- The Timberwolves wound up with two first-round draft picks but it won’t alter their plans for free agency, according to Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. GM Tim Connelly said they’ll be looking for players who can make an immediate impact. “I don’t think it has a huge impact,” Connelly said. “Again, the draft is for the next two, three, four, five, six, seven years.”
- The Timberwolves prioritized rebounding in the draft and addressed that by making moves to select Auburn’s Walker Kessler, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune writes. Kessler was the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year. They also wound up with Duke wing Wendell Moore late in the first round and Memphis wing Josh Minott and Italian guard Matteo Spagnolo in the second round. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly isn’t expecting too much out of those rookies. “We don’t want to put too much expectations on their ability to contribute right away,” he told The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. “When you have a team that had as much success as we did, it’s hard to put that on your shoulders.”
The Timberwolves don’t intend to issue a qualifying offer to former first-round pick Josh Okogie, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link).
Having completed his four-year rookie scale contract, Okogie would become a restricted free agent this offseason if Minnesota extends a qualifying offer worth $5,857,966. In that scenario, the Wolves would have the ability to match rival offer the veteran wing receives, and he’d have the option of simply accepting the one-year offer worth nearly $6MM before reaching unrestricted free agency in 2023.
Given Okogie’s so-so NBA résumé and limited role, he seems unlikely to generate interest at more than the minimum salary this offseason, so the Wolves’ decision to pass on a QO and make him an unrestricted free agent isn’t surprising. It doesn’t mean Minnesota can’t bring him back — he’ll just be free to sign elsewhere without the Wolves having the ability to match.
Okogie, 23, was the 20th overall pick in the 2018 draft. He started 52 games as a rookie for the Wolves and averaged 24.3 MPG in his first two NBA seasons, but has seen his playing time cut back since then. In 2021/22, he averaged 2.7 PPG and 1.4 RPG in just 10.5 minutes per contest (49 games).
Okogie is viewed as a solid defender but has never shown much of an offensive game, putting up a career average of 6.4 PPG with a .403/.275/.758 shooting line.
The Timberwolves also appear unlikely to retain two-way free agent McKinley Wright IV, according to Wolfson, who says Wright will probably join a new team for next month’s summer league.
The Timberwolves are signing Phillip Wheeler to an Exhibit 10 deal, his agent Jerry Dianis tells ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (via Twitter).
Wheeler will play for the Puerto Rican national team next week and plans to join Minnesota for Summer League action next month, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
In 28 games (30.6 MPG) with Piratas de Quebradillas of the Puerto Rican BSN league, the forward holds averages of 17.3 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 1.3 SPG on .513/.345/.717 shooting (hat tip to RealGM). The 20-year-old went to Ranney High School in New Jersey and had a brief stint with the Ciudad de Mexico Capitanes during the G League’s Showcase Cup last fall.
Exhibit 10 deals, which are non-guaranteed, can be converted into two-way contracts before the regular season begins and also make a player eligible for a bonus of up to $50K if he’s waived and then joins his team’s G League affiliate.
Kevon Harris has accepted a summer league invite from the Timberwolves, his agent Billy Davis of Family of Athletes told Hoops Rumors. Harris, a 6’6″ guard, averaged 14.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Raptors’ G League affiliate this season, shooting 49% from the floor and 39% from deep.
JUNE 24: The two future picks the Rockets are receiving in the trade are the Timberwolves’ own 2025 and 2027 second-rounders, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. The deal is now official, according to a press release from the Wolves.
JUNE 23: The Rockets are rerouting the first-round pick they’re acquiring from the Mavericks in the Christian Wood deal to the Timberwolves, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Duke guard Wendell Moore, who was chosen at No. 26, is thus headed to Minnesota.
Houston is receiving the No. 29 pick in this year’s draft, plus two future second-rounders, Wojnarowski reports in another tweet. The Rockets used that first-rounder to select Kentucky guard TyTy Washington.
Moore averaged 13.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 4.6 APG for the Blue Devils. Washington averaged 12.5 PPG and 3.9 APG for the Wildcats.
JUNE 24: The trade is complete, the Grizzlies and Timberwolves announced in a pair of press releases. Officially, LaRavia’s draft rights head to Memphis along with a 2023 second-round pick in exchange for the draft rights to No. 22 pick Walker Kessler and No. 29 pick TyTy Washington.
It’s unclear if that ’23 second-rounder is Minnesota’s own or the Knicks’ second-round pick that the Wolves acquired earlier in the draft.
The Wolves are flipping Washington to the Rockets in a separate trade.
