The Minnesota Timberwolves did not exactly nail the 2022 NBA Draft by emerging with a guaranteed future NBA All-Star. This may not end up as an event that will go down as the turning point for the franchise. It may not even show up over the course of the team’s history as a particularly good draft for the team. The Timberwolves entered the draft with enough capital to make moves up, but the team opted to trade back. Hmm . . .
That was never the plan.
But the 2022 NBA Draft may be a bit of a unique event. With no clear consensus for the top overall prospect, the chances of hitting paydirt later in the draft improve. And the Timberwolves have stunned the NBA, and particularly the Denver Nuggets, by hiring new president Tim Connelly. Connelly has been credited with turning the Nuggets into a contender with a series of shrewd selections in the past. Now? He will ultimately oversee the Minnesota Timberwolves draft going forward.
In his first draft with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Connelly employed a confusing strategy. But there is a method to his madness. How so? Drafting for the future is all tricky business right now. Wheeling and dealing may not ensure that the Timberwolves land the best value in the draft, but certainly increased the number of chances for the team to hit sometime.
Story: NBA executives are monitoring the Blazers and Kings as teams who may trade their picks for immediate help. The Thunder, Hornets, Grizzlies, Spurs and Timberwolves also have an excess of picks. More in our new aggregate NBA mock draft on @hoopshype. https://t.co/ZlHc17MJv4
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) May 20, 2022
The Minnesota Timberwolves, rather than consolidate picks to land a higher prospect, opted to trade three times, trade back twice, and trade for a future second-round pick once.
What picks did the Minnesota Timberwolves have in the 2022 NBA Draft?
The Timberwolves entered the draft scheduled to pick at 19, 40, 48, and 50. So what did the team do with those four picks?:
Pick 19Traded to Memphis Grizzlies for picks 22 and 26- Pick 22 (from Memphis) – Auburn C Walker Kessler
- Pick 26 (from Memphis) – Duke SF Wendell Moore Jr.
Pick 40Traded to Charlotte Hornets for pick 45 and a future 2nd round pick- Pick 45 (from Charlotte) – F Josh Minott
Pick 48– Traded to Indiana for future 2nd round pick- Pick 50 – Euroleague G Matteo Spagnolo
Three trades. Three times the Timberwolves moved back and into the future.
Did the Minnesota Timberwolves know that they already had a deal in place for C Rudy Gobert? Or was the plan for the 2022 NBA Draft simply aware that the team was working on a huge deal that would likely consume multiple future first-round draft picks? Regardless of any cause-and-effect relationships that we can rationalize, the result of trading back in the NBA Draft certainly has its share of benefits. Like what? Here are three reasons to do so that we can think of off the top of our heads: