http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/wolves_maintain_7th_pick_070522.html 2007 won't be the year that Minnesota finally became the beneficiary of a lottery fortune. However, the Wolves will maintain their pre-lottery selection spot at No. 7 for the June 28 NBA Draft. This year, that's an accomplishment; the lottery balls dropped the NBA's three worst teams -- Memphis, Boston and Milwaukee -- out of the top three, and awarded Portland (sixth-best chace) the rights to the first pick. "As expected, we ended up with the 7th pick, our pre-lottery draft position," said Wolves VP of basketball operations Kevin McHale. "This is a talented draft class, and we will be able to get a solid player to add to our nucleus with this selection." Randy Foye, was in Secaucus, N.J. representing the Wolves' 5.3 percent chance of nabbing that top selection. Minnesota had an 11.33 percent chance for a top-two pick, and a 18.31 percent to land in the top three, which it was enough to get a few hearts racing in Minneapolis. When the draft order hadn't changed through the 8-14 spots, Minnesota fans had mere seconds to wonder if they'd slipped into the top three, but the hill of odds again proved too steep to overcome. Yet for the Wolves, this certainly isn't bad news; at the seven spot promises to be an over-abundance of talent from which to choose. On paper, there are several desirable players that have declared themselves eligible: Brandan Wright, Al Horford, Yi Jianlian, Corey Brewer, Julian Wright, Mike Conley, Jeff Green and Joakim Noah have gotten their fare share of collective love from the mock drafters. The Wolves could use help in the low-post or from a slashing, athletic shooter, but one could make a convincing case for any of the aforementioned prospects...regardless of position. Of course, trades could have an immediate effect upon who goes where; Minnesota's certainly on the wire exploring all options. As for now, the Wolves' brass has a month-and-a-week to evaluate talent -- including several workouts for top prospects at Target Center -- and the basketball operations staff will be doing their due diligence to prepare for their big decision. We'll have in-depth previews of every possible player the Wolves could draft right here on www.timberwolves.com, so make sure to tune in periodically for updates. --

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