Evaluating Noah Penda, Nolan Traore, and Jamir Watkins as Timberwolves Fits | Durant Trade Fallout

Evaluating Noah Penda, Nolan Traore, and Jamir Watkins as Timberwolves Fits | Durant Trade Fallout

hello and welcome in to another episode of Lockdown Wolves Today on the show three more Timberwolves prospects as we move just within a day of the NBA draft We’ll talk about three potential players for the Wolves to draft at either 17 or 31 Plus where do the Wolves stand in the Western Conference postfinals post Durant trade We’ll talk about all that coming up here next [Music] You are Locked on Timberwolves your daily Minnesota Timberwolves podcast part of the Locked On Network Your team every day Hello and welcome to the Locked On Wolves podcast Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network Your team every day My name is Ben Beacon I’m the host of Locked On Wolves Today’s episode is brought to us by FanDuel Right now new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $ five dollar bet wins Happy Tuesday everybody We are just a day away from round one of the NBA draft which means we are nearly done with the pre-draft um I guess coverage the the preview of the NBA draft I’m going to do three more prospects today then tomorrow is the big board We’re also going to hit today Uh there was some ESPN chatter out there about where everybody stands in the West and I was actually pretty surprised with how high the Wolves were in their rankings I’ll give my take on that and kind of where the West stands now post Thunder Championship which is a weird thing feels like a weird thing to say and post um post Kevin Durant to Houston trade as well So a lot to get to on today’s show A big thank you first off the top for making Lockdown Wolves your first listen every single day Of course this show is free and available everywhere including YouTube as well as all of your favorite audio platforms Wherever you like to listen to podcasts you can find Lockdown on Wolves You can also watch on the Lockdown Sports Minnesota app on both Roku and Amazon Fire TV All right so if you are just joining the series just joining the show we’ve been going through over the last week and a half or so two to three prospects a day And with the context of like not every draft prospect not like only you know well I guess that’s the best context to give really It’s guys who are frequently mocked in the like 12 to 35 range right And and I’m picking guys that I think the Wolves could have some interest in You can make the argument Minnesota could draft somebody at any position in the draft be that any position is a position of need right They still don’t know who their actual point guard of the future is unless you’re a big Rob Dillingham believer and maybe the Wolves are uh you might need to back fill a wing spot if Duel Alexander Walker leaves in free agency and you can have never have too many guys that have positional at least defensive positional flexibility um and also wings that could initiate offense and also bigs We don’t know what happens with Nas Reed with Julius Randle We now know it’s pretty unlikely Rudy go Bear gets traded this off seasonason pre Durant trade that was a real uh possibil possibility So um I’ve kind of been you know guys that in some way would fit what the Wolves are looking to do That’s who we’ve been talking about After today’s show we will have covered a grand total of 15 guys on the show I will rank the 15 of them on my Timberwolves centric big board on tomorrow’s show But let’s get into the guys I have for today First I want to talk about I guess the order I have them in Uh and this has been a pattern for me I’m not this isn’t the order I’d rank them in against themselves but let’s start today with Noah Penda Um who I think is a a pretty intriguing draft prospect who is kind of all over the map in in terms of where he’s been mocked for a while people thought he could be a lottery pick Now I’m seeing a lot more second round for him Um and I’ll I’ll give you where he is in a couple of the more prominent mockdrafts here in just a second Um but I think that I mean obviously he he’s worth you know taking a look at because of the the what he does what he is positionally He’s a 6’8 kind of wing/forward And by that I mean he’s not a 23 He’s more of a 34 right like he he’s going to play potentially the three at the NBA level if he can figure out the shooting and um as a four that that’s probably his best positional fit at least on the offensive end of the floor Penda is a is 6’8 with a 611 and a half so nearly a 7 foot wingspan He’s 21 years old Has been playing in France He is French Um and is I think his best um best quality is his mix of size and physicality on both ends of the floor um and and mostly on offense and and I’ll explain what I mean here in a minute Um on offense he’s really good at attacking the rim He finishes through contact He can