Timberwolves trade up in the 2023 NBA Draft. Why make this move?

If you were Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly, what would you have done differently?  Should the Timberwolves have been more insistent on negotiating a draft day trade? Should the Timberwolves have insisted on trading into Round 1 of the 2023 NBA Draft?

The Timberwolves sat and watched 32 players come off the board. But finally, after fruitless efforts to move up in the draft, the Timberwolves found a taker in the San Antonio Spurs. Details for this move are not yet available, but you have to expect that the cost to get the 33rd overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft will cost at least multiple second-round picks, and perhaps cash consideration:

So who will the Timberwolves select with the 33rd overall pick? Curiously, the trade news broke as the 30th overall pick was being announced, so this trade has to involve the Timberwolves targeting multiple prospects.

Risky move? Perhaps. But if you do not trust the eye of Minnesota Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly in the draft, then you really have not been paying attention to his track record in previous drafts. Connelly drafted Nikola Jokic in Round 2 for the Denver Nuggets, a draft coup that has been the key reason for the Nuggets’ NBA Championship this year.

This trade is just one of the reasons why we urged Timberwolves fans to tune into the 2023 NBA Draft. So what did this cost?

That’s really not a costly package to land what is nearly a first-round pick, and with that pick, the Timberwolves select SF Leonard Miller.  The Timberwolves clearly love the upside of this 6-foot-10 213-pound forward.

Was it worth the trade? Stay tuned as we share our immediate reactions.