competitiveness. More of a scorer than floor general, but could become Tony Parker like

5. Brandon Jennings- Maybe the most upside potential outside of Rubio in this class of point guards, however if he can not develop his jump shot, could become Sebastian Telfair part deux

6. DeMar DeRozan- Doesn't fill the biggest need with Foye, Miller, Brewer, and possibly Carney all playing minutes at this spot, but Miller won't be here for long, Foye could be better suited to a Ben Gordon/Jason Terry 6th man role, and DeRozan could be that excellent scoring playmaker that Wolves fans coveted in OJ Mayo

7. James Harden- Ditto on Harden... Harden may actually be the smarter/safer pick, but DeRozan, if he pans out, is more of the Home Run swing. Both are intruiging even if they don't fill a need. Harden might make more sense if you think Foye should still be a starter, he can set guys up as well as take over offensively, so not having a true point guard on the floor may not hurt you when you have two guards like Harden and Foye on the floor

8. Jordan Hill- Again plays the one position that the Wolves are stacked in, power forward. Hill does do some things well that neither Big Al, Kevin Love or Craig Smith does... still I would be disappointed if the Wolves took Hill without having a plan to move someone else.

9. Earl Clark- Small Forward is an interesting position for the Wolves. On the one hand, they drafted their small forward of the future in Corey Brewer, but Brewer doesn't have the girth to play big minutes at the 3, and will likely play both wing positions, and that's if he even becomes a competent starter. Mike Miller plays a lot of the 2, but I like him better at the 3, still not a long term fit, and then you have Ryan Gomes. Gomes is a very good bench player. He can be a spark, rarely hurts you, but really isn't an ideal starting small forward. Earl Clark could become that Danny Granger like player the Wolves should have nabbed instead of Rashad McCants. He's unselfish, smart, athletic, and he makes other guys better.

10. Ty Lawson- Small, but very strong point guard with very good speed, a solid shooting touch, and improved his game a ton this year. He is the prototypical floor general, he looks to get his teammates going first, but won't hesitate to pull up and start hitting jumpers when the team needs him to. Defense could be a struggle at the NBA level, especially with his lack of ideal size.

11. Nick Calathes- Everything I read about this kid, I love. Big point guard, devastating playmaker, cool and calm under pressure, guy who is motivated by making his teammates better. Its my ideal mindset for a NBA point guard.

12. Eric Maynor- Another smart, playmaking point guard, with great size, a nice mid range game, and is fearless at attacking the basket.

13. Tyreke Evans- Impressive scorer with a great understanding of the offensive game. Good shooting distance, just a silky smooth beast on offense. Maturity could be the issue, and he could be one of those guys that lives off his athleticism and God given ability and fails to add fundamentals to the overall game. See Green, Gerald.

14. James Johnson- A very solid small forward who I actually think has a better shot as a starter on the Wolves roster than Ellington within 2 years. I see him as a slightly better version of Ryan Gomes (which is nothing to sneeze at)

15. Jrue Holliday- More of a combo guard than a point guard, but has an excellent all around game. Can he be a better starting point guard than what the Wolves have in Randy Foye if they switched him back yet again? That's the question, and the reason why value combo guards far less.

16. Jeff Teague- If Curry doesn't look like Tony Parker (and I am in the minority in thinking so) Teague certainly could. An explosive, quick, aggressive minded point guard who loves to pepper defenses with his tenacity on the offensive end. Again, not the playmaker who gets his teammates involved, but you do have to love his aggressiveness on offense.

17. Derrick Brown- Another 3 with great size, and a solid all around package to offer. Very similar to where I project James Johnson to be, but I see him more as a solid contributor off the bench than an every night starter.

18. Gerald Henderson- If Henderson was 3 inches taller, I would have him in the top 10 for sure. At maybe 6' 4", he is sort of Randy Foye's clone, maybe could become a better defensive player than Foye, but tough to assume he will do anything else better at the NBA level. Will make some other team really happy, probably several picks higher.

19. Wayne Ellington- An excellent scorer, with a deadly jumper. His lack of size, and the fact he sort of replicates what other Wolves players can do make him less than ideal, but at 19, you have to consider him as a long term replacement to Mike Miller. I just wouldn't be confident that I upgraded my starting roster at any time in the future on this pick alone.

