Sporting Sota
Fansided

Offseason Checklist Part 2: Draft Buddy Hield at 5

By Paul Bellesen

March 26, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24) reacts after a scoring play against Oregon Ducks during the first half of the West regional final of the NCAA Tournament at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
March 26, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24) reacts after a scoring play against Oregon Ducks during the first half of the West regional final of the NCAA Tournament at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

With the NBA Finals concluding last night, we put together Part 2 of our Minnesota Timberwolves Offseason Checklist. This time around, with the NBA Draft coming on Thursday, the Timberwolves should be running to the podium to call Buddy Hield’s name.

After an amazing finish to the NBA season last night, we take a look ahead to the NBA Draft and the what we think the Minnesota Timberwolves should do with their first-round fifth pick.

This team is showing a lot of promise with the young core they already have in place. The first part of the offseason was hiring a qualified coach in Tom Thibodeau. That is a knock out of the park for this team. It will be interesting to see what Thibodeau can do with all the talent this team holds.

With the Timberwolves only holding one selection in Thursday’s NBA Draft, they will need to make it count. Looking at the upcoming season, what are the biggest needs of this team?

First off, as you can probably tell, what I think is their most glaring need is outside shooting. The Timberwolves finished 29th of 30 teams in 3 point field goals made and attempted. They finished 25th of 30 in 3 point field goal percentage. Taking a note from the NBA Finals, last year’s conference champions(GS and CLE) set the playoff record for the most three-point field goals made on average per game coming into the finals. This year’s two finals teams broke that record. What you can gather from that is the teams who averaged the most three-point field goals throughout the playoffs ended up in the finals the last two seasons.

More from Sporting Sota

The Timberwolves have a serious hole there. Zach Lavine was the team’s best three-point shooter, averaging 39% last season. He showed promise, as after all star break his shot became more consistent. If he can continue to improve, the Timberwolves might have a legitimate threat from beyond the arc, but adding another player would not be a bad idea.

Next, if you look at the Timberwolves depth chart, there is a big hole in the backup shooting guard spot. If need be, Andrew Wiggins could move back to his original position of shooting guard to play there if Lavine went down, but Wiggins has played well and has the height and length to defend and play small forward.

By drafting Buddy Hield, the team could kill two birds with one stone. Buddy Hield put together an amazing statistical season last year with a slash line of .501/.457/.881. Buddy has the skillset that would mesh well with the players already on the Timberwolves roster and he would give them a dangerous outside threat that would help the team’s spacing.

Hield, last season’s Wooden College Player of the Year, is getting knocked for his age and coming into the draft after his senior season at Oklahoma. This would be a plus for the Timberwolves as they already are stockpiled with young talent and it could benefit them by having the most NBA-ready player in the draft.

The next two seasons are Minnesota’s chance to show Andrew Wiggins, Zach Lavine, and Karl-Anthony Towns that something is building in Minneapolis. The 2019 offseason is when Wiggins and Lavine will become free agents, with Towns coming up the next year. The Timberwolves would not be smart to take a project player, such as Dragan Bender, who could take a couple years to develop and contribute to the team.

If things go the way people expect, the Timberwolves will have a shot at making the playoffs next season. If they do make it to the post season, they will not have a draft pick in the 2017 first round, as they traded that pick to Atlanta for Adrien Payne and the pick is lottery protected.

So if you look at it in that way, this could be the last high draft pick the Timberwolves could have in the next two seasons. As we have seen in the past, it is hard to get big free agents to come to Minnesota. So, this could be the last opportunity for two seasons to add a key contributor to this team.

Next: Towns Interviewed at NBA Finals

Minnesota should take Buddy Hield, a player who fills two major needs for the team, and could end up being the best player in the draft. There is no doubt that Hield has an amazing offensive game and adding another weapon to the squad would be a smart choice for the franchise.

Home/Minnesota Timberwolves