Amid the NBA playoffs, the NBA Draft Lottery took place and determined the 2015 NBA Draft order. For the lottery teams, this year's draft marks hope and optimism, as the talent pool is considerably better than in recent years; mind you it seems like the draft pundits say this same thing every single season.
Nonetheless, the teams who are holding lottery bound picks must be looking at ways to complement their rosters, be it by using the upcoming selection or via a trade on draft day. Not every team with lottery selections are able to address their needs via the draft as there is only so much talent available at each position and since these rookie deals are guaranteed, the new incoming salary amounts must be accounted for within the team's salary cap.
As the NBA Draft approaches eDraft.com will look at each of the lottery teams and identify their needs heading into the draft as well as who might be available to fill hose teams needs. Our draft coverage won't stop there though as post-draft we will have analysis of the picks as well as report cards for each of the teams as to how they fared.
We kick off our 2015 NBA Draft analysis with the Minnesota Timberwolves who are already 'on the clock' so to speak as they hold the top selection in this upcoming draft. While the Wolves are definitely trending in the right direction they can ill afford to miss on this top selection as any misstep here could easily set them back another 3 years in terms of building respectability for their franchise.
Key Pieces to Build Around:
The Wolves have an unusual situation on their hands, at the end of the fraft they will have the last three No.1 overall picks on their roster. Of course Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins were acquired in a trade, but nonetheless this kind of good fortune does not come around very often.
Wiggins has already shown he can be a cornerstone of this franchise, yet hasn't even scraped his ceiling. Wiggins is complemented by the oft-injured Ricky Rubio, who is a fantastic player when healthy. After Wiggins and Rubio, there are players with potential like Zach LaVine and Gorgui Dieng, who both played well in spots last season.
State of the Union - Timberwolves
The rumors continue to persist regarding Rubio wanting out of Minnesota. Given the growing smoke around the rumor, it's easy to beleive these rumors are legitiamte. Rubio is certainly a moveable asset as he can produce solid numbers when healthy. If the Wolves decide to move on from Rubio the biggest questions are; What kind of return could they get and is LaVine ready to take care of the basketball on a consistent basis?
Another potential trade chip is that belonging to Nikola Pekovic. The Wolves would probably jump at the chance to unload Pekovic; however, with five years remaining on a new deal at $12 million-plus per season, he could prove to be untradeable. The Wolves may have to package Pekovic along with a young player or team friendly salary to make this happen.
Draft Needs:
The Wolves are set with Wiggins and also appear to be good enough at point guard regardless of what happens with Rubio. Where the Wolves need help is in the frontcourt as their interior presence last season was mostly non-existent. Good thing for Minnesota is that there are two top prospects available to them here that will step in right away and help with that void.
The consensus top two picks are Jahil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns and to be fair both would be good fits here for different reasons. Most scouts are saying that Okafor is more NBA ready; however, his game is much more post-up dominated as he was able to bully his way through the NCAA. Towns is looked upon as more of a long-term prospect with big upside. Towns will continue to grow into his game and should be able to develop a nice mid-range game to complement a decent presence in the paint.
Given that the Wolves are not structured as a win now kind of team it would make the most sense for them to take Karl-Anthony Towns with this pick and let him mature and grow alongside the rest of the young talent on the team.