If Nico Mannion will fall on draft night no longer seems to be the question. Instead, the question now is: how far will Nico Mannion fall? The near-certain slip for Mannion is due to two main reasons.
First, he’s outside of the top-four point guards in the class (Ball, Haliburton, Hayes, Anthony) and really only four teams need a point guard. Second, he’s coming off a very disappointing season for Arizona after being a top recruit.
With the deadline acquisition of D’Angelo Russell, the T-Wolves aren’t exactly hurting for a point guard, but with their second top-20 pick, they can afford to take a chance on a player like Mannion.
If nothing else, the 6’3 point guard is fun to watch and his tight handle will land him on some highlight reels as a rook. He has a lot to work on at the next level, but for the 16th pick, Minnesota is getting a lot of potential.