NEW YORK (AP) (2000 Package) A star-studded draft takes place with 18-year-old phenom LeBron James picked No. 1. Carmelo Anthony is picked No. 3 followed by Chris Bosh at No. 4 and Dwyane Wade at No.
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Wolves gonna be Wolves, some of you lamented.
Why didn t the Wolves tank, you wondered.
Way to screw up a chance at Jalen Suggs, you charged.
I m not sure how their intentions didn t sink in during the final weeks of the season, when the Wolves made it clear they wanted to win as many games as possible. D Angelo Russell was finally healthy and was able to play with Karl-Anthony Towns for an extended run. Wolves major-domo Gersson Rosas wanted to see how the roster he rebuilt looked with key players available.
Other than Malik Beasley, they were healthy down the stretch. They went 7-5 over their final 12 games and passed teams like Detroit and Orlando that were in free fall after making white flag trades at the deadline. The Wolves finished with the seventh pick and had to send it to the Warriors to complete the Andrew Wiggins trade. Since they also dealt their second-round pick, the Wolves will sit this draft out unless they trade Beasley, perhaps for a pick.
Talent and cohesiveness.
You can t win in the NBA without the former and you can t win big in the NBA without the latter.
How does either word apply to the Timberwolves, who just completed a typically lousy season, made yet another midseason coaching change and might not land a top pick in the 2021 draft?
Objectively, this season was a failure. The Wolves began with modest hope, then finished 23-49.
Subjectively, you can see the makings of a quality team, an entertaining team, perhaps the best Wolves team since the roster included not only Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell, but also Ndudi Ebi, Latrell Sprewell, Quincy Lewis, Fred Hoiberg, Oliver Miller, Michael Olowokandi, Mark Madsen and the other Ervin Johnson, just in case you forgot how any given roster can look like the cast of a Survivor -like game show.