3 Trade up prospects for the Minnesota Timberwolves

Player #1: Jalen Duren (Center/Memphis)

The first player the Timberwolves should consider a move up (currently projected at 15) for is a bit of a developmental project, center Jalen Duren. Duren, a highly touted recruit coming out of Montverde Academy, showed flashes of his crazy upside throughout his one year at Memphis. His freakish athleticism caught the eye of several NBA draft analysts.

Standing at 6-foot-11 and weighing in at 250-pounds, this young man absolutely passes the eye test in terms of his future as an NBA center. And at under 19 years of age, he is a prospect who could arrive at Timberwolves as close to a blank slate as they come. He’s blessed with a wingspan that measures 7-foot-5, a dimension that leads many to conclude that he will become a huge force near the basket, both in rebound and in blocking shote.

Very rarely is a center with “virtually no back to the basket game” considered a win-now player. Regardless, a team with rebounding issues like the Timberwolves would be hard-pressed to find a prospect that offers a better possibility as a long-term solution than Duren. And he would stack up behind Towns, so his role in his rookie season would be open to easing him in as he earns the trust of the coaching staff.

Jalen Duren is certainly not a player the Timberwolves should consider moving into the top Five to go get, but should he fall a little, currently projected to be selected anywhere from 9th to 15th overall, moving one or two of the seconds to move up a few selections to draft a player with his upside could be a low-risk/high-reward play.