“[Joan’s] Basket Protection Is Incredible.” | Matt Lloyd Draft Day 1 Media Availability | 06.25.25

“[Joan’s] Basket Protection Is Incredible.” | Matt Lloyd Draft Day 1 Media Availability | 06.25.25

um just a a big night for the Timberwolves um we were really excited and I wanted to say a big shout out to um Yan’s agent uh Galani Floyd from Wasserman he was excellent his communication and he had facilitated a late workout for us last weekend in Chicago we had to travel to go see him but at the end of the day it was worth it and was one of those throwback old school when I first started scouting workouts where we were able to get him in a high school gym and and really kind of close the book on the evaluation he’s someone we’ve been tracking for the entire season um we had connections on his team in Slovenia and uh they alerted it to us they alerted him to us early we got to go see him early and it turned out great we weren’t sure he was going to make it there and we were pretty elated when he did what do you like most about him he’s he’s like a ball of clay you know he’s he was the third youngest player in the draft um and he plays an incredibly vital role in the league right now because his basket protection is incredible so he is a what really kind of helped us um solidify the the final evaluation of just getting to meet him he’s a very serious person um he’s very dedicated he’s very focused he learned English in seven months the last seven months he didn’t know English going to Slovenia he learned it he may he learned it from some of his American import teammates so we may have to clean up some of the uh the language but all in all um his his combination of basket protection on defense and activity on offense is is really something to be excited about so um he’s kind of a longer term play uh but we’re we’re ready to kind of u enjoy the process of getting getting him up to speed will you bring him in summer league and then keep him here yep he’s coming to summer league um he’s in New York he was at the draft uh he had been based he had come here a couple his season ended later than the college kids season did so he’s only been here for about two weeks he’s been bouncing around the US um he was completing his uh testing module for the NBA his medical and um yeah he’ll be at summer league and our plan is is for him to be uh here in Minneapolis next year uh Matt just I mean having Rudy here as a mentor it’s just like what what do you feel like that is as a situation to bring an 18-year-old kid over here like that he he mentioned Rudy um when we when we sat and spoke with him on Saturday in Chicago and um just about how he knew Rudy’s story he knew where Rudy had come from and I think the two of them will develop a synergy because they share a seriousness and approach so he’s going to be great for for Yan and um our whole team will be great for Yan because Yan kind of fits this the DNA that we’ve established over here here for the last three years defensively what what jumps out at you on film and then in person when we got to see him he’s he’s already a functional basket protection vehicle which is critical and then we think based on some of the stuff we saw that he wasn’t able to do during the season in Slovenia he’s going to have switchability and he’s just such a um a physical presence with his size and his length he’ll be able to uh to swallow up guys and switches and and that’s that’s a really exciting thing we brought Alonzo G one of our staff members with us to the workout who played in the NBA for eight years he’s he’s a I mean he’d be the best player in this room by far we played a pickup game and uh Alonzo after the workout talked a bunch how much about how strong Yan was and he he couldn’t really hold him off when we tried to to pair them together so there’s a long way to go with Yan um but the end result is high reward how do you go about making those decisions Matt of this is a team that’s like a conference championship contending team and and you already have like a youngest core and going on significantly younger than all those guys so take deciding that that’s the route you want to take with this pick when you know every asset can be valuable for roster building yeah I think like if you if you look at the um the younger group of guys we we almost have everyone one guy at every single position now and that’s exciting just in in the the the way the rules are are um set up now the team building rules are restricted a little bit we have to get our draft picks right and then we have to be a part of player development everywhere Tim has been player development has been such a huge important thing that he brings to the table so Yan will be entered into that and we’re going to see start seeing the results at summer league of of Dillingham and Shannon and and Clark and and Leonard Miller and all those types of things will start to come together but just to have a piece now at at every single numerical position on the one through five that’s kind of intriguing it Yoan’s one of those rare cases where the the best player available also had a fit you know and and we were sweating it i mean I had to put this on just so I didn’t embarrass myself it was a It was a long night of waiting matt what uh what role do you feel like how important speed is for fives in the NBA yeah that seems to I I I so appreciate that question it defensive versatility is the order of the day for for a five in the NBA unless you’re an elite Hall of Fame level drop defender like Rudy Gober so we think Yan’s going to have the ability to kind of in those scramble situations in playoff games he’ll be able to to hold up a wing or a guard in a switch if he if he has to um his mobility and