The Minnesota Timberwolves have one of the more interesting young cores in the league. Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell are the big names but Jarrett Culver, Josh Okogie and Malik Beasley all impressed in various ways during a frustrating season for Minnesota.
But as the team heads into the future with a Towns-Russell partnership, one more big name could finish off this phase of the rebuild and help them step into a more competitive phase. With the potential for a top pick in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft, LaMelo Ball could be that player.
For Rookie Wire, Bryan Kalbrosky gave his latest mock draft with the added caveat of a lottery simulation. The Timberwolves jumped to the No. 1 pick and selected Ball. Kalbrosky gave the following explanation on the pick:
“Minnesota had an offensive rating (114.9) that ranked in the 88th percentile when D’Angelo Russell was on the court, per Cleaning the Glass. The offensive opportunities that would be possible with Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns if the Timberwolves doubled down by selecting LaMelo Ball would immediately make Minnesota among the most feared scoring threats in the NBA. Meanwhile, it does not hurt that new Timberwolves assistant general manager Joe Branch joined the front office after serving as the director of men’s basketball for Roc Nation — the agency that now represents Ball.”
Ball’s ties to the Timberwolves through Roc Nation Sports, which the family officially signed with on Monday, only further adds fuel to the fire that the Wolves could draft him. A backcourt of Russell-Ball would be one of the more exciting in the league.
