Editor's Note: When Ratke was on vacation last week in California, he was able to chat with USA Today college and pro basketball writer Scott Gleeson, who is based out of Los Angeles. Ratke and Gleeson worked together in Washington D.C. during the summer of 2012, so there is some history here. In this Q&A, Ratke and Gleeson discuss the Timberwolves, the future of Jahlil Okafor and the Los Angeles Lakers. Enjoy!
You can follow Gleeson here.
KR: If you look at what the Wolves have done over the last year, if you look at where the momentum was even when they won 40 games with Kevin Love and those guys... Have you seen the shift to the Golden State – obviously they aren’t there yet – but just building the team the right way like the Warriors?
SG: I think Golden State’s a good comparison when you’re talking about an evolution of a program. Because a lot of times in the NBA it’s very easy to look and say ‘he’s a superstar and they’re going to be really good.' There’s a growing process. There’s a maturation process. If you look at Minnesota, that’s a team where, I mean after draft night, as a fan, as a journalist, you’re excited about that team. They have great pieces and you can tell how it’s going to mesh together. I think the thing about Golden State that stands out to everyone, is yes, they have Steph Curry. They have a star. But Steph Curry’s a product of that maturation process, you know what I mean? That could be the same case for Karl-Anthony Towns or (Andrew) Wiggins. A lot of that stuff has to deal with how a team is going to develop. You look at a team like the Cavs. That’s centered around LeBron James. I don’t think that’s the case with Golden State or with the Timberwolves.
I think whenever you have a young team with raw talent, you’re going to get excited. But with Minnesota, I think it’s like all those pieces fit really good together and that’s been the case with Golden State, too. Everyone sort of sees Steph Curry as the MVP now, right? Well, Golden State, the reason they grew to a title team, it was the sum of all parts. Who’s going to be the alpha dog for (Minnesota)? That’s kind of what I’m looking at. Because you need that alpha dog. And I remember college (with Wiggins), the question was always if Wiggins can be the alpha dog. I think he’s got it. You’ve got to develop an edge and I think he’s one of those guys who has to develop more of an edge as he grows in his career.
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KR: Speaking of Golden State, some say the best thing to happen to the Warriors and Wolves was that they didn’t swap Klay Thompson for Love. Now it seems like people think Minnesota definitely won that trade with Cleveland. I think it’s probably too early to tell. We’ll probably find out in five-to-seven years. It seems like Thompson wouldn’t have fit in all that well with Minnesota because I’m not sure he can be the best guy on a team. He wouldn’t have been that alpha dog and he wouldn’t have been able to mature like Wiggins. Obviously Golden State didn’t need Love to win the title with the emergence of Draymond Green.
SG: I feel what’s so intriguing to me about the Wolves is that all of these pieces are young. You can really attribute everything that happened with that whole situation. Minnesota was building and now you’re seeing that evolution take place.
If you’re the Cavs, I don’t know if you can sit there and be like ‘yeah, we really wish we had Wiggins.' They’ve got Kevin Love. It was very easy to point that out in the Finals because they could have used anyone that was decent. But I feel like you see a lot of teams and the question is how patient are they going to be? I think patience is the biggest thing that stands out to me here. Everything has fallen into place now. That’s a product of patience. All of the great teams always have that. You need to have superstars, obviously, it’s the NBA. It’s not college basketball. I think completely how that all worked out, the (Cavs) saw a guy who was legit, an NBA All-Star right off the bat.
I think Wiggins will take off. But also you need to draft smart. LaVine was a great pick up. What I love about the Wolves, again, I look at their starting lineup and even guys off the bench and you can tell they are going to play well together. You can tell the pick-and-roll is going to work well. You can tell how the lobs are going to work. You can sense it. And I think it’s different than, let’s take the Heat for example when they had James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Alright. How is that really going to work?
With the Wolves, chemistry is such a big thing that nobody pays attention to. And when you look at the pieces, it’s hard to imagine them not working out.
