Wolves won't reveal pick but comfortable with process, position
MINNEAPOLIS -- A day before what he's heralding as the most exciting draft day in franchise history, Flip Saunders wouldn't divulge whom the Timberwolves will take with the No. 1 overall pick Thursday night.
"There is no reason to do it," the president, coach and part owner said Wednesday, citing the fact he's technically open to an 11th-hour trade. "I mean, Wilt Chamberlain got traded. Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) got traded. Two of the best players in the world. So something crazy can happen."
But crazy already has happened in the Land of 10,000 Professional Hoops Disappointments. For the first time in a long time, Minnesota has momentum, expected to reach a fever pitch when close to 10,000 fans pack into the Target Center and await Thursday night's monumental decision. And while Saunders wouldn't outright say his mind's made up, the Wolves "have an idea" of whose name they'll submit to commissioner Adam Silver at around 6:30 p.m. CT.
"I think we feel really comfortable with the process that we've gone through," Saunders told a throng of gathered media at the team's new Courts at Mayo Clinic Square practice facility. "We've done a lot of intel."
Saunders did nothing to dispel the pervasive notion that that process will lead him to select Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns. Based on Minnesota's analytics, Saunders said, the New Jersey native who can guard almost every position and score from anywhere on the floor is the best player in the draft "based on a per-minute basis."
Saunders, general manager Milt Newton and the Wolves' front office liked Towns' Duke counterpart Jahlil Okafor all season, and Saunders said his mind has changed daily regarding which prospect might be the best running mate for Andrew Wiggins, Ricky Rubio, Zach LaVine and company. But a comparison of the numbers Saunders mentioned Wednesday backs up the edge Towns appears to have gained since the NCAA tournament and pre-draft workouts.
In his one season as a Wildcat, the 7-foot, 248-pound Towns averaged 19.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 4.2 blocks per 40 minutes, shooting 56.6 percent from the field and 81.3 percent from the foul stripe. Okafor's same per-40 numbers and shooting percentages: 23, 11.4, 1.7, 1.9, 66.5 percent, 51 percent.
With Flip's son Ryan Saunders on staff, it's safe to call the Wolves an analytics-heavy team. Of course, the elder Saunders could be throwing some last-minute smoke the NBA's way, as Okafor -- a retro, low-post load who like Towns could be a perennial All-Star someday -- would make a fine addition to Minnesota's young, athletic roster.
There are other options, too, including guards D'Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay and Latvian stretch four Kristaps Porzingis.
The Wolves dined with and worked out all four players in recent days, with Saunders asking each one of them to "blow me away in everything you do."
The team hasn't notified any prospect of its intentions, Saunders said, contradicting a Tuesday report that the Wolves informed Towns he'd be their man after meeting with him last Friday and Saturday in Minneapolis. (Towns, too, said no promise was made, otherwise he'd "go start eating ice cream and getting fat.") Saunders also contradicted early rumors Okafor preferred to land somewhere else than the Twin Cities -- say, perhaps, Los Angeles, where the national champion center expressed his affinity for the Lakers and Kobe Bryant after working out for them.
Instead, the Wolves' new training facility and direction under Saunders and Wiggins impressed every prospect with whom he interacted, Saunders said.
"There has been no hesitancy from any of the players from them coming saying, 'Hey, I don't want to be here,'" Saunders said. "I think they all believe we have a chance to be special here."
The buzz from NBA circles and fans reminds Saunders of the mid-'90s, when he and Kevin McHale drafted Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury in back-to-back years. Team officials anticipate a record crowd at Thursday night's draft party.
After all, the hard-luck Wolves -- riding an 11-year playoff drought -- have never picked this high before.
But amid all the hoopla, there's a certain calm. Saunders called this the most relaxing draft he's endured, thanks simply to the luxury of total control.
"We don't have to worry about who's taking anybody in front of us," Saunders said. "We know that we go through, we make our decision who we want, and we take him, and everyone behind us is waiting to see who it is. There's speculation, but until that name is announced, things can change. So based on that, that's probably why it's been the least stressful draft going that way."
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