Summer League

[shangrila]

   
NO    PLAYER            POS    HT    NBA Exp.
22    Corey Brewer    F    6-9    2
1    Bobby Brown    G    6-2    1
23    Pat Carroll            G/F    6-5    R
19    Wayne Ellington    G    6-4    R
11    Jonny Flynn    G    6-0    R
17    Devin Green    G    6-7    1
12    Paul Harris            G/F    6-4    R
15    Gerald Henderson G    6-4    R
51    Steven Hill    C    7-0    248    1
4    Oleksiy Pecherov    F    7-0    2
20    Garrett Siler    C    6-11    R
7    Ben Woodside    G    5-11    R

An interesting roster. A few points:

• The first thing is no Rubio, but that's expected I guess.
• Gerald Henderson gets an invite because the Bobcats scrapped their summer league team due to financial reasons (they must really be in a hole). Pat Carroll is in the same situation.
• Corey Brewer is getting a run which should let him get rid of some of his rust before pre-season and the regular season. Hopefully he's worked on his shot during rehab
• They get to have a look at what Pecherov offers. He's got some nice potential but isn't polished right now.
• Garret Siler is interesting but won't get a contract. He shot a crazy 79% from the field in his final season but has horrible conditioning to contrast it. He's got great hands and a huge wingspan but no lift and no speed. If I was going to compare him to anyone I'd say Przybilla without the defence, which makes him a scrub.
• If we were going to try and get a 7 footer out of this I'd rather it would be Steven Hill who would be a solid practice guy to add to the bench. His offensive game is raw but he's a physical defender that's also a good shot blocker. For a guy that would likely cost Minnesota less then barely used guard Bobby Brown, signing Hill wouldn't be the worst option.
• I think that Paul Harris is the only player that's a lock to make the team (outside of the obvious people they're already paying). He's a great defender, has a history with Johnny (played in Syracuse together the last 2 years), the team showed a lot of interest in him both before and after the draft and he chose Minnesota over the contending team Cleveland which rarely happens. Personally I'd be very happy to get him on the roster and I was lobbying hard to take him at #45. He's a little undersized but he's got a crazy wingspan and some more perimeter defence doesn't hurt.
• The next player with the best chance to make Minnesota's (or anyone else's for that matter) is local product Ben Woodside. Most would have heard of him from his 37 point outing in the NCAA tournament but he had another 60 (!) point outing earlier in the season, more then any prospect drafted in the 2009 draft. He's a great shooter, good passer and has a fantastic first step but he struggles on defence. Still, Minnesota could do a lot worse for their 3rd string point guard and Woodside is a smart guy who's also a local, that could bring in the fans.

So in conclusion, I hope we'd come out of here with Steven Hill, Paul Harris and Ben Woodside all signed to cheap contracts.

But I doubt this would happen. Pops Mensah-Bonsu was our best player outside of Kevin Love last season and he didn't get a contract and while Steven Hill will likely have all the minutes he wants both Harris and Woodside will have to compete with guys like Ellington, Henderson and Flynn for playing time further lowering their exposure and chances of being drafted. But it's nice to root for the little guy sometimes.

In fact I think we need to cut Bobby Brown, assuming he's not in our future plans. If we do we could sign Harris, Woodside and Hill, or even scrap Hill and resign Carney which I would bet 10 years of my life every Timberwolves fan would like to see.

I didn't realise how absolutely full our roster is right now when I started writing this. Here's our current depth chart:

PG: Johnny Flynn, Sebastian Telfair, Bobby Brown
SG: Wayne Ellington
SF: Corey Brewer, Ryan Gomes, Brian Cardinal
PF: Kevin Love, Craig Smith, Darius Songalia, Olesky Pecherov
C: Al Jefferson, Etan Thomas

Which is assuming Rubio isn't coming over now (my preference). This leaves us with 13 (!!) players signed to guaranteed contracts. We have a huge hole at SG and Cardinal, Pecherov and Brown probably won't play much minutes during the season.

Looking at this roster now we need to consolidate somehow. But it's late, I'm tired and my mind is starting to wander. I'll continue this more tomorrow if there's any interested Wolves fans up for a good discussion about Summer League, free agents, the draft or just general Wolves talk.

[iyamwutiam]

Minnesota is kidding themselves.  They should have stuck with Mayo- as they needed a perimeter play maker way more than another inside guy who at best will be a David Lee (Love).  Jefferson should have been in the PF spot-and I feel that Minnesota made a huge mistake in not getting Thabeet from Memphis.

Thabeet allows Jefferson to play his dominant PF spot and covers Jefferson on Defense which Love will never do.  They would have then drafted Curry to give them the guy they needed-the perimeter shooter who can also give you some assists. 

[wolvesfan41]

I would have been very upset if the Wolves got Thabeet, especially if they traded up to #2 to take him.  There are a bunch more Centers coming out next year that will be much better than Thabeet's weak ***.

