Timberwolves take Edwards with No. 1 pick
Anthony Edwards paid tribute to his mother and g r a ndmot her. O nyek a Okong w u recalled his brother. Obi Toppin thought about coming home.
Tears flowed freely for those and many more players Wednesday night when their long-awaited, repeatedly delayed NBA dreams were finally realized.
Edwards was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the No. 1 pick in an NBA draft delayed multiple times because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Commissioner Adam Silver announced the pick from ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. The draft was originally scheduled for June 25 before multiple delays caused by the virus pushed it back out and out of its usual home at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Boxes of hats were shipped to the top prospects to put on the one they needed after their name was called.
Edwards watched while seated next to portraits of his late mother and grandmother. They both died of cancer and he was emotional after his name was announced.
“As far as just being excited and just being happy and ready to go and ready to work and ready to get there as soon as possible, those emotions were overwhelming with just my mother and grandmother being there,” Edwards said. “I mean, it was just a dream come true and just a blessing.”
T he T i mb e r w o l v e s worked out a deal to acquire Ricky Rubio. The Timberwolves plan to send the 17th pick to the Thunder for the 25th and 28th overall selections and Rubio, who played for Minnesota in his first six seasons in the league.
And though there wasn’t the usual family table in the green room and trip on stage to meet the commissioner, some players still were outfitted in fashionable attire — perhaps
none more than No. 12 pick Tyrese Haliburton of Sacramento, whose blue, floral suit had the words “Black Lives Matter” on the inside.
They celebrated with family, friends, coaches — and in Cole Anthony’s case, even celebrity fans. Movie director Spike Lee jumped up and down with his family when Orlando took Anthony, whose father, Greg played for the Knicks, at No. 15.
Some moments triggered deeper emotions. Okongwu, taken No. 6 by Atlanta, recalled his older brother, Nnamdi, who died after a skateboarding accident in 2014.
Toppin, the national player of the year last season at Dayton, struggled to speak after the New York Knicks took him at No. 8, bringing the Brooklyn-born forward to his hometown.
“I’m from New York, that’s why it’s important,” Toppin said. “Me repping my city, it’s amazing.”
Edwards became the 11th straight one-and- done
player to be the No. 1 pick, coming in a year where there was no clear obvious choice. He averaged 19.1 points for the Bulldogs, tops among all freshman.
LaMelo Ball went to the Charlotte Hornets after the Warriors took James Wiseman, the next stop on a lengthy basketball journey that sent the guard from high school in California to stops as a professional in Lithuania and Australia. He joined brother Lonzo, taken No. 2 by the Lakers and now in New Orleans, to give the Balls two brothers taken in the top three picks.
The Chicago Bulls took Patrick Williams of Florida State, the ACC sixth man of the year as a freshman, at No. 4. Cleveland followed with Auburn’s Isaac Okoro, another freshman, to round out the top five.
The latter half of the top 10 featured a couple highly regarded international players in France’s Killian Hayes, taken by Detroit at No. 7, and Deni Avdija, the highest player to come from
Israel when Washington picked him at No. 9. SILVER: NBA STRIVES FOR
FLEXIBILITY WITHIN ‘ NEW NORMAL’ >> NBA commissioner Adam Silver is on a quest for normalcy. The definition of normal remains subject to change during the coronavirus pandemic.
With daily testing and hurdles in specific regions and cities to clear, the NBA is marching forward with a plan to play the 2020-21 season using lessons learned from the unique summer in Orlando.
“We’ve got to be really careful,” Silver said Wednesday prior to the draft from Bristol, Conn. “We learned a lot in Orlando. There’s no doubt we will learn a lot as we start playing.”
The NBA conducted the annual draft after multiple date changes on Wednesday, and NBA free agency begins Friday. The 2020 season, which ended barely five weeks ago in the bubble environment, is starting over in many ways.
“It’s unusual for (rookies).
Most of them didn’t have a complete (2020) season, NCAA Tournament. They’re finding their own new normal,” Silver said of the 2020 draft class. “This isn’t unique to the NBA. It’s what people are dealing with every industry around the world. And it’s what we’re doing.”
The NBA introduced a split 72-game schedule with a play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff spots in each conference.
76ERS SEND HORFORD, FU
TURE 1ST-ROUNDER TO OKC >> The Philadelphia 76ers are moving on from Al Horford and will trade him and a protected future first-round pick to Oklahoma City in a draft-night trade. The Sixers will receive Danny Green and Terrance Ferguson from the Thunder, according to The Associated Press.
The Sixers also sent a 2025 first-round protected from 1- 6 overall. The Sixers also sent the 34th pick to the Thunder and the rights to European point guard Vasilije Micic.
The 76ers traded Horford more than a year after he was considered a ballyhooed free- agent signing away for their rival Boston Celtics. Horford NBA draft picks
was a flop in the first season of a four-year contract worth $97 million and lost his starting spot late in the season. The Thunder are the on hook for Horford’s $27.5 million this season.
The Thunder f lipped Green to Philly after acquiring him from the Lakers. ROCKETS SEND ARIZA TO PIS
TONS, TEAMS SWAP PICKS >> In the final hour before the draft, the Houston Rockets traded forward Trevor Ariza and the No. 16 overall selection in exchange for a future first-round pick, ESPN reported. According to the report, the deal would allow the Rockets the ability to use their mid-level exemption to work a freeagent deal.
K I NGS - BUCKS DEAL FOR BOGDANOVIC IS OFF >> Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic is not on his way to the Milwaukee Bucks and will instead become a restricted free agent, ESPN reported.
The Kings and Bucks reportedly had a sign- andtrade deal in place for Bogdanovic that would have sent forwards Donte DiVincenzo, D. J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova to Sacramento. The trade was contingent on Bogdanovic signing a deal with the Bucks but that is not expected to happen now.
The Sacramento Bee, however, reported Wednesday that, according to a source, there “was never” a deal with the Bucks.