Lakers Draft: Wolves Refute Any Promise Made To Towns
Ah, the day before the NBA draft. The rumors are swirling, prospects are feeding us rehearsed answers and teams are leaking more information than any dam shown in this summer’s “San Andreas.”
-== Best Lakers Draft Pick & Free Agent Pairings ==-
One such rumor was that the Minnesota Timberwolves having promised Karl-Anthony Towns he’d be the first pick on Thursday. Flip Saunders had something to say about that Wednesday morning.
Flip Saunders just reiterated what Towns told me yesterday. No promise from the Wolves. Still, he'll be the pick.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) June 24, 2015
Why the smokescreen? Because having the top pick and seeming undecided maintains some level of leverage. If he admits to promising Towns anything, the position of power slips down to whoever picks second. In this case, the Lakers.
So, instead of simply granting that leverage, Saunders continues to act as if he’s torn on the idea of whom to select first. Like Jon Krawczynski says above, though, there’s still no way they let Towns – widely considered one of the most exciting prospects in recent memory – slip past them Thursday night.
So, the discussion continues for Lakers fans: Jahlil Okafor or D’Angelo Russell?