Minnesota Timberwolves 2013 NBA Draft Preview
As the Minnesota Timberwolves get geared up for the 2013 NBA Draft, they have to ask themselves a question. Can they halt their streak of misses in the first round of the draft? They have four picks in the draft, including two in the first round(No. 9 and No. 26). If history is any indication, they’ll struggle with that picks. Let’s take a look into past to see what the future holds for the Wolves.
Draft History
The Timberwolves are one of the unluckiest teams in the history of the NBA. Despite having good chances on many occasions, they’ve never drafted No. 1 overall. The only time they drafted No. 2 was when they selected Derrick Williams in 2011. Williams wasn’t a complete bust, but he wouldn’t go in the top 10 if the NBA did a redraft.
The Wolves have never drafted in the No. 9 spot and with the notable exception of Nikola Pekovic (No. 31 in 2008), the Wolves have been terrible at those middle-of-the-road value picks.
Still, there are quite a few teams who would switch with the Wolves right now. They are in the advantageous position of being able to cherry pick a player who best fits their system. If they get healthy, they’ll be a playoff team in the Western Conference in 2013-14.
Similar to how the Golden State Warriors drafted Harrison Barnes in 2012, the Wolves will look to fill in gaps instead of taking a project to develop down the line.
2013-14 Targets
What exactly do the Wolves need? They’re set at point guard with Ricky Rubio. They’ve got a star at power forward with Kevin Love. Pekovic is a concrete block at center. For a team that used to be stacked at the wing, they’re remarkably thin there now.
Andrei Kirilenko would be an excellent choice at the small forward, if he decides to pick up his option. The real glaring spot is at shooting guard. Often during the 2012-13 season, the Wolves would be forced to play two point guards. Malcolm Lee is the only “true” shooting guard on the roster, with Alexey Shved also a possibility.
Unfortunately for the Wolves, the two best shooting guards in the class will likely be gone by the time the Phoenix Suns draft at No. 5. They’d love to snatch Ben McLemore or Victor Oladipo, but unless they’re willing to put together a package to trade up, that’s just not going to happen.
So who’s left?
C.J. McCollum, PG/SG, Lehigh, 6’3″, 197 lbs.
McCollum is an interesting choice, but the Wolves already have too many point guards. Sure, they could slide him over to the two, but unless they unload the glut of tweeners that they already have, it seems unlikely to draft based on the best available.
With that said, McCollum is very athletic and functioned better as a scorer than a facilitator at Lehigh. He averaged 23.9 points per game while shooting 51.6 percent from the 3-pt line. If he were a little bigger, it would be a no-brainer selection for the Wolves.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG, Georgia, 6’6″, 204 lbs.
The more likely selection will be Caldwell-Pope. He has the size that the Wolves would covet at shooting guard and is much better at creating his own jumpshot. With Love and Pekovic in the paint, the Wolves are going to need better jumpshooters.
Draft Express showed Caldwell-Pope as the No. 2 pull-up jump shooter based on points per-shot (1.118). With Rubio running the show, Caldwell-Pope would get a ton of opportunities to shoot jumpers.
Or they could try…
Pekovic is going to be expensive to keep. What if they offered up a package with Pekovic and a few draft picks to the Phoenix Suns for the No. 5 pick? Could they snag Oladipo, then use the No. 9 pick for the glut of centers available? I think the Suns would have to at least listen.