The NBA Draft will be completed Thursday night and Timberwolves coach-president Flip Saunders knows who he’ll be taking with the first overall pick, but he’s not telling anyone else.
According to the Pioneer Press, Saunders said he has “an idea” of who the Wolves will take and that it would take a significant change for the plan to alter.
“We’re not drafting a need, we’re going to take who we feel is the best player who’s going to have the best chance to be what we consider an all-star and a superstar in this league,” Saunders said, per the Timberwolves website.
My interview today with likely No. 1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns: http://t.co/zEd3Vjg1nB
— Andy Katz (@TheAndyKatz) June 24, 2015
The Wolves keeping their intentions internal comes as no surprise. The player most experts predict the Wolves to take, Karl-Anthony Towns, is also maintaining his stance that Minnesota hasn’t promised him anything.
Karl Towns told Yahoo on T-Wolves, “I have no promises yet.” T-Wolves plan to keep No. 1 decision quiet until they make pick source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) June 24, 2015
But that didn’t stop Saunders from raving about Towns’ all-around game during his news conference Wednesday.
“Everyone talks about his versatility,” Saunders said, according to the Star Tribune. “He’s known right now as more of a defensive player. He’s very much underrated offensively… “
Saunders added that Towns, based on analytics, is the most efficient player in the draft.
Towns was used primarily in the post at Kentucky, but he anticipates he’ll expand his game to the 3-point line and add more dribbling in the NBA.
“Whatever team picks me, I think they’ll see more of the three-point shot,” Towns told SI.com. “There’s nothing against Coach (John Calipari) Cal. It was needed more for me to be a low-post scorer. It made my game more complete. But at the next level, it’ll be a bigger part of my game. I’m looking forward to dribbling and creating more, too, like I did in high school.”
Towns thinks Minneapolis is "very cosmopolitan…I just had a ball, checking out a city I'd never been to. I had fun there."
— Jerry Zgoda (@JerryZgoda) June 24, 2015
If the Wolves don’t take Towns, the two names to watch out for appear to be Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell.
This embed is invalid
