2011 NBA Draft Recap Timberwolves Draft Grade

Wow, David Kahn blew me away last night. For the first time ever, and when say I ever, I really mean ever, his decisions really made a lot of sense. First of all bravo for drafting Derrick Williams. We needed to draft the best player available even if it wasn't a great fit. More importantly, Kahn said after the draft that he plans on keeping Williams and that Williams will be a Timberwolf next year.

Here's why I like Williams. He can get his own shot whenever he wants, but he takes good shots. For the first time since Kevin Garnett (I don't feel like counting Al Jefferson because he was a liability in so many other areas) we have a legitimate go to scorer. Just watching him against Duke, you know he's going to be able to score points in the NBA. He's not going to be like Beasely who gets at the elbow, does a couple of jab steps, and shoots. Williams is going be really efficient and make others around him better. He's a winner. His play in the NCAA Tournament proved that. Beasely is pretty indifferent to defense and winning in general so Williams represents a huge upgrade over him. Leading to my next point.

Please trade Michael Beasely. Package him with Anthony Randolph or something and try to get a veteran on this team (if you want to save your job, David Kahn). This team won't win with Beasely. I know Kahn wants to prove to the world that he stole Beasely from Miami and turned him into an All Star, but I don't think that's possible. He just isn't driven or smart enough to figure it out. The next few weeks will be telling because the Wolves will begin to reshape this roster. They can't and better not go into next season with 7 forwards. They need to pave way for Williams so he can get serious minutes his rookie season.

For the draft grade, I got to give the Wolves an A-. They would have gotten an A or A+ if they had gotten rid of some of their forwards for a veteran, but beggars can't be choosers. Of course if they trade Williams this grade is immediately reduced to at least B- but it depends on who they get back(I never trust the Wolves when it comes to trades). That's it for the week I'll be back on Monday.