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NBA Draft: Front office thoughts on Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop

By Trey Flynn

ATLANTA, GA FEBRUARY 17: Georgia Tech's Josh Okogie (5) looks at the floor as his team was down by more than 25 points during the game between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech on February 17, 2018 at Hank McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, GA. The Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by a score of 76 56. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA FEBRUARY 17: Georgia Tech's Josh Okogie (5) looks at the floor as his team was down by more than 25 points during the game between Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech on February 17, 2018 at Hank McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, GA. The Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by a score of 76 56. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves’ coaches and front office members were asked questions about their two new draft picks – here’s what they had to say.

The Timberwolves used their 20th pick in the draft to select Josh Okogie and their 48th pick to select Keita Bates-Diop.

Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Tom Thibodeau, along with General Manager Scott Layden, addressed the media after their draft selections Thursday night. Both Thibs and Layden were adamant about both players being extremely young prospects with a ton of potential, honing in on being fortunate enough to get both of their favorite prospects.

When asked about their first and second round picks, Thibodeau almost gave us his first smile of 2018.

"Via, NBA.com“The versatility of both guys is important for our team. Josh has an ability to play a lot of positions and played both sides of the ball really well at Georgia Tech – he has great length and athleticism. Kieta is such a versatile player and really showed that at Ohio State.”"

When asked about the minutes that both players could get in the future, Tom Thibodeau cut off a media member and was quick to say, ‘we’ll see’ in his nicest Thibs voice.

Which is the typical Thibs approach to minutes with young guys, but he did add that the league is changing and the usage of young guys to help on switching defensively is becoming more popular, so maybe … that’s a good sign?

Ultimately, Thibs just got two players with over 7’0″ wing spans and he almost has no other options in whether to use them or not, especially with Jamal Crawford opting-out.

Thibs did seem ‘excited’ about the different ways he could use Josh Okogie on both sides of the ball due to his athleticism and size. But, he seemed genuinely surprised about the Wolves selecting Bates-Diop, Thibs said that the fact he was still there was attributed to how similar a lot of the players were after pick no. 15.

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Scott Layden went on to thank all of the scouts for the Timberwolves and really wanted to shout them out for taking the time to speak with players such as Josh Okogie and Keita Bates-Diop. Layden said the Wolves were fortunate for being able to have both of those players at their personal combine before the draft.

Both Thibodeau and Layden seemed to be excited about both of their selections, and their may even be some minutes for the two rookies … maybe.