The 2016 NBA Draft is just hours away.
If we needed a reminder, the alarm went off yesterday when Derrick Rose, Jeff Teague and George Hill were traded. Chances are there’s plenty more to come today, especially with multiple teams have first-round picks.
Who are the Wolves going to take? Good question. After looking at 1,398 mock drafts in the last month, here are what some of the mock draft experts (how do you become one of these? Is there an application process?) are predicting:
Sharp has the Wolves taking point guard Kris Dunn out of Providence. Sharp thinks Dunn will be able to help from Day One and that Dunn is built like a “tank and plays like it.”
The question is, will Dunn fall to No. 5?
Parrish, in his third mock draft, predicts the Wolves will take NCAA darling Buddy Hield. Like Sharp with Dunn, Parrish thinks Hield will be able to contribute immediately and that his ability to shoot will help the Wolves. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. The Wolves ranked 29th in the league last season with just 455 made 3-pointers last season.
Howard-Cooper also has the Wolves taking Hield. Like Parrish, he has Hield as one of the most NBA-ready players in the Draft.
Side-note: Did you know Buddy’s real first name is Chavano? True story.
Another Wildcat for the Wolves, predicts Bodner. Bodner thinks Murray would help space the floor (40.8 percent from deep last season) for former Wildcat Karl-Anthony Towns.
But do the Wolves need another 19-year-old player to develop?
The mysterious Dragan Bender. O’Connor thinks he’s a “safe pick with upside to be special.” Not many have said Bender is a safe pick, just given the track record for some players overseas, but he would fit a position need for the Wolves.
Another vote for Murray. Torres thinks Murray could be the perfect floor spacer for Andrew Wiggin and Towns. And (get ready for this) Torres thinks that the Wolves will be in the playoffs thanks, in part, to the addition of Murray.
From Kyle Ratke of Timberwolves.com:
I have no freaking idea, and that’s what makes the Draft so great. Yeah, there are four or five guys who look like the favorites, but nobody really has any idea what Boston is going to do at No. 3, and that will kind of set the tone for the rest of the Draft. I’m not even sure Boston knows what it is doing right now. Someone get Danny Ainge off the phone.
Here’s my bold (and very company line-ish) prediction: It’s going to be a lot of fun and you should probably skip your Thursday-night softball league to watch. Coverage starts on ESPN at 6 p.m. Tune in.