Timberwolves Mock Draft Update: Chad Ford, DraftExpress

‘Tis the season of mock drafts, and with the Timberwolves selecting at fifth-overall later in the month, there are a few constants among ‘expert’ mock drafts around the internet.

We’re three players into our individual draft profiles here at Dunking With Wolves, and we have a number in the pipeline that will hit the site shortly.

But in the interim, it’s important to keep an eye on what the ‘experts’ are saying about the players that the Timberwolves are considering grabbing at #5 when we get to June 23rd.

Of course, nobody has any idea how a Tom Thibodeau-Scott Layden regime will operate, or even what sort of players Thibs values as a front office executive — there simply isn’t much evidence regarding how much say he had with the Chicago Bulls, given the strained (and that’s putting it gently) relationship between head coach and front office in Chi-town.

That said, we can examine Thibodeau’s schemes and the players that received more playing time under Coach Thibs and surmise what that might mean when it comes to President Thibodeau and Coach Thibodeau when they’re one and the same.

On the night of the NBA Draft Lottery back on May 17th, ESPN’s Chad Ford released an updated mock draft that started many of the rumors surrounding the Wolves’ alleged interest in Providence point guard Kris Dunn. The Twin Cities’ own Darren Wolfson added a bit more context, and the steam has certainly not subsided nearly three weeks after the fact.

Indeed, Dunn’s physical profile fits what we might assume Thibodeau favors — a defensive-minded, long, athletic point guard. And depending on Thibs’ thoughts on current de facto point guard Tus Jones, backup point guard is a need.

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But is a turnover-prone rookie who is all-too-similar to the incumbent starter in Ricky Rubio really the answer at #5 overall?

At any rate, Ford has now bumped Dunn up to third-overall in his ESPN Insider mock draft as the Boston Celtics are apparently listening to trade offers as well as considering keeping Dunn (or Kentucky’s Jamal Murray or even Washington’s Marquese Chriss) for themselves after Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram are off the board.

He then has Chriss, who was mocked in the late lottery nearly everywhere just a week or so ago, going at #4 to Phoenix with the Timberwolves selecting Kentucky’s Jamal Murray at #5.

That means that Croation power forward Dragan Bender and Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield would be left on the board with the Wolves grabbing another combo guard in Murray.

It’s tough for me to see Minnesota passing on both Bender and Hield in favor or a player in Murray who is, in many ways, similar to Zach LaVine. Add in the youth factor, and it would genuinely surprise me to see Thibodeau elect to take Murray over a couple of players who are more polished and likely better fits with the Wolves’ current roster.

Elsewhere, the latest DraftExpress mock was updated on June 1st and also has Chriss shooting up the board, but all the way to #3 to Boston. Bender goes #4 to the Suns and the Wolves take Dunn at #5 with Hield and Murray — the two best shooters in the top tiers of the draft — on the board.

Plus, there’s this:

Given all the steam surrounding the Wolves and Dunn, the DraftExpress scenario certainly wouldn’t shock me, although it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Next: Timberwolves Draft Profile: Buddy Hield

We’ll keep a close eye on any developments as we inch closer to the draft. Also, the latest No Frills Wolves Podcast, focusing on some preliminary draft thoughts, will be live here on DWW as well as in iTunes, Stitcher, and SoundCloud later on Saturday.