As NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum was unveiling which franchises got the top picks in the upcoming draft, Timberwolves President Gersson Rosas said the team's draft war room was fairly quiet. That was until Tatum unveiled the No. 2 envelope containing the Warriors, which meant the only envelope left, the No. 1 pick, belonged to the Timberwolves.''Then we all erupted,'' Rosas said. ''It was responsible celebrations with our masks on, but it was celebrations.''For one of the few times in a franchise history filled with unkind ping-pong balls, they bounced the Wolves' way. The Wolves landed the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery, cashing in their 14% odds of netting the top pick, overcoming a snakebit history in this annual affair. They had the highest odds of getting the No. 1 pick, along with Cleveland and Golden State, but as the team with the third-worst record, the Wolves technically moved up from their slot for the first time in franchise history. Last time the Wolves picked first in 2015, they had the worst record entering the night and netted franchise linchpin Karl-Anthony Towns. That draft, it was either Towns or Duke's Jahlil Okafor at the top, though another current member of the Wolves, D'Angelo Russell, ended up going No. 2. It was Russell who represented the Wolves at the lottery and brought them a little luck the franchise has largely missed in the lottery.''There's a lot of steps left in this journey for us, but today was a significant one,'' Rosas said. ''We're excited about the potential level of player that we can add to our organization, but at the same time, we're going to be very aggressive. We're going to look at every avenue to improve this team.''That includes potentially trading the top pick. Let the speculation begin. This year the race to be the No. 1 pick is a murky one. There is no slam-dunk prospect at the top like last year when the Pelicans took Zion Williamson. But the Wolves could have fallen as far back as No. 7 in this year's draft. Having the first pick, even in a muddled draft, is a good problem to have. At the very least, it's a significant asset Rosas can dangle in trade talks.''This allows us to take a major step in terms of the talent acquisition, whether it's in the draft or trade market, whatever the case may be,'' Rosas said. ''It really positions us well moving forward.''Potential top picks include guard LaMelo Ball, who played in Australia and whose brother Lonzo is on the Pelicans, and Anthony Edwards, an explosive guard from Georgia. The Wolves also have Brooklyn's pick at No. 17, a pick they acquired in a four-team trade that involved Robert Covington at the deadline in February. In Rosas' lone draft as Wolves boss, he wasn't afraid to strike and moved up from No. 11 to No. 6 to take Jarrett Culver, sending Dario Saric to Phoenix in the process.

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