Dunking With Wolves
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Timberwolves must not draft Kristaps Porzingis

By Ryan Heuer

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As a young team with a few promising pieces, those in the Timberwolves organization believe the team can use its high pick in this June’s NBA draft to finally, hopefully, begin a tradition of winning basketball in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Minnesota finds out later this month where it will pick, with the possibility of picking anywhere from 1-4. While fans everywhere are dreading the seeming-inevitability of landing at No. 4, head coach and President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders thinks the team can get a great player at any of those four spots.

When most people think of who could go in the top-4, guys like Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell, Justise Winslow, and Emmanuel Mudiay come to mind.

Kristaps Porzingis? Not so much. I’m not even totally convinced that’s a real name, but I digress.

Porzingis is a Latvian power forward who stands at 7-1 but only weighs 220 pounds. He’s averaging 10.6 points and 4.8 rebounds this season.

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According to this scouting report from DraftExpress, he lacks strength and has zero inside game. Porzingis’ calling card is that he’s a big man who can shoot, but he’s only hitting on 31% of his three-point attempts this season, and that’s from the Euro three-point line.

Multiple reports, many by KSTP’s Darren Wolfson, say that Flip is a big fan of Porzingis. Saunders recently went on a scouting trip to Europe, primarily to watch Porzingis.

While Porzingis has drawn comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki, I’m not buying it. Remember when Nikoloz Tskitishvili drew comparisons to Dirk prior to the 2002 draft? The Nuggets took him fifth overall and he lasted a mere six seasons in the NBA, averaging 2.9 points and 0.7 rebounds for his career.

Even if people thought Porzingis maybe had a chance to become a No. 1 option like Dirk, would the risk be worth it? The Wolves are on the longest active playoff drought in the NBA. They haven’t finished over .500 in a decade. They finally may have caught a break with Andrew Wiggins in the fold. The Timberwolves need to salvage this 16-win season by getting a franchise cornerstone, because the current core of the team probably won’t be good enough to make a deep playoff run. Why take a huge risk by reaching for the ultimate boom-or-bust prospect?

If Minnesota falls to No. 4, Flip and Co. should draft Justise Winslow or Emmanuel Mudiay. Winslow is an incredible defender — Duke’s defensive efficiency was 92.8 with him on the floor this season. It goes without saying that Minnesota needs help on defense, as it finished last in the NBA in defensive efficiency at 109.6.

While the Timberwolves have a logjam on the wings, there isn’t much of a long-term commitment to many of them. Kevin Martin will be a free agent in two years, Chase Budinger will be after this coming season, and it is looking more and more like Anthony Bennett isn’t in the team’s long-term plans. I envision that a team with Wiggins and Winslow starting at the 2 and 3, backed up by Zach LaVine and Shabazz Muhammad, would be electric.

As for Mudiay, he would bring much-needed leadership to the Timberwolves’ second unit. Minnesota would finally have a competent backup point guard to run an exciting Wolves’ bench. As I wrote last week, that’s something the Wolves have sorely needed for years.

The Wolves are in an exciting spot right now. This draft could make or break the future of the franchise. If they fall to No. 4, it won’t be the end of the world, but Flip needs to be smart and draft the right player. Here’s hoping that it isn’t Porzingis.

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