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April 13, 2018, 6:32 pm
In the 2018 NBA draft the Wolves are slated to pick No. 20 overall after the NBA determined the tiebreakers for a number of teams.
First tiebreaker: Oklahoma City Thunder gets the #20 pick (pick conveyed to Minnesota). Utah Jazz #21. New Orleans Pelicans #22 (pick conveyed to Chicago). #23 Indiana Pacers
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 13, 2018
The Wolves traded Ricky Rubio to the Utah Jazz last offseason and received Oklahoma City’s 2018 first round pick in return. It’s been well documented how tight the standings have been in the Western Conference, and in regards to the draft order things were just as clustered.
Four teams were tied at 48-34, including the Thunder, meaning the Wolves could pick anywhere from No. 20 to No. 24. Fortunately for the Wolves, the Thunder won the tiebreaker and were awarded the highest position among the four other teams.
There’s no guarantee the Wolves keep the pick. The Wolves are tight on cap space, meaning they might have to get creative in trades to acquire additional veteran talent as opposed to the free agent market, or if they want to ship out bad contracts they’ll need to attach the pick.
If the Wolves do elect to keep the pick, there’s a solid chance to get a useful player. In the past there have been notable players selected No. 20 overall, including Evan Fournier, Brendan Haywood, Jameer Nelson, and Larry Nance Sr. and, very recently, Tony Snell, Delon Wright and Caris LeVert.
Potential prospects that may be available around there, and would be solid fits on the Wolves, include Zhaire Smith, Troy Brown Jr., Chandler Hutchinson, Bruce Brown, Shake Milton and Jacob Evans, among many more. There will be a more in-depth look at draft prospects once the offseason begins and workouts are underway.
As for the Wolves’ original pick? They owe it to the Atlanta Hawks, as long as it wasn’t in the lottery. Wednesday’s playoff clinching win assured the Wolves they would not see that pick, but they’ll gladly trade that off for the result they got.
There was a tiebreaker for the pick with the Spurs as both teams were tied with a 47-35 record.
Second tiebreaker result: San Antonio Spurs #18, Minnesota Timberwolves #19 (pick conveyed to Atlanta)
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 13, 2018
The Spurs won that tie-breaker, meaning the Wolves’ pick fell to No. 19 overall, where the Atlanta Hawks will make their second of three first round selections.
Wolves’ fans are very familiar with the lottery system, so the top-14 picks aren’t set in stone, but the rest are, barring any trades, locked-in. They go as followed:
15. Washington
16. Phoenix (from Miami)
17. Milwaukee
18. San Antonio
19. Atlanta (from Minnesota)
20. Minnesota (from Oklahoma City)
21. Utah
22. Chicago (from New Orleans)
23. Indiana
24. Portland
25. Los Angeles Lakers (from Cleveland)
26. Philadelphia
27. Boston
28. Golden State
29. Brooklyn (from Toronto)
30. Atlanta (from Houston)The NBA draft lottery will be held on May 15 and the 2018 NBA draft will be held on June 21.
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