NBA Draft 2016: 5 players Minnesota Timberwolves need to target

5. Henry Ellenson – Marquette

The first thing that has to be said about the Timberwolves potentially drafting Ellenson is that it would be a bit of a reach without question. Ellenson looks as if he’s going to fall into the later part of the lottery, meaning that taking him at No. 5 wouldn’t be anything close to maximizing the value of the selection on the part of the Timberwolves.

However, if the Wolves were to be able to put together any kind of deal where they moved back in the lottery a bit, they’d have to keep an eye on Ellenson. The Marquette product is one of the most intriguing players in this draft because of just how unique his skill set is. He’s the type of player whose NBA success could very well rest on which team drafts him and the situation he’s thrust into.

With that in mind, though, I like the notion of him working in the Timberwolves’ rotation. Ellenson is a strong-bodied player with legit size and strength for the NBA. However, he’s a sub-par athlete that needs to get into a bit better shape and that can’t defend a statue right now. But when you think about him as a supplementary piece on a team like the Wolves with tremendous defensive potential and how his versatile inside-out offense would help in that system, he becomes much more intriguing. It’s a dark-horse target, but Minny needs to keep an eye on the big man.

Next: No. 4 Bender