20. Chase Budinger- A tremendous athlete that can play both the 2 and 3. Good shooting ability, tough rebounder, can take over offensively. Will struggle on defense at the NBA level, but could be the yin to Brewer's yang.

21. Jonny Flynn- What Calathes is, Flynn is not. Flynn is small, explosive, and a dynamite scorer. He gets rattled under pressure, over dribbles, makes silly turnovers trying to do too much. But he can score in bunches, and is lightning quick.

Guys you hope fall to 28 in the 1st round:
* BJ Mullens- A big bodied center, with a very solid all-around game built on fundamentals. Slightly better on offense than defense, but still could compliment Al Jefferson well.

Winning the Lottery?

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:33:00 +0000

On the morning of the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery, the Timberwolves find themselves shunned by a third front office candidate and with only a 7.6% chance of ending up with the top pick in June's draft. Things seem a tad bleak in the land of 10,000 lakes at the moment, so I came up with a way to help you feel better about the Wolves chances this evening.

The Wolves having a 7.6% chance of winning the Draft Lottery is equal to somebody buying over 14.5 million Powerball tickets. I'd give you the exact number, but my calculator will only go up to eight digits. If you want to take it one step further, the Wolves have a 25.49% chance of landing a top-3 pick, which is comparable to purchasing almost 50 million Powerball tickets. (Further explanation of Powerball odds can be found here.)

I don't know about you, but if I were presented with 50 million powerball tickets I'd make sure I was plastered in front of my television during Wednesday's drawing (even though I'd then have to pay countless people millions of dollars to find out if I actually had any winning tickets). But for you Wolves fans out there, there's more than a shimmer of hope that our team could get lucky for the second straight season and be a lottery winner.

With that said, I have decided to put together my own Draft Board for the Wolves. I held the assumption that if a player were drafted, he would have to be kept, which explains why power forwards tended to drop from traditional rankings. Below are the top-18 players (since that's where the Wolves 2nd pick is) as I see them.

1. Blake Griffin

The consensus #1 pick is, unfortunately, too good to pass up here even though the two best players on the Wolves already play the power forward position. Griffin would most likely be a better fit next to cornerstone Al Jefferson since he's more athletic than last year's top pick Kevin Love.

2. Ricky Rubio

The Wolves have an immense need for a starting caliber PG and the agreement is that Rubio is the top candidate at the position. It's hard to get a guage for exactly how good he is since he plays in Europe, but he's young, talented, and has been playing at Europe's highest professional level. His ability to push the pace and be a distributor would help the Wolves both next year and for years to come.

3. Hasheem Thabeet

I'm a little scared of Thabeet. While he does have great potential, can help immediately on the defensive end, and fills perhaps the Wolves greatest hole (a defensive presence in the interior) he has shown the ability to disappear in games, get pushed around by stronger players and have trouble when pulled out on the perimeter.

4. Stephen Curry

This is where I start to disagree with most draft experts and fans. James Harden is a terrific player, but the Wolves cannot take a chance that they won't get a starting point guard out of a draft that is full of them. Waiting until the 18th pick to fill the need at the point could end disastrously if all of the top players at the position are gone and you have to reach for somebody.

Curry is an offensive-minded point guard that has a flair for the spectacular and can score from anywhere on the court. According to DraftExpress.com Curry was much better in spot up situations and screen-and-rolls than when he had to create for himself at Davidson, but with the Wolves half-court style of basketball and his ability to feed Al Jefferson that's just the type of player we need. And as Stop-n-Pop of CanisHoopus.com points out, the pick and roll potential with Curry and Love would be fantastic.

He also has tremendous size for a PG at 6'3" and can play SG if called upon to do so.

5. Ty Lawson

Ty Lawson is the closest thing to Chris Paul that you're going to find in this draft. He's slightly undersized in terms of height, but he's fast, strong, and his ability to change speeds allows him to be a tremendous finisher in the lane. His 3.5/1 assist-to-turnover ratio was off the charts last season as he led the National Champion Tar Heels. He was the best point guard in college basketball during the NCAA Tournament, and perhaps only Blake Griffin was more impressive overall. The experts can say that he'll go in the mid-1st round, and he even might, but I know what I saw in Ty Lawson over the past season ... and the numbers back me up. From DraftExpress.com's PG rankings ...

