Dunking With Wolves
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Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks of the last 10 years: Where are they now?

By Ben Beecken

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 21: Ricky Rubio #9 of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors. (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 21: Ricky Rubio #9 of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors. (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves, Robbie Hummel
SACRAMENTO, CA – APRIL 7: Robbie Hummel #4 of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

2012 Draft

The 2012 draft came following a 26-40 season in Year One under head coach Rick Adelman, which was the 2011 lockout season.

The Wolves’ original pick, which fell at No. 8 after the lottery, belonged to the Hornets via the Clippers as it had been shipped to L.A. in the ill-fated Sam Cassell-for-Marko Jaric swap several years prior. The Wolves did hold the No. 18 pick in the draft due to the Al Jefferson trade, however.

But Minnesota wanted to shore up their rotation with win-now talent on the heels of what was almost a playoff campaign, staying in the playoff picture until Ricky Rubio tore his ACL in March of 2012. The Wolves expected Kevin Love and Rubio to blossom together on the heels of Love’s second consecutive All-Star campaign and Rubio’s expected return from injury in the midst of the season.

So the Wolves shipped the No. 18 pick to the Houston Rockets for Chase Budinger. The move made sense, as Budinger was coming off of a season in which he shot north of 40 percent from beyond the arc and was just 23 years old. The hope was that he could become a viable 3-and-D option for the Wolves as they developed Rubio and Love together.

But Budinger tore the meniscus in his knee in the sixth game of the season and didn’t return until late March, when the Wolves were already in a hole in the standing with a record of 23-42. He was re-signed in the offseason but re-injured his knee that summer and was never the same again.

Also notable is that Love broke his hand in the infamous “knuckle pushup” incident that fall, and after re-injuring the hand during the season, appeared in just 18 games as the Wolves went 31-51.

The Wolves’ only other pick in 2012 was Purdue’s Robbie Hummel, selected with the third-to-last pick in the entire draft. He played overseas and didn’t join the team in Minnesota until the 2013-14 season. Hummel was a decent rotation player, although his 3-point percentage of 34.3 percent was never quite where it needed to be to make up for his defensive shortcomings and limited offensive game.