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Will the Minnesota Timberwolves draft Jahlil Okafor with No. 1 pick?

By Jack Crosby

Apr 6, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Duke Blue Devils center Jahlil Okafor (15) dunks the ball during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2015 NCAA Men
Apr 6, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Duke Blue Devils center Jahlil Okafor (15) dunks the ball during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2015 NCAA Men /
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Now that the Minnesota Timberwolves have the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, will they use it on former Duke star Jahlil Okafor?

The 2015 NBA Draft Lottery has come and gone, and we now know that it will indeed be the Minnesota Timberwolves picking No. 1 overall at the event next month. Now the question turns to who they will take. One of their options might be the easiest of all: Former Duke center Jahlil Okafor.

Okafor came into last college basketball season as one of the more heralded recruits in quite some time, and for most of the season he delivered. When it was all said and done, Okafor averaged 17.3 points with 8..5 rebounds per game. But most importantly, he helped lead Duke to the National Championship, with the final win coming over a very good Wisconsin Badgers team.

But when it comes to the draft, you have to throw the stats to the side for a little bit and ask yourself whether or not a particular player is a fit for a certain team. Will his game mesh with the players that are already on the team? Can he develop fast enough to eventually create a unit that doesn’t need the NBA Draft Lottery in the near future.

In this case, Okafor is definitely a fit and this is more than likely the way the Timberwolves will go when it comes time for the No. 1 pick to be made.

The NBA Draft Lottery win on Tuesday is not the first time the T-Wolves got lucky in the last 12 months. By way of a trade, they were able to acquire Andrew Wiggins from the Cleveland Cavaliers after he was drafted, and all he did was end up becoming the NBA Rookie of the Year this past season. The Timberwolves draft pick from last season, Zach LaVine, while he struggled at times, still has a tremendous upside with his athleticism to be molded into a fantastic role player.

Oh, and then, not to mention, that Ricky Rubio guy will be returning next season after missing the majority of last year with injury.

Perimeter wise, the prospects for this team are through the roof. Now, they need the missing piece down low on both the offensive and defensive side of the floor, and that man is Okafor.

Okafor has tremendous footwork down low most of the time and we saw multiple times throughout the year how dominant he can be when you test him in the middle on defense. If anything, Okafor would have to work on moving out to shoot. The young man can struggle at times when he tries to take the jumper, but that’s something that can come in time.

But for right now, it’d be pretty safe to assume that the Timberwolves will select Jahlil Okafor to be their assassin in the middle while the growing backcourt does their work on the outside.

The prospects of this are scary.

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