"He ranks first (among point guards) in a number of key categories, including overall FG% (52%), Points Per Possession [PPP](1.13), pull up jump shot FG% (47%), and %shots he was fouled on (16.1%). Though his teammates did a lot of scoring as well, Lawson functioned seamlessly as a complementary scorer. Looking past his efficiency as a shooter off the dribble, he was second in catch and shoot field goal percentage at 48%. From a purely statistical sense, no player on this list scored more efficiently than Lawson."

Lawson won't be asked to be the primary scorer for the Wolves, but can hit any shot at a high percentage (.532 FG, .798 FT and .472 3-Pt last season) and is capable of playing at any pace offensively.

6. Jrue Holiday

Let's state the negatives first. Holiday isn't a pure point guard, he struggled in his only season at UCLA, and he's not a dead-eye shooter. He's not the athlete that Russell Westbrook was coming out of college and he'd be a project.

Now let's state the obvious. The TWolves are a bad defensive team. They're undersized at almost every position and can only pray that their best perimeter defender (Corey Brewer) can return from ACL surgery with the same athleticism as he had prior to his injury.

Jrue Holiday is 6'4" with a 6'8" wingspan ... both terrific measurements for a PG. He has quick feet and is known as a ball-hawk on the defensive end. He has a great basketball IQ for a college freshman and is a good passer. He's also a good rebounder and was known as possibly the most complete player entering the college ranks last season. He'd immediately help the Wolves get bigger and improve the perimeter defense, which would in turn place our bigs (Jefferson and Love) in less difficult situations and help make up for their struggles on that end of the floor as well.

7. Brandon Jennings

Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com writes of his experience watching Jennings play in Europe recently ...

"Pitted against one of the best defenders in Europe in American guard Ibi Jaaber, Jennings gets to wherever he wants on the court, showing blazing speed, outstanding ball-handling skills, incredible creativity and a real flair for making flashy plays. He makes spot-up and pull-up jumpers from inside and outside the arc, runs the pick and roll to perfection while flicking gorgeous underhanded bounce-passes right on the money to a flashing Andre Hutson, and even tries to go up and challenge former NBA center Primoz Brezec in transition with an emphatic dunk."

Jennings has been compared to Gilbert Arenas in his style of play, but has struggled mightily in his one season playing professional basketball in Europe. He has handled himself well while there, which is refreshing, but it's hard to get excited about a player that hasn't put up meaningful numbers in over a year and has a tendancy to dominate the basketball.

Although his Steve Harvey style flat top is more than welcome.

8. Tyreke Evans

Evans is more of a shooting guard, and the first one on my list, but can crossover to the point as he showed in his one season at Memphis. He has great size (6'6") for both guard positions and is tremendously gifted at getting to the rim. The Wolves have been lacking a player that can consistently get to the rim and finish for years now and a player like Evans who can put pressure on the defense and draw fouls would be a refreshing change.

9. James Harden

There is a zero percent chance that James Harden is available at the Wolves second pick, so with eight players I'd prefer over him he wouldn't end up on the team if I were running things. Don't get me wrong, he can be a great player, but he's just not what the Wolves need. He's a 6'4" SG that wouldn't help our team get any bigger, and drafting him would force Randy Foye back to the point where he's less comfortable (unless we also acquired a starting PG, in which case Foye would be a scoring 6th man, which is really where he should be). Harden may be a great NBA player, but I just feel like we have much greater needs at the moment.

10. Earl Clark

For me, this is the official drop-off from top-tier prospects to everybody else. Clark is more suited to play PF when he hits the NBA due to continually shrinking front courts, but could be the long, athletic SF that the Wolves need to play with a Jefferson/Love front court. Compared to Lamar Odom on his good days (and Tim Thomas on his bad ones) Clark has the ability to take over a game in any fashion and can be the best player on the floor. Chad Ford of ESPN.com described it best after seeing Clark in a pre-draft workout recently.

"There really isn't anything on the court that Clark can't do well," wrote Ford. "He has guard-like abilities in the frame of a 6-foot-10 player."

