Members of the Timberwolves front office are headed to the NBA’s Draft combine in Chicago, on Wednesday.
They will be in Chicago to interview and watch prospects ahead of their first round pick. The Wolves currently hold the 13th pick in the first round. They will hold on to the pick as long as Phoenix doesn’t end up with one of the top 3 picks in the draft, in next week’s NBA Draft Lottery.
According to the Star Tribune, if Phoenix ends with a top 3 spot, the Wolves would lose their first round pick to the Suns. Minnesota owes Phoenix a top-13 protected pick for the trade that sent Wes Johnson there.
The Wolves will meet and scout players like Michigan State’s Gary Harris, Michigan’s Nic Stauskas, Kentucky’s James Young, Creighton’s Doug McDermott and others who they might draft, assuming they are able to hang on to the pick.
Duke’s Jabari Parker and Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid are likely to be the top 3 picks in this year’s draft. They have chosen not to attend the combine.
The Wolves only have a slim chance of getting one of those three picks anyway.
The lottery hasn’t even happened yet, but NBA Draft.net has completed a mock draft. The mock draft has the Wolves selecting international prospect Dario Saric. The website had this to say about his strengths:
At 6’10 it is very hard to find anyone in the world with the skills he possesses to play with or without the ball anywhere on the court … He can push it in transition as well as posting up with good results … His feel for the game is what really separates him from many other “Point forwards” … In Europe he can easily play as a 3 or 4 thanks to his court vision and decision making, very rare for a player of his height … Perhaps his 2nd greatest strength is his aggressiveness on the boards .
Saric was named the NBA Draft.net player of the month for April and May. He averaged 22 points, 13 rebounds and 6.5 assists on average during the ABA league’s final four, while leading his team to their first league title.
The other top picks in the draft look like this.
- Milwaukee – Joel Embiid
- Philadelphia – Andrew Wiggins
- Orlando – Jabari Parker
- Utah – Julius Randle
- Boston – Dante Exum
- LA Lakers – Marcus Smart
- Sacramento – Noah Vonleh
- Detroit – Gary Harris
- Cleveland – Kyle Anderson
- Philadelphia – Aaron Gordon
- Denver – James Young
- Orlando – Nick Stauskas
- Minnesota – Dario Saric
- Phoenix – Doug McDermott
