It doesn’t matter if the Minnesota Timberwolves slip in the lottery
Chances are the Minnesota Timberwolves will pick sixth in this summer’s draft. However, it is no big deal if they slip a few spots.
If everything goes according to plan the Minnesota Timberwolves will be drafting no higher than sixth in the June draft.
It would be icing on the cake if they landed in the top three, but they will more than likely stay put at the sixth spot. It also wouldn’t be a huge hit if they slipped to the seventh, eighth or ninth spot in the draft as well.
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There have already been some whispers this offseason that the Wolves will be looking to move their pick for a proven veteran. If that’s the case then yes, it will matter if they fall.
However, if they keep the pick and ultimately, the player they draft with that pick, then it won’t matter whether they are picking sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth.
As my colleague, Jamie Tyler, pointed out this week, the Timberwolves have had the worst lottery luck in NBA history.
If that horrible luck is to continue, the Wolves won’t suffer much loss in this draft.
Some fans are enamored with the idea of Minnesota selecting Jonathan Isaac, the dynamic freshman out of Florida State, with their first round pick. Chances are that Isaac will be gone though, even by the sixth pick of the draft.
I agree that he would be a great acquisition for the Timberwolves. He can play either the three or the four and has a very high ceiling.
Unfortunately, chances are that Isaac will be gone by the time the Wolves would be on the clock at number six.
If Isaac is gone, the rest of the players projected to go in the six to nine range, with the exception of one man, are mostly players the Timberwolves will hardly look at.
Players like Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox, Dennis Smith Jr, and Frank Ntilikina are all players that don’t fit well with Minnesota.
All of them, besides Monk, play point guard and aren’t good enough talents for the Wolves to consider drafting with the likes of Ricky Rubio and Kris Dunn already on their roster.
Monk is a great scorer but at 6-foot-3 it would be hard to fit him on the court at the same time as Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins, and Rubio.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying they aren’t great players because they are. However, it would be extremely difficult justifying drafting a player at a loaded position when there are huge needs at other positions on the roster.
The one player who Minnesota is interested in is Lauri Markkanen.
Markannen is a 7-foot shooter out of Arizona and fills both a position of need and an area of weakness for the Timberwolves.
If all of the players mentioned above are still on the board, along with Markkanen, Markkanen is more than likely the man the Wolves pick. Therefore, it won’t matter if the Wolves pick him with the sixth or the ninth pick in the draft.
With all of that being said, I hope Minnesota is able to snap their awful unlucky streak and jump into the top three. They would be able to add another playmaker and potential future All-Star to their already talented roster.
Next: Timberwolves chances of winning the 2017 lottery
However, if they don’t jump up, they will live with the results, sixth pick or ninth pick.