KR: Totally an unrelated question, but I had this theory going into the draft and it’s kind of a fantasy football theory of mine. You’ve got the eighth pick. Six guys in front of you take running backs and the seventh guy takes a quarterback. And you do the opposite and take a receiver and you just hope that you have the best receivers. That kind of goes with the argument that I would have made for Jahlil Okafor going first. Everyone thinks the Wolves made the right choice with Towns. But just in building a case for a player, with Okafor, it was do the opposite. If the league is going to play from the outside-in, do you think that these big men like Okafor and maybe we’ll see a few more in the future, will be super efficient because nobody will have any idea how to guard them? Or is that crazy talk?
SG: I don’t think that is. I felt this way for a long time. I thought the top-three picks in this draft are No. 1 picks any other year. You draft Towns based on potential and you draft him based on what he’s already got. To me, Okafor was a sure-fire product. You know what you’re getting and to be honest, I don’t think people recognize what they are getting. Coming off your point, his post moves are like 28-year-old post moves. You don’t see that type of footwork from someone his age. And yes, I do feel like he has the potential to be dominant on the low block whereas the in-and-out, the game is evolving, he could really take off. I think he’s going to be an All-Star in his first year. He’s going to be Rookie of the Year. Nothing against Towns. Nothing against, I mean, I really like D’Angelo Russell. But I’m looking at situations and how good Okafor is. I think long-term Towns is going to be incredible. You don’t necessarily know and a lot of that is he’s a product of the Kentucky system and a lot of that is that he hasn’t fully blossomed and that’s also what’s exciting. Okafor, you look at him and there are very few guys when you watch college basketball all year round and you think a guy could abuse dudes in the NBA. That’s what I saw out of Okafor before he got hurt. And that’s the thing people don’t realize. He got hurt. He’s better than half the centers in the league right now. I don’t think you can say that about Towns. I think he’s going to get there.
KR: You’re from the Chicago area. You worked in D.C. Now you’re in Los Angeles. You mentioned Russell. Being in California, you’ve probably seen plenty of his jerseys around. They have Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Kobe Bryant, Lou Williams and Swaggy P. How are they ever going to get along? You saw the introduction with Williams, Brandon Bass and Roy Hibbert. I mean, how awkward was that?
You’re speaking to LA fans about why they should be excited, what are you telling them? And will Kobe kill Swaggy P?
SG: Here’s the thing about D’Angelo Russell that people need to realize. He was drafted instead of Okafor because of his personality and his character. And I think that’s the biggest thing that stands out to me. I can see him getting into it with Kobe Bryant in practice because they both have that fire and that zest. When you have a guy who demands control of the team and he has that charisma as a point guard and he’s a rookie, that’s something to be really, really excited about. Everyone wants to assess the playbook and this is what he does well and in Summer League or whatever… The reason he’s the No. 2 pick in the draft and he’s going to be legit right away is because of everything you don’t see, what happens in the huddle, what happens in practices, that sort of thing. The Lakers didn’t really win anything with free agency. And with what you said about Kobe, you have to accept him for who he is. He’s going to win you five championships with his killer instincts. He’s not going to be your favorite teammate. I think M.J. was the same way. He was not everyone’s favorite teammate. With Kobe, I think D’Angelo compliments Kobe, both at the one and two-guard, positioning-wise, but he also compliments Kobe really well personality-wise. And that’s another thing. When’s the last time LA has had a really good point guard? Even the championship teams. Derek Fisher was an okay point guard, but he’s not an All-Star.
KR: Steve Nash was supposed to be that guy.
SG: Exactly. So if you’re looking at a point guard who could be top-5 within two years on your team. This is a guard-driven league. Two great big men in this draft and it’s a guard-driven league. The Lakers got the best guard. And if you’re talking about building a team, which is what the T’Wolves did, you gotta start somewhere. If you start with a point guard, that’s a pretty great place to start… That’s something that is super promising. That was probably the smartest pick in the draft in a lot of ways.