5. History of top picks not panning out
The Minnesota Timberwolves do not have the best history of their draft picks panning out, especially their top picks.
Dating all the way back to Minnesota’s initial season in 1989 they have had a slew of top ten picks. Those picks have rarely worked in the Timberwolves’ favor.
In the 27 years of Timberwolves’ existence, they have selected a player in the top 10 18 times. That even includes five years where Minnesota did not hold a first round pick.
Basically, Minnesota has had a bunch of bad teams throughout franchise history struggle to find top notch talent at the top of the draft.
When you throw out names like Felton Spencer, Isaiah Rider, Donyell Marshall, and Randy Foye you can see Timberwolves’ fans physically cringing at their littered past.
| Tota | Per | Per | Per | Adva | Adva | Adva | Adva | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Lg | Rd | Pk | Player | College | G | PTS | TRB | AST | WS | WS/48 | BPM | VORP |
| 2016 | NBA | 1 | 5 | Kris Dunn | Providence College | 78 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 0.1 | .004 | -2.2 | -0.1 |
| 2015 | NBA | 1 | 1 | Karl-Anthony Towns | University of Kentucky | 164 | 21.7 | 11.4 | 2.3 | 20.9 | .178 | 4.0 | 8.5 |
| 2013 | NBA | 1 | 9 | Trey Burke | University of Michigan | 267 | 10.6 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 5.9 | .043 | -2.5 | -0.9 |
| 2011 | NBA | 1 | 2 | Derrick Williams | University of Arizona | 426 | 8.9 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 14.1 | .076 | -3.2 | -2.6 |
| 2010 | NBA | 1 | 4 | Wesley Johnson | Syracuse University | 497 | 7.5 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 9.0 | .038 | -1.2 | 2.3 |
| 2009 | NBA | 1 | 5 | Ricky Rubio | 353 | 10.3 | 4.2 | 8.5 | 23.2 | .099 | 1.3 | 9.2 | |
| 2009 | NBA | 1 | 6 | Jonny Flynn | Syracuse University | 163 | 9.2 | 1.9 | 3.9 | -1.1 | -0.015 | -4.9 | -2.7 |
| 2008 | NBA | 1 | 3 | O.J. Mayo | University of Southern California | 547 | 13.8 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 21.8 | .062 | -0.8 | 5.1 |
| 2007 | NBA | 1 | 7 | Corey Brewer | University of Florida | 711 | 9.2 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 19.2 | .054 | -1.0 | 4.1 |
| 2006 | NBA | 1 | 6 | Brandon Roy | University of Washington | 326 | 18.8 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 37.4 | .155 | 3.2 | 15.2 |
| 1999 | NBA | 1 | 6 | Wally Szczerbiak | Miami University | 651 | 14.1 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 53.3 | .127 | 0.5 | 12.8 |
| 1996 | NBA | 1 | 5 | Ray Allen | University of Connecticut | 1300 | 18.9 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 145.1 | .150 | 3.0 | 58.1 |
| 1995 | NBA | 1 | 5 | Kevin Garnett | 1462 | 17.8 | 10.0 | 3.7 | 191.4 | .182 | 5.4 | 94.0 | |
| 1994 | NBA | 1 | 4 | Donyell Marshall | University of Connecticut | 957 | 11.2 | 6.7 | 1.4 | 59.0 | .113 | 1.0 | 19.1 |
| 1993 | NBA | 1 | 5 | Isaiah Rider | University of Nevada, Las Vegas | 563 | 16.7 | 3.8 | 2.7 | 22.8 | .061 | -1.2 | 3.6 |
| 1992 | NBA | 1 | 3 | Christian Laettner | Duke University | 868 | 12.8 | 6.7 | 2.6 | 64.9 | .121 | 1.6 | 23.2 |
| 1991 | NBA | 1 | 7 | Luc Longley | University of New Mexico | 567 | 7.2 | 4.9 | 1.5 | 17.5 | .070 | -1.5 | 1.5 |
| 1990 | NBA | 1 | 6 | Felton Spencer | University of Louisville | 640 | 5.2 | 5.4 | 0.3 | 20.9 | .081 | -2.6 | -1.9 |
| 1989 | NBA | 1 | 10 | Pooh Richardson | University of California, Los Angeles | 639 | 11.1 | 2.8 | 6.5 | 26.7 | .066 | -0.9 | 5.5 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
More recently, Minnesota has seen the likes of Jonny Flynn (sixth overall), Wesley Johnson (fourth overall), Derrick Williams (second overall), and Kris Dunn (fifth overall) not pan out as hoped. Well, it’s way too early to rule out Dunn, even at 23 years old, the books have already been written on Johnson and Williams’ bust statuses.
I would never, but some fans might even throw Ricky Rubio‘s name on that list.
With very few exceptions like Kevin Garnett and Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves have botched their chances at high draft picks.
Nobody knows for sure that the Wolves will mess up the chance to choose between multiple talented players, but given their track record, we wouldn’t be surprised if they did.