Minnesota Timberwolves: Winning the lottery can fix the Wolves
By Jaime Tyler
A Fultz house
On Tuesday night, fans will rejoice if they see the Wolves new logo hiding behind envelope number one.
Then, Tom Thibodeau should draft Markelle Fultz, and keep him.
On one hand, the Timberwolves are still early in their development and in the talent acquisition phase.
“Great draft…This is your next phase. We think there will be good opportunity for us. We have a lot of flexibility — cap space, the draft. We know we’re going to get a good pick. We’ll go from there,” Thibodeau continued to Zgoda.
If Markelle Fultz turns out to be as good as advertised, then Minnesota can roll out another shiny new toy on their sparkling new court.
On the other hand, naysayers might argue that teaming Fultz with their already young core may create a contractual conundrum in a couple of years.
Here’s why: Andrew Wiggins will sign the Designated Rookie Scale Player Extension this summer, also known as the five-year max.
Karl-Anthony Towns should ink the same deal next off-season.
The injured Zach LaVine could come back to the court and continue his ascension, thus demanding a probable four-year max.
That’s a whole lotta dough for three Wolves.
Thankfully, due to the new NBA CBA, teams can now offer two five-year max rookie extensions to players on their roster.
Previously, a team could only offer this to one player at a time: David Kahn, Kevin Love, and Ricky Rubio know all about that.
Because the Wolves will, most likely, have both Towns and Wiggins on five-year max extensions three summers from now, the team would not be able to offer Fultz a five-year max contract when his payday arrives.
Pessimists may feel that’s a huge problem for the Timberwolves, justifying the idea of trading Fultz on draft night.
Optimists will say that it’s a great problem to have — three to four All-Stars on one roster! Golden State Warriors, here we come!
Realists will point out that the Wolves should take the best player available and let the chips fall.
Consequently, if Fultz becomes a James Harden type, Zach LaVine and/or Andrew Wiggins suddenly become expendable in a couple of seasons.
Both players, though adored by Wolves’ fans, can be shipped to willing teams in return for other talent or assets.
In short, it’s never a bad thing to have too many great players on an NBA team. The number one pick would certainly go a long way towards fixing the Wolves.
These points, however, may be moot if the Wolves continue their lousy luck in the lottery on Tuesday.
Next: 5 reasons the Timberwolves don't want the first pick
If Minnesota ends up at six or lower, they’re still on the right track towards that championship vision. The fixing, however, may just need a little more elbow grease.