The last 10 NBA drafts have seen some wildly spectacular moments, like the Wolves passing on Steph Curry twice in 2009, to Kawhi Leonard falling all the way to 15 in 2011, and Gianna Antetokounmpo doing the same in 2013.
This year, the Wolves will likely need something bordering on spectacular to happen if they hope to turn the 20th overall pick into a really good future player.
Since 2008, only 20 players, whom most NBA fans would consider to be solid players or better, have been drafted 20th or lower in the last 10 drafts.
Some of them, starting with Ryan Anderson, barely make the cut.
- Ryan Anderson 21st to the Nets in 2008
- Serge Ibaka 24th to the Sonics in 2008
- Nicolas Batum 25th to the Rockets in 2008
- DeAndre Jordan 35th to the Clippers in 2008
- Taj Gibson 26th to the Bulls in 2009
- Danny Green 46th to the Cavs in 2009
- Hassan Whiteside 33rd overall to the Kings in 2010
- Kenneth Faried 22nd overall to the Nuggets in 2011
- Reggie Jackson 24th to the Thunder in 2011
- Jimmy Butler 30th overall to the Bulls in 2011
- Isaiah Thomas 60th overall to the Kings in 2011
- Jae Crowder 34th overall to the Cavs in 2012
- Draymond Green 35th overall to the Warriors in 2012
- Khris Middleton 39th overall to the Pistons in 2012
- Rudy Gobert 27th overall to the Nuggets in 2013
- Rodney Hood 23rd overall to the Jazz in 2014
- Clint Capela 25th overall to the Rockets in 2014
- Nikola Jokic 41st overall to the Nuggets in 2014
- Malcolm Brogdon 36th overall to the Bucks in 2016
- Kyle Kuzma 27th overall to the Lakers in 2017
That’s 20 players in 10 years – an average of two per draft. Better put, just a 4.9 percent chance of getting one with picks 20 through 60.
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But hey, that’s just my opinion as an NBA fan.
You could argue there have been other decent players taken after 20, including Tyus Jones, Gorgui Dieng and Nemanja Bjelica of the Wolves, but you’d be hard pressed to find many who would rank them in the same category as most of the names above.
Of the 20 listed, the majority of them were traded from the team that drafted them (either on draft night or after) before developing into really solid players.
The odds are against the Wolves striking gold with the 20th pick, but every now and again a team hits the jackpot.
The 2018 NBA Draft is on Thursday, June 21.
