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May 21, 2015

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T’wolves snag 1st pick in entry draft

THE Minnesota Timberwolves won the National Basketball Association draft lottery on Tuesday, becoming the first team with the worst record to be awarded the top overall pick since the Orlando Magic in 2004.

The Los Angeles Lakers moved into the top three and will pick second. The Philadelphia 76ers stayed put at No. 3, the New York Knicks get the fourth pick and the Magic round out the top five.

The Knicks had the second-best odds of winning but instead fell to fourth 30 years after winning the first draft lottery and drafting Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing.

It marks the first time in team history Minnesota will pick first. The Timberwolves had a 25 percent chance of landing the top pick after finishing 16-66. But their fans knew not to get their hopes up after the Wolves had fallen backward eight times previously, including both times they were in pole position, 1992 and 2011.

“We have a very young team, and we will add one outstanding young player,” Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said. “We just want a young man with a great heart and a great mind.”

The top draft prospects include power forward Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and center Jahlil Okafor of national champion Duke.

Minnesota’s first pick will join forward Andrew Wiggins who was recently named the NBA’s rookie of the year.

The Lakers were the other big winners even without moving all the way to the top. Their pick was only protected in the top five as a condition of their trade with the Phoenix Suns for Steve Nash in 2012. That was dealt this season to the 76ers, who could have ended up with two top-six picks if the Lakers had fallen backward two spots.

The lottery sets the top three picks. The remainder of the 14 non-playoff teams follow in inverse order of their won-loss record. Therefore, the Sacramento Kings will pick sixth, the Denver Nuggets seventh, the Detroit Pistons eighth, the Charlotte Hornets ninth, the Heat 10th, the Indiana Pacers 11th, the Utah Jazz 12th, the Suns 13th and the Oklahoma City Thunder 14th.




 

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