DW, Kanter, or trade?

The Wolves have notified teams they intend to select Turkish center Enes Kanter tomorrow. Hard to say if that's true or not. One good theory I read was that their intention is to trade the #2 pick if they can and they have exhausted options with the belief that a team should move up to #2 to nab DW - and are now testing the waters with a threat to take Kanter. Could that get another team to panic and try to move up?

Or are they serious. I posted earlier that I wasn't entirely thrilled with Kanter but I went back and watched what little footage I could find on him again and although I'm not convinced he'll be a great defender - it's his jump shot and post presence that intrigues me. Last year I preferred Cousins over Wes Johnson (and actually I liked Favors over both, but irrelevant) for the same reason I like Kanter here. The offensive skill these bigs have is rare. Scoring, or the threat to score, is still king in the league when it comes to evaluating an individual's talent. Defense and hustle can be found later in drafts and in free agency.

Defense is important, don't get me wrong. But I've seen that a greatly skilled offensive player will almost always best a gifted defensive player in this league with the rule settings as they are. The way to stop great offensive players is to become a good team defense. That's the key there, is to find smart players who can buy into a team defense approach and not necessarily hustle guys who have absurd athleticism. Players who talk, rotate, and understand how the other team wants to attack and act as a unit is more important than one's individual defensive ability.

So in this situation if the Wolves think Kanter is a game changer, a mismatch maker on the offensive end, I endorse the decision. The only problem is the limited amount of footage on this guy. 2 professional games in 2 years means they had better done their homework.

I'm not saying that DW is a slouch on offense - in fact I think his value is his offense too. Like Mike Beasley he provides a mismatch for SFs with his size and PFs with his quickness and quite successful jump shot. However, it seems that every draft has a handful of guys just like this and you have to question whether at the #2 pick he's all that much better than other players (such as Kawai Leonard).

Lastly on the discussion between the 2 of them - a team need for the Wolves is center and a guy who stands taller than 6'9". Kanter has the legit size and its possible he grows more. One thing I liked about Kanter is that despite being 260 lbs he has a body fat percentage of 5.9. That's an absurdly low value and his conditioning is reported as elite. You have to like that. On the contrast, DW is over 10% on his 6'8" 250 lb frame.

You have to like that Kanter should be able to run for days with outlet passes from Love and running from Rubio. He seems like a much better fit with perhaps a much higher ceiling.

As for trade - the ideal situation is to move back to #3 or #4 and still land Kanter and add another veteran or pick. I think this is their goal - may have been from the start - which is why they were trying to move the pick so aggressively at first and would explain why they have announced their intentions to take Kanter now that they haven't received a good enough offer.

I'd like to think we're in for a wild ride tomorrow night but I think I said the same thing last year and all we saw was Babbit for Webster.

Back for my annual post

I was going to apologize for not being very active on this blog - but then I realized I have no readers to apologize too. But in any case, I'll take this moment to say happy first father's day to me. Sophia, someday you might come across this post if the apocalypse hasn't come yet (or maybe even if it does)!

I'll focus this post on who the Wolves should target at pick #2 mostly but I'll also sprinkle in other guys I think would be ideal fits/potential great players.

I haven't done as much research as years past so that might work in my favor. Without further ado:

The Wolves at pick #2, if they stay put, are in a solid position to add one of the top 2 talents in the draft. It's a win-win. On one hand I like Irving a lot and almost hope he falls to #2. I realize this creates a pretty interesting PR situation as Rubio has just said he's coming to MN and Kahn already gets blasted for collecting PGs -- but the guy looks like he just gets it. A solid PG without a flaw I can see. Good decision making, good form on his jumper (and he shot a good percentage from all 3 spots), and intelligence. What's not to like?

I also really like Derrick Williams. If we had him and Beasley I'd rather have Williams. I love the scoring that Beasley brings and we'd have a scoring void without him - but I think the Wolves really need to focus on getting better defensively.

That reminds me to talk to the JaVale McGee rumors. I'd strongly consider it -- but I just think Williams is too dynamic to pass on. If we had pick #3 I'd probably do it.

The Wolves can also add that defense in the draft though. I like Bismack Biyombo so long as we don't expect him to score at al on anything that's not a dunk. If he's there at #20 I don't see how the Wolves can pass on him. But I don't have my hopes up he'll be there. But, then again, they probably would pass on him. The Wolves have a history of passing on guys that I've ljked later in drafts (see Monta Ellis and DeAndre Jordan). I just hope they don't this time.

Other guys I like are The Jimmer (and after seeing Dallas win the championship with a PG/SG rotation including Kidd, Barea, andJet (and they also have Roddy B) I think you can win with a smaller backcourt, especially if both players on the court provide something the defense has to adjust to. I think you'd get that with Rubio and Jimmer if there was a way to play them both together. However, I don't see a scenario without trading up to make that happen.

The Wolves could also really use a SG and the guy I like best is Alec Burks. He has prototype size for the SG spot at 6'6" and was a big time scorer at CU. He also has very fluid movement and a working jumpshot. The scenario is same as above though, where I don't know how we could land him without moving up. I think this is an ideal player to target somehow. Possibly moving Flynn and #20 or another big like Pek and #20 or even moving Beasley if we take Williams.

Jonas Valanciunas is my favorite big of the draft - even ahead of Kanter. He looks a bit raw but the size, the hustle, the natural ability looks like he could be the real deal. I'd even consider him at #2 or if proposed trades with Cleveland or Utah occur at the #3 or #4 spot. The catch is he is a project and Kahn is under pressure to start winning as soon as possible. Definitely a challenge for him you'd hate to see that type of influence leak into decision. Fortunately holding the #2 spot makes it unlikely it'll become an issue.

Kanter looks to be a solid option too but he's coming off of very little action over the last 2 years and doesn't have a great finishing touch around the rim or athleticism. He sort of reminds me of a Dirk mold with great jumpshot for a near 7 footer but maybe half the athleticism - so probably a soft center I'm not really interested in.

I also really like Kawhi Leonard, Kenneth Faried (think of him and Love chasing down rebounds), and Iman Shumpert who has great size as a combo guard who can play the point as a third PG and in the SG rotation to make sure he gets decent minutes. He's a guy i like at #20 if we stay there.

Leanard will be long gone so I should clarify that I like him in the top 10 if we trade out of #2.

That's as far as my research has taken me so far but I wanted to say that I am excited for Thursday because there seem to be so many possibilities both in trades and draft. Though expections are tempered because the same thing happened last year. The Wolves were active in talks but ultimately made a small move to trade for Webster.