The Minnesota Timberwolves and the history of the next pick, Part Three

This is Part Three of a series examining the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ concerning draft history, especially related to the players selected immediately after the Wolves make a pick.

If you missed them, be sure to check out Part One and Part Two, covering the 1990s and 2000s, respectively.

In the 2010s, the Timberwolves were still trying to recover from trading away Kevin Garnett in 2007. Unfortunately, the Wolves ended up helping the rest of the league succeed instead.

2011 NBA Draft: Wolves take Derrick Williams over Enes Kanter

Missing out on Kyrie Irving, who went No. 1 to Cleveland, the Timberwolves drafted March Madness standout Derrick Williams with the second-overall pick. Williams immediately joined the Timberwolves log jam at forward, not getting minutes at the 4 but unable to perform consistently at the 3.

Williams did make the All-Rookie Second Team and ultimately stayed in the league for seven years, appearing in 428 games, averaging 8.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for his career.

With the third pick, the Jazz selected center Enes Kanter. He has played in 10 seasons so far and has appeared in 693 games. For his career, Kanter has averaged 11.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, with his best season clocking in at 15.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

2013 NBA Draft: Wolves miss on McCollum, Giannis, and Gobert

Bear with me on this draft, the Timberwolves helped quite a few teams out.

With pick No. 9, the Timberwolves selected guard Trey Burke. Burke has played in eight seasons and has appeared in 441 games. He is averaging 10.2 points, 3.3 assists, and 1.9 rebounds per game. Burke made the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

With the next pick, the Blazers selected guard CJ McCollom, who has played in eight seasons so far and has appeared in 508 games. McCullom is averaging 18.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. He won the Most Improved Player honor in 2015-16, and in his best season, he averaged 23.0 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game.

Shortly after selecting Burke, the Timberwolves traded him for pick Nos. 14 and 21. With the No. 14 pick, they selected forward Shabazz Muhammed — who appeared 35 years old, and not 19 like his father said he was (he was actually 20). Muhammed played for five seasons and appeared in 278 games, averaging 9.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, and in his best season put up 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.

The following pick should hurt Timberwolves fans about as much as Steph Curry in 2009, as the Bucks picked Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo has played for eight years so far and has appeared in 573 games. He averages 20.8 points 9.1 rebounds 4.5 assists 1.3 blocks 1.2 steals per game and is already a two-time MVP, has been selected to the All-Star Game five times, the All-NBA First Team twice, the All-NBA Second Team twice, has been named Defensive Player of the Year, made the All-Defensive first team twice, All-Defensive second team once, NBA’s Most Improved Player, and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team back in 2013.

The Timberwolves also owned the No. 26 pick, where they selected and then traded Andre Roberson. Roberson has played for seven seasons and has appeared in 307 games, averaging 4.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game. He made the NBA All-Defensive Second Team once, with injuries slowing him down greatly in recent years. Roberson is a defensive juggernaut, but not quite as dominant defensively as the next pick.

Rudy Gober was picked No. 27. He’s played in eight seasons so far and has appeared in 527 games, averaging 12.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 2.2 blocks per game. Gobert has won Defensive Player of the Year twice, has been selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team four times, the All-Star Game twice, the All-NBA Second Team once, and the All-NBA Third Team twice.

2014 NBA Draft: Wolves take Glenn Robinson over Nikola Jokic

With the No. 40 pick, the Timberwolves selected Glenn Robinson III. He has played for seven seasons so far, and appeared in 304 games overall, although only 25 with the Wolves. He’s averaged 5.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game with his best season including averages of 11.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game.

The Nuggets had the No. 41 pick and selected current MVP front-runner Nikola Jokic. Jokic has been in the league for six years and has appeared in 434 games. He is averaging 18.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game for his career, but has been one of the league’s best players over the past three seasons.

Jokic is a three-time All-Star, has been selected to the All-NBA First Team once, the All-NBA Second Team once, and was selected for the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

The Timberwolves also owned pick No. 44, and they selected guard Markel Brown. He played for three years and appeared in 113 games, averaging 5.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.

Charlotte owned the No. 45 pick, and they selected big man Dwight Powell. He has played for seven years so far and has appeared in 409 games, averaging 7.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game. He’s been a solid role player on good teams over the last several years.

2015 NBA Draft: Wolves miss on Montrezl Harrell

With the No. 31 pick, the Timberwolves selected Cedi Osman, who was sent to Cleveland as part of the deal to acquire Tyus Jones. He has played in four seasons and has appeared in 250 games, averaging  9.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game.

With the No. 32 pick, Houston selected big man Montrezl Harrell. He has played in six seasons and has appeared in 371 games, averaging 13.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.9 blocks per game. Harrell won Sixth Man of the Year in 2020, a season during which he averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game.

A few picks later, the Timberwolves selected Rakeem Christmas with the No. 36 pick. He played for two seasons and appeared in 30 games, averaging 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

With pick No. 37, the 76ers selected big man Richaun Holmes. He has played for six years so far and appeared in 319 games, averaging 9.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game. Holmes is currently coming into his own, averaging 14.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.7 blocks per game for the Sacramento Kings.

2016 NBA Draft: Timberwolves take Kris Dunn over Buddy Hield

With the No. 5 pick, the Timberwolves selected guard Kris Dunn. He has been playing for five seasons so far and has appeared in 227 games, averaging 8.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. He’s been a great defender, but is a poor offensive player and has struggled to stay on the court.

With the No. 6 pick, the Pelicans selected sharpshooter Buddy Hield. He’s appeared in 369 games over five seasons, averaging 16.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. Hield was selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and is currently second in the NBA in 3-pointers made. His best season included averages of 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

Recapping the Minnesota Timberwolves’ drafts of the 2010s

There were four selections that had better careers than the next player: Donatas Motiejunas, who was traded on draft night, in 2011, Andrew Wiggins in 2014, Zach Lavine in 2014, and Tyus Jones in 2015. But, they made nine selections where the next player had a better career.

They had five selections that could be considered even: Gorgui Dieng in 2013, Karl-Anthony Towns in 2015, Lauri Markkanen in 2017, Josh Okogie in 2018, and Keita Bates-Diop in 2018.

There were six selections that neither player had a successful career, and all but one of those six came in the second round.

Final results of examining the next pick after the Minnesota Timberwolves

The players selected one after the Timberwolves selection played in a combined 17,838 games and careers totaled 265 years. The players the Timberwolves selected have played in 8,244 games and careers totaled 145 years.

The accolades for the players picked one after the Timberwolves are five (more than likely six, including Jokic) MVP awards, 30 All-NBA team awards, 37 All-Star appearances, three Defensive Player of the Year awards, 13 All-Defensive team awards, ten stat leaders, a Sixth Man of the Year, and nine All-Rookie team awards.

The players the Timberwolves selected? A total of one All-Defensive second team, one All-Star appearance, and nine All-Rookies.

Out of the 80 total picks the Timberwolves have had from 1989 to 2018, 27 of them have resulted in the very next pick being a good or even better player. There were 25 picks that showed neither player lasting long in the league, although only three of those were first-rounders.

Only 14 picks were deemed the correct pick for the Wolves, or better than the next. Nine picks had or have similar careers with only three of those nine being above average players. Five picks didn’t fit the criteria with Minnesota having back-to-back picks, or trading up.

To say that the Minnesota Timberwolves have had a rough time on draft night throughout franchise history would be a stark understatement.