Unfortunately, Clark also has a nasty habbit of disappearing and not showing the heart to be a great player. If he can show that he has the drive, though, he could be a great player and complement the other Wolves fantastically.

11. DeMar DeRozan

I just don't understand this one. Granted, I've never seen DeRozan play, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around why everybody wants the Wolves to pick this guy.

He's a 2/3 combo, but at 6'6" would be primarily forced to play SG for the Wolves. That gives him good size for his position, but he is a weak outside shooter (only 16.7% from 3-Pt range last season) and not a strong ball handler. He may be the best athlete in the draft, but he has a long way to go before making a real contribution in the NBA and I don't see how he would mesh well with a team that likes to feed Jefferson in the post and spot up for jump shots.

12. Jonny Flynn

Flynn showed some major heart in the Big East tournament last season for Syracuse and has the potential to be a very good point guard. He is lightning quick and has a nice selection of shots that he can go to including pull-ups and floaters. He's a bit undersized and needs to add some strength, but he's a physical player who's not afraid to get into the paint.

I'm not sure if he would start over Telfair as a rookie, but if he could work on his outside shot and expand on what Aaron Brooks has been able to do for the Rockets he could eventually take the reigns.

13. Eric Maynor

I'm going to come out and admit that I've dropped Maynor this far because he went to a small school (VCU) and I've only seen him play once. He has good size (6'3") and his stats were impressive (especially his 1.7 steals per game) during his senior year, but I'll leave this one up to Matt Kamalsky of DraftExpress.com ...

"Maynor’s best quality appears to be his short range game, he got to the rim 8 times per game and posted a PPP of 1.12 as a finisher. That’s slightly above average, but few players on this list utilize the same mix of floaters and scoops that Maynor does, and those types of shots have a much greater degree of difficulty than the average layup. Maynor didn’t fall below the average in nearly any category, usually hovering around the middle of the pack, and his isolation PPP of 1.01 stood out amongst this group. The team that drafts Maynor will be getting a player that obviously knows his limitations and can play a number of roles well, but might not stand out in any one area immediately."

14. Jordan Hill

There should be no real reason for the Wolves to draft Hill unless he's fallen so far that he's just too good to pass up. He's a traditional PF, which is the last thing that the Wolves need right now, and doesn't have the size to play backup center. He doesn't have a terrific basketball IQ, and if this draft weren't so weak on big men he'd be a mid-1st round pick instead of a top-5 pick like he's projected to be.

15. Nick Calathes

I was tempted to move Calathes even further up this list, but need to get a better understanding of his athleticism at the combine first to know if he has the quickness to stay in front of speedier guards. He has great size for a PG at 6'5" and is a great passer, even being compared to Steve Nash. When ESPN's David Thorpe was asked to compare Calathes and Stephen Curry, he said that "Calathes might have a bigger upside and a lower downside."

16. Jeff Teague

Teague is a combo guard in a point guard's body. At only 6'2" he really has to be a PG in the NBA, but is much more comfortable creating for himself than others. He started the season out strong for Wake Forest, but as his team faltered during the second half of the season, so did he. Out of all the players on this list, I feel like he would have benefitted the most from another season in college.

17. Darren Collison

Collison could have been considered a lottery pick if he had entered the NBA two seasons ago, but has failed to really improve at UCLA. That said, he's learned how to be a terrific on-the-ball defender under Ben Howland, is a good outside shooter, and is amazingly fast. If he had played in a more up-tempo system he would probably be considered a much better player.

After watching Collison workout recently, Chad Ford had this to say.

"Collison is currently in the mix with a number of other top prospects, but ultimately he'll be competing against the other uber-quick point guards like Ty Lawson, Patrick Mills and Jonny Flynn for a spot in the late lottery to mid-first round. Of the three, Collison is the best shooter, the fastest end to end and the best defender. Whether that's enough to put him ahead of the pack remains to be seen -- but having those four in the gym should be a really interesting workout."

18. Chase Budinger

At this point in the draft, Budinger's athleticism starts to outweigh his lack of a "motor." He can jump out of the gym and is a good outside shooter at the same time, but has been questioned because he doesn't take over games and hasn't shown the drive to be a great player. He would do a lot of the same things for the Wolves that Rodney Carney currently provides, but at one time he was considered a high lottery pick and still has great potential.

