What are the Timberwolves options with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft?
The Minnesota Timberwolves won the NBA Draft Lottery for the second time in franchise history on Tuesday night and their reward is the opportunity to select first in the 2020 NBA Draft on October 16.
While there isn't an obvious choice like Zion Williamson or LeBron James at the top of this year's draft, the Wolves will certainly have their share of options to add to a team that could use another important piece in their rebuild.
Anthony Edwards
One player that's routinely toward the top of mock drafts is Edwards, who averaged 19.1 points per game at Georgia. While he is a top scorer, he's not much of a three-point threat, shooting 29.4 percent from downtown last season.
While that might doom his chances with a team like the Wolves, who want their offense to run from beyond the arc, Edwards does a great job getting to the rim while also attacking the glass on the defensive end. With Malik Beasley as a restricted free agent, the Wolves could do worse by selecting the former Bulldog first overall to be his replacement.
LaMelo Ball
Ball is probably the prospect with the biggest household name in this year's draft as he was a YouTube phenom in high school before opting to play last season in Australia.
If the Wolves want to add more offense, Ball is an interesting selection as he loves to play fast pace and can knock down three-pointers. The issue is that Ball is still on the smaller side for the NBA and needs to fine-tune his game to improve defensively, limit turnovers, and effectively run an offense.
James Wiseman
Wiseman is also an unknown, but unlike Ball, he didn't play for a majority of the 2019-20 season due to an NCAA violation during his time at Memphis. What many know about Wiseman is he has a lot of skills that can translate at the NBA level and is a strong defender and rebounder with a frame that could stand to use a couple of pounds.
As of right now, the Wolves have tried to use Karl-Anthony Towns as a center, but he might be more of a fit as a stretch four that could knock down a three or pound it in the paint. Wiseman could be a good compliment as he's able to run the floor, clean the glass and score from the inside, but the question of how fast his development could come have the Wolves looking somewhere else.
Trade for a veteran
It would seem ridiculous for the Wolves to finally get the No. 1 pick only to send it somewhere else, but it may be the best move for the team's current path. Their franchise player is sick of losing and basically forced the team to completely reinvent themselves at last year's trade deadline.
Anyone who watches the NBA knows where that's going and it's clear the Wolves don't have much time to establish themselves as a winner before Towns attempts to force his way out of Minnesota.
The pipe dream is to land Devin Booker from the Phoenix Suns after Booker hinted that himself, Towns and D'Angelo Russell would play together "somewhere" in a SLAM magazine article. The Wolves could also go after Bradley Beal, who may be on the outs for a rebuilding Washington Wizards team.
Either way, the Wolves need to find a way to capitalize on this pick. If they're able to land an established veteran, the turnaround that this team needs to have could come sooner rather than later.
