NBA Mock Draft: Timberwolves at No. 1 bring order to chaos
By Ian Levy
player. 86. . Guard. Minnesota Timberwolves. LaMelo Ball. 1
The Timberwolves jumped up to take the top slot, the prize for a difficult season that saw their roster remade in a significant way. But this is a draft class that doesn’t offer any easy selections. Minnesota has a young core in place — Karl-Anthony Towns, Malik Beasley, Jarrett Culver, D’Angelo Russell — but that group has much more offensive potential than defensive. They also have a point guard and two others (Beasley and Culver) who are probably high-touch secondary creators on any optimistic hypothetical iterations of this team. A defensive-minded 4 to pair with Towns would be the ideal fit but at the top slot, the Timberwolves have to go for talent.
This draft doesn’t have much consensus but LaMelo Ball as one of the highest upside players seems to be one of the few points of agreement. He’ll need to get much better as a shooter and defender to really become a star but even if he’s just a solid starter he could raise the Timberwolves’ ceiling with his passing and vision and ability to facilitate all sorts of weird, mismatch-seeking, lineups.
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Learn more about LaMelo Ball with our full scouting report.