Who should the Wolves select with the No. 1 overall pick?
Editor’s note: Today starts a series of articles that will highlight picks 1-14, and which player(s) each team should consider at the pick.
Kentucky’s Karl Anthony-Towns.
Based on the makeup of Minnesota’s roster, it’s hard to make an argument against drafting Towns. There have been rumblings that GM/head coach Flip Saunders might prefer Duke center Jahlil Okafor, but on a Wolves team in dire need of interior defense, Towns seems like the more ideal fit. Beyond rim protection, Towns’ defensive readiness far exceeds Okafor’s heading into the NBA, as Towns also moves much quicker laterally.
Like reigning Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins, Towns’ toughness and killer instinct have been questioned coming out of college. But Towns possesses elite athleticism. He can spread the floor and make his free throws. He can get out in transition, play the pick and roll and operate with his back to the basket. He’s the full package.
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Having Wiggins and being committed to Ricky Rubio through 2018-19 at almost $14 million per year, drafting another guard makes little sense. Plus, consider the players manning the paint for the teams remaining in this year’s playoffs.
Golden State: Andrew Bogut
Houston: Dwight Howard
Cleveland: Timofey Mozgov
Atlanta: Al Horford
Each one of these guys has earned his place among the upper echelon of defensive centers. Bogut’s interior D helped lead Golden State to the top-ranked defense in the league. Houston performed well with Howard injured during the regular season, but without him, the Rockets’ 3-1 series comeback versus the Clippers would not have been. And the Cavs’ addition of Mozgov (along with JR Smith and Iman Shumpert) at the halfway mark of the season helped elevate Cleveland from pretender to contender status.
Optimistically speaking, Horford (6-10, 250 lbs.) might be the player Towns (7”0, 250 lbs.) should model his game after. The league is trending to a faster pace with more emphasis on floor spacing—a world where clunky big men seem slower than snails. At the end of the day, give me the guy who’s going to get it done at both ends of the court without slowing the pace or shrinking the court.
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If the Lakers select Okafor with the second pick, they’ll be pairing him with Julius Randle. Just look at what the Warriors did to Zach Randolph and the Grizzlies bringing Draymond Green out to run the high screen and roll, and then think about how much worse that would’ve been if Memphis didn’t have Marc Gasol protecting the paint and Tony Allen and Mike Conley on the perimeter. It would’ve been a bloodbath.
Though the Wolves are mostly a team consisting of young players on their rookie deals, namely Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Gorgui Dieng, Adreian Payne, Shabazz Muhammad and Anthony Bennett, they do have two aging veterans on the payroll for the next few seasons.
Kevin Martin has a player option for $7.4 million in 2016-17, which could be a decent value if he can stay healthy. But Nikola Pekovic cannot continue to play starter’s minutes going forward. Earning $12 million per year through 2017-18, Minnesota is stuck with the oft-injured bruising big man. But if Towns becomes an effective starting center, it will make life easier for Martin and Pekovic. Martin is primarily a spot-up shooter at this point in his career and would benefit from having a post player that demands double teams while Pekovic might be able to stay healthy if he’s playing fewer minutes. Further, imagine the advantage Towns will have if Kevin Garnett sticks around and plays the role of mentor.
After a season of suffering through injuries, the Wolves were the winners on lottery night. A trio of Wiggins, Rubio and Towns would give Minnesota three two-way starters and provide the fans with great hope for the future.
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