he he actually seeks contact out and finishes through it Um he has pretty good touch around the rim Actually really good touch around the rim given his size Again 6’8 with a nearly 7 foot wingspan And and he’s a thick builtout guy too He’s not he’s not a a bean pole right like he’s somebody who can get in there and and be aggressive He’s off the dribble Um he uses his physicality to create separation and and I worry a little about that translating completely right away in the NBA because um yes well there’s a lot of things about playing overseas playing in Europe that are much closer to the NBA than college basketball is But sometimes the level of physicality with some of the other guys on the perimeter he’s going against won’t necessarily be the level of physicality he’ll see at times the NBA And I don’t mean all the time Like I’m not saying blanket like obviously in the paint in Europe you can get away with a lot more More stuff could go down in the paint in Europe But in terms of some of these wings that he’s going up against in Europe he’s going to face more physical guys in the NBA But I think the overall feel for his skill of using his physicality and size to get where he wants to get on the floor is great I think that that is a really good it bodess really well for him as an NBA prospect It also makes him really kind of a a terror in transition I don’t I maybe throw that word around too much I said that about TJ Shannon last year as a prospect He’s a terror in transition and that was absolutely the case in the NBA Pend is bigger than than Shannon overall as far as how he’s built out size-wise They’re very similar Um and I’m not at all comparing the two I just the same tear in transition reminded me of TJ Shannon He’s really good in transition I think he’s a good passer in transition He finishes well at the rim in transition as he does in the half court I also think he’s a pretty good passer in the half court too He could actually initiate some offense as a big forward like a point forward type guy Um and I I think that that could be a a real thing um at the NBA level The biggest problem there’s actually two big problems We’ll start on the offensive side The jumper needs some work Um I would describe it as rigid I actually think it’s fairly smooth if that makes sense I think smooth and rigid can coexist Um his form is is is fine He just doesn’t look comfortable when he shoots the basketball Um he had some streaky stretches that allowed his his overall three-point percentage last year to be I think about 28% Uh actually 30% last year in France in France So there certainly is some upside there And again the toucher on the rim is good Now he’s not just powerful There’s also real touch when he’s around the basket And I think that gives me some hope that he could you know uh apply some oil to that jumper and perhaps uh perhaps it becomes a little bit less uh rickety as he moves into the into the NBA He was just sub 70% as a free throw shooter Was 70 of 101 at the line So one miss shy of 70% there or one make shy of 70% So I I do have a little bit of hope that the shooting could develop but to compound that problem on the other end of the floor he’s pretty stiff defensively And if if I had been able to sit here and say “Oh he’s a great defender.” He’s a real like a guy you could look at drafting at 17 or in the in the high 20 upper 20s or whatever low 20s if if the Wolves were to trade back I can’t say that in good conscious because of what I saw on the defensive end of the floor I don’t think he gets into a stance He’s too straight up and down Um I said his jumper was rigid I think defensively he looks stiff Too many blowbyss in the tape that I watched of him Um again physical and um you know I I think he’s a he’s a because of the physicality the size the length there is some hope that he could be decent defensively but I don’t even know that he’s average defensively on the ball Certainly not guarding the perimeter Guarding other fours despite you know he’s only 6’8 So at the NBA level you’re going to have some fours that are bigger some that are smaller that are more of stretch fours or teams that are playing small ball but then they spread the floor And Pende can’t necessarily do that on offense with what he’s capable or incapable of doing as a shooter He has a pretty good helpside rim protector which if you’re going to play him as a small ball for is a valuable skill in today’s NBA So overall um there’s something here that NBA teams are going to like and I think he’ll be drafted I do think he’s more of an early second round pick and I I don’t necessarily think he’s the Wolves type I think if you had if the shot or the defense was was already there and workable as a as a plug-andplay NBA skill you could make the case for him being a Wolves prospect But the combination of question marks around the jump shot and question marks regarding the