League Name Change and Manager Candidates

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:50:00 +0000

Apparently, the slogan "World Hoops Federation" is closely tied to FIBA. They don't actually use it anywhere, but I never want my league to be mistaken for boring international basketball that nobody cares about.

So ... from here on out the World Basketball Federation will be known as the New Hoops Alliace, or the NHA. There are plenty of organizations that go by the initials of NHA, but none that mattered enough to end up suing me like the World Wildlife Foundation did to the World Wrestling Federation.

Now that we have that taken care of, here is my list of the 10 coach/manager candidates I would like to see lead the 10 different NHA teams.

Bill Lambier: The Big Flopper has coaching experience in the WNBA and will bring the Pistons "Bad Boy" style of play to the NHA.

Kim Kardashian: From what I've heard, Kim Kardashian is "the cat's meow" with professional athletes, as evidenced by the fact that she's dating Reggie Bush.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Kareem can bring charisma and parts of the Lakers "showtime" attitude to the NHA, even if he is a big ninny.

Erin Andrews: This might not be a good idea. I wouldn't get much work done if Erin Andrews was around.

Kevin McHale: The chance to battle Kareem and Lambier again would be classic, and he's soon going to be out of work.

Henry Winkler: Who wouldn't want to play for The Fonz?

Muggsy Bogues: Making it to the NBA at 5'3" deserves more recognition and he's more than welcome in the NHA.

Bill Murray: A continuation of his role in Space Jam will give the charismatic Murray a chance to shine.

Aito Garcia Reneses: The Spanish coach credited with finding Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio, Reneses would bring a little international flavor (and hatred) to the NHA.

Bill Simmons: While Simmons may not be able to secure the GM position with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he can begin building his resume as a manager with the NHA. And yes, I'll allow him to write about the whole experience.

Future Stars of the WBF

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:48:00 +0000

Below is a list of the top-20 players I would target for the inaugural season of the WBF. If you think of somebody that needs to be added to the list let me know!

Stephon Marbury: Anybody with a head tattoo is welcome in my book.

Dennis Rodman: Bringing back The Worm.

Karl Malone: Once fought Rodman in a WCW match and is hated by everybody outside of Utah.

Reggie Miller: One of the greatest shooters/trash talkers in NBA history.

Terrell Owens: An ego the size of Texas and has mentioned wanting to play professional basketball.

Ron Artest: I once heard an NBA GM describe the headache of dealing with Ron Artest as "Terrell Owens times 10."

Donald "Turk" Faison: When asked what his dream job oustide of acting would be, he replied, "It would be somewhere in sports. If I wasn't playing basketball, one thing I would love more than anything would be to work for the Knicks." So you know he loves basketball and is also crazy.

Nelly: Because he has seemingly disappeared and his entrance music could be "Hot in Here."

Allen Iverson: What NBA team is really going to sign him? In the WBF he can still be a star.

Tracy McGrady: Ditto.

Charles Oakley: Yeah, he's old, but who would mess with Charles Oakley?

Sam Cassell: The inventor of the "Testee Dance" will always have a reserved spot in the WBF.

Gary Payton: You know he still believes he's better than everybody else.

John Wall: Hasn't signed with a college yet, might be eligible for the NBA Draft, and just got arrested for breaking and entering. Sounds like a year in the WBF would be just what he needs.

Bo Jackson: Does Bo know basketball?

Jose Canseco: There's no "sanctity of the game" crap going on here and it's impossible not to laugh when looking at Jose Canseco.

Ozzie Canseco: The less famous, less talented twin brother of Jose Canseco.

Mark Madsen: The Spike Dudley of the WBF.

Tyler Hansbrough: 10th best player on an NBA team, or 4th best player on a WBF team? Now that's a dilemma.

Grayson "The Professor" Boucher: How could we not introduce a little street ball into the WBF?

Why Do We Always Hurt the Ones We Love?

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Fri, 01 May 2009 19:31:00 +0000

This is a hard post for me to write. I love the NBA and wouldn't wish for anything bad to happen to the league or its teams. But ... I do feel that David Stern needs some legitimate competition as he's slowly become soft over the years.

