Timberwolves' Thibodeau hopes to get top-two pick in draft lottery – TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
New Minnesota Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau already felt fortunate to take over a team with the last two No. 1 picks, Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns, on the roster.
Will Towns bring him more luck representing Minnesota at the 2016 NBA draft lottery drawing Tuesday night in New York?
The Timbwerwolves, who had the fifth-worst record in the NBA this season, have an 8.8 percent chance to win the top pick when the lottery order is announced around 7 p.m. before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
“I told (Towns), ‘Top two and I’m good,’” Thibodeau said. “I’m giving him a little rope. I’m excited for him. I think it’s going to be a great experience. Obviously, Glen (Taylor) had a great understanding of what his job was last year, and he went out and did his job. We’re hoping that Karl can do the same.”
Taylor, the Wolves’ owner, brought good fortune to his team last year at the lottery by securing the No. 1 pick, which he was slated for with the league’s worst record.
Minnesota has never improved its position in the lottery’s history. It kept its position nine times and received a lower draft pick eight times. The highest probability (35.99 percent) is that Wolves end up with the sixth pick.
Most NBA draft sites have the top-six players in this year’s draft as LSU’s Ben Simmons, Duke’s Brandon Ingram, Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, Croatian Dragon Bender, Kentucky’s Jamal Murray and Providence’s Kris Dunn.
The top two prospects are believed to be Simmons and Ingram, according to most experts.
ESPN college basketball and NBA draft analyst Fran Fraschilla said Hield, Murray and Dunn are players who could make an immediate impact at the third spot and below. He also included Utah’s Jakob Poeltl and Marquette’s Henry Ellenson in that mix.
NBADraft.net predicts the Wolves will select Canadian combo guard Murray at No. 5.
“Jamal Murray, only 19 years old, but way mature beyond his years,” Fraschilla said. “Anybody who watched him in the Pan Am Games last summer, as an 18-year-old, playing against a FIBA-level of player; not quite the NBA, but high-level, physical, mature players, he was dominant, really, and he dominated the SEC this year…He’s a point guard who had to play off the ball this year because of Tyler Ulis. (He’s a) lead guard, point guard, scoring guard, however you want to say it.”