point of attack defensively and his switchability defensively that would make me nervous if I’m the Wolves He was 19 maybe but he is also 21 years old which not that that’s old but you want him to be closer to a finished product Like there’s things about his defense that make me wonder and and the way he plays and the way he’s rigid or stiff both the jump shot and defensively that make me wonder what’s that long-term you know prognosis for him as a as a rotation guy at the NBA level So I you know I think there’s some upside there because of the size because of the physicality and I I do think there’s a role for him Like he could come into the NBA and and through brute force and and uh you know the ability to mostly get where he wants offensively be an impactful kind of bench energy guy for a team I don’t think he’s a rotation guy and a good team right away And I don’t know if the projectability is there for the Wolves to really look at him certainly not at 17 in this draft And I don’t think he’s a Wolves prospect at 31 Um if they were to draft him there’s some things to expand here on that I could I could I could feel okay about Um but I I really would be surprised if Minnesota ended up with no appenda here uh in the draft Next let’s talk about another French uh player at this time a true point guard and Nolan Trayor Um Trayori Trayor there we go Nolan Trayor Uh we’ll talk about him here next and then we’ll close by talking Jir Watkins and a little bit of Western Conference Uh as of right now it’s all upcoming here next Today’s episode of Locked Wolves is brought to us by our friends at Monarch Money Ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go Between dining out online shopping and entertainment it is easy to lose track And that’s where Monarch Money comes in Your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances Monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app It’s a complete financial command center You can track all your accounts investments and spending in one place so you stop just managing your money and start building wealth When I started using Monarch there were several things I realized One was how much I spent on food delivery Just a habit I got into Now I can budget smarter and save more The maybe the best thing though is the all-in-one 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conversation instantly without missing a beat Plus their AI agent handles after hours calls answers common questions and captures leads so you never miss a customer Open Phone is offering my listeners 20% off your first 6 months at openphone.com/lockdownba That’s open phone op.comdonba Plus if you have existing numbers with another service open phone will port them over at no extra charge Open phone no missed calls no missed customers All right let’s talk about Nolan Trayori Nolan Trey Trayor is a true point guard with good size Um another French player played in France last year And again I I said this when I talked about some of the um really more undersized I guess we did talk about a couple of guards too I mean like Ben Sif is is really a a point guard Um Jor Deon is more of a a big combo guard We talked about Jace Richardson who’s a small combo guard I would say that of the of the guys we’ve talked about so far on this show and guys who I could see the Wolves having some interest in um Ben Sif and or Saraf I’ve heard both pronunciations and normally I I hate saying a guy’s name if I’m not getting it right but I could not find a good answer A lot of trusted sources that I found were Sarif or Saraf So um I’m I’m going to go ahead and split the difference I guess for now Trayori I’m confident I have right Um but I would say Trayore and uh and Saraf are the only two guys that are really true point guards that I’m talking about because I don’t think the Wolves are going to go that direction I think they stick with Rob Dillingham Maybe add a veteran They obviously still have Mike Connley Um of course I’ve said I thought they’d add a veteran point guard each of the last two years and they haven’t done it So that may just not be what Tim Connelly wants to do Anyway Trey is just 19 years old He’s 6’3 with a 68 wingspan With Rob Dillingham there is redundancy in terms of drafting another teenage point guard but he’s a diff much different player than Rob Dillingham About a year ago Trayor would have been considered a top 10 12 Certainly a lottery pick in this year’s draft He had a rough year in France especially shooting the basketball Um but my first thought when I watched him was this size and quickness combo is really really impressive 6′ 3″ 6’8 wingspan extremely quick like quick first step quick hands quick feet uh good handle seems to know exactly what he’s doing all the time If you watch what he does offensively regardless of whether or not the shot is falling and and honestly it didn’t fall a lot for him We’ll talk