The 2020 NBA Draft continues without a clear favorite to number one

The Minnesota Timberwolves face a complicated challenge under unprecedented circumstances. The 2020 NBA Draft will be held on November 18 via teleconference and the Minneapolis franchise still it is not clear who will be his choice at number one.

The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the course and, therefore, the rest of the dates of the US league calendar. Also the Draft, which under normal circumstances would have been held on June 25. Additionally, franchises have had to rely more than ever on video analytics and non-face-to-face interviews.

The coronavirus has prevented the possibility of gather the best talents in the traditional Draft Combine, and the competitions in a reduced version of the past year have also caused teams to rely more on past performances and not on the latest from each player.

All in all, the Wolves They are planted less than a month before the Draft with serious doubts regarding the number one, and is that none of the talents has stood out above the rest this season.

“The analysis is correct”, said Gerson Rosas, president of basketball operations for the franchise. “There is not a type that has separated from the rest from an external or public perspective”.

Despite the doubts, the names that sound the most for the first positions of the ranking if they are more or less agreed by the specialists in the field: Anthony Edwards (University of Georgia), James Wiseman (University of Memphis), Onyeka Okongwu (USC) and Obi Toppin (University of Dayton) are the main talents trained in the US that sound for the top 5 of selected.

Too there is talent trained abroad On the favorites list: LaMelo Ball (Illawarra Hawks, Australia), Deni Avdija (Macabbi Tel-Aviv, Israel) and Killian Hayes (ULM Ratiopharm, Germany). The 19-year-old Macabbi player, for example, has piqued the interest of the Warriors in recent hours.

“We trust that we can identify the player who will be the best player”, Rosas added in remarks to ESPN about Minnesota’s approach. “At the moment in which we are, we have formulated many opinions, and now it is a question of putting them to the test until the night of the Draft.”

According to the executive, after studying the class of 2020 for six or seven months, he thinks that there is enough talent and depth to choose from, and that is that Minnesota will also choose the 17th and 33rd of this year.

In any case, it is clear that there is still no unmissable talent in the opinion of those who have the upper hand. Number one is still a big unknown.