Let’s go back to June 25th, 2015 …
Comissioner Adam Silver: “With the first pick in the 2015 NBA Draft … ”
Fast forward to 2015-2016, and this happened:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez8cSuP0O7M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh719uA9B7s
Yup, Karl-Anthony Towns blossomed into an All-Star, the rookie of the year:
Towns is a beast! Not just as a rookie, but as a sophomore too:
[protected-iframe id=”5ab8c676dbc85eb7abf6455d7369bb58-114320562-111400560″ info=”https://cdn.statmuse.com/js/embed.js” ] [protected-iframe id=”0f6fe3161973a70c05fd15a477c77de6-114320562-111400560″ info=”https://cdn.statmuse.com/js/embed.js” ] [protected-iframe id=”eceb2dfb44a8ca9b7104f59dcc1d4aa5-114320562-111400560″ info=”https://cdn.statmuse.com/js/embed.js” ] [protected-iframe id=”1bd12f8653805707e70c4d8819b4c7b1-114320562-111400560″ info=”https://cdn.statmuse.com/js/embed.js” ] [protected-iframe id=”0856b83caeb54a7e0a472061f858f7cf-114320562-111400560″ info=”https://cdn.statmuse.com/js/embed.js” ]Okay, okay. You get the point. Towns is a special kind of a player—better than Kevin Garnett in his prime, I would argue.
The Timberwolves are lucky to have him—and Thibs, you were fortunate to inherit him—but not every draft pick is a slam dunk. On June 23rd, 2016:
Kris Dunn, sadly, did not live up to the hype. (click on his name for the numbers)
Okay, okay! I’m not here to relitigate the past.
Let me get to the point: draft picks are an anomaly—some work out, others do not—but the Timberwolves should continue their youth movement and hold onto this year’s draft pick.
Complement the team with a couple of veterans from free agency and, by virtue of doing nothing with the current pick, the Timberwolves will be saving a boatload of $$$ that they could reinvest towards their prized assets.
[ Related: I SUPPORT THE TIMBERWOLVES PURSUING ANDRE IGUODALA ]
Whether it’s Andrew Wiggins (another former 1st round pick), Zach LaVine or Karl-Anthony Towns, the Wolves need to lock up these players.
Not one, not two, not three years. But five years or more!
These are generational players—they are literally in our hands right now—and so let’s hold onto our current assets, so we’ll have a better shot at retaining these All-Stars.
So ehem … Thibs, if I were in your shoes, here’s what I would do:
- Draft the best available player with the 7th overall pick.
- Sign a couple of veterans (on short-term contracts) to fill some holes on the bench.
- Sign Towns, Wiggins and Lavine to max extensions.
And as the season progresses, once I identify the players who do not fit my system, I would trade them, and a couple of our future picks, for players that you are familiar with—i.e: Jimmy Butler.
Maybe this has been your plan all along. Maybe it’s not.
Regardless, I would not mortgage the future right now, which includes our current draft pick, for a couple of proven players who might, or might not, stay with us.
Let me repeat: Now is not the time to trade away anyone. Now is the time to continue the youth movement.
By drafting the best fit with the 7th overall pick:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0z6orTeKVc
Go Timberwolves! Get your howl on.
Follow us on Twitter @howlintwolf & @Twolvesblog.
Last but not least, check out the latest Timberwolves news:
[protected-iframe id=”bf5a57f8bb51dcef03139f9d48248da8-114320562-111400560″ info=”https://feed.mikle.com/js/fw-loader.js” ]Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