about the percentages percentages in a second but Trayora looks confident He looks like he has solid better than solid feel for what he’s doing at any given moment on the offensive end of the floor Um percentage-wise last season he was only 39% from the field and just 30% from outside the ark on a little more than four attempts per game He wasn’t good at the rim He wasn’t good outside the arc The mid-range was inconsistent Um but he gets to where he wants to go And that’s the biggest thing when you watch Trayor is is if he wants to get into the paint he gets into the paint He can touch the paint almost whenever he wants There will be more athletic point of attack defenders in the NBA longer defenders at the point of attack in the NBA but his ability and confidence to get to where he wants on the floor is massive And again at that size and just 19 years old he could grow a little bit He’s going to get stronger but 19 years old 6’3 with a 68 wingspan is very impressive Um he touches the paint all the time He gets downhill very easily I think he’s solid in pick and roll There’s obviously going to be growth there Um and honestly I think his shooting form is better than what the numbers say The jumper from the outside yes inconsistent is probably the best word and and that’s a fair word to use for somebody who sub 31% on three-point shots last year but the overall form certainly the the um head shoulders you know the arms like the the upper body the torso looks good the legs are a little bit wonky sometimes when he’s shooting It’s like he likes to shoot off balance more often than he should Um but if he can straighten that out I actually like the shooting form when it comes to Trayori and a point guard of that size who can get to where he wants and touch the paint when he wants and and get head and shoulders past a defender when he wants and make a defender uncomfortable that could also add that shot uh is pretty impressive Um and it’s easy to look at a 19-year-old that didn’t shoot well and be like “All right there’s a low floor for this guy.” But I actually think he’s got a pretty decent floor I think he could come into the NBA now and hold his own as a backup point guard on the right team And I think there is a star ceiling I truly believe that Trayore has an all-star level ceiling because of again the knack to get where he wants The confidence to think he can get where he wants whenever he wants He’s a really good passer He’s not a a Jerger Demen level passer I don’t even think he’s a Saraf level passer Um it’s closer there I But I I truly truly truly believe that Treyari has all-star level potential Um I would argue his ceiling is similar to Rob Dillingham’s The floor is is is maybe a little bit lower And I know Dillingham didn’t play this year so that’s a maybe a weird thing to argue but I think Dillingham when he played offensively was good enough that there’s a backup point guard in there now It’s it’s can the can the offensive floor for Dillingham solidifi can he solidify that and just be a really good catch and shoot guy And on defense can can the effort level be there all the time I thought it was decent this year Trayor is is similar defensively He’s much bigger again you know 2 three inches bigger Certainly wider thicker as a as a in terms of his build his frame but I think defensively he’s better than Dillingham right now And offensively well he’s nowhere near the shooter that Dillingham is Um and I don’t know that he’s necessarily a better passer than Dillingham I think it’s probably close He can get to where he wants and seems to know what he wants to do He wasn’t shooting off the dribble a ton and that’s because he can get into the paint and get to the rim when he wants to And that’s that’s a um a a real skill that Treyori has and I don’t know that Dillian always has it I actually like him as a point guard prospect He’s going to be kind of middle of my board I think most likely I’m not quite done with it yet Uh because I like him as a prospect and I actually like his fit with Minnesota It’s just I don’t think they spend the draft capital with Dillingham in the fold already And I don’t like him enough to like move off with Dillingham already because again I think the offensive floor for Dillingham with the shooting skill that he has and in the fact he’s already ahead being in the system etc You’re not going to like trade him and then be like “All right Trey is our new point guard project.” Like that’s not something I think the Wolves are likely to do Um and I don’t necessarily think they can play together Treyor is not that big He’s not Demond who’s you know what six uh what’s Deon 65 6 Oh Deon’s 6’9 So like he’s not that big where you’re going to say “Okay we could play him with Dillingham.” So I think it’s unlikely the Wolves draft Trayori but I like him as a prospect overall And I think he’s one of my favorite point guard prospects