JUNE 23: The Grizzlies have agreed to acquire the No. 19 pick from the Timberwolves and will select Wake Forest forward Jake LaRavia, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). In exchange, Minnesota will receive the No. 22 and No. 29 selections in tonight’s draft, with the Grizzlies also gaining a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links).
It’s apparently a 2023 second-rounder, Chris Hine of the Star Tribune tweets.
LaRavia, who spent two seasons at Indiana State, moved up draft boards in recent weeks after averaging 14.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 3.7 APG for the Demon Deacons last season. With Kyle Anderson entering free agency, LaRavia could compete for a rotation spot in his rookie campaign.
He improved his stock during workouts, as he was originally projected as a borderline first-rounder.
Parlaying two first-rounders for the No. 19 selection doesn’t seem like great value, as Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian notes, but Grizzlies executive Zach Kleiman is unfazed by perceptions as long as he gets the player he wants. Kleiman has traded up for every pick on his watch with the exception of Ja Morant, Herrington adds (Twitter links).
Italian wing Gabriele Procida, who was drafted 36th overall on Thursday night after spending last season with Fortitudo Bologna, is expected to be stashed overseas by the Pistons, reports James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).
While Procida is the highest of this year’s draft picks reported to be a likely draft-and-stash prospect, he’s hardly the only one. Here are a few more updates on 2022’s draft-and-stash candidates:
- After using the No. 39 pick to draft him on Thursday, the Cavaliers intend to keep 20-year-old center Khalifa Diop overseas for the 2022/23 season, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Senegalese big man won the EuroCup Rising Star award playing for Gran Canaria in Spain this past season.
- The Nuggets plan to stash center Ismael Kamagate in Europe next season, a source tells Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports (Twitter link). The No. 46 pick on Thursday, Kamagate had an All-Star season playing for Paris in 2021/22.
- Italian shooting guard Matteo Spagnolo, drafted at No. 50 by the Timberwolves, will likely remain overseas next season, per president of basketball operations Tim Connelly (Twitter link via Dane Moore). Spagnolo is still just 19 years old.
- Crotian forward/center Karlo Matkovic, selected 52nd overall by the Pelicans, is expected to join New Orleans’ Summer League roster but will continue playing in Europe for another year or two, general manager Trajan Langdon told reporters, including Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).
- Wizards president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard said after the draft that No. 54 pick Yannick Nzosa will be a “stash guy” in the Spanish League next season, according to Ava Wallace of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
JUNE 24: The trade is official, according to the Pacers, who say they’ve acquired Brown’s draft rights from the Timberwolves in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick and cash (Twitter link).
The pick is expected to be the least favorable of the Pacers’, Heat’s, and Spurs’ 2026 second-rounders.
JUNE 23: The Timberwolves are sending out the No. 48 pick, Baylor swingman Kendall Brown, to the Pacers, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Brown was a Big 12 All-Freshman Team honoree during his single season for the Bears. The 19-year-old averaged 9.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 1.9 APG and 1.0 SPG across 34 contests, all starts, during the 2021/22 NCAA season. The athletic 6’8″ guard/forward posted shooting splits of .584/.341/.689.
Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets that Indiana will be sending the Timberwolves a future second-round selection in exchange for Brown.
Minnesota has been proactive when it comes to dealmaking during this draft. First, the club sent the No. 19 selection in tonight’s draft to the Grizzlies in exchange for the Nos. 22 and 29 picks. The Wolves then sent that No. 29 pick, plus two future second-round selections, to the Rockets for the No. 26 pick, Duke’s Wendell Moore.
Earlier in the second round, the team acquired the draft rights to Memphis wing Josh Minott and a 2023 second-round pick from Charlotte.
11:53pm: The trade is now official, according to a press release from the Hornets.
10:42pm: The Timberwolves are set to send Nebraska shooting guard Bryce McGowens, selected with the No. 40 pick in the 2022 draft, to the Hornets, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
The Wolves will receive Memphis wing Josh Minott, the No. 45 pick in this year’s draft, as well as the 2023 second-rounder the Hornets acquired from the Knicks earlier in the draft, per Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).
The 6’7″ McGowens appeared in 31 games, all starts, for the Cornhuskers during his lone collegiate season. He averaged 16.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.4 APG and 0.7 SPG across 33.5 MPG. McGowens converted 40.3% of his 12.8 field goal attempts and 83.1% of his 6.3 free-throw looks during 2021/22.
A Big Ten All-Freshman Team honoree, McGowens was also named to the 2021/22 All-Big Ten Third Team in 2022.
The 6’8″ Minott played more sparingly with Memphis during the ’21/22 season, averaging 6.6 PPG and 3.8 RPG in just 14.6 MPG over the course of his 33 games with the Tigers.