What Might the Timberwolves Do With Their Three Second-Round Picks?

The Newly super powerful The Minnesota Timberwolves front office will face its first test later this month in the 2022 NBA Draft.A fair amount of focus is on How the team will use the picks in the first roundHowever, it is quite possible that a wolf draft will be remembered as to how the team navigates the second round.

Minnesota has three selections for the second round. Numbers 40 (Washington via Cleveland), 48 (self), 50 (Denver via Philadelphia). Given the team’s existing depth and its contract status, it’s hard to imagine a wolf using all three picks for a player on the 2022-23 roster.

Of course, that raises the question: what does Minnesota do with those picks? Here are some options.

Notable outlook

Start with someone who can target Minnesota No. 40. This feels like an ideal place to choose a big guy who can provide some depth of development and help Timberwolves’ defensive rebound pain. Christian Koloko, Arizona, Jaylin Williams, Arizona, Ismael Camagate, Paris Basketball, and Orlando Robinson Jr., Fresno State University, are among the centers that can fall into this range. Kamagate also worked for wolves last week, By Darren Wolfson of KSTP..

Koroko could easily leave before Minnesota chose, but he and Kamagate plan as athletic rim runners and paint protectors when they grow up. They have the athletic traits that teams are looking for in young big names.

Another option for No. 40 is to shoot with a high ceiling and low floor type. Even if Minnesota trades off one of the second rounds, there is enough capital to risk making one choice up.

To this extent, most of these swing players are large wings / forwards with athletic ability whose skills are still in the major development stages. This includes John Butler Jr. of Florida State University, Josh Minott of Memphis, and Peyton Watson of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Although Butler has some guard skills despite standing 7-0, there is a long way to go to read the game at a high level. The same knock applies to Minott and Watson, who have acquired limited college roles in exercise and defense.

Nos. 48 and 50 offer the opportunity for Minnesota to draft and stash. This allows teams to invest in potential contributors without sacrificing crowded roster locations.

Hugo Besson of the New Zealand Breakers and Gabriele Prosida of Fortitudo Bologna (already working for wolves) are two interesting options that can stick to the NBA for scoring around. Wolves can also successfully return to the big game by choosing Ibou Dianko Badji or Yannick Nzosa and keeping them on an overseas team.

If Minnesota rocks the roster and needs to hire a trusted contributor, there are several options with a solid skill set. Andrew Nembhard of Gonzaga has the potential to become the next Tyus Jones or Jordan McLaughlin in his savvy playmaking.

Would you like to trade back to Round 1?

Tradeups from the second round to the first round are usually not starters in the NBA, as the value drops significantly from pick to pick. As it may be this year, there are some factors that make it a little more compelling.

The first is the uncertainty and disagreement about this draft class. Sam Bethenny, a leading figure in athletic drafts, has said many times. article And to him Podcast — It’s rare to distinguish between a player who may be out of the lottery and a player chosen in the second half of the second round. Many teams find it worthwhile to trade one first rounder for two seconds if they feel that all players across the range are created to some extent equally.

In that sense, the second factor is the number of teams with slow picks in the first round and no seconds. Teams opposed to caps such as Philadelphia (23rd), Milwaukee (24th), Dallas (26th) and Miami (27th) may want to jump into the chance to give cheap contributors two shots. Not with a clap shoot that is an NBA draft.

So if Minnesota picks at 19 and then desperately finds the target he wants, it’s not impossible for it to jump and grab him. It all depends on how each team reads the draft board.

Photo by Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images

Exchange for role player

Of course, Minnesota can split the difference and use one or two of the second round picks to trade for a known quantity in the NBA.

according to Athletic John HolingerThe Los Angeles Lakers, who have no picks throughout the draft, are interested in buying a second round pick. It should be the last choice for Timberwolves, but perhaps Minnesota will have access to the teams they want to join in this draft.

Sands, Nets and Jazz join the Lakers as a draft, zero-pick team. Will veteran role players such as Torrey Craig and Patty Mills be available in a second round pick-based package?

The best way a team can take is to have the draft volume work to their advantage and cover all the bases. The wolf should assign one pick to the developing Big Man (Kamagate or Koroko is the ideal result) and the other to the raw talent home run swing (Minott gives the team yet another resilience). Gives a forward defender and an underrated rebounder).

Second, you need to trade to your team without picks that are willing to overpay to participate in the draft. Unless Minnesota is willing to move away from Leandro Bolmaro and Malik Beasley, it’s unlikely that he’ll get anything similar to a true victory, so it makes sense to move the pick for future capital. I am. Given the sparse situation in Los Angeles and Utah, hosting a second round of Lakers or jazz in the next few years can be as valuable as the first round of the second half.

The amount of capital in the second round of Minnesota gives it many options. But there is one thing for sure. That’s what Tim Connellyand Co. has to do. Something About this many picks.