Minnesota Timberwolves: History of the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft
The Best No. 1 Picks of All-Time
This is not a hard list to pull. Unsurprisingly, much of the league’s best talent has been drafted No. 1 overall.
Magic Johnson was the clear No. 1 choice in 1979. In the next decade, James Worthy (1982), Hakeem Olajuwon (1984), Patrick Ewing (1985), and David Robinson (1987) were all slam-dunk choices with the top pick and eventual Hall-of-Famers.
The 1990s saw O’Neal go first in 1992, Chris Webber in 1993, Allen Iverson in 1996, and Tim Duncan in 1997.
Then, three straight years of Yao Ming, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard straightened out the 2000s after Kwame Brown had been picked first in 2001.
Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin, John Wall, Kyrie Irving, and Anthony Davis all went first-overall consecutively from 2008 to 2012. While it hasn’t all been gravy, especially from an injury perspective for Rose, Griffin and Wall, the five are all multi-time All-Stars and have combined for 27 appearances in their careers. Rose won an MVP award and Irving was a key member of a championship team.
Recently, Towns in 2015 and Ben Simmons in 2016 appear to be home-run picks, with the jury still out on the likes of Fultz in 2017, Deandre Ayton in 2018, and Zion Williamson in 2019.
Suffice it to say, any list with names like Olajuwon, Robinson, O’Neal, Duncan, and LeBron on it is one that the Wolves will take their chances on.
Besides, they’ve already won the lottery once. Now they just need luck to fall their way again when it comes to their actual selection at No. 1 on Oct. 16…