in this draft because of the the decent floor high ceiling combination and the ability to attack like he’s not I don’t want to throw crazy all-star comps out there like you know Jaylen Brunson and guys like that but there’s a little bit of that to his game where he gets to where he wants when he wants to despite um you know almost a little little bit of a bulldog mentality Uh I didn’t mean to say despite a bulldog mentality I changed what I was saying because of his bulldog mentality Um let’s talk about Jir Watkins at Florida State next I also want to talk a little Western Conference based on a couple of ESPN pieces that were out there regarding where the Western Conference sits now We’ll do all that here next Today’s episode of Lockdown Wolves is brought to us by our friends at FanDuel our title sponsors at FanDuel Summer sports are in full swing now We are past the NBA We are it it’s it’s it is officially summer on the calendar as well Maybe you’re all about baseball Maybe you’re all about uh you know baseball under the lights golf on the green or maybe it’s high stakes soccer action FanDuel is the best way to make every game more exciting You’re already following the action Why not make it a little more thrilling With FanDuel you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach Why not just get in here right Get in get in on get on on sports while your friends are at the beach getting sunburned I’ve been using FanDuel to track my favorite matchups The app keeps it fresh with new daily promotions and fun ways to bet It’s super easy to use They pay out fast And it makes even regular season games including a season like baseball which has so many games makes every regular season game feel like mustwatch events Whether you’re placing the same game parlay or watching a bet ride into the ninth inning FanDuel will make you feel like you’re part of the action New to FanDuel New customers can bet just $5 to get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins Open the FanDuel app today or visit FanDuel.com to get started All right let’s go ahead and talk about Jamir Watkins uh out of Florida State and and I want to start this is I want to be clear about this He’s a second round pick I think he’s a second round pick I think there’s a shot the Wolves get him if they trade back in the second round I’d be surprised if he went as early as 31 Honestly I think he’ll still be on the board at 31 But I want to mention him because of what his of of the body type um and the um I guess the role he could fill right away at the NBA level I think uh with a little bit of development to to come still but he’s already 23 after playing uh four seasons in college spent a couple years at Florida State here Uh so I think there is still some upside there with Jamir Watkins So I want to talk him out a little bit uh here before we get into some of the Western Conference stuff Um Jir Watkins 6’6 a wingspan of nearly seven feet So a massive wingspan about 611 and a quarter is is what I saw he measured at Big physical wing I think he’ll be a great team defender from day one And I think he’ll be solid at the point of attack I’m not sure he’s good enough laterally to like stay in front of point guards but I think he can guard two and three and probably four given the wingspan and the build right away at the NBA level I I’m not I’m not gonna sit here and say he’s like I don’t think he’s Nate Clifford on the ball I don’t think he’s um you know some of these other guys who I think Drake Powell on the ball I I don’t think he’ll be that good as a point of attack defender right away But I do think he’ll be a a very good team defender right away and solid at the point of attack especially for for twos and threes Guys with size that maybe aren’t as quick laterally as a lot of ones and twos ones a lot of ones and certain twos in the NBA I do think all the like he averaged 18 plus a game at Florida State this last year He went from like 11 or 12 the year prior uh to um to 18 a game last year I’ll get you the exact Yeah actually sorry 15 and a half his junior year at Florida State He spent two years at VCU um and then one year at Florida State where he was 15 and a half points per game and 40 almost 46% from the field 34% from three Last year the scoring went up the volume went up and the percentages went down He lost lost 3% on his his overall field goal percentage and 2.3% on the three-point shot Just 32% from three this year All the tools are there offensively You don’t score 15 and a half plus a game two years in a row in the ACC without having the tools offensively The tools are there as a score He just did it at high volume But I also when I watch him I think he’s not great at any one thing Like again the three-point percentage isn’t great The touch on the rim actually isn’t great the free throw percentage um gives us some you know inkling that maybe he becomes better