The future looks even brighter for the Minnesota Timberwolves after winning the NBA draft lottery to land the top overall selection.
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Minnesota had the best odds of to win the lottery at 25 per cent following a season in which they compiled a league-worst 16-66 record.
The Timberwolves will have the chance to roster three straight No 1 picks on June 25, adding to Andrew Wiggins, picked last year, and Anthony Bennett, taken in 2013.
Minnesota will now likely decide between Kentucky centre Karl-Anthony Towns and Duke big man Jahlil Okafor, the two standout prospects in this year’s draft class.
The Minnesota Timberwolves will now have the last 3 #1 overall picks
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 20, 2015
“Having the No. 1 pick gives us the opportunity to really evaluate everybody and really see what direction we want to go,” president and coach Flip Saunders said. “At this point, we’re open. We’ll pick the best player for us on June 25.”
The Los Angeles Lakers were the other winners of the night, jumping to the second pick despite having the fourth-worst record this year.
“I told our guys earlier today that I had a real good feeling about tonight,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “I hope not to be back here anytime soon, but I’m happy the way things turned out.”
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks suffered disappointment as they fell to the fourth pick despite having the second-best odds.
General manager Steve Mills said: “We would have liked to receive a higher pick but we went into this knowing that anywhere between one and five we were going to get a good pick.”
