Minnesota Timberwolves: Top 30 greatest players of all-time

• Five seasons with Timberwolves (2013-present)
• Averaging 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game

As the 21st pick in the 2013 draft, Gorgui Dieng was part of a draft night trade, acquired along with Shabazz Muhammad (pick No. 14), in exchange for Trey Burke, who was selected with the No. 9 pick.

Despite being the lowest draft selection of the trio, Dieng has been the best NBA player of the three, and it hasn’t been particularly close. He also far outpaces both Muhammad and Burke in career earnings, having signed a massive contract extension in the fall of 2016.

Despite being drafted as a 24-year-old after winning a national championship at Louisville, Dieng didn’t play much early in his rookie season under head coach Rick Adelman. He eventually earned his way on to the court, however, even starting 15 games out of his 60 appearances during the 2013-14 campaign.

The next year, Dieng averaged 30 minutes per game under Flip Saunders for a 16-win squad, scoring 9.7 points and grabbing 8.3 rebounds per contest. The next year, Dieng played in all 82 games with interim coach Sam Mitchell at the helm.

Then, after signing his contract extension, Dieng shifted from center to power forward to start alongside second-year sensation Karl-Anthony Towns and started all 82 games at the four in Tom Thibodeau’s first year in Minnesota. He averaged 10 points and a career-high 7.9 rebounds per game and added a decent 3-point shot, hitting on 37.2 percent of 43 attempts on the year, including 45.2 percent from the corners.

The Wolves’ acquisition of Taj Gibson in the summer of 2017 meant that Dieng was relegated to a bench role. Despite being expected to be the third big man in the rotation, backing up both Gibson and Towns, Dieng only played the ninth-most minutes on the team, and his 16.9 minutes per game were his lowest since his rookie season.

Dieng is a capable third big and should be logging somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes on a nightly basis. He’s best used in the pick-and-roll game with a pass-first point guard; his most effective years were when he played heavy minutes alongside Ricky Rubio.

Dieng remains on the roster and figures to be a key member of the rotation in 2017-18, especially with the departure of stretch-four Nemanja Bjelica in free agency. His contract will be tough to trade, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see the fifth-year big man on the trade market in the coming months, either.