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Minnesota Timberwolves Passed On Stephen Curry Twice In The NBA Draft, Failed To Land Klay Thompson In A Blockbuster Trade, And Traded Andrew Wiggins To The Warriors


 


The Golden State Warriors team and their fans are currently the happiest in the entire league. After all, the Dubs recently won the 2022 NBA Championship behind a sensational all-around performance.


Winning this title meant the Warriors won their fourth ring in the last eight years. Truly, a phenomenal achievement. The Warriors deserve all the credit in the world as most of their talent is homegrown and was actually drafted by the franchise.


But the Minnesota Timberwolves certainly deserve some credit for the success of the Warriors. Now, before you call us out, let us explain.


The cornerstone superstar for the Warriors in their successful run for almost a decade has been Stephen Curry. Curry has truly changed the way that teams play in the league now with his amazing three-point shooting. Additionally, any team needs a Curry-like superstar to even think of winning an NBA Championship.


He was drafted by the Warriors using the 7th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. But before the Dubs, the Timberwolves had a chance at drafting Steph not once, but twice. The Timberwolves had the 5th and 6th overall picks in the 2009 NBA Draft.


Moreover, they were in need of a guard. Instead of getting Curry, they drafted Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn. Both players were point guards, but they never even came close to reaching the level of Curry in the NBA. To make things worse, the Timberwolves had a very foolish reason to skip Curry.


Moving forward, in the summer of 2014, Kevin Love for Klay Thompson was one of the hottest trade rumors in the NBA. At that point, K-Love was a superstar for the T-Wolves, and Klay was starting to show signs of his true potential.



The Timberwolves were ready to trade Kevin Love, as he had already informed the franchise that he wanted to move on in his career. The Warriors seemed like a very realistic option, as Love would be a perfect fit for the franchise. Unfortunately, Klay Thompson was off the table for the Warriors. As a result, the trade fell out.


Lastly, coming to a recent transaction between the two franchises. Yes, we are talking about the Andrew Wiggins trade. After acquiring the former first overall pick from a trade with the Cavs, the Timberwolves paired him up with Karl-Anthony Towns.


Unfortunately, Wiggs never bloomed into a superstar for the Wolves and he was quickly becoming a burden for the franchise. As a result, the T-Wolves traded him for D'Angelo Russell to the Warriors in 2020. But they also had to give up a first-round pick in addition to Wiggins.


Fast forward to 2022, Wiggins ended up playing a crucial role in helping the Warriors win this season's title. On top of that, the first-round pick turned out to be Jonathan Kuminga in the 2021 NBA Draft, who has the potential to become a special player in the NBA.



All things considered, the Timberwolves have truly messed up multiple times when dealing with the Warriors. As a result, they are stuck in mediocrity while the Dubs are one of the best teams in the NBA.



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