The Minnesota Timberwolves had just one pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The team traded their first-round pick, No. 18, to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Chase Budinger. That left Minnesota with only one selection in the second round, 58th overall. They used that pick on Purdue forward Robbie Hummel.
SB Nation's NBA editor Tom Ziller did not like the pick. Here's his take:
Alright, here we go.
This is David Kahn. This is exactly what David Kahn is. He is a man that makes rash, barely defensible decisions, and then piles more barely defensible decisions on top of them. He turns quarters into dimes like no one else. He is a volunteer fire department that sets itself on fire. He has botched enough attempts to add help on the wings (Wes Johnson, Martell Webster) that he had to give up a first-round pick for a recent second-round pick who had been knocked back in the rotation by a rookie Chandler Parsons.
This isn't overpaying. This is just throwing money at a fire and watching it burn. This is buying hedge clippers on QVC when you need to cut up a baguette and can't find a knife.
Budinger might be a nice fit -- he knows Rick Adelman's system, and he can fly. But he was not worth anything remotely close to the No. 18 days before the deepest draft in years. Chase Budinger or players like him are not going to disappear behind lock and key if you don't pull the trigger two days before the draft. Stop panicking, man. Breathe, homey. You're making things worse. GRADE: D
Draft grade tend to look different over time. Will that be the case for Minnesota?
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