Luck wasn’t on the side of the Minnesota Timberwolves during Tuesday night’s NBA Draft Lottery.
The Wolves received the 5th overall pick in the draft – right where they should have been based on their finish to the season.
Minnesota has had some success with the No. 5 overall pick. It’s the same pick where they selected Kevin Garnett, Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio – though it should be noted that Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry was available when the Wolves selected Rubio.
https://twitter.com/timfaklis/status/732728528387465216
The team notes other NBA greats also were selected with the 5th overall pick, including Charles Barkley (1984), Scottie Pippen (1987), Ray Allen (1996), Vince Carter (1998) and Dwayne Wade (2003).
The top overall pick in the draft went to the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s the first time Philadelphia has had the top pick since 1996 when they drafted Allen Iverson. The Los Angeles Lakers received the No. 2 overall pick and Boston No. 3.
Minnesota had an 8.8 percent chance of getting the top pick in the lottery, and about a 30 percent chance of being in the top three.
The Wolves were represented at the lottery by last year’s No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, who carried Flip Saunders’ wedding ring as a good luck charm. It was Saunders, who was leading the Wolves when their luck finally changed in last year’s lottery.
#ForFlip pic.twitter.com/w82sEjD6Ts
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 18, 2016
With Towns, and the continued development of Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine the Wolves improved by 13 games over their previous season. However, Saunders never got to see the growth. He died from non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma just before the start of the season.
The 2016 NBA Draft will be held June 23.
