Dunking With Wolves
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Minnesota Timberwolves: Learning team-building from small markets

By Kris Norton

D'Angelo Russell is a huge part of what the Minnesota Timberwolves are doing. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
D'Angelo Russell is a huge part of what the Minnesota Timberwolves are doing. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Timberwolves, Karl-Anthony Towns
Karl-Anthony Towns poses with Commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted first overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Minnesota Timberwolves: Learning team-building from the Denver Nuggets

Can the Timberwolves hit on draft picks at a similar rate as the Nuggets?

This is the Denver Nuggets route: we’re keeping our picks, and we’re drafting stars.

By going this route, you likely believe that one (or more) of the following is true:

  • There is a clear-cut No. 1 prospect, and Gersson Rosas will find him.
  • A young, budding star meshes better with the Towns/Russell timeline.
  • The Timberwolves can match the Denver Nuggets’ success in the NBA Draft.

Regardless of sport or league, drafts are a crapshoot. Generational prospects like LeBron James are “generational” for a reason. For everyone else, the best scouts in the world spend countless hours poring over game tape, box scores, and conducting interviews with anyone who’s ever sneezed in the same room as the prospect.

It’s an inexact science. Many productive players, even stars, fall far enough to warrant a head scratch in hindsight. Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t selected in the lottery; Kawhi Leonard went No. 15 overall. Since 2014, you’d be hard-pressed to find a team more adept at scooping talent outside the top five than the Denver Nuggets.

Here are the Nugget’s notable draft selections since 2014:

  • 2019: Bol Bol (44th)
  • 2018: Michael Porter Jr. (14th)
  • 2017: Monte Morris (51st)
  • 2016: Jamal Murray (7th), Juan Hernangomez (15th), Malik Beasley (19th)
  • 2015: Emmanuel Mudiay (7th)
  • 2014: Nikola Jokic (41st)

The Nuggets have been able to establish their own core of players through the draft even while trading away rights to the selections that saw Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and Doug McDermott drafted.

Maybe you’re willing to test your luck in the draft; maybe swapping picks for established players has gained some appeal.