The Minnesota Timberwolves have drafted 18 players in the past decade with their own pick, while only 8 of them are still in the league.
As we get closer to draft time for Minnesota, I thought it would be only right to remind you the travesties that this state has had to go through with the Timberwolves’ franchise.
Only 8 players still in the NBA of the 18 drafted in over a decade for the Minnesota Timberwolves, how ridiculous is that? In order, those players include – Corey Brewer, Ricky Rubio, Wayne Ellington, Wesley Johnson, Zach LaVine, Glenn Robinson III, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Kris Dunn.
There are numerous other players that were traded for after being drafted by another team, like Andrew Wiggins from the Cavaliers, those players were not added to that final number of 18. Although, if you do the math, it would be 32 players taken in the draft for the Timberwolves over the past decade, and only 16 of them are currently in the league – not much better.
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These ratios are startling considering Minnesota has been out of the playoffs – prior to this year – 13 seasons in a row. You would think a team with that many draft picks in the lottery would’ve came out on top with more than just Towns or Wiggins.
Using the picks as collateral instead of assets has really hurt the potential success of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ franchise.
If the franchise decides to move in a different direction in terms of drafting, now is the right time to try, because some of their draftees have been horrible. I’ll give you my best shot at picking the top five worst over the past decade, it definitely wasn’t easy (with number one being the worst).
While Kris Dunn proved to be a really helpful addition to the Chicago Bulls this season, he was a mistake as the 5th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Some might argue that it’s too early to tell with Dunn, but I believe it’s fairly obvious that even with the addition of Jimmy Butler after trading Dunn, the amount of players the Wolves could have gotten at the 5th pick proves to negate the Butler trade.
Even drafting these players wouldn’t be a bad idea – Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray, Domantas Sabonis, Taurean Prince, Denzel Valentine, Caris LeVert, Pascal Siakam, Dejounte Murray, or future Rookie of the Year, Malcom Brodgon.
You may think that Dunn has better upside than some of those guys, and that may be true. But, the idiocy of Minnesota for not trading down once knowing that the talent level wasn’t very different from the 5th pick to the 30th pick, was completely moronic.
Being able to trade down and snag a couple of these players would’ve proved to be more helpful to Minnesota’s long-term goals than the current Jimmy Butler rental they are on. After one year with Minnesota, the Timberwolves took their opportunity and traded Dunn, Zach LaVine, and their 7th pick (Lauri Markannen), to the Chicago Bulls.
Now looking back at it, the Wolves may have been better off keeping all three of those assets for future success or to just have more young assets – therefore making Kris Dunn number five on this list of stupidity.
Corey Brewer is well-known around Minnesota for scoring his famous 51 point game in 2014 for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Brewer makes this list due to not living up to his high potential. Brewer was the 7th pick of the 2007 NBA Draft, leaving out numerous possibilities with that 7th pick.
Unlike Kris Dunn’s draft, the talent pool in this draft was some of the worst in NBA history. The best players being – Kevin Durant, Al Horford, Mike Conley, Jeff Green, all were drafted by the time the Wolves got to the 7th pick. And that’s literally all the players that you may qualify as a ‘good’ player.
Being a lottery pick has a certain high expectation, but being a top-7 pick will give any team several opportunities to make some solid moves, except the Timberwolves.
The best example for 2007 is when the Celtics made a trade for Ray Allen from the SuperSonics, this is a move that would’ve helped the Timberwolves. The Celtics knew that the draft talent wasn’t very good after players like Durant and Horford, so making the decision to trade for Allen was a simple one.
But, I guess, Boston is a historical franchise, so maybe I’m being to harsh on Minnesota in this one. I took a second and thought about it, and I decided I’ll be hard on them – I tried.
This Corey Brewer pick, much like the Kris Dunn pick, was just lazy. You could see from Brewer’s time at the University of Florida that he was essentially carried by Al Horford and Joakim Noah, now that’s not to say Brewer hasn’t been a solid NBA player, but not top-10 pick worthy.
