Minnesota Timberwolves: Grading the 2018 offseason

The Draft – Part Two

After the Timberwolves selected Josh Okogie at No. 20, there was a thought that Wolves could try and package some assets to move up and select another player that may have been high on their draft board.

Duke’s Grayson Allen, Boise State’s Chandler Hutchison, Creighton’s Khyri Thomas, and Ohio State’s Keita Bates-Diop were all players that were thought to at least have some appeal to Minnesota’s front office, and they were all on the board late in the first round.

Instead, the Wolves stood pat and crossed their fingers. And they got lucky.

Somehow, reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Keita Bates-Diop, who was once considered a late-lottery, mid-first-round pick, slid all the way to No. 48. The only real concerns surrounding Bates-Diop seem to be an injury that wiped out much of his junior year — prior to his huge senior year, of course — modest athleticism, and the fact that he’ll turn 23 years old midway through his rookie season.

At any rate, here was my draft night reaction:

"In short, [Bates-Diop’s] physical profile and agility testing at the combine is eerily similar [to the Warriors’ Draymond Green]. Both played four years in the Big Ten and were named the Player of the Year as seniors. And both slid into the second round of their respective draft. Green’s rebounding and assist rates are not insignificant, and given some of the injury issues that Bates-Diop has had, it’s fair to say that his ceiling probably isn’t quite as high as what we’ve seen from Green, who has won an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and already been named to three All-Star teams. But while hitting a home run at No. 48 would be nice, simply knocking a double into the gap and getting a solid rotation player who can play two or three positions would be a huge win. Bates-Diop should have enough size and athleticism to be an effective NBA defender, and he should shoot enough to not be a liability on offense."

Our top current NBA player comparisons for Bates-Diop can be found here. It’s also notable that Bates-Diop’s pure group selected him as this year’s biggest steal of the draft in NBA.com’s annual rookie survey.

As noted on draft night, if the Wolves simply found a solid rotation player that could be a true sixth-man in relatively short order, that is a huge get at pick No. 48. It will be intriguing to see how much Tom Thibodeau lets Bates-Diop on the floor this year, but it certainly seems as though he’ll have a shot to crack the regular rotation.

Grade: A+