Minnesota Timberwolves: History of the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft
By Ben Beecken
The Minnesota Timberwolves have the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Let’s look at the history of the top selection.
The Minnesota Timberwolves landed the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft for only the second time in franchise history.
This draft is already being maligned as relatively weak at the top, but the No. 1 pick is still the No. 1 pick. Not surprisingly, the track record of the top pick is much better than any other spot in the draft’s history.
For their part, the Timberwolves had only landed the top pick once, despite participating in the lottery 22 times in 30 years. Of course, that was in 2015 when they landed All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. (Yes, the Wolves had No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins on the roster and he won Rookie of the Year, but that was following a post-draft trade.)
There were several big drops for the Wolves in the lottery throughout the years. Most notably was in 1992, when Minnesota finished the regular season with just 15 wins and had the best odds to win the No. 1 pick and select LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal. But they dropped to No. 3, missing out on Alonzo Mourning at No. 2 as well and ultimately settling for Christian Laettner.
The next year, the Wolves had the second-best odds but fell to No. 5 while Chris Webber went first. Even the No. 2 through No. 4 picks (Shawn Bradley, Anfernee Hardaway, and Jamal Mashburn) all had better careers than Isaiah Rider, who went to Minnesota at No. 5.
Again in 1994, the Wolves were tied for the second-best odds but fell to No. 4, missing out on Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd, and Grant Hill — the latter two Hall-of-Famers and Robinson a two-time All-Star.
And the beat went on throughout much of the 1990s, with the Wolves’ one significant draft victory being the selection of Kevin Garnett at No. 5 overall in 1995.
Now that Minnesota finally has another crack at the No. 1 pick, it’s worth going back and looking at what the historical hit rate of the top selection has been. While there are several notable busts, having the No. 1 selection has obviously been advantageous.
Let’s start with the players who came nowhere near matching expectations.