The only case Minnesota has to argue here is that there weren’t any other options, but that’s wrong, if you do your research you would’ve made a Ray Allen type deal, or even trade for future picks down-the-road.
Wesley Johnson was the 4th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, can you believe it? Same.
There were some really great players taken after Johnson that would’ve easily placed him in the 2nd spot on this list, but it was a toss-up.
Johnson was taken ahead of DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward, Paul George, Eric Bledsoe, Avery Bradley, can you still believe it? It was an unfortunate move by the Timberwolves, especially because you think they would’ve learned from the past couple years (Corey Brewer, Jonny Flynn).
Having All-Star’s like – DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward, or even Paul George, would’ve easily turned the franchise in a different direction – or maybe just the direction of Cousins’ Sacramento Kings (you never know). Although, it would’ve been a different direction than the next few years, which were terrible.
Although, a player like Paul George could’ve possibly turned the franchise around like he did with Indiana.
Johnson ended up playing two seasons in Minnesota before getting traded for three 2nd round picks, which didn’t turn into anything of value. Unfortunately, Johnson has been a journeyman throughout his career, much like Corey Brewer. In fact, the two players have had eerily similar careers, playing the same positions and being put in the same systems going from team-to-team.
Can you guess the final two? If so, we apologize for the travesty of being a Minnesota fan over the past decade. We’re good now, right? RIGHT?
Derrick Williams is the 2nd player on our list for one reason and one reason only, he is one of the worst 2nd picks of all-time. Yes, he was the 2nd pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Not only is the 2nd pick a great asset in trade-value, much like the past slides of players, but the 2nd pick in the draft has enough value to trade for an All-Star.
Players that were taken ahead of Williams were not bad, like at all, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Morris twins, Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, Kenneth Faried, Nikola Mirotic, Reggie Jackson, and yes, Jimmy Butler.
Oh how irony finds its way to all of us (Jimmy Butler), this was a really terrible choice from Minnesota.
I don’t think anyone can comprehend how different Minnesota’s franchise would be after some of these selections from above. Such as, Walker, Thompson, Leonard, or obviously Jimmy Butler.
In fact, if it wasn’t for my complete distraught when the Timberwolves drafted our next selection, Williams would’ve been the easiest choice out of the Timberwolves worst picks of all-time. DW didn’t last in Minnesota for three seasons, quickly being traded to the Sacramento Kings where he was less utilized than he was in Minnesota – some how.
Derrick Williams, again, much like Corey Brewer and Wesley Johnson, has been a floater for the majority of his career and will continue to be one.
Can you guess the worst Minnesota Timbewolves draft pick of all-time? It’s probably the same as our choice, for saddening reasons. I’ll give you a hint, Stephen Curry is one of my favorite players of all-time, so I’m furious.
It doesn’t help Jonny Flynn’s case when I look for his pictures on Getty Images that no-name actors come up before he does, hurts my feelings even more. Jonny Flynn was the 6th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, right after Minnesota’s 5th pick, Ricky Rubio.
Here’s the kicker, the 7th pick was, two-time MVP Stephen Curry. Missing out on All-Star’s with a bad pick in the lottery is one thing, doing it several years in a row is another thing, BUT, taking two players that aren’t All-Star’s directly in front of the best shooter of all time has to be one of the dumbest moves of all time, if not the worst.
Ricky Rubio is a fan-favorite, but Jonny Flynn’s career began and ended the night he was drafted – barely doing anything for Minnesota after his first season.
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To make matter’s worse, DeMar DeRozan was taken with the 9th pick in the draft. Meaning, the Timberwolves could have a franchise with DeRozan and Curry right now, instead they have neither Rubio or Flynn.
There were some other good players taken in this draft, but as you can tell, Minnesota during this past decade has failed miserably in their front office when it comes to young guys. It took them over a decade to find a bona-fide All-Star in, Karl-Anthony Towns, so I guess it’s worth it?
Not sure, but what we can take from these alarming picks is that it’s not a coincidence when you take some of the leagues most useless players with lottery picks for almost ten years straight, right?
By the way, Jonny and I share a last name, so shout out Flynn.
Too soon?