ESPN’s Brian Windhorst says Minnesota was attempting to recoup the first it gave up to the Dubs in the D’Angelo Russell/Andrew Wiggins trade.
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Report: Timberwolves tried to deal 2020 No. 1 overall pick to Warriors
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst says Minnesota was attempting to recoup the first it gave up to the Dubs in the D’Angelo Russell/Andrew Wiggins trade.
Jas KangMay 5, 2021, 7:07pm PDT
Santiago Mejia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Imagesnormal
After an injury-filled 2019-20 season, the
Golden State Warriors went into the last offseason with a major asset in their pockets. The Dubs wound up with the second overall pick in the 2020
NBA Draft and knew they would be able to trade the selection or add a youngster to join their championship core of Stephen Curry,
Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.
General manager Bob Myers reportedly took calls about the pick, including from the only team slated to pick ahead of the Warriors at last year’s draft. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst says the
Minnesota Timberwolves were trying to make a deal with Golden State that would have seen the Dubs acquire the No. 1 overall pick (h/t
Drew Shiller of NBC Bay Area).
The Timberwolves wound up taking Georgia guard Anthony Edwards No. 1 overall, and the Warriors got their guy in James Wiseman at No. 2. I caught up
with Windhorst leading up to last year’s draft, and he told me Golden State was locked into taking Wiseman after a pre-draft workout with the big man in Miami.
Wiseman’s rookie year ended with a torn meniscus that will keep him out for the season. The 20-year-old played in 39 games and averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in 21.4 minutes. Although his stats look good for a rookie, the underlying numbers aren’t kind to Wiseman. Golden State’s net rating is 11.4 points better per 100 possessions with Wiseman on the bench. His 110.6 defensive rating is fourth-worst out of any Warrior who has played meaningful minutes, per
NBA.com.
But Wiseman will improve with more experience. He only played in three college games before making the jump to the pros, and playing your first year in the league during a pandemic certainly didn’t help.
Myers wound up getting his guy without having to give up any future assets. Minnesota was likely trying to get back its 2021 top-three-protected pick that becomes unprotected in 2022. By keeping that asset, the Dubs will likely be able to add either one more youngster to the rotation or use the pick to try and make a move for another star-level player to join Curry, Thompson and Green.
Even if the Timberwolves went with Wiseman — which was unlikely given that they have Karl-Anthony Towns — the Warriors would have kept the pick and went another direction. Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball are having strong rookie campaigns, while Israeli forward Deni Avdija was also an intriguing option.
Myers was right to stay put at No. 2 and not give in to a desperate Minnesota squad. The Timberwolves currently have the third-best odds to win the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery but could worsen their chances for the No. 1 pick.