I'd love to see Woodside make the team.  I think he could be a very solid back up.  I don't think the Wolves are done making moves yet.  I could still see them trading their expiring contracts for another 2.  I would like to see us sign Marquis Daniels.  I think Ellington will be good but I don't like the idea of him starting from day 1.

[shangrila]

Thabeet would have been a horrible pick. He looks good defensively on paper but offensively he's pathetic and would actually make us worse which is incredible. He'd clog the lane for Al and force one of our best passers to the bench.

As for Mayo, that's still up for debate. Right now he's a turnover prone guard that got progressively worse as the season went on and teams keyed into the fact that all he can do is shoot. Right now I'm not convinced he's going to lead a team to a championship but I'll reserve judgment at least for a few seasons.

I agree wolvesfan. Woodside and Harris are the two players I'm hoping make the team and I think they have a chance. I doubt we sign Daniels because he doesn't fit our rebuilding process but we could definitely see more moves on the horizon. We're extremely stacked at the power forward position and some consolidation wouldn't be bad. We should be taking a look at the Portland situation because it's clear they don't have enough minutes for everyone. Fernandez is reportedly unhappy and I think if Fernandez stays Webster will find himself to be the odd man out and while he cuts into the 2010 capspace he'd be a nice pickup and give us another shooter.

[JR]

u forgot rodney carney

[Dice Dice Baby!!]

u forgot rodney carney

Rodney Carney is an unrestricted free agent.

[shangrila]

I hope he gets brought back but I doubt management would go overboard for him. He's good at maximum at 2 million or less per. Anything more and you're breaking the bank for a player that's likely a 10th man at best on a good team.

[JR]

u forgot rodney carney

Rodney Carney is an unrestricted free agent.

shud b signed after his above decent season he cna play some minutes at SG and with him and brewer they have extreme length and athleticism

[thetreesarenice]

The Timberwolves should bring back Rodney Carney. They need a SG bad, and he can play. I can
recall a few explosive dunks and some nice shots late last year. He's fairly cheap and they need something at that position.

[shangrila]

UPDATE

Garrett Siler is having a surprisingly nice summer league. It's not crazy good but he's been rebounding, hitting his shots and surprisingly his free throws as well as blocking a few shots and playing decent defence. I wouldn't be surprised if he got an invite to training camp anymore.

Woodside is a horrible defender and won't get a contract. Even in summer league he's struggling to keep people in front of him, which is sad. He hasn't gotten many minutes but he's shown why whenever he's been on the court.

Paul Harris isn't bad. Like Siler he hasn't been blowing anyone away but he could be good as a defensive role player. His range is better than it was in college and he's already got chemistry with Flynn which is a plus.

Bobby Brown needs to be cut. He just doesn't fit anymore and his roster spot should be going to someone else like Siler or Harris.

Flynn and Ellington have settled down and are looking better. Flynn will likely take more of a back seat because of what he's proved. Ellington still needs to show a little better effort on defence but otherwise he's not bad.

Brewer hasn't improved much. His shot looks better and when he gets all the rust off it should be improved but he's still a turnover waiting to happen whenever he puts the ball on the floor. I guess you can't practice ball handling as much when you're coming back from a knee injury because of mobility but reports said he had been working on it so it's a little disappointing.

I don't think Steven Hill is even there. He hasn't played a single minute so far and since Siler is their only real centre you'd expect him to get a few minutes at least if he was.

Pechovic has been an up and down player. In one game he's dropping 3s like they're going out of style and the next he's putting up enough bricks to build a wall. He's got good potential as a step out power forward but he's rawer then I thought he would be.

On another note I wouldn't mind giving Gary Forbes a chance if no one else does. He's averaging 21pts on decent percentages (although his FT% is horrible for some reason) and I always thought he deserved a chance after going undrafted last year. His biggest problem is defence where he shows a complete lack of effort. If he's improved that then he could be worth a look.

That's it so far. There are still 2 games left so some of these might change. But as of now Harris and Siler would be nice invites IMO.

[czaras]

What's up with Ben Woodside?

[shangrila]

His lateral quickness is worse then anyone thought. He can't physically stay in front of anyone without standing under the basket and waiting.

[RIP ER7trey]

flynn did not live up to my expectations to be honest.. haha but i did like how he gave the whole crowd his gear including his shorts which i have....

im interested on your thoughts with corey brewer.. dude played fairly well despite not giving me his jersey *** hole what are ur expectations for him he played solid d and showed leadership despite him being uber thin haha

[RIP ER7trey]

yeah thabeet looked horrible for me he had 9 and 8 thats FOULS and points.. and he didn't get a solid rebound the first half.. he can't move very well and is a jumping jack

[shangrila]

flynn did not live up to my expectations to be honest.. haha but i did like how he gave the whole crowd his gear including his shorts which i have....

im interested on your thoughts with corey brewer.. dude played fairly well despite not giving me his jersey *** hole what are ur expectations for him he played solid d and showed leadership despite him being uber thin haha

What exactly did you expect Flynn to be then?

Brewer looked alright but he's still a bench player at best. His shooting improved slightly and it's hard to tell with him because he's been out for so long, but it's obvious he still can't create for himself.