Minnesota Timberwolves: 2019 NBA Draft grades
By James Grieco
No. 43 pick: Jaylen Nowell
Jaylen Nowell, the 2019 PAC-12 Player of the Year, was definitely going to get drafted by someone Thursday night. Nabbing him at No. 43 isn’t a reach or inexcusable at all. The guy can play. His 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game stat line on .502/.440/.779 shooting splits look mighty good.
Video of #Twolves pick at No. 43: pic.twitter.com/hiK3ioZSZ2
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) June 21, 2019
There are reasons to like him, including a good 6’7″ wingspan despite his 6’3″ height. He is still young, entering the draft after just his sophomore season at Washington, and could very well grow into a 3-and-D role — a perfectly reasonable second round pick.
Rosas talks of Nowell’s versatility and the fact he won Pac-12 Player of the Year at such a young age a big factor why they liked him at the 43rd overall pick.
— Timberwolves PR (@Twolves_PR) June 21, 2019
Again however, Nowell is also a shooting guard. The Timberwolves roster is badly imbalanced at the moment, with the team desperately needing both a point guard and a big man to back up KAT. Taking another shooting guard who can’t create, even if he can shoot, isn’t the smartest move when there were solid prospects like Tremont Waters, Talen Horton-Tucker and Isaiah Roby still on the board.
This wasn’t a bad pick, but it was puzzling for a guy who wasn’t shocking to see there at 43.
Grade: C+