NBA Draft 2021: 3 biggest winners and losers from draft lottery results
Loser No. 3 – Minnesota Timberwolves
The D’Angelo Russell for Andrew Wiggins trade last offseason also included a 1st round pick for Golden State, depending on where the ping pong balls landed in the lottery. At No. 7, the pick went to the Warriors giving them two in the lottery. That means the Timberwolves will have next year’s pick for their own without question but that’s why I believe they lost out.
Minnesota was bad once again this year but there’s a reason for hope for this franchise. Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns had another great year statistically but has dealt with tragedy throughout the pandemic. He and fellow co-star Russell combined to miss 52 games and barely played with another.
And it looks as if they have a third star already in Anthony Edwards, last season’s No. 1 overall pick who averaged 19.3 ppg for all 72 games and was on a tear in the final two months of the season. His offense was fantastic and it’ll be great to see all three on the court together. If it goes well, Minnesota won’t be picking in the top-8 in the 2022 NBA Draft.
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And that’s why missing out on landing a top-3 pick (which meant they would’ve kept this year’s pick) hurts, as they could’ve potentially landed a fourth star to build on, including another dynamic guard or even Evan Mobley to pair with Towns. The worst-case scenario here is that they’ll be in a wasteland in the Western Conference for the foreseeable future and not in a position to pick high again in the next draft.