Update: It happened!
There's a 2011 NBA Draft-eligible player I've been meaning to write about all week, but just haven't found the time to do it. Now seems as good of time as any, however, so here's what everyone needs to know about Targuy Ngombo.
If Ngombo is a name unfamiliar to the readers, that's alright, as the 6-foot-6 Congolese small forward has been playing in Qater since 2006. However, the 21-year-old found some buzz this week when Jonathan Givony of Draft Express dished out a rumor nobody was predicting.
"Tanguy Ngombo or Targuy Ngombo from Qatar via the Congo indeed may get drafted by Minnesota, multiple NBA people say," Givony wrote on Twitter. It seems Ngombo's first name is indeed Targuy, but Tanguy has also been used on the internet, leading to the confusion.
The next question everyone should have is where exactly did Ngombo come from and how did the Timberwolves find out about him?
Their international scout, Pete Philo, was an assistant coach on the Chinese national team, according to Givony. Givony's guess is Philo took notice of Tanguy Ngombo when he put up 24 & 9 against China in November 2010. The Timberwolves would have to trade for a second round pick in order to select him, but Givony rarely steers people in the wrong direction (and hit a similar situation last year with the Atlanta Hawks and Pape Sy).
Ngombo averaged 19.6 points and 6.6 rebounds for Qatar during the 2010 Asian Games, but aside from that, there wasn't much available regarding the player. That is until Andrew Lowman from Asia Basketball Update went to work.
Lowman put together the best scouting report on Ngombo available on the internet, which is impressive considering how little footage was available of the player, along with the below highlight video.
Happy drafting!