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Minnesota Timberwolves: The Final Countdown

By Aaron Mah

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The wait was long and arduous, but finally, draft day has graced its presence upon us.

A little over a month ago, the Minnesota Timberwolves achieved the pinnacle of tanking when they won the 2015 NBA Draft Lottery. Immediately thereafter, the great debate began: should the Young Pups add Duke standout center, Jahlil Okafor, or the multi-skilled pterodactyl, Karl-Anthony Towns, to their current core of highly-flying wings — namely, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, and Shabazz Muhammad?

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As the weeks passed, however, Towns has gradually emerged as the clear-cut choice at No. 1. His combination of versatility, length, and upside ultimately catapulted the 6’11” Dominican Republic-native into his own exclusive tier.

Sure enough, his tantalizing potential won over the heart of Timerwolves C.O.P. (coach, part owner, and president of basketball operations), Flip Saunders, who had longed favored Okafor since the beginning of the college season.

So as we collectively enter the final pre-draft hours, everything isall but set in stone in regards to the top overall selection. The question now becomes whether Minnesota can/will package some of their assets — most notably, Anthony Bennett, the rights to Nemanja Bjelica, and their two 2nd-round picks — to acquire a mid-first round pick.

Unquestionably, due in part to Ricky Rubio‘s fragile bill of health, the Wolves would love to bring the Apple Valley, MN-native and the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, Tyus Jones, back home to the Twin Cities; but to do so, Flip will have to move up to the 18-21 range to select the diminutive floor general.

Thus far, there has been conflicting reports on whether the Wolves’ plight to move up in the draft is legitimate or not.

Can the Wolves leverage some of their unwanted baggage and curate yet another homecoming? We will find out soon enough.

In related news…

Zach LaVine Takes Over L.A.

A couple of days ago, the reigning 2014 Slam Dunk Champion and 2nd Team All-Rookie member, Zach LaVine, made the rounds in his sudo-homebase (played his college ball at UCLA). He first made an appearance alongside Ricky Rubio on ESPN’s Sportsnation where he found time to poster show host and former NFL-lineman, Marcellus Wiley.

LaVine would then sit down with the folks at Grantland and appeared on an episode of NBA After Dark — the most renowned basketball gossip podcast currently on the ethernet.

The young skywalker shared several interesting tidbits. More specifically, he mentioned the following:

– LaVine and Wiggins usually sleep through the team’s plane rides, while Nikola Pekovic re-watches the Godfather trilogy (of course he does) and Kevin Garnett recreates his Beats commercial on the back of flight.

– Speaking of KG, he has yet to yell at any of his new Wolves teammates. This should change this upcoming season.

– Robbie Hummel routinely gives LaVine dunking advice. You can’t make this stuff up.

Overall, it’s nice to see the Timberwolves relevant again. Yes, the team sported the worst record in the association last year, but with the incoming of Towns, to go along with the highly marketable duo of Wiggins and LaVine, the national media are genuinely — for the first time since the early 2000s — interested in the Wolves.

Needless to say, the best days are still ahead, folks.

Next: Why Mario Hezonja Is The 3rd Best Prospect In The NBA Draft

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