The right bounce of ping pong balls came in favour of the Minnesota Timberwolves this past Friday. They won the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery and were awarded with the first overall pick for the upcoming draft.

The team’s Twitter account used the perfect meme to celebrate the big news. Props on the smooth edit:

It will be the Timberwolves’ second time picking first since 2015, when they used the first pick to select the now two-time All-Star big man, Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Timberwolves will happily hoard all the lucky breaks they can get as the franchise has endured one of the worst stretches of any NBA team over the last 16 years. They have zero postseason series wins and one playoff appearance in that span. Only the Sacramento Kings, who have not been to the playoffs since 2006, have had a worse stretch.

It will be a big decision and fans hope the front office won’t screw it up again. Though the last couple of picks have been solid, most have already been traded, and there was a string of busts prior to that as well, like Derrick Williams, Jonny Flynn, Wesley Johnson, and Corey Brewer.

After the lottery, Minny’s President of Basketball Operations, Gersson Rosas, said that the front office is openly exploring all options:

Rosas and company are looking build off the intriguing core of Karl-Anthony Towns and 2020 trade deadline acquisitions D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley. Recent first-round picks Josh Okogie and Jarrett Culver are relatively in that mix too.

Towns is yet to be on the floor with the Minnesota newcomers due to his injury, but both have dished some previews of their beaming potential with the team – Russell averaged 21.7 points, 6.6 assists, and 3.2 threes per game in 12 games, while Beasley had 20.7 points and 3.5 threes in 14 games.

All that with KAT, plus Okogie’s defensive instincts and Culver’s sweet-shooting ways, could be an exciting bunch if they are able to put it together.

The question now, of course, is what do they do with the number one pick? Should they keep it, trade down, or package it to a more established player?

Let’s discuss the options:

IF THEY KEEP IT…

Keeping the pick and going with the one of consensus guys is tricky. The three options are all likely to clog an area in the rotation:

  • Anthony Edwards, an aggressive, big-bodied two-guard that has a knack for scoring. He will be a curious mix with Russell and Beasley’s already explosive scoring.
  • LaMelo Ball, a playmaking guard and relentless slasher that may be a good fit to head coach Ryan Saunders’s fast-paced style. Similar to the Edwards scenario, though, Ball will become the third guard in the rotation.
  • James Wiseman, a seven-footer with athleticism and high-potential defensive instincts, which could be a good balance to KAT’s suspect defense. The downside of this pick, obviously, is sacrificing the spacing.

So, why not just select the next best fit in their line-up? Well, it’s not that easy because doing that would mean they’re wasting the pick’s value.

IF THEY TRADE IT…

This will be a tough one too because who’s going to bite? While the talent is promising, none of the top draws are not wowing anyone the way Zion Williamson, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, or even DeAndre Ayton did in their respective pre-draft journeys.

The ship may have sailed on the sought-after Devin Booker trade too (Booker, Towns, and Russell are good friends), because he and the Phoenix Suns just had a promising stint in the bubble.

I think a similar thing happened with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013, where they had the unenviable top pick. The Cavs had a lot of holes to fill but it was a rather weak class, so they were more likely to select someone that wouldn’t pan out and they’ll look like donkeys… again. They could not get rid of the pick too because it didn’t have much value. Majority of the scenarios simply had them losing, and they did as they went with tweener forward Anthony Bennett.

Let’s hope the T-Wolves don’t suffer the same fate.