The Minnesota Timberwolves on Aug. 20 won the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery, with the Warriors finishing runner-up.
Many mock drafts have the T-Wolves taking LaMelo Ball with their top pick. But if the draft -- scheduled for Nov. 18 -- was held today, Minnesota still wouldn't know who the pick would be at No. 1 overall.
At least that's what president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said Wednesday.
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"The analysis is fair -- there's no guy that has separated himself from the pack from public or external view," he told reporters. "But I'm very confident that as we go through this process, the talent will rise to the top and we'll be confident about identifying one guy as the best guy -- the best talented player with the most upside and most ability for our organization."
Is it possible the T-Wolves in fact have a specific prospect at the top of their board, but want everybody to think they are undecided? Of course. The same can be said about the Warriors.
Conventional wisdom suggests that Rosas will not select big man James Wiseman, because Karl-Anthony Towns already is on the roster and is under contract through the 2023-24 season.
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Golden State Warriors
But crazier things have happened and it would be very on-brand for 2020.
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"For us, we typically study the draft from (No. 1) to whatever number we feel like is a draftable player," Rosas said. "And we'll evaluate those guys for trade scenarios, trade back, trade out, for undrafted free-agent opportunities, for minor league opportunities, so we really beat up the draft board as much as can all the way up until the draft.
"But at the stage that we're at, about a month out, we have formulated a lot of opinions. But you want to challenge those as much as you can here as you go all the way up to draft night.
"But our staff has done an unbelievable job."
It sure sounds like the front offices in Minnesota and Golden State are in the same boat.
Draft night just might be wild and crazy.