…going out on the weekend with a guy who has a history of drunk driving. You just don’t trust their ability to get you home.

to be making blanket statements about freshmen and how they translate into the pros? It’s just too early. Give them some time, see what they can do. Maybe a few of them will just explode and we’ll be saying Beasley who??

I Really Hope Kevin McHale drafts Stephen Curry from Davidson…He would be that True Point Guard that we need to step in and play the position. The Kid can run the Offense to perfection.

I’m hoping for Rubio or Jennings if we can get a top10, I’m gonna keep a watch in Curry, though he sounds every bit of a combo as Foye was.

As going for bigs: Thabeet and Jerome Jordan seems like he could be a sleeper according to ESPN’s TOP100. Calethes seems like a decent pick as well

Another similarity to 2006 beyond those mentioned is that, after 2 drafts being all about the freshman, this one will probably find much value in non-freshman.

Although I must say the whole “no consensus studs” things worry me a great deal. The Wolves FO does a poor job evaluating, so it’s likely they’ll struggle landing top flight prospects unless they have a no-brainer fall in their laps.

Anyway, unlike the past two drafts, which were all about the froshes, like 2006, there should be a good deal of value found in non-freshman.

Here are some of my early favorites:

1) Rubio (beware though, as McHale’s gone on record numerous times about how he’s not necessarily a fan of teams featuring a star PG)

2) Griffen. He’s another PF, but he may be the BPA, so you take him. He’d add a lot of athleticism to the front court.

3) Tyler Smith (Love this guy; would love to nab him in the mid-to-lower portion of the 1st round; his upside’s not great in that he’ll be 23 come draft time, but an athletic, do-it-all glue guy prospect at the SF? Sign me up. McHale could finally atone for passing on Josh Howard.)

4) Nick Calathes. A reasonable consolation prize given the likelihood Rubio’s not going to fall into their laps. I expect this guy will eventually crash the lottery. I love his skills. Although at some point they do need upgrade their athleticism.

5) Tyreke Evans. We’ll have to see what he does over a whole season. But this is probably my favorite freshman early on. He could be a the type of 2-guard they need with decent size, good athleticism, and the ability to score inside.

I’m also keeping an eye on Earl Clark; I’ve really only seen him play in the tourney, and he was a turnover machine. But we’re talking about an athletic 6’9" hybrid forward, so you have to pay attention. Same thing goes for the extremely raw Al-Farouq Aminu.

I can’t decide on Curry. I love his game, but his role in the NBA is very difficult to decipher. I think he’s the type of player whose success will largely be dependent on which team he lands with, and I’m not sure I trust the Wolves.

Jennings just seems like Telfair v. 2.0 to me. And Thabeet’s got that why-doesn’t-he-rebound-given-he’s-6"-taller-than-his-opponent-many-nights thing going against him. I’m hoping Derozan emerges as an Andre Iguadola type (they even have identical bodies), but outside of his dunks, he’s not exciting at all right now. Maybe he’s the next Cupcake?

We’ll see. The draft’s still an entire college season away. By then we should have a better idea of what’s there.

had hands of stone. I would give my left nut for Andrew Bynum right now (let me re-think that….)

after all’s said and done, that Lakers offer for KG (Bynum + Odom + a couple low picks) was the one they should have taken. IIRC, it wasn’t all that popular among Wolves fans in general, but I think they could have then moved Odom for something nice and build around the rarest of rare assets: a stud, 2-way center. I like Big Al, but I just think they’d have been closer to building a winner with Bynum (plus the Odom plunder) in hand. But, water under the bridge… (Incidentally, the most popular trade rumor among fans was the Bulls’ centered around Luol Deng and Tyrus Thomas, which isn’t looking so hot right about now.)

Anyway, I think they need to somehow come out of this draft with 2 players. I think they need a second ball handler with size, and they need an athletic marvel out on the wing (I don’t think Brewer or Gomes are going to cut it; I’m keeping an eye on Wake freshman Al-Farouq Aminu: if he shows he can be effective out on the wing—he was primarily a post-up player in HS but has the athleticism/fluidity to play SF, so he’s making the switch—then I consider him). A tall flyswatter would be nice to work in with Jefferson and Love, but I’m not sure if that type of player’s in this draft (I don’t want them to draft Thabeet with their lottery pick and he’ll likely be gone by the time they pick again). I think they may as well just rotate Mad Dog in and out for what will be the final year of his deal.

I also just hope they are active in this draft. By active, I mean moving up, which they’ve never done. (They usually just talk about doing so.) The draft is all about quality, not quantity. 4 picks is nice, but if they sit on their hands and just wait their turn it’s not likely to turn out well. So, I want to see them active. (I also want to see them upgrade their scouting/evaluation department, but…) Portland basically turned their team around in a similarly murky 2006 draft, landing Aldridge and Roy, by getting real aggressive, and I’d love to see the Wolves do the same in 2009.

If it isn’t a testament for the weakness of this draft. Thabeet wasn’t even a lock for the 1st round had he gone through. A lot of that has to do with his “potential” status but still, that’s a huge leap. I’m not so sure his status will hold up. DeAndre Jordan was pegged as a lottery pick up until a few weeks (or was it a month?) before the actual draft, then dropped to the second round… “potential” players can go all over.

A couple guys I’m interested in as a Wolves fan are on TV tonight. Tennessee’s Tyler Smith (not a top pick, but mid-to-later first round) and Wake’s Aminu. I’ll only be able to watch Wake—it’s on after the kids go to bed—but I’m excited to watch him.

but, if somehow the wolves do get the first pick, and the way things go for the wolves this is the only kind of year where they might luck into it, maybe they should just take Grifin even if he does play the 4. He’s the most talented/athletic player in this draft and since next year’s team will only win 20-30 games, the wolves could get him to play small forward. I mean, if Wittman is still coaching, maybe that’s a bad idea because Wittman would yank him as soon as he made a single mistake and never give him minutes again. He would make a lot of mistakes learning to play sf, but he has the athleticism and ball handling skills to play small forward. If only he had a better defensive reputation, because the length we’d have with him and corey brewer on the wings would be pretty nice.

On the other hand, maybe we should draft someone with a position for once, someone like demar derozen.