Lets say Boston took Dunn at #3 and traded him to Philly...
I'm thinking Phoenix still would still take Bender at #4, firstly because they needed size and secondly because they seem to have been obsessed with Bender from day one.
From here it's really a tough call.
If you are Minnesota and you're selecting at #5, the top prospects available are Brown, Hield, Murray and Chriss.
You already have Lavine (a solid shooter and combo-guard with good size) so Dunn and Hield would be kinda redundant. You already have Rubio so no need to chase a PG (though there were none anyway). You already have Wiggins and KAT so no need to chase a SF or PF, specifically. They could use a center, but you aren't going to reach on a Poltl/Maker/Sabonis THIS high in the draft. So it makes zero sense really for them to choose based on positional need.
That means if you are Minnesota, you have to select based on pure upside and fit.
Now the Wolves are a very athletic team, so I imagine they're going to want to play uptempo. They also don't seem to care much about shooting based on recent draft history (Rubio, Wiggins, their eventual pick of Kris Dunn). So put all of this together and it's safe to assume they would have had minimal interest in Hield or Murray.
That means it probably would have come down to Chriss or Brown. With all of the question marks on Chriss (motor, attitude, etc) I find it very hard to believe they'd have taken him this high.
So I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that if Boston didn't take Brown at #3, he'd probably have gone to the Timberwolves at #5. I'm guessing they'd have shifted Wiggins to the SG spot, put Brown at the SF spot, and moved forward with a very nice (and rediculously athletic) young core of Rubio/Wiggins/Brown/Towns.
If he didn't go at #5 then I think the Hornets would have taken Hield (they seemed high on him and desperately wanted shooting), so he'd likely have gone at #7 to Denver. He has far higher upside then Murray does, so I can't imagine Denver would have taken Murray over Brown.
But that's all a moot point because I very much doubt he'd have gone past #5.
The way I see it, there were really only three guys who had enough percieved upside to justify consideration at the #3 spot and they were Dunn, Brown and Bender. It was not likely any one of those three guys was falling out of the top 5.
Perhaps, but it doesn't really sound like Jaylen was high on the Wolves draft board. They didn't work him out. Had Dunn not been available, it really sounds like they would have went with one of the shooters (Murray or Hield). Scoff at the draftniks, but that's who most of them had Minny taking.
Don't really care what the scouts predict, to be honest.
The Wolves seemingly wanted Dunn above anybody not named Ingram/Simmons, despite the fact that they already have a quality young PG in Rubio, who becomes completely redundant with the addition of Dunn. If they wanted to add shooting (with Hield/Murray) then they easily could have done so, but they didn't, so it doesn't seem to me like shooting was very high on their agenda.
Minnesota have a core of guys now who are very young, and rediculously athletic (Rubio, Lavine, Wiggins, Towns). It makes sense for them to push for an uptempo run-and-gun style of offense, and the two guys they had available who best fit that style of play would be Dunn and Brown.
Murray and Hield also fit that description, especially Murray. Minnesota really needed a strong shooter as none of their smalls are shooters. It is a big flaw on their team. There have also been a lot of rumors involving Rubio, which seems to indicate he isn't in their long term plans.
Minnesota didn't work Brown out, I find it hard to believe they would use the 5th pick on a guy that didn't work out for them. I get that it occasionally happens, I just don't think Minnesota goes that way with the team they have.
Murray and Heidl don't fit that description at all though...
I mean maybe Heild could be somewhat effective in the transition game playing off the ball at the SG spot, since he has the size and length (and to some degree, athleticism) to get out and finish on the break...
But Murray isn't long enough to play the SG spot and he isn't quick enough (or sufficient enough as a ball handler) to play the PG spot - he's basically JJ Reddick v2, so I don't see anything at all to indicate that he'd be an effective transition scorer at the NBA level.
Besides, Murray really doesn't offer anything that they don't already get from Lavine. The one single thing Murray does well is shoot the three, and Lavine shot 40% last year. Lavine is a better passer, better ball handler, has better court vision, he's got more defensive upside, and he's got far superior size and athleticism.
If there's one thing we can probably say with confidence about Brown, it's that he should be an absolute monster in transition - with his combination of speed, reach, leaping ability and raw power he's going to be like a poor man's Lebron once he gets out on the break. We also know he's an excellent rebounder for a wing, and that he has a lot of defensive upside.
That seems to make him a nice fit for a Wolves team that will probably want to run, run, run all day.
Topic: If Boston didn't take Brown where do you think he would have gone? (Read 29817 times)