If the choppy Charlie Bucket photoshopping doesn’t make clear, I’m not devoting much time to this. The draft lottery. It’s tonight. 7:00 on ESPN. Kevin Love will be there, representing the Wolves. I’d guess that Adam Silver or some Ernst & Young executive will announce the results around 7:30.
The reason I’m skimping on the LOTTERY PREVIEW is that it’s almost a foregone conclusion that the Wolves will pick 9th (81.3 percent chance) or 10th (12.2 percent chance). Who knows, maybe that will be a blessing in disguise? The high end of the lottery has not been very kind to Minnesota. The highest pick in team history, Derrick Williams, was chosen 2nd and will probably not be an NBA starter next season, his third in the league. Third overall, the team has selected Christian Laettner and O.J. Mayo. One never played for the Wolves. The other, well, we wish hadn’t. Fourth overall the Wolves have taken Donyell Marshall and Wesley Johnson. Bust, and… major bust.
Fifth… fifth has been good. Fifth was Kevin Garnett. Fifth was Ricky Rubio. Fifth was Kevin Love, who we traded for. Fifth was Ray Allen, who we traded away. Fifth has been good. Unfortunately fifth isn’t an option this year. The team can only end up with 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, or 12. Like I said, it’s probably 9 or 10.
I’m obviously hoping the Wolves get lucky tonight. Even if it means a higher guaranteed contract on the books (the 1st pick makes about $5.1 Million; the 9th makes about $2.4M) the upside of a Nerlens Noel or Ben McLemore is the type of boost that any team stands to benefit from. Picking 9th or 10th is more of a crapshoot and, well, crapshoots haven’t been kind to the Timberwolves. In any case, it’s always fun to get excited for a few minutes before the announcement.
Here’s hoping K-Love brings some good luck with him tonight, and draws that Golden Ticket.
Punch-Drunk Wolves 