Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Bubble rolls on, more NBA Draft rumors

The Minnesota Timberwolves continue their In-Market Bubble, and there are more NBA Draft rumors.

This is Day Three of the Minnesota Timberwolves presence on the court as a team in their In-Market Bubble, and the franchise is releasing additional videos of the action.

Also, there are still more NBA Draft rumors, including some question as to whether or not the Wolves will actually be able to deal the No. 1 pick.

Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Bubble rolls on, more NBA Draft rumors

The Wolves video team has been active over the last couple of days, giving us more of a peek inside Mayo Clinic Square and the goings-on during the In-Market Bubble.

https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1309517264756957184

How about a couple of nice finishes from Jarred Vanderbilt at the rim? Josh Okogie had some nice plays in the video as well, and we got to see Jordan McLaughlin‘s impressive first-step on display as well.

And then, some soccer.

https://twitter.com/Timberwolves/status/1309533874532364291

Assistant coach and offensive coordinator Pablo Prigioni chimed in…

Good to see the team out and on the court. Man … it’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report thinks Wolves will keep top pick in draft

Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman ran through his list of NBA draft rumors and decided whether he was “buying” or “selling” each rumor.

The first rumor that he decided to sell is the idea that the Minnesota Timberwolves will trade the No. 1 pick in the draft. Of course, this has been one of the more popular rumors around the league for over a month now, ever since the Wolves won the NBA Draft Lottery.

Here’s what Wasserman says, in part:

"The Wolves figure to show interest in swapping the first pick for an established star, similar to the way the Cleveland Cavaliers did (right after the 2014 draft) when they acquired Kevin Love in a deal for Andrew Wiggins. But as much as Minnesota will wants a player like Devin Booker or Bradley Beal—who’d give the lineup a third star and escape plan from the rebuild/lottery—this year’s first pick doesn’t hold the traditional value of previous No. 1 overall selections.…Unless the Wolves have no real faith in Ball or Edwards, Minnesota will most likely stick at No. 1, draft one of those guards and hope he develops into the team’s third franchise cornerstone."

Wasserman cites high-end trade targets Bradley Beal and Devin Booker and even second-tier targets such as Lauri Markannen, John Collins, and Victor Oladipo. He also repeats many of the arguments we’ve talked about here against each of those players: Markannen’s stagnation, Collins’ defense, and Oladipo’s injury history.

Of course, having to give each of those players contract extensions that will approach the max is likely the primary concern. Trading for Jrue Holiday, who can opt-out of his deal next offseason, carries a similar risk.

Now, this far in advance, it’s far too early to know just how much value this pick has. Rosas and Co. have no doubt been exploring myriad options, and it’s still probably as likely as not that they’ll end up trading the selection.

Or, there’s always the Wiggins-Love example given by Wasserman: the Wolves could take someone at No. 1 and trade him in the weeks that follow.

There are still plenty of scenarios on the table, and we still have more than six weeks to talk about them.