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Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd said Minnesota was considering selecting Duke wing Isaiah Evans with the 28th pick in this week’s NBA Draft, prior to the Wolves sliding back five selections due to the Julius Randle trade.
Then Minnesota simply selected Evans at No. 33.
The Duke wing unexpectedly fell out of the first round and into the Timberwolves’ lap at the start of Round 2 on Wednesday, and Minnesota didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
The same can be said about Evans every time he steps onto the floor. The 6-foot-6, 20 year old is a high-volume, prolific 3-point shooter. Lloyd noted shooting is “the biggest premium right now in the NBA.” Evans has it in spades. Evans shot 38% from distance in his two years at Duke, while averaging 5.8 3-point attempts per game.
“Isaiah gives us another chip in that bucket of shooting, and wing shooting, in particular,” Lloyd said. “We saw it in the playoffs. We played against two good teams that had shooting at every position. That was kind of the concept, is just to continue to add shooting. Especially someone that can drag his man around a little bit, take attention away from Anthony (Edwards). That’s the intention.”
Minnesota wasn’t able to get Evans in for a pre-draft workout, but basketball boss Tim Connelly did sit down and meet with the wing in a 1-on-1 setting at the NBA Draft combine. Evans’ confidence oozed throughout the interaction, something that stuck with Minnesota. Evans will need to get stronger and show he can hold up defensively before earning any type of legitimate rotational role in Minnesota.
But his shooting already makes him at least a situational option.
“Watching him play for two years, watching him play in high school in the high school All-American games, in that format. We’ve seen him shoot a lot of 3-point shots. We’ve probably watched every single one of them from this season at Duke in the process,” Lloyd said. “We think it’s going to translate positively. We have the luxury of having an analytics model that projects shooting, and that projection was very positive. Given the combination of his measurements, his production and what we’ve evaluated with his ability to stay on balance, his ability to get shots off the move, his ability to run into shots, those are all such valuable things in the NBA right now, and he’s got those in spades just to start with. So we can build on that foundation. The more space we can get for Anthony, the better.”
Minnesota also selected Purdue big man Trey Kaufman-Renn with the 59th overall selection.
Continue reading...
Then Minnesota simply selected Evans at No. 33.
The Duke wing unexpectedly fell out of the first round and into the Timberwolves’ lap at the start of Round 2 on Wednesday, and Minnesota didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
The same can be said about Evans every time he steps onto the floor. The 6-foot-6, 20 year old is a high-volume, prolific 3-point shooter. Lloyd noted shooting is “the biggest premium right now in the NBA.” Evans has it in spades. Evans shot 38% from distance in his two years at Duke, while averaging 5.8 3-point attempts per game.
“Isaiah gives us another chip in that bucket of shooting, and wing shooting, in particular,” Lloyd said. “We saw it in the playoffs. We played against two good teams that had shooting at every position. That was kind of the concept, is just to continue to add shooting. Especially someone that can drag his man around a little bit, take attention away from Anthony (Edwards). That’s the intention.”
Minnesota wasn’t able to get Evans in for a pre-draft workout, but basketball boss Tim Connelly did sit down and meet with the wing in a 1-on-1 setting at the NBA Draft combine. Evans’ confidence oozed throughout the interaction, something that stuck with Minnesota. Evans will need to get stronger and show he can hold up defensively before earning any type of legitimate rotational role in Minnesota.
But his shooting already makes him at least a situational option.
“Watching him play for two years, watching him play in high school in the high school All-American games, in that format. We’ve seen him shoot a lot of 3-point shots. We’ve probably watched every single one of them from this season at Duke in the process,” Lloyd said. “We think it’s going to translate positively. We have the luxury of having an analytics model that projects shooting, and that projection was very positive. Given the combination of his measurements, his production and what we’ve evaluated with his ability to stay on balance, his ability to get shots off the move, his ability to run into shots, those are all such valuable things in the NBA right now, and he’s got those in spades just to start with. So we can build on that foundation. The more space we can get for Anthony, the better.”
Minnesota also selected Purdue big man Trey Kaufman-Renn with the 59th overall selection.
Continue reading...