his flexibility and his speed are so elite that they should transfer over in some positive way so it’s while it’s not necessarily one single thing that we look at the broader the broader defensive versatility piece when applying and evaluating bigs is so critical now really at the ground level on offense where are his first building blocks on offense yeah we were pretty encouraged um about his like 15 foot and in game when we worked him out and it’s not something that they really challenged him to do at times in in Chedda Olympia um I have a good friend on the coaching staff who promised me that he can he can shoot 15 17 feet we saw it at the workout not saying he’s going to come out and you know be Steph Curry or anything like that but just the the vertical spacing with his with his pick and roll game playing on the baseline and then expanding it outward you know I think there’s there’s some capacity for growth there he’s going to he’ll be functional enough chris Finch likes to run all the dribble handoffs from the bigs and stuff he’s going to he’ll have a capacity to do that it’s just it’s just going to be the part of his natural uh growth and progression matt you said you were sweating out a little bit after you worked him out were you hoping he was going to be there yeah we left we left Chicago super excited i mean in full transparency I mean obviously I would have said that 12 hours ago but we left Chicago really excited about the prospect of of cycling them in were you surprised he was there for those we actually we were i I don’t like some things happened ahead of us i think that dictated um the way the board fell and this this was one of the more exciting drafts just from the pro prospect of everyone’s board was much different I think outside of the top seven eight we saw some trades happen that um started to push guys down to us and we were just lucky that yan got there I mean we kind of made our own luck too just because we kind of were able to close the book on that evaluation late and and get uh personal access to him which was critical to to make the decision Matt each of the last three drafts you guys have made deals on draft day tim Connley baby little wheel weird it didn’t happen this time yeah no it I it wasn’t for lack of trying so um you know Tim’s like um one of those uh guys at the roulette table or whatever it is the the crabs table like he just likes to roll the dice he is the best I’ve ever seen and I’ve worked with a lot of good uh GMs and and had a lot of good bosses knowing what everyone is doing and how he can connect the dots for them to get there so he was on the phone all day we tried to we tried to to move up move down move back move forward move sideways it just it just fell to where the guy we wanted was there matt there’s a there’s a lot of teams that went far in the playoffs that to Jason’s question did still draft players rather than using that asset to you know be a trade piece and maybe improve the roster imminently do you feel that that is important in this sort of environment now where the collective agreement the salary cap is a little bit more restrictive and needing to have players in the pipeline yeah I think it was why we did what we did last year for Dillingham who you know we remain like super high on and and success and in in both making the select evaluating the pick making the selection and then player development they’re the the three kind of pillars of how you can build the team now in the in the modern the way the the the rules are set up so um because you know Tim has been locked into the draft so long and I’ve worked on the draft for several years and and Dell Dempse and our entire staff did such a great job of information collection information analysis um intel collection the entire staff was was part of this decision and it’s the draft is a is a really really important piece so to get to have 17 first off it the whole thing if we backtrack to two days before training camp and we make that trade that pick that pick has folded into that trade that we made two days before the start of training camp and for it to fall to 17 at the time we weren’t sure where we’re going to get this pick Detroit’s pick we didn’t know the protections were pretty heavy and it turned out to be the best case scenario it was like two outside of the protection so we have 31 tomorrow so we’re going to have to go back to work tonight to to to start to kind of stack up who’s still there and what we’re going to do with it um but the draft is the the importance of the draft is enhanced in the new rules in the in the new environment i Matt also just does it show kind of I mean when you guys traded for Rudy gave up a lot of picks but now in the last three years you have three firstrounders and and Jaylen Clark i mean the ability to just kind of adapt along the way and you trade some picks you can get them back and and it’s not necessarily you know the the damaging thing or to the future that that it that people might have thought it was really and and I would even take that a step further that’s a great point John i would take it a step further um any sort of assertion that we’re we don’t have assets is is incorrect and we’re going to see it at summer league and these guys have all been here for about two weeks two and a half weeks getting ready for the summer league we have a really good crew of young players i know you guys all know that because you’re at practice and you see it the market hasn’t seen it yet and the market is going to start seeing it at at summer league so um yeah I think you know his uh willingness to get into the draft and be aggressive is work Tim that is is works in our favor because more likely than not we’re going