Dunking With Wolves
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Wolves interested in Kevon Looney at end of first round?

By Ben Beecken

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There have been a number of rumors lately suggesting that Flip Saunders is exploring packaging the 31st and 36th overall picks together for a selection that would fall in the back end of the first round.

On it’s face it seems a bit crazy. The Wolves already have a host of young players still on their expensive, guaranteed first-round contracts: Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Adreian Payne, Anthony Bennett, and Gorgui Dieng. They will already have one of the top-four picks in this June’s draft, meaning that they’ll be adding another high-priced contract to the fold.

They also are short on depth, so adding a couple of high second-rounders on non-guaranteed deals seems to make a lot of sense. Or maybe the move is to draft one player domestically that will play this year and stash another prospect overseas to stock some more assets and talent. But moving two valuable second-round selections for the right to add another guaranteed contract to the books is iffy.

Consider this, however: the Wolves have a recent track record of selling or essentially giving away second-round picks. If the alternative is landing a solid prospect late in the first round, it’s certainly preferable.

In the event that they move up the ladder to a pick somewhere in the 20’s, Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 in the Twin Cities suggests that UCLA power forward Kevon Looney could be in the conversation.

It obviously looks like it’s far from a sure thing that he’d be the target, especially with local favorite, Final Four star and former Duke Blue Devil Tyus Jones likely still on the board at that time, but it’s apparently a real possibility.

And honestly…it’s hard for me to believe. Not because Looney isn’t a good prospect of course — he’d be a borderline steal late in the first round. But because of the current roster imbalance and the Wolves’ track record of drafting in a savvy manner.

Looney is a bit undersized at 6′-9″, but has an outstanding wingspan of 7′-3.5″ that was measured at the draft combine last week. He shot 41.5% from three-point range as a freshman while attempting 1.5 long-balls per contest. Most intriguing, however, was his 16.6% rebounding rate — 22.6% on the defensive boards and 10.9% on the offensive end of the floor. In other words, he puts that wingspan to good use by combining it with some serious instincts and athleticism on the glass.

The power forward position is an underwhelming logjam right now, as we’ve discussed at great lengths here at DWW. The Wolves would have to give away Anthony Bennett as he has zero trade value, but that might even be an impossibility. Saunders has far too much faith that 24 year-old, second-year player Adreian Payne will turn into something useful, and both of those players stand in the way of Looney receiving any meaningful minutes in the near future.

But count me intrigued by the possibility. There’s little doubt he’d come in and be better than Bennett and Payne from Day One, but it’s up to the Wolves to a) pull off the trade and b) select the right player, and there doesn’t seem to be too high of a likelihood that both of those things happen.

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