Jarrod’s Corner by Jarrod Peterson

I’m about as big of a Minnesota Timberwolves fan as you’ll find.

This past season was a lot of fun for me. I got to watch the growth of a lot of young players, such as Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, Andrew Wiggins and Ricky Rubio.

The core of the team is very solid, and it shouldn’t be long before we see this team playing in the playoffs.

I’m being serious.

The T-wolves were handed the No. 5 pick in June’s draft on Tuesday, and there a lot of options out there for this club to grab a good player.

I didn’t watch a ton of college basketball this season, but here are a few ideas of what Minnesota should do with their pick.

Jamal Murray — The freshman guard from Kentucky went on a scoring rampage late in the season. He scored 20 points or more in 12 straight games, and averaged 20 ppg for the season.

He is a very good shooter, and could become another solid offensive option off the bench for Minnesota. I like his size (6’5”), but he needs to get stronger and become a better ballhandler.

Defense was a struggle this past season for Minnesota, and Murray will need to quickly develop into a solid defender in Tom Thibodeau’s defense-first system. I really like this kid’s potential, though.

Henry Ellenson — Ellenson flew under the radar due to the lackluster season Marquette had in 2015-16. However, Ellenson was an animal. He averaged 17 points and 9.7 rebounds on his way to collecting 18 double-doubles. He is athletic and a big body, who could develop into something like Kevin Love. Love wasn’t a tremendous shooter when he entered the league in 2008, but he developed during his time in Minnesota. Ellenson is skilled, and at 6’10” fills a void for Minnesota in the front court. I like that he plays hard all the time, and I think he could be a great fit for this roster.

Thon Maker — Many people don’t know of him. In time, they will. Maker is long, athletic and skilled. He won’t be attending college because he is already 19, and a prospect either has to be 19 or one year removed from high school to be eligible for the NBA draft. Maker is a man of mystery, but he oozes with potential both offensively and defensively. At 7’1”, Maker can handle the ball and protect the rim. He doesn’t have the bulkiest body, but there is no way he can’t develop in two years to become a very good player. It would be a risk to take Maker. But he could end up being the highest reward in this year’s draft.

Trade the pick — One thing I wouldn’t oppose Minnesota doing is trading the No. 5 pick to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics own three first round picks, including the No. 3 pick. I would trade the No. 5 pick to Boston for their two mid-first round picks to scoop up players for depth.

With Thibodeau being named head coach, it might not be hard to get some free agents to sign with Minnesota, but it has never had much luck with signing serviceable free agents in the past.

Minnesota could get two solid players in the first round, whether they’d be veteran college players or freshmen.

Minnesota has a lot of needs — defense and three-point shooting among others — but I think this is a critical pick. Initially, this pick won’t put them over the top.

A year or two down the road, though, it could.

 

Jarrod Peterson is the Albert Lea Tribune sports editor. He can be reached at jarrod.peterson@albertleatribune.com.