That's why I'm about to outline the makings of a brand new basketball league that would almost certainly rival the NBA in popularity. See if you can follow along, and if you have any ideas on how to improve this great vision please share them. I invite you to share my dream, but if you steal this idea I swear to God I will Tanya Harding your knee caps.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD BASKETBALL FEDERATION!

Taking the best parts of the NBA and the WWE, the World Basketball Federation (WBF) will become the ultimate combination of sports and entertainment and be the ultimate destination for television fans of all demographics.

The WBF will originally be made up of 10 teams, all of which will be owned by the league. Each team will be run by one manager, and each manager will have multiple responsibilities. They will have to act as team promoter, coach and general manager.
They will have to be masters of motivation, inspiration, and manipulation because the teams will not be assembled in a typical manner.

Every player in the WBF will sign a general contract with the league and be free to play for whatever team they choose. And not only will they get to choose their original team, but they will be able to switch allegiances at any time.

Have you ever seen a play so bad in the NBA that you swore the player was working with the opposing team? In the WBF, that might actually be the case. Players can lobby for fellow players to switch sides. Groups of players can form allegiances. And best of all, real rivalries will be formed as players turn their backs on their teams.

I know what you're thinking. You're wondering why the best players wouldn't just team together and win every championship. And it's a legitimate concern. But if you really think about it, you will remember that professional athletes (especially the best ones) have some of the largest egos in the world. They all want to be "the man" and will strike out to form their own team capable of challenging the league's best. Plus, there will be a limit of 10 players per team, which in itself will create even more drama because a player will have to be voted off in order for a new player to be added.

And if a group of players decide that they want to ditch their current teams and ban together, all they have to do is find a new manager and they will be allowed to compete with the league's best. Will they choose a league veteran as their manager? Perhaps a former coach. Or maybe even a WBF cheerleader in order to entice other players to spend more time in their neck of the woods.

And if these possibilities don't provide you with enough drama, consider the fact that cameras will be allowed everywhere. On the floor, in the huddle, and in the locker room (don't worry, there won't be any shower scenes). There will be no need to manufacture any content since the possibility for betrayal and complete lack of trust will lead to thousands of completely new and unique situations.

In order to create public interest, Mark Cuban will be named league commissioner, capable of changing rules, altering matchups, and making any decision he should see fit. If he wants to ban a coach from coming to the court with his team, he can. If he wants to change the matchup of the night to a grudge match between two teams that hate each other, he has that power. And if he wants to determine that the first round of the playoffs will be played with "no blood no foul" rules, nobody can argue.

The WBF will not only challenge the NBA for premium basketball talent, they will bring in players that the NBA has deemed "unfit." High school graduates that would rather play professional basketball than go to college, but don't want to move to Europe for a year, will be allowed to play in the WBF. Other sport athletes like Terrell Owens will be invited to participate. Hollywood actors that have always dreamed about being professional athletes will be invited to try out. And NBA players that have retired but still feel the itch for competition like Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone will be mainstays.

There will be league champions, No. 1 contenders and bottom feeders that will remind everybody of Spike Dudley taking on the Big Show.

Yes my friends, this is my dream ... and I won't be satisfied until I see a WBF player reject his own team's game-winning three pointer, witness a player rip off his uniform during a crucial moment in a game only to reveal the other team's jersey underneath, or hear Jim Ross screaming, "My God! Is that ... it is!!! That's Ron Artest's music!!!"

The Watchmen of the NBA

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:47:00 +0000

by MJfan02

After watching the new film Watchmen on Friday night, I decided that I had to find a way to work it into this blog, even though it has nothing to do with the NBA. So, after debating for the weekend, I settled on the most obvious and simple solution. Below is a comparison of each Watchmen character to a current NBA player as decided upon by myself and HeBeatMe (except for Laurie Jupiter because she's a girl and I don't watch the WNBA).

LeBron James is Dr. Manhatten
Out of all the superstars in the NBA, LeBron is the only one that truly has super powers. He is continually learning how to harness each of his abilities and one day may be the NBA's only hope from total annihilation.

Key quote: The Superman exists, and he is an American.

