ESPN Breaking: The Minnesota Timberwolves have selected center Rocco Zikarsky with the No. 45 pick
they’re now on the clock with pick number 43 and this has been an interesting last couple of weeks here Bobby for Washington yeah certainly let’s look at last night first they get two young players and Trey Johnson and Will Riley then they go out and make the Jordan Pool trade they bring back CJ McComem and Kelly Olen a lot of veterans on this roster when you look at Marcus Smart and Chris Middleton expiring contracts a lot of cap space in the 2026 offseason nice young pool of players to develop yeah they’re a team that’s going that route right it’s young players hopefully one of them hits they wanted to draft high they also were a team that didn’t get the lottery luck they were hoping for i think they were hoping for a top two three pick obviously Cooper Flag would be the the home run but this is what you do right they’re they’re just waiting for their moment they’re building slowly and they’re having optionality and cap space and it’s how a lot of teams want to do it they have another player that they’re going to add to that mix let’s get it back to the podium the pick is in we have another trade to announce as part of a deal to be finalized later the San Antonio Spurs are trading to the Indiana Pacers the draft rights to Cam Jones the 38th pick with the 43rd pick in the 2025 NBA draft the Washington Wizards select Jamir Watkins from Florida State University bobby you are a huge fan of Jer Watkins well I’m a huge fan of him on and off the court he go he comes out in the draft last year if he decides to go back to Florida State and I asked him why it was because he wanted to graduate to be the per first person in his family to graduate he could he’s an electrifying defender we saw him in Chicago at the combine he had five skills in the in the first half here long athletic wing he can defend right here certainly going to a Washington team that needs some athleticism and he will certainly add that to that team absolutely when he was a kid he said he modeled his n his game after Kobe Bryant and now he is headed to Washington a team with a lot of youth and a lot of opportunity really ahead of them and now it’s the Oklahoma City Thunder here that are on the clock brian this is really unique again going to a team a championship team and the Oklahoma City Thunder not only are they champions they also have so many picks so many assets so much flexibility moving forward so many players on their roster they’re actually kind of out of roster space they traded the 24th pick last night for a future first because they didn’t have anywhere to put him they don’t have free agents they’re going to return everybody which is troublesome news for the NBA so it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a pick here that maybe is a two-way player or maybe is a pick that would be stashed overseas or developed for a while we had such a wonderful time riding the wave of the sevengame series for the Oklahoma City Thunder that culminated of course in a championship in Oklahoma City on Tuesday shane Gildis Alexander making sure the fans get to see the Larry O’Brien Trophy the first championship this franchise has won in the city this was the most incredible atmosphere I think I’ve ever been a part of i have seen a lot of basketball Bob and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more rockous environment than what we saw in Oklahoma City well besides Oakland I’m not going to let Oklahoma City Malikica I’m not going to let that happen but it was fantastic it was wonderful it was really really excellent and and to be able to see I think there’s a lot of hope that people are deriving from the Indiana Pacers run people are saying if Indiana can do it anyone can do it on the other hand folks are looking around at Oklahoma City to Brian’s point and saying this could be a team I’m guilty of it again that we could see for years and years to come and uniquely so yeah and well if we haven’t learned anything like you said we are guilty of it we thought Boston a lot of people presumed Boston would win it last year which they did they’d win it again they keep winning it but now not only did they not win it they’re they’re in the process of kind of tearing the thing down a little bit which is what they had to do because the second apron this Oklahoma City team does have the advantage of youth right you young teams usually don’t win the championship it’s very very rare was second youngest team second youngest team7 and so where this team is different where this team is different is that fact that they are so young and they still have a lot of really good players on rookie contracts so they have a shot here to keep this thing going and doesn’t the draft capital they have help with that too oh yeah they’ve got a help oh it helps with all of it and one of those players they drafted in last year’s lottery Nicole Topic who was out all year they’re going to get him back and it’s basically the pick they the player they picked this year thomas Sorber basically is going to replace Topic because he’s coming off foot surgery and really uniquely to the Oklahoma City Thunder four second round picks four second round picks were not just on the roster were integral parts of this championship because we saw Mark Dagel he went to different guys at different points in every single series brian yeah they don’t just have star players they’ve had star development they’ve been able to build that team up and they’re going to have to continue to do that because their roster is going to get very expensive soon and and now their pick is in let’s send it back to the podium and NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum who has the selection we have another trade to announce as part of a deal to be finalized later the Washington Wizards are trading to the New Orleans Pelicans the draft rights to Micah Peavey the 40th pick with the 44th pick in the 2025 NBA draft the Oklahoma City Thunder select Brooks Barnheiser from Northwest Northwestern University brooks Barnheiser averaged 17 points nine rebounds 4.2 assists for Northwestern University sam Prey making another selection here not surprisingly from Northwestern playing for Chris Collins brooks Barnheiser is a high IQ player had a foot injury this last year that really disrupted the end of his season but he knows how to play he’s an excellent defender really good length and just tough as nails not surprised that he was drafted jay thank you for that insight all right now we’re turning to the 45th pick in this draft the Chicago Bulls are on the clock here at one point this pick was on the move to the Los Angeles Lakers bobby Marks now it’s going to the Minnesota Timberwolves and now it’s going to the Minnesota Timberwolves bobby Minnesota’s in a really interesting spot here