A look at the Timberwolves’ lottery position (here we go again)

It’s the time of year during which Timberwolves fans take a look at the lottery odds and the players that might be available when their favorite team is on the clock.

Timberwolves fans: you know the drill. It’s March, and that means that it’s time for some draft talk.

But, hey, we made it past the midway point of March before the need arose to fully delve into the mock drafts, lottery projections, and potential fits between prospects and the Wolves’ current roster. Late March is certainly an improvement.

Over the past couple of weeks, as the Timberwolves have faded quickly in the Western Conference playoff race, draft articles have become more and more relevant around these parts.

Earlier in the week, ESPN’s Chad Ford (the full article is an ESPN Insider piece) had the Wolves slotted in at #6 in June’s draft, sandwiched between Orlando and Sacramento. The selection? Florida State’s Jonathan Isaac, a 6′-11″ forward with the capability to stretch the floor but not much in the way of defensive chops.

Isaac notched a 17-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist game in a first-round win over Florida Gulf Coast during the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and his 34.8 percent mark from beyond the arc is great. But consistency and toughness were not the freshman’s strong suit — both qualities taht Tom Thibodeau will be searching for in any new draft selections that he might bring into the fold.

Of course, many folks have long thought that Coach Thibs would try his best to move any first-round draft selection this year. After all, the team’s top-three minutes-getters for the majority of the season were all age-21 and under. And it’s hard to see Thibodeau believing that still more youth would be the best thing for his already painfully young nucleus.

But trading away a top-10 (and possibly even top-five, depending on how the final two-plus weeks of the season play out) isn’t always the easiest thing to do. The perceived value of those selections is all over the place, and the safest thing to do is to simply pick the best player available and figure it out later.

Next: Revisiting Wrong Preseason Timberwolves Predictions

This is a situation to keep a close eye on, as anything could change from mid-April until the draft at the end of June. And remember: Tom Thibodeau has yet to pull the trigger on a trade as the head of the front office. It’ll happen eventually, but when?