Nets likely to convey pick to Minnesota Timberwolves this year

The Minnesota Timberwolves, in all likelihood, will retain the Brooklyn Nets’ first-round draft selection.

Believe it or not, the race for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference affects the Minnesota Timberwolves. With the top-6 seeds all have clinched playoff berths, only the Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets, and Washington Wizards are playing to secure their spot in the postseason.

The Timberwolves acquired the Nets’ first-round draft selection when they made the decision to trade Robert Covington to the Houston Rockets as part of the huge 4-team-12-player trade just before the trade deadline back in February.

The pick, then held by the Atlanta Hawks, was acquired back before the 2019 draft that freed up salary cap room for Brooklyn to sign both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

The Nets, who have neither of those players in the NBA’s restart due to injury, had a chance to fall into the lottery, in which case they would retain their pick, as per their protections. That would mean the Timberwolves received a 2021 first-round pick from the Nets, rather than any draft selections this year.

This past Sunday, the Wizards (five games back from the eighth seed) played against the Nets, resulting in a Brooklyn win. The Nets currently sit 6.5 games ahead of the Wizards in the Eastern Conference standings.

Washington, much like Brooklyn, does not have either of their star players (John Wall and Bradley Beal). FiveThirtyEight gives the Wizards less than a 1-percent chance of obtaining the eighth seed.

In order to qualify for the play-in, the Wizards would have to come within four games of the Nets – and to get into the playoffs they would have to beat Brooklyn twice (again, very unlikely).

This means that, in all likelihood, the Minnesota Timberwolves will have the 15th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, in addition to their own first and second-round picks. Tankathon has the Wolves ranked first in terms of overall draft capital.