Timberwolves trade No. 19 pick, take Auburn center Walker Kessler in NBA Draft
(FOX 9) The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Wake Forest guard Jake LaRavia with the No. 19 pick in the NBA Draft Thursday night, but it doesn’t appear they are keeping him.
Kessler is a 7-1, 245-pound center who played one season at North Carolina before transferring to Auburn last year. Kessler averaged 11.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per game for the Tigers last season. He was voted the National Defensive Player of the Year, Third Team All-America and was one of five finalists for the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Center of the Year honor after leading the country in blocks. He’d give the Timberwolves a true center, which would give Karl-Anthony Towns position flexibility.
Kessler comes to the Timberwolves as one of the best shot blockers in the country last season.
That wasn’t the last trade for the Timberwolves, either. They traded the No. 29 pick and two future second round picks for the No. 26 pick, and selected Duke guard Wendell Moore. He became the fourth Blue Devils’ player selected in the first round. Moore spent three seasons at Duke, and averaged 13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 39 starts last season. He played nearly 34 minutes per game for Duke, and shot 41.3 percent from the perimeter.
