NEWARK, N.J. - If there was a surprise in Derrick Williams’ NBA draft fate, it wasn’t that he went No. 2 overall tonight. It was that the Minnesota Timberwolves kept the pick instead of trading it.
Minnesota is now loaded with forwards boasting similar skill sets, especially with Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph. But Williams said during his post-selection interview tonight that he hopes the Wolves keep him around.
"If they are going to trade the pick, they are going to trade the pick," Williams said during his post-draft interview at the Prudential Center. "I can't do anything about it.
"I want to be there. I want to make that team better, that whole franchise. I want to get them from a losing record to a winning record. That's my job and that's why they chose me. So we'll see what they do with it. But I want to stay."
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The Wolves could trade either Beasley or Randolph if they keep Williams but they also have to decide on a coach. They have not told coach Kurt Rambis if he will be back next season, though Williams said he is not focused on the issue right now.
“I’m just going to get my body into the best shape possible,” Williams said. “If he’s the coach, that’s great.”
Instead, Williams was mostly drinking it all in, having tied Mike Bibby as the highest-ever draft pick for an Arizona Wildcat player.
“I’m just glad that my dreams came true, and I’m happy that this whole franchise chose me number two,” Williams said. “I’m just going to keep working and try to be the best player I can possibly be and make the rest of my teammates better.”
Williams, 20-year-old sophomore forward from La Mirada, Calif., was expected to be picked second or third. The Cleveland Cavaliers picked Duke guard Kyrie Irving with the No. 1 overall pick.
Williams scored the most points of any Wildcat player over his first two seasons, 1,227, and was either a first- or second-team all-American last season as a sophomore.
Bibby was taken No. 2 overall in 1998 by the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Another Pac-10 player, Washington State’s Klay Thompson, landed in the NBA lottery when Golden State took him No. 13.
