8. Culver's draft day misfortune
During the 2019 NBA Draft, the Wolves traded up from the eleventh spot to select Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver with the Suns' sixth pick. In exchange for Culver, Phoenix received North Carolina forward Cameron Johnson and Dario Saric.
Selecting the Red Raiders' two-way guard felt like a relatively safe selection. Minnesota needed a starting shooting guard and Culver appeared to be the man. Culver had just led the national champion runner-up Red Raiders in points, rebounds, and assists per game.
Unfortunately, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard failed to live up to the hype. Culver averaged 9.2 points per contest as a rookie but shot miserable percentages from the floor (40.4 percent), the 3-point line (29.9 percent), and the free-throw line (46.2 percent).
To make matters worse, Cameron Johnson proved to be an immediate contributor in the NBA. He averaged 8.8 points and shot 39.0 percent as a rookie. Johnson has suited up in twice as many games and scored almost four times the amount of points as Culver.
Lastly, the Timberwolves passed up several worthy candidates to trade for Culver. Minnesota was widely projected to target North Carolina point guard Coby White—last season's Most Improved runner-up—but instead drafted the former Red Raider.