with his jumper He’s 76% for his career at Florida State It was 79% as a junior So that’s that’s at least trending in the right direction for him Uh but again you like somebody of that size with his athleticism to be better at the rim U but the tools are all there if an NBA coaching staff can kind of put it all together I do also think he’s a really good passer as a wing and you know if teams think he can initiate I you know I mentioned this with with Penda I think Watkins is a better passer than Penda He’s a couple years older etc But I actually think that the assist rate was decent at Florida State I know the per game numbers aren’t eye popping but he played a ton of minutes and uh was also just a a huge usage like a plus 30% usage rate guy So I think there is something there for him the way he reads the game and the tools are there for him to be a good passer if teams think he can initiate as just like a big three um that almost point forward type player that could be a thing and and the Wolves tend to like guys that can do those things The problem is I after digging into Watkins a bit I looked at I was like he’s kind of a project and then I was like well he’s 23 like but because of the physicality the size what he can do defensively and it’s really more physicality defensively than offensively I think offensively he can get to his spots and stuff but he’s not like brute force guy U like Penda for instance I do see him being drafted and I see him you know probably in the 40 to 50 range in the second round because if a team thinks they can help him tweak the jumper now you’re talking about a 66 almost 7 foot wingspan 3 and D guy right Like if he can be a little bit better at the point of attack with smaller guys and develop a jumper a little bit more there’s some scoring upside there Um so I I I like him as a prospect I don’t like him as much as some of the other guys on the board but I wanted to mention because I mentioned him because I think the archetype that he fits and the the there’s only one if there right Like if he can um you know become a better jump shooter then he’s then he’s a legit guy you’re looking at around plus or minus that 31st pick So um if teams think he can there’s a chance because of the physical profile So I like him He’s going to be on my top 15 big board Uh and that’s a bad way to put it Not literally my top 15 guys but 15 guys I think the Wolves will consider with their picks at 17 and 31 and anywhere thereabouts All right Um I was going to talk mockdraft stuff with them but I don’t know that that’s necessarily worth it right now But just just trust me when I say that they’re mocked all over the place Like uh Penda was the last Ringer mock draft was like 18 on that draft and Trayori was 20 The ESPN mockdraft had one of those guys in the second round Like it’s it’s all over the map um with with how they’re mocked All right In the Western Conference right now a couple of different interesting ESPN pieces And I mentioned the other day that uh actually this would have been Monday’s show so yesterday’s show that the the Wolves place in the Western Conference didn’t necessarily change because of the Durant trade I thought it helped them a little Certainly helped Houston Uh it it didn’t necessarily hurt anybody Maybe you know a negligible amount hurts Oklahoma City which is a weird thing to say about a team that just won the title But a couple things on ESPN that came out on Monday surprised me a little bit First was the current power rankings They released a a postfinals power rankings Of course the Thunder are number one Number two is the Timberwolves on the ESPN overall NBA power rankings They were up from 13 the last time they did a power rankings which I think was before the playoffs Uh I was absolutely floored by that Like I was expecting them to be top five but I I I mean I I guess one of the teams in the finals just lost their best player to a season ending injury I would have expected them to be behind Houston and Cleveland Honestly I’m not saying I necessarily would have put them there Um I was expecting them to be potentially even behind like the Knicks or somebody but no Minnesota is number two on this list uh behind uh behind only OKC Number three is Denver which I also thought was interesting Um although you know maybe with a healthy Aaron Gordon they have a like remember OKC got pushed to seven games by Denver So so between Joic and and some of the injuries they had and obviously the the tools they had with the head coaching change in the final weeks of the regular season Um you know that I I get it Cleveland’s four on this list I understand that Houston at five feels about right The Pacers at six is probably a little high with no Hallebertton The Knicks at seven feels right The Warriors at eight might be a little bit high as well I know they have Jimmy Butler and I know he was hurt but we will see what that