to probably pick the right guy and we’re going to place him into the player development program and that’s not like a subtle subtle brag or anything is just the record um we’re going to put him in the player development program that’s produced Jade McDaniels Nas Reed etc etc etc and we should get a good result you know the personnel and you control your own destiny at 31 what does it look like as you come in tomorrow do you think man i mean we just were watching the end to see who was still going to be there and I’m sure he’s upstairs right now with one of those like two phones right now going talking to agents as to you know what the assessment of the of the draft will be but there are going to be good players there and I think teams will be it’s the second year of the two-day draft so um someone told me last year that Toronto was was getting offered future first round picks da d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d so we’re gonna have to kind of line that up and see what what uh the offers are and you know we may just draft another guy so we don’t know yet we don’t know yet matt Tim and Chris both talk about like how important personality fits is getting good dudes is what they say a lot you know you mentioned how Johan is a serious hard worker but what else is it about him just personalitywise that make him a fit with the group of guys yeah I didn’t know what to expect um when we sat down with him the workout I have like grainy videos on my phone that I took at the workout because I started to get so excited um but I didn’t know what to expect when we actually sat down with him and he’s about as um mature a person as you could find and I think that’s why whoever asked the question about Goar was a good one because I think the two of them will hit it off you know Goar will be saying like “You can’t eat this you can’t eat this you got to do this.” You know like that it’ll he’ll fold him into his routine and it’ll it’ll serve you on well it he’s a great kid and he’s a kid but he’s he’s got world experience you know he’s moved to Slovenia he learned English in eight months and or seven months so um if I had to bet on his intangibles I would A+ you know his tools are an A+ and everything else will come along getting experience and gaining experience so um if that’s the category good dudes he definitely fits into it the Dion you talked about ball of play but like high level rim protection already but realistically how far away is he from a guy that if you had to play into a playoff game yeah I don’t think we should be afraid of it you know I’m not I wouldn’t sit here and say that he’s going to be anything um other than what the development plays out for him you know but but I do think everyone’s going to like him and I do think that uh I think the players are going to like him i think the coaches are going to like him and maybe there’s there’s going to be an opportunity last year we saw whenever those guys got opportunity and Dillingham Shannon Clark they all embraced it josh May not um I think we would expect Yan to do the same when he gets the opportunity he’ll be ready because he’s going to stay ready as opposed to having to get ready and um that was the one thing to take away from his from meeting him was like a real secure feeling that he was going to be the right type of person but he’s just like a center who is that young but you’re pretty confident that even a year at the end of this next season like physically yeah we’ll have to see i I we’ll have to see i think he’ll be introduced into the NBA training program you know and um our performance staff has has been real diligent on on moving guys along at the right place for their body you know and so we’ll have to see he’ll be here soon um we’ll enter him into the program and then probably a better question to answer you know like when the season starts ju just so we can get a sense of like how he’ll fit and all that sort of thing you had talked about switchability do you see him i mean what you want to see is a primarily a switchable guy rather than a drop guy i don’t know it’s a It’s a good question i just I think for the bigs in the bigs as you like advance in the playoffs and we’ve seen it two years in a row the defensive versatility is is of paramount importance you know um Rudy is a first ballot hall of famer because he’s the best drop defender in the last 15 years in the NBA and his ability to con control the paint and deter shots is I mean one of the best of all time so Yan will be able to see that on a nighttoight basis and he’ll be able to see some some pretty um routine oriented veterans around him too and hopefully he’ll be able to pick up pick and choose pieces of that but his defensive versatility should be an A+ he’s listed at 235 which isn’t real thin is he is he pretty solidly he probably has the capacity to even add more to his frame because his frame is so um he’s just so young you know and but he’s not narrow he’s he’s got like a natural width to him that should allow him to to add more weight and and continue to kind of gain strength even on his lower body too so he’s he’s like kind of natur he played soccer before he played uh he was a striker we thought he would be a goalie just because he’s so No I was a striker wow no he was like a 69 guy running around um playing striker what whatever that means i’m really not I just don’t know soccer but Which which high school in Chicago was it oh come on man fenwick it was at Fenwick it was at Fenwick that was Galani Floyd again that was He set that up so big shout out to him you guys get the A team tomorrow tim will be here tomorrow so really appreciate you guys coming out

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