2011 Draft
In 2011, the Wolves held the No. 2 overall pick. They had gone into the lottery with the best odds for the top selection after winning just 17 games the previous season, but the Clippers’ pick owned by the Cleveland Cavaliers that had only a 2.8 percent chance of landing the top spot turned into the No. 1 selection, and the Cavs nabbed Kyrie Irving.
Minnesota took Arizona’s Derrick Williams, the consensus No. 2 pick and presumed stretch-4.
But Williams struggled mightily from the field in the NBA. On the heels of an insane 56.8 percent shooting year from beyond the arc as a sophomore, Williams shot only 29.6 percent on 3-point attempts over his first three seasons as a pro.
His rebounding was every bit as disappointing, as the big man pulled down just 4.9 boards per game in his two-plus seasons with the Wolves. Williams was shipped to Sacramento in November of 2013 in a straight swap for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute as the Wolves continued to try and shore up their rotation in preparation for playoff contention that never truly came about.
Williams went on to play a year-plus with the Kings, generally struggling but playing like an All-Star when facing the Wolves in Minnesota. (Seriously. In his two road games at Target Center following the trade, Williams averaged 21 points and eight rebounds while shooting 40 percent on 3-point attempts.)
Then, Williams played 80 games for the Knicks in 2015-16 before splitting the 2016-17 campaign between playing overseas and appearing for Miami and Cleveland, playing a bit role for the Cavs as they went to the NBA Finals and lost to Golden State. Williams played in two games for the Lakers in 2017-18 and has been playing overseas since.
While he’s still playing and has seen some limited success in the NBA, Williams’ career has been disappointing for a No. 2 pick, and his Wolves career — and the return that Minnesota received when they traded him — was a huge bust.
We’d be remiss to not point out how the rest of the 2012 draft went for the Wolves. Let’s just say that it helped alter the rules related to how much cash teams could recoup in exchange for draft picks, as Wolves executive David Kahn spent most of the night trading backwards.
Here’s a list of players that at one point passed through Minnesota, albeit on paper only: Donatas Motiejunas, Nikola Mirotic, Chandler Parsons, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Norris Cole.
That’s right. All of those players were NBA regulars at one point or another, with everyone but Cole making a significant and positive impact on good teams. But at least the Wolves got some cash back, right?