What I'd Do:
Doug McDermott
6’8” (6’9.5” wingspan), 218 lbs, 1/03/1992 (22 years old)
Oh Minnesota. Sometimes I forget how much Minnesota fans have had to go through. They haven't had to endure long stretches of failure like the Clippers once did and the Kings are trying to escape now (I'm sorry Kings fans). But if you consider that the TWolves have squandered two talents of the caliber of Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love and have advanced past the first round one time in their history in 2003-04 when they luckily avoided both San Antonio and the Lakers in the second round. That’s a total of 18 seasons where they had a transcendent talent and couldn’t construct a roster to support them (16 if you remove Garnett’s rookie season and Kevin Love’s injury season). One time out of 18 this team had what you might consider a successful season based on what their expectations should have been.
Consider all of that, the fact that Minnesota fans were hoping to have the season that Phoenix, Dallas, or (gulp) Portland did this year. There were no excuses this year. The team seemed to have capped out, and that’s why I’m much higher on Kevin Love as a second banana rather than a leader. That’s a whole different post though. As much as I have questions about Love, I don’t put all the blame on him for this team continuing to underperform. From Glen Taylor to David Kahn to now Flip Saunders, the front office of this team has been an #NBATwitter punchline since Kevin McHale gave the Boston Celtics banner 17. Kevin Love must be sick of that, not to mention having his teammates question his effort and leadership ability (however justified it may have been, it shouldn’t have been handled publicly, and that’s on both Love and his teammates), and having to spend a winter in Minnesota.
Just think about how awful that must be. Take it from someone who lives in a cold weather city, cold and snowy winters are depressing. If I didn’t have NBA basketball to watch, things would probably go badly for me, and Minnesota is way worse than Rhode Island. The winter is colder, longer, darker, and has more snow. Now it’s one thing to live in a cold weather city and complain about it. Now imagine that every other weekend you get on a plane to Phoenix or LA/San Francisco or Miami or Atlanta or Houston. You get just enough of a taste of warm weather to make you fully realize how awful the experience of 15 inches of snow in 4 degree weather really is. If Kevin Love has any influence over where he’s getting traded to it is without a doubt a warm weather city. Sorry Boston fans.
Whether that trade gets done before the draft or not doesn’t affect the thirteenth pick for the TWolves much though. They’re in full ‘best player available’ mode because any move could happen between now and next February. At thirteen, they may be just out of range of finding an All-Star.
McDermott is a real wild card for me. I can see a scenario where his lack of athleticism and size cause him to not have a position in the league at all. On the other hand, he is not only one of the best shooters in this draft (and probably a candidate for one of the best shooters in the league immediately) but he was more than just a shooter in college. He could score. It’s just the way that he scored (beating up smaller guys in the post, and driving by bigger guys) doesn’t seem to translate to the NBA. He isn’t big enough to punish an NBA-caliber 3 and he really isn’t quick enough to go by an NBA-4. He couldn’t take Chris Bosh to the rim. And imagine him trying that against the length of someone like Ibaka? He’d need to get three or four steps by him to beat that length. He was barely getting a step against college bigs. And defensively, he’ll have no shot.
At best, McDermott is an elite bench scorer. And that’s not to say that can’t happen. Once again, he is one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball history and an excellent knock down shooter. If Rubio is creating open corner three’s for this dude, look out. He should be able to score and he may rebound a bit, but don’t ask him to create, for himself or other, or defend. It’s just not going to happen. At this point in the draft though, an elite bench scorer is not a bad building block. Especially for a bench that couldn’t find a scorer last season. The key will be getting McDermott open looks consistently. If he doesn’t stick with Minnesota long term, don’t be surprised when he ends up on the Spurs in four years scoring 14 ppg off the bench.
What I Think They’ll Do:
We all know all the Love rumors. The C’s are willing to give up a boatload of draft picks including # 6 and # 17. The Warriors are trying to dump David Lee and either Klay Thompson or the Lakes # 7 pick. Phoenix and Denver and Cleveland and Chicago are all dark horses. Honestly, I don’t think they’re making a deal before the draft. I don’t think any of those deals look all that great, and going into the season has almost no downside. These trade offers are not going to get worse between now and February.
I think they desperately need shooting. If McDermott or Stauskas falls to them they’re taking him. Otherwise, James Young could go here as well.
Crazy Draft Day Trade (Not Including Kevin Love):
Enough has been written about possible Kevin Love trade scenarios. What if Minnesota commits to buying instead of selling, even without a guarantee from Love that he’ll stay. Make his decision difficult. This is a little crazy, even for our standards, but hear me out.
Do you believe in Gorgui Dieng? Dieng emerged as a possible solution at C late last season. I love Pekovic, but the pairing of him and Love in the frontcourt doesn’t work. They just don’t compliment each other well. What if you roll the dice and deal Pekovic to New Orleans to take a chance at rejuvenating Eric Gordon?
Here’s the deal: Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers plus a lottery protected first or pair of seconds for Pekovic, Kevin Martin, and Shabazz Muhammad. New Orleans gets a versatile and talented three man rotation at the 4 and 5 with Davis, Anderson, and Pekovic. They have to take on Kevin Martin’s contract, but Martin might fit in better when the other pieces on that team. At least he doesn’t need the ball in his hands as much as Gordon.
Minnesota is taking a risk with Gordon, I accept that, but if they hit and Gordon is similar to the player he was in 2010-11 for the Clippers it’s a nice pairing with Love. If things don’t work out and Love leaves, Gordon will be a valuable $14 million expiring contract the season after. Now’s the time when you remind me that Gordon has never played 82 games and will likely never play at that level again. Hey, I told you it was crazy.
