NBA Draft - What to Watch For

Probably not the first time P. Diddy had a dude's crotch on his head.

Well, I already did an NBA Draft Preview on 5/30, but that's a complete waste now as Kahn took the train to ginger-town and moved the #18 pick for Chase Budinger.  I literally watched tens of Youtube videos for that piece too.  I get what Kahn did here as he's probably take a Moe Harkless type (from my first preview, thanks for reading) and we'd be a couple years away from knowing if the guy is useful or Wes Johnson.  Budinger shot over 40% from 3 last year, can run and drive to the hoop with athleticism despite looking like that dude from Clerks.  He's never played more than about 22 mpg, and he's about a 10ppg guy in that time.   I've never thought he was much of a man defender, but rather more of a help defense/passing lane type.  Which is similar to how Rubio defends and gets a lot of steals, but obviously not on the level that Rubio does it.

Kahn growing out the Art Garfunkel hair?

So, as a Wolves fan, if there are any of you left - what's the point of watching the draft anymore?  The answer is Kahn.  Kahn can't keep it in his pants during the draft and he really feels like a guy that's constantly working out deals.  People love to hate him, but the Wolves have been kind of getting better, right?  Maybe?  There are a couple of moves that are of interest to me:

1.  Trade Beasley to the Lakers for Jordan Hill.  This is a pretty hot rumor and Laker fans seem to be excited to get him.  The Wolves can make Beasley an 8.2MM qualifying offer, but I'm in the "get anything while you can" boat.  Beasley is a volume shooter and seems to play best with the ball in his hands a lot.  With Rubio and Love and an emerging Pekovic, his touches decrease and he gets pouty.

Hill was the #8 overall pick in 2009 and actually played with Budinger the same 3 years at Arizona.  They both got 18+ppg at Arizona in 08-09.  Hill hasn't got much run and has bounced around a bit, but his per36 min extrapolated stats are 13pts, 10rebs and 1.6 blocks per game.  He's 6'10" and 235 lbs and might be a rotation guy for the Wolves.  Kahn might even get a pick thrown in on this deal, who knows?

2.  A move to get a shooting guard in town.  Rumors I've read are signing cadaver knees Brandon Roy and a potential trade for Jamal Crawford.  Roy is interested, but Craig Stadler probably has better knees.  Several teams appear in the mix for Crawford's wicked crossover and zero defense.

THE WALRUS

This is not rumored as far as I know, but I know the Bobcats are interested in moving the #2 pick as well as dumping the contract of Tyrus Thomas.  Would the Wolves entertain a redundant Derrick Williams (he can't play the 3) for Thomas and the #2?  Would the Bobcats do it?  Hell, I don't know.  Thomas is another big that's athletic and can contest some shots and many thought he would be a stud coming out of LSU.  I like the idea of these types of guys helping out Love and or Pek down low.

With the #2 the Wolves could fill the SG spot with Bradley Beal or Jeremy Lamb or maybe Austin Rivers or Terence Ross.  Beal is the guy with all of the hype right now.  Knowing Kahn, he'd trade up to #2 and back to #4 and then maybe back again.  This move would obviously be second guessed a lot as Williams definitely has talent, I just feel like he's another stretch 4 and needs a different home. 

Finally, here are some non-Wolves related things to watch for in the NBA draft:

- The suits.  Check this website for some of the best and worst ever.  Bobby Jackson and Johnny Flynn make the list!

- The girlfriends.  Jan Vesely famously threw down with his chick at last year's draft.  It turned out to be the only notable thing he's done thus far as a pro.

Suck face.

- The moms.  Gold everywhere.  Shiny new horsehair.  Bone crushing hugs. Jumping up and down and screaming.  Some of them pretty hot because they had a kid at 13.  Sadly, it seems like more often than not these moms raised their boys virtually by themselves so they really deserve to reap the rewards.  Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's mom, Cindy Richardson will be one to watch.  MKG has a stutter that may or may not pop up during the interview and one can assuming that Cindy has been the point person for him for quite some time.

- Jared Sullinger from the Evil Ohio State University.  Sully boy was a top 5 pick if he would have entered the previous year's draft, but he stayed at OSU and brought them to a final 4.  Now he's not being invited to the green room and may go around 20th overall.  NBAdraft.net says his NBA comparison is Carlos Boozer/Ike Diogu.  That's a pretty wide range.  Oh, and he has a back issue...those don't recur do they?

- Stare daggers into Jay Bilas.  He sucks.  Over/under of number of guys he calls "long" or "has great length" is 20.  Andre Drummond is a lock (7'6") wingspan.

So watch, have fun, and maybe the Wolves will catch a break for once and do something right. (probably not)