Mock draft projects Minnesota Timberwolves to grab a shooting guard
ESPN released a version of their NBA Mock Draft and projected the Minnesota Timberwolves to nab a shooting guard for more depth on the perimeter.
ESPN released their full first and second round mock drafts on Tuesday morning, which was their first mock in six weeks. It’s an ESPN insider article so you’ll need a subscription to check it out.
In case you don’t have Insider, however, I’ll provide you with a sneak peek into the Minnesota Timberwolves pick only.
Jonathan Givony, formerly of DraftExpress, is responsible for creating this beautiful creature that outlines every single pick in next year’s draft.
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Of course, Minnesota is unlikely to draft in their slot, as they owe the Atlanta Hawks a lottery-protected first round pick in 2018. Luckily, the Timberwolves traded for another lottery-protected pick this past summer when they shipped Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz in return for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s pick. That ensures they are highly likely to have a first-rounder this year.
Other than the first round pick status, Minnesota owns their own second-rounder this year as well.
Working on the assumption the Wolves will pick in the 20th spot, ESPN projects them to select Hamidou Diallo, the sophomore shooting guard out of Kentucky.
Diallo would provide some much-needed wing depth for Minnesota and projects to be the perfect type of Tom Thibodeau player; defensive minded. At 6-foot-5 he can guard multiple positions and is very lean and long.
His outside shot leaves a lot to be desired, as he’s only knocking down 29.4 percent of his 3-point attempts so far this season. He will have to improve greatly if he ever wants to fit his 3-and-D projection at the NBA level.
In the second round, Minnesota is projected to take Aleksa Radanov, a 19-year-old small forward playing professional basketball in Serbia. It’s unknown if Radanov would come over right away or if he would continue developing overseas.
Regardless, it’s obvious Minnesota’s focus is on shoring up their perimeter play, as their lack of depth has been horribly apparent this season.
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There’s a long time to go until draft season and a lot more information to be collected. I’m sure these projections will be changed 100 times over, but it’s fun to get an early look at who Thibodeau and co. may be considering.