2015 NBA Draft: Would Taking D'Angelo Russell No.1 Overall be the Wrong Thing for the Minnesota Timberwolves?

By now everyone is aware that the consensus choice for the No. 1 pick the Minnesota Timberwolves own is Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns according to many mock drafts.

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That pick makes total sense for the Timberwolves because they would have their big man of the future to play along with “Rookie of the Year” swingman Andrew Wiggins.

Towns would be able to learn under the tutelage of Hall of Famer to be Kevin Garnett, while adding to an already skillful interior game.

He also will get the opportunity to learn defensive principles that have made Garnett one of the best interior defenders of all-time.

But when you look at the Timberwolves and how they are currently constructed, would it be wrong to buck the conventional wisdom of consensus in order to go against the grain with their pick?

Would it be a bad idea for the Timberwolves to not take a big man and instead go with Ohio State combo guard D’Angelo Russell who is arguably the best guard prospect in the draft?

When you look at Minnesota’s frontcourt situation as it stands right now, they have Nikola Pekovic, Gorgui Dieng, Adrien Payne and Anthony Bennett in their post rotation.

(Photo: Godofredo Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports)

It is really not like they are dying to have Towns as the pick, except for the part where Towns could turn out to be a dominant building block in the post.

Taking Russell would be about having one of the more potent young perimeter units in the league.

They have made it no secret that they are willing to part ways with Ricky Rubio and that Zach Lavine is going to be their point guard of the future.

But when you look at the shooting guard situation, the Wolves have injury prone veteran Kevin Martin in that spot.

He played 39 games last season and 68 games in the 2013-14 season for the T-Wolves.

Though “K-Mart” can shoot the ball well, it is hard to shoot from the hospital bed.

This is where selecting D’Angelo Russell would actually make sense for the Timberwolves.

He has versatility at 6-foot-4, 195 pounds, to play either the point or the shooting guard. He has the ability to make plays for others, but he can also create and make shots for himself.

Lavine and Russell would be able to coexist in the same backcourt because neither one really needs to dominate the ball in order to make plays for others, in fact both players are virtually interchangeable.

This would give the Timberwolves a young exciting backcourt between Lavine’s ability to play above the rim and Russell’s ability to switch between being a scorer or a facilitator.

At Ohio State, Russell had to be both and he excelled. He averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists for the Buckeyes this past season shooting 44.9% from the field and 41.1% from three-point land.

Keep in mind that this is a perimeter oriented league. Quality perimeter players are in demand and there are few, if any, that are better than D’Angelo Russell in this draft.

Granted, the same can be said about quality post players in the NBA, but everyone saw what happened in the NBA Finals.

2015 NBA Draft: Would Taking D’Angelo Russell No.1 Overall be the Wrong Thing for the Minnesota Timberwolves?

By James Fitzgerald | Jun 22, 2015

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