It wasn’t Albert Einstein, but some genius on Reddit (DaTruf122) came up with a great post idea by naming all of the players taken in NBA drafts immediately following a pick by the Wolves.
It’s stunning to see all of the misfires so close to so many All-Stars and future Hall-Fame players. Be warned, this is gonna hurt.
2008: Wolves take O.J. Mayo with the third overall pick and later trade him to Memphis for Kevin Love. Russell Westbrook went fourth to Oklahoma City.
2009: Wolves take Jonny Flynn with the seventh pick. Steph Curry goes eighth to Golden State. Later in the 2009 draft the Wolves took Nick Calathes 46th overall and the Spurs took Danny Green 47th.
2010: Wolves take Wesley Johnson fourth overall and DeMarcus Cousins goes fifth to Sacramento.
2011: Wolves go with Derrick Williams second overall and the Jazz follow with Enes Kanter.
2013: Wolves trade the 26th pick and Malcolm Brown to the Warriors for a future second rounder. The 26th pick turned into Andre Roberson, one of the premiere defenders in the NBA, and Utah used the 27th pick to get Rudy Gobert.
2014: Wolves take Glen Robinson III 40th overall and Denver follows with Nikola Jokic at 41.
More sports: Twins send struggling Miguel Sano to the minors.
This one doesn’t really count, but in 2013 the Wolves took Trey Burke ninth overall and later traded him to Utah for Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng. Muhammad was drafted 14th overall. Giannis Antetokounmpo went 15th. Either way, they passed on the Greek Freak.
Had Minnesota’s front office and scouting department been capable of predicting the future, or just simply seeing what most everybody else was able to see, they could be holding aces with this insane starting lineup:
- G: Russell Westbrook
- G: Steph Curry
- F: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- F: DeMarcus Cousins
- C: Rudy Gobert
And off the bench they’d have elite depth with Danny Green, Enes Kanter and Nikola Jokic.
Seriously, Tom Thibodeau might actually be able to get away with only playing 7-8 guys a night with a roster that loaded.
It’s one thing to see a bunch of teams pass on a player, like Antetokounmpo in 2013, but when the future superstar is being drafted immediately following your pick, it’s way worse.
Anyway, the Wolves have the 20th pick in next week’s NBA Draft. Let’s hope they don’t screw it up again.