Kevin Garnett is Rorschach
With the unique ability to get under people's skin, KG is always intense, always hungry, and will never quit. Maybe not everybody in the league will enjoy his company (DJ Augustin) but there's no denying his effectiveness. Even when all hope seemed lost while playing in Minnesota, he was sometimes so intense that those watching got the feeling that he might take out his own teammates if necessary.

Key quote: No. Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never compromise.

Shaq is Nite Owl II
Seven years after his original run as a Superhero, Shaq found himself as an aging, overweight has-been who couldn't get it up (we're only talking about basketball here, I swear). Now, after having found some excitement in being "The Man" again in Phoenix and remembering how great it was in his prime, Shaq has shown glimpses of being the player that we remember.

Key quote: Y'know, this must be how ordinary people feel.

Stephon Marbury is The Comedian
An immensely talented player that always tried to make one big mockery of the NBA. He felt like he was the only one who truly understood what was going on, and that led him to be misunderstood by most of his fellow players. He only saw the worst in people and did some unspeakable things. He was an NBA mainstay until he went to New York and was forgotten.

Key quote: On friday night, a Comedian died in New York. Someone threw him out of a window and when he hit the sidewalk his head was driven up into his stomach. Nobody cares. Nobody cares but me.

David Stern is Ozymandius
The most recent "leader" of the NBA, David Stern has always been known as an incredibly bright man with an eye on the future. He now sees that his league is in trouble and is almost certainly working behind the scenes to make sure that it survives, even if it takes another lockout.

Key quote: I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome?

The Black Jesus Does Not Have the Power to Heal

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:13:00 +0000

by MJfan02

I'm going to be honest ... I enjoy watching Amare Stoudemire play basketball. He has as much natural athletic ability as anybody in the league besides Princess LeBron and Dwight Howard. But for the life of me I can't figure out why he insists on being such a tool.

First of all, he spells his name with that insufferable apostrophe between the r and the e. Amar'e. For crying out loud. There are three uses for the punctuation mark we know as the apostrophe, and the only one that would work in this particular instance is "to show the omission of letters" (credit to owl.english.purdue.com for explaining it to me). So I want to know, what letters could he possibly be omitting by using an apostrophe? I choose to believe that his true name is Amardouche Stoudemire. It helps me sleep better at night.

On top of that, Amardouche has a tattoo that reads "Black Jesus" on his neck. Nothing good can come from being that full of yourself. There's a difference between being confident in your abilities and being delusional. The only other people I could think of that thought this highly of themselves were Hitler and Paris Hilton. Hitler ended up starting World War II and Paris Hilton may end up staring World War III. It is not good to be compared to these people.

And when it comes down to it, Stoudemire is just an overall frustrating basketball player. He's three years away from becoming Rasheed Wallace. He has all the talent in the world but only tries once every four games and is more of a headdache to have around than he's worth. He's making over $15 million this year and averaging career lows in both rebounding and blocks. Now, the rebounds I can understand because he's not the only show in town anymore since Shaq moved in, but he should be blocking every weak side layup that gets put up since he no longer has to guard centers. And even though he's supposed to be an amazing offensive presence, basketballvalue.com actually rates the Suns offense as being better when Amare's not on the floor.

Now, I don't mean to kick a guy when he's down, because I'm sure that it blows to have a detached retina, and I'd like to state again that I enjoy watching him play ... but for a guy that calls himself the "Black Jesus" I think it's a little ironic that two of his nine NBA seasons have been ended prematurely due to injury.

The real Jesus never had to have microfracture surgery.

AdSense

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:39:00 +0000

Just running a quick test to see what happens with the Google AdSense when I add a new post. Wouldn't it be sweet if I could make some money off of this? But that would mean that somebody would have to read it. So, if really love me, please tell people that I'm funny and worth reading (even if it's not true). And if you don't love me then you should die of Gonnarrhea and rot in hell with Dan Marino. Laces Out!

Welcome!

noreply@blogger.com (MJfan02) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:50:00 +0000

The official blog of HoopsFanCentral is here! Hopefully we can get the whole site launched soon so that there's more content to go along with my random thoughts and useless ramblings, but until then this is all you get and you'll like it!

Until next time!

MJfan02