One of the few teams in the lottery that has not been regularly linked in some capacity with LaMelo Ball has been the Minnesota Timberwolves. Just a small handful of season removed from a playoff berth, the franchise has returned to the lottery multiple years running.
Last season, the Timberwolves moved up in the lottery and landed Jarret Culver in a draft-day trade to bolster their wing rotation. But his impact wasn’t enough to overcome a fledgling side that missed Karl-Anthony Towns to injury for a long stretch during the season.
Now, Minnesota is currently positioned at the third spot in the 2020 NBA Draft lottery but have a new weapon on the team in the form of D’Angelo Russell. By swinging a massive deal at the trade deadline to swap Andrew Wiggins for Russell, the Timberwolves added a second young star next to Towns.
Should the draft lottery play out like ESPN’s latest mock draft via DraftExpress predicts, they could solidify the backcourt even further by adding Ball. While it would make for a potential nightmare defensively, it could be one of the best young offensive backcourt given their skillset, as noted in Jonathan Givony’s breakdown of the pick:
A Ball and D’Angelo Russell backcourt might be one of the worst defensive pairings in the league, but the Timberwolves need to continue to stockpile star power to speed up their rebuild. No one in this draft class has more of that than Ball.
Ball’s size makes him easy to pair with another guard, and teammates will love his tremendous passing creativity and the way he empowers others. Ball does not turn 19 until the end of August, leaving considerable room for him to improve his perimeter shooting and defense.
Ball would complement Russell well on the offensive end with both players able to play off the ball and on the ball. Ball excelled with Illawarra playing both with and without Aaron Brooks last season while Russell has a history in the league of excelling on and off-ball.
Any problems drafting Ball would create for Minnesota – namely defensively – would be overcome by Ball’s talent and the Timberwolves need for more. It would be a move that would also give Minnesota another talented young prospect that could either blossom with the franchise or be used as an asset in a trade down the line.
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