The Timberwolves have been notoriously bad drafters since their inception in 1989. You can count their hits on one hand (Garnett, Rubio, Richardson, Szczerbiak), but you'd need a freakish number of digits to count the misses the same way.

Laettner
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10. Christian Laettner (1992, 3rd overall)

Laettner was the booby prize for the Wolves in the 1992 NBA Draft. Most expected the Wolves to end up with the top pick in the draft because they finished with a 15-67 record the year before. Despite having the best chance to have their ping pong ball selected as the first pick (16.6%), Orlando (15.1%) ended up with the #1 pick. To add insult to injury, Charlotte (6% chance) ended up with the second pick and the Wolves were stuck at third.

Of course, Orlando took Shaquille O'Neal of LSU with the top pick and watched him blossom into one of the most dominant players the NBA has ever known. Charlotte took Alonzo Mourning of Georgetown who became a seven-time all star and won defensive player of the year twice.

Laettner? He ended up playing for six different teams in a ho-hum career, making one all star team. He also failed three drug tests during the 2003-04 season.

Passed on: Tom Gugliotta, Robert Horry, Malik Sealy, Latrell Sprewell

 

Donny Marshall
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9. Donyell Marshall (1994, 4th overall)

The Wolves finished with the second-worst record in the NBA in 1993 at 20-62. However, the Wolves were selected to pick fourth in the '94 draft and decided to go with Connecticut junior Donyell Marshall.

The top three picks in the draft, Glenn Robinson (Milwaukee), Jason Kidd (Dallas) and Grant Hill (Detroit) were each named to at least one All-NBA team in their careers. Heck, even the pick right after Marshall, Juwan Howard, was named to an All-NBA team in 1996.

Marshall, on the other hand, only lasted 40 games in his rookie season before the Wolves dumped him off on the Golden State Warriors for forward Tom Gugliotta. He made exactly zero all star teams in his 15 year career.

Passed On: Juwan Howard, Eddie Jones, Brian Grant, Jalen Rose

Lazar Hayward
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8. Lazar Hayward (2010, 30th overall)

The Wolves traded two picks on draft night to acquire Hayward from the Washington Wizards. In his rookie season, Hayward played in 42 games and averaged 3.8 points per game on 39% shooting before the Wolves decided they had seen enough and dealt him to OKC.

He was released by the Thunder after an unimpressive stint in Oklahoma and was signed by the Houston Rockets, who never used him in a game. Inexplicably, the Wolves re-signed Hayward prior to this season.

Passed On: Landry Fields

Corey Brewer
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7. Corey Brewer (2007, 7th overall)

Brewer struggled to adapt to the NBA game in his first few seasons in the league, averaging just 5.8 points his rookie year on 37% shooting from the floor and 19% from downtown.He blew out his knee in his second season and returned in 2009-10 to have his best season as a pro.

He regressed in 2010-11, however, and was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks where he helped the Mavs to a title.

Passed On: Joakim Noah, Spencer Hawes, Al Thornton, Marc Gasol, Aaron Affalo

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
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6. Rashad McCants (2005, 14th overall)

McCants was the fourth and final member of UNC drafted into the NBA in 2005 after Marvin Williams, Raymond Felton and Sean May. None have made an All Star team, and only two remain in the NBA. McCants is not one of them.

McCants played in 79 games his rookie season and averaged 7.9 points per game. His best season was his third in the league when he averaged 14.9 points. He was traded to Sacramento the next season, which would turn out to be his last in the NBA.

In 2009-10 he refused to report to the Cavaliers summer league entry, then was cut after four days in training camp with the Dallas Mavericks.His next stop was in the Philippines where he was cut after two games with the Powerade Tigers.

Finally, McCants signed with French team Strasbourg but never saw the court after being cut for failing his initial physical.

Passed on: Danny Granger, Nate Robinson, David Lee

COMING SOON: #5-#1

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