because Julius Randle and Naz Reedreed Chris Finch has said that that he expects both of these players these core pieces to be back but they have a lot of decisions to make yeah both have a player option june 29th is the decision date they also have Nila Alexander Walker who’s also an unrestricted free agent and I think that’s why we saw Terrence Shannon in the playoffs who could potentially be a such a spark plug for them and that’s what they’re going to need when you have high when your finances are that hot rob Dilling also who they drafted last year i’m curious when you have a guy on a a big money contract Brian and you draft a younger guy in the same spot they do need a backup center rudy Goar is what I’m thinking of here because at times you see Nas Reed playing backup center but that that’s really what they were going for with this pick right yeah they have as a as a team that’s been threatening the second apron they have to have quite frankly economical backups and so a lot of times that means younger so that’s what a team that is a mature team has to do and in a situation like this they’ve even moved back twice in this draft tonight it may not seem like that big of a deal to move back from a pick like a 31 or 36 where you might have to offer a guaranteed contract to back at this spot where you might be in two-way zone because at this point a team like Minnesota is counting every penny so that they can pay the guys who are free i I love when coaches they’re asked about their highriced players and they say “I expect them to be back.” And and the GM goes “Are you kidding?” Like what do you mean expect him to be yeah I mean but of course what’s the coach going to say well we’re not going to be able to afford that guy you have to say that you expect him back but having been a general manager sometimes you hear that you go “Oh my gosh we can’t keep all these guys.” Well you still have a whole head of hair this you didn’t all of it out steve Kerr was saying that to you nquille Alexander Walker also here a free agent yeah now that’s one there’s I don’t think we’re going to get a lot of action free agency next week but this is two shows we got five hours of TV well we’re going to be talking about Nquille Alexander Walker because he’s a guy that a number of teams have really targeted they’re not sure that the Wolves can fit him in and the Wolves made an interesting move last year they traded Carl Anthony Towns but then a couple of days later they got Rudy Goar to opt out of his contract redo the deal and take the money down significantly that was made so that they could keep the more of the roster together but whether they can fit Nazar Julius Fle and Naw in there that’s questionable some teams think they might be able to get and another another second apron consequence right i mean we’re going to keep saying you and I said we got to come up with a better name let’s do a poll what is the best name for Second Apron you like that name what about the I think the Iron Apron the Iron Apron grim Reaper yesterday yesterday I rolled out Satan’s jail i don’t like that i I think that’s too much i think that’s a little jail we do know that there is a very very high bar though that the Minnesota Timberwolves are trying to eclipse because more coach speak but I liked it chris Finchy challenged his guys he said they prove that this wasn’t a fluke prove making it to the Western Conference Finals wasn’t a fluke and do it again indiana the same thing prove that making it to the Eastern Conference Finals wasn’t a fluke minnesota did that with a very good team and the expensive team that they made a lot of moves for but now the bar is set they have to be able to climb higher in all honesty in today’s day and age with the Second Apron if you’re able to be competitive for the title for three year for three years in a row you really really accomplish something it’s very hard i think we should pause for one second whatever we want to call it second apron iron apron your mama’s apron whatever it is can you just explain it one more time it’s a threshold that you can’t you can exceed if you want to bring back your own free agents but you can’t exceed it if you’re going to go out and and sign free agents or go out and make trades and it makes you you got to like your roster that’s the the biggest thing and you can get around the second apron if you have draft picks that’s how you can kind of make the dance how much does Minnesota like this roster because I thought they did and then you start hearing things about maybe they were a team that was interested in someone like Kevin Durant well they were they were interested in Kevin Durant at the trade deadline they were interested in Kevin Durant two weeks ago they didn’t make that trade the trade deadline because they they and the Suns were in the second apron and ultimately they couldn’t make it work they didn’t do it two weeks ago because Durant didn’t want them didn’t want to go there but it has worked out for them the way they that they didn’t make that dealer i’m going to get a jar we’re going to put a dollar bill in it anytime someone says second apron all right the pick is in this one headed to Minnesota we have another trade to announce as part of a deal to be finalized later the Golden State Warriors are trading to the Phoenix Suns the draft rights to Kobe Brea the 41st pick with the 45th pick in the 2025 NBA draft the Chicago Bulls select Roco Zakarsski from Sunshine Coast Australia the NBA Global Academy in Australia and Brisbane Bullets of the NBL roco Sakarski was once Jonathan the youngest player in the NBL’s Next Stars program history malikica he’s still pretty young he’s only 18 years old nba Global Academy product he has incredible size at 7’4 with a 97 standing reach he can practically dunk without jumping which also gives him significant potential on the defensive end he’s shown some flashes of stretch potential he needs he’ll need to improve his ability to cover grounds in space make quicker decisions but he’s going to be the third tallest player in the NBA after Zack Edy and Victor Winyama third tallest player in the NBA standing at 7 foot3 what you’re seeing here it’s not just a handshake it’s not just the hat it’s the culmination of years of sacrifice and belief stitched together dreams coming to fruition tonight the second round of the NBA draft rolls on after this [Music] hello hello [Music] [Music] foreign all right [Music] potato [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] speech foreign speech foreign speech oh speech speech so now by a lot i come down [Music] speech speech speech yellow speech speech come on look see you guys good job what do you think [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] Okay all right another
ESPN Breaking: The Minnesota Timberwolves have selected center Rocco Zikarsky with the No. 45 pick
