Minnesota Timberwolves fans rejoiced, much like the T-Wolves front office did, when they found out that their beloved franchise will be selecting first in the 2015 NBA Draft. Just don’t pop any champagne or light any fireworks yet because it might not actually stay with Minnesota.
While the T-Wolves could be the first team to ever have 3 consecutive number one overall picks on their roster, with the potential 2015 top pick joining the 2013 number 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett and 2014 number 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins, it might not be a guarantee they would keep the pick.
Following from CBS Sports’ Ken Berger talking to Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor.
It’s historically unlikely, Taylor admitted, but something that will be “part of any conversation.”
“You never know what it could mean, if you could get the right one or two guys that could change your team,” Taylor said. “When you already have a bunch of young guys, you have to look at this type of stuff. But I think it’s a very hard decision to make.”
Taylor knows first-hand, since last summer he negotiated directly with Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert on the trade that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland for a package that included the Cavs’ No. 1 pick, Andrew Wiggins.
“They didn’t want to do that,” Taylor said. “I can tell you, because I ended up negotiating with their owner. They didn’t want to do that, because you just don’t know how good Wiggins could be in the future and you’re going to hear about that forever and ever and ever. So I think it’s probably highly unlikely, but I think it’s part of the discussion.”
“We’ve got so many young guys,” Taylor said, “we would be better off not even being close to the lottery again.”
From a business standpoint, this is smart of Taylor. That number one pick can garner a lot of attention from some teams who might be in need of it. Could they possibly package up some guys like Nikola Pekovic, Shabazz Muhammad along with the number 1 pick and send them to the Los Angeles Clippers for a maxed out DeAndre Jordan, Hedo Turkoglu and Ekpe Udoh? Maybe but the money has to be right.
Dealing that pick would change the tone for the T-Wolves going forward. They literally have the ball in their court and they are controlling the draft along with potential star players futures. Do they decide to leave the days of being a lottery team behind and start pushing forward in the right direction. Either way, they seemingly can’t miss. That is unless their draft pick becomes a bust or the big name they get just gets up and leaves town as soon as he can. But, think positively Minnesota.
