2018 NBA Mock Draft: If need were all that mattered

One of these days, Tom Thibodeau is going to give a young player minutes. It has to happen, because if it doesn’t happen, he could lose his job. Okogie has the talent and mentality that should appeal to Minnesota, and finally allow a young player to earn a spot in Thibodeau’s rotation.

Even if the Wolves trade Andrew Wiggins this summer and rebuild a team that complements the talent of Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns, there’s no excuse for those guys each playing over 35 minutes per game in the regular season, plus upwards of 40 a night in the playoffs. Minnesota has the chance with this pick to add a talented wing who can contribute.

Okogie is a solid player — an aggressive scorer and physical defender who should blossom under a coach like Thibodeau. He was a fairly efficient scorer considering the lack of talent around him and the sorts of shots he had to take late in the clock. A .550 true shooting percentage on a 27.3 usage percentage is solid enough to expect improvement within the confines of a more strict NBA system.

The Wolves were rarely able to see the power of lineups featuring Towns at center because they didn’t have the wing depth to pull it off. But with Okogie, Tyus Jones and last year’s two-way stud Marcus Georges-Hunt, in addition to Butler’s ability to defend power forwards, the Wolves would be a more flexible team.

There has to be pressure on them to be better next year after a late-season downturn when Butler went down. Being a more athletic, versatile team would certainly help them weather bad injury luck.