The Minnesota Timberwolves have a plethora of options as the draft takes place tonight at 7 PM EST (6 PM CT) on ESPN.
The Minnesota Timberwolves own the first overall pick in addition to the 17th and 33rd overall selections. This year’s draft is considered one of the weaker over the past few years, but there is still some notable names at the top: Georgia wing Anthony Edwards and Illawarra Hawks guard LaMelo Ball.
The Timberwolves jumped from the third to first pick in the NBA lottery, and are expected to select one of the two players mentioned (Edwards or Ball).
Another alternative option is that Minnesota decides to trade the pick as a whole, however there are no concrete rumors as of right now on that end – other than a possible deal with the Charlotte Hornets that was floated several days ago (but does not seem to have gained any traction).
The current betting favorite to become the first overall pick is Anthony Edwards. Most leading sports outlets have him as the projected first overall pick: including ESPN (both Mike Schmitz and Jonathan Givony), Sports Illustrated (Jeremy Woo), the Athletic (Sam Vecenie), and Bleacher Report (Jonathan Wasserman). Still, though, nothing is set in stone – and it appears that the Wolves are keeping all options on the table.
There should be numerous trades throughout the day leading up to the draft. Monday night, alone, Robert Covington was moved to the Portland Trail Blazers, Bogdan Bogdanovic was traded to the Bucks, in addition to Milwaukee sending three first round picks (and two additional pick swaps) to the Pelicans for Jrue Holiday.
There are several names flying around that could be traded before Wednesday’s draft, including Russell Westbrook and Gordon Hayward – just keep an eye out to make sure the Wolves don’t do anything surprising – but if so, it will be covered by Dunking With Wolves.
Welcome to draft day.