looks like The Lakers at 9 the Clippers at 10 feels about right Detroit at 11 Boston at 12 I’d still probably like I know they’ve got a lot of choices to make this offseason but that feels a little low for Boston All that to say I was really surprised Minnesota was ranked that high on this list And then the other thing they had is how close is every franchise to a title which feels very gimmicky and it is Um but here are the tiers Number one true NBA title contender only OKC Number two tier it pays to be in the East Cleveland the Knicks The next tier is best of the rest in the West Fantastic rhyming Denver and this is apparently no maybe it’s in within the tier It’s in an order Denver Houston Minnesota and it says uh there’s some Lori Rodriguez questions which by the way they’re supposed to close on Tuesday Um so we’ll talk about if anything haywire happens there and I guess when it gets confirmed we’ll talk about that on Wednesday’s show questions about Randall and Naz and to kill Alexander Walker and that they can’t uh afford to take any steps back in the West No surprises there Um but having them in that tier makes sense The tier right below it is elite contenders with injury wos It’s the only place you could put Boston Indiana and the Bucks I don’t necessarily put the Bucks on the same tier I know they have Giannis A lot of other question marks on that roster Whereas you like the Pacers and Celtics Sands their superstars much more than Milwaukee aging star power Warriors Clippers Lakers feels right Um I feel like the Lakers are maybe a little higher because well LeBron is aging Luca is not really So well I guess we all are right But you know what I mean Um so all that to say I was surprised at the ESPN optimism about the Timberwolves I did not think that they would rank that highly in either of those places but I will take it And I don’t think it’s necessarily far off I actually on the power rankings might have had them slightly lower than two but there’s so much that’s going to change in the next week I mean one week from today is the final opt out dates I you know both Nas and Julius Randle one of them has the 29th one of them has the 30th One week from now we’ll know what’s happening with those guys and we’ll we’ll obviously be past the draft We’ll know if there’s any other trades happening I think Wednesday Thursday could be bonkers Uh lots lots that’s going to happen in the next week We’ll have some guests on postdraft to talk about the guys Minnesota does draft We’ll talk to uh to some folks who will have a good kind of um really locked in sense on whoever the Wolves end up with And um you know we’ll we’ll do that postdraft We’ll talk about some other bigger picture Wolves stuff So much upcoming And I’m excited on Wednesday to go through my big board as well So make sure you tune in on Wednesday We’ll get you ready for the draft Wednesday night If anything big happens we’ll we’ll uh you know do an extra show in there But otherwise we’ll have a show Wednesday night That will be Thursday’s show So a packed few days ahead A big thank you for making Lockdown Wolves your first listen every day Of course this show is free and available everywhere You can uh watch on YouTube you can watch on the Lockdown Sports Minnesota app on both Roku and Amazon Fire TV And a reminder that for your second listen you go check out the NBA uh the lockdown NBA mock draft Now is the perfect time to do exactly that with the draft depending on when you’re listening to this 24 36 whatever hours away A five episode series is now available with the most comprehensive NBA draft analysis from NBA experts to college experts and NBA draft experts Find the 2025 lockdown NBA mockd draft on NBA big board and lockdown NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast If you haven’t listened to it I’ll spoil it for you now I did draft Nick Clifford He was on the board for me at uh number 17 and I selected him on behalf of the Timberwolves in that box So go listen to all those episodes It’s a ton of fun Of course the Lockdown Wolves podcast is part of the Lockdown Podcast Network Remember the Lockdown Network is your local experts on all the biggest stories Once again I’m Ben Beacon This is the Locked On Wolves podcast and we’ll catch you next time

Ben Beecken (@bbeecken) breaks down three intriguing NBA draft prospects for the Minnesota Timberwolves: Noah Penda, Nolan Traore, and Jamir Watkins, analyzing each player’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential fit with the Wolves at picks 17 and 31 in this week’s NBA Draft. Also, what is the current landscape of the Western Conference in the wake of the Kevin Durant trade.

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#MinnesotaTimberwolves #Timberwolves #NBA #AnthonyEdwards #JuliusRandle #NazReid #RudyGobert #MikeConley #NBADraft #Wolves

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