Among the assumptions about Thursday night’s NBA Draft is the Timberwolves will select a shooting guard with their No. 9 pick in the first round. What might be far more clandestine is their interest in UCLA swingman Shabazz Muhammad.
While public conversation has frequently included the possibility of selecting Indiana’s Victor Oladipo, the Wolves almost certainly have to make a trade with another team and move up in the draft to obtain the Indiana junior shooting guard. There’s no guarantee the Wolves want to or can make such a move.
In the June 24 issue of Sports Illustrated the magazine predicts the Wolves will select Muhammad at No. 9 after Oladipo is chosen at No. 5 by the Suns. The publication includes a feature on Muhammad who played only as a freshman at UCLA, averaging 17.9 points per game and finishing his career in a 20 point first round NCAA Tournament loss to the Gophers last March.
Among Pac-12 rivals who watched Muhammad play was Arizona State associate head coach Eric Musselman, a friend of Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders. “If there were an NBA game tomorrow, you could put him in your rotation,” Musselman said in the magazine. “There are probably less than 10 guys in this draft you can say that about.”
While Muhammad is stereotyped as a shooter-scorer, a one dimensional player, Oladipo has all-around abilities including a stingy defensive skill set. The Wolves’ glaring need, though, is someone who can hit open jump shots while joining a team already built around forward Kevin Love and point guard Ricky Rubio.
Given that roster need, Jim Dutcher wouldn’t advise Saunders to move up in the draft to take Oladipo. “If you’re looking for a shooter I would say no,” said Dutcher. “He’s more of an all-around athlete than he is a pure stroker. He’s not like a Klay Thompson or those kind of players that can just knock down (shots). Stephen Curry, those great shooters.
“That’s one of the question marks. Is he (Oladipo) a quality outside shooter? And I am not sure. I think his better game is a penetrator, a guy who gets to the basket. One thing he does do is he finishes at the basket.”
Dutcher, the former Gophers’ coach whose players at Minnesota included Saunders, labels Oladipo a “great physical talent” with good character who will be a solid pro.
“The one thing that would be concerning to me is as you watched Indiana play, there were large periods where Oladipo kind of disappeared. He’s out there and then he would do something spectacular. And maybe it’s because Indiana had a balanced team. …I would be concerned that he wasn’t their go-to guy at the end of games. Sometimes he would be and a lot of times he wouldn’t be involved.”
Basketball fans in this town will be intrigued by Thursday night’s draft not just to see what the Wolves do with two first round picks and two second rounders. There will also be interest in the futures of former Gophers Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams.
Mbakwe led the Big Ten in rebounding at 8.7 per game. His instincts for rebounding and physical strength at 6-8, 245 are NBA level but there are holes in his resume including a limited offensive game. Williams, 6-7, 205, can put himself on ESPN SportsCenter with world-class dunks, but it seems like there are almost as many questions about his overall skill set as inches he can jump.
“I think on Trevor you gotta evaluate where you are going to play him,” Dutcher said. “He’s strong around the basket but he does not have a refined inside game. If he can’t dunk it, he can’t make it a lot of times.
“He’s not big enough to play a full-time center in the NBA. You gotta be able to make that face-up jump shot and there were games that he did that, and he was probably the premier rebounder in the Big Ten Conference which says a lot, but everybody evaluates Trevor based on one game. The Indiana game where he out played (Cody) Zeller and the Gophers upset Indiana who was then the No. 1 team in the nation.
“But you gotta look at the whole picture where he got out played at Nebraska and Northwestern. Some of the lesser teams…where he didn’t have great games. The Michigan game here (facing a top 10 team) I thought he got badly outplayed by Michigan’s big men.”
Dutcher believes Mbakwe is probably a second round NBA draft choice at best. “He’s not a sure fire NBA player. Probably going to end up playing in Europe would be my guess unless somebody has a spot for a guy that can go in and get you a key rebound or two.
“He does have some down things. He’s older (24). His age is not in his favor. The off the court baggage, I think Trevor has dealt with that pretty well. I don’t think that is a major concern but…when they evaluate a player they evaluate everything.”
While Mbakwe had serious issues off the court during his college career, Williams won’t have to answer such questions from NBA teams. The signature question about Williams is how did he miss doing more with all his athleticism?
“People that watched Minnesota waited four years for Rodney to have a break-out year and he never did,” Dutcher said. “Not a consistent outside shooter. Not a great defender. He does the spectacular. He can go up there and dazzle you with a slam dunk but at the end of the year when you look at the stats he doesn’t average great scoring. He doesn’t average even great rebounding, and doesn’t have impressive statistics. But you gotta be impressed with his leaping ability. ….
“I doubt that he gets drafted. Somebody will take a chance on bringing him to (an NBA) camp or putting him in the D-League, or doing something just because of his physical jumping ability. But you evaluate the all around game and Rodney…is probably not an NBA player.”
Worth Noting
The year’s draft will feature more Big Ten players likely to be selected in the first round than any in recent memory. The list consists of Indiana’s Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller, Michigan’s Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., and could include Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas.
The Timberwolves will host a free draft party for fans at Target Center starting at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday night. The draft begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be telecast by ESPN. Wolves center Greg Stiemsma is scheduled to be in attendance for a portion of the party.
Former Gophers assistant coach Jimmy Williams is no longer an assistant at the University of Memphis and has interest in NBA coaching. Williams is living in Houston.
The Wild have eight picks in next Sunday’s NHL Entry Draft but none in the first round. A trade may change that. The draft begins at 2 p.m. Minnesota time and will be televised by the NBC Sports Network.
Miguel Sano, the super prospect who some observers think could be playing for the Twins as early as next year, is off to a slow start after being promoted from Class A Fort Myers to Class AA New Britain. In 11 games the 20-year-old third baseman is hitting .171 with two home runs and eight RBI.