Report: Wolves auctioning off 31st pick ahead of draft's second round

The Minnesota Timberwolves hold the No. 31 overall pick, the top selection in Thursday night's second round of the 2025 NBA draft. But even with some intriguing names left on the board, they might not select a player with that pick. It's a valuable asset that could interest numerous teams looking to come up and snag a first-round talent on a cheaper second-round rookie-scale contract.

President of basketball operations Tim Connelly and the Wolves have had the whole day to field calls and see what kind of offers teams are willing to make to acquire the 31st pick. ESPN's Shams Charania's reporting indicates that there's a pretty good chance a deal ends up happening.

"So the first pick of the second round tonight, No. 31, Minnesota Timberwolves, I’m told that pick is currently in the process of being auctioned off to the highest bidder," Charania said on The Pat McAfee Show. "There’s multiple offers coming in for the Timberwolves, multiple future assets potentially. They’re going to continue to have those conversations, the draft is several hours away tonight. Leading off the draft tonight, that first pick, likely seems to be — there’s serious traction on potentially a trade there."

It isn't just Charania. The Wolves themselves, in the form of GM Matt Lloyd, have publicly acknowledged that they'll be listening to offers on Thursday. Lloyd mentioned that last year, the Raptors were getting offered future first-round picks before they elected to stay put and make a selection at No. 31.

Wolves GM Matt Lloyd said last night that Toronto got offers of future firsts for 31 last year and that they would weigh that against players they like. Team is STOCKED with young guys. But there are a few intriguing dudes available
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) June 26, 2025

The argument in favor of trading the pick is that the Wolves could potentially get strong value on the return, picking up future draft assets — likely at least a first-round pick and more — that could turn into players later or be used for trade flexibility.

There's also the roster-construction reality that any player taken at 31 might not have much of a path to playing time next season on a championship contender that struggled last season to find rotational minutes for young guys like Terrence Shannon Jr., Rob Dillingham, Jaylen Clark, and Leonard Miller. That's part of the appeal of their selection of 18-year-old French center Joan Beringer with the 17th overall pick; Beringer can (and needs to) develop behind the scenes for a couple years before potentially stepping into a major role as Rudy Gobert ages.

This doesn't mean it's a sure thing that Connelly will trade the 31st pick. If he doesn't feel like the offers are satisfactory, he could stay put and select a prospect like St. Joseph's Rasheer Fleming, France's Noah Penda, Arkansas' Adou Thiero, or Duke's Tyrese Proctor, among many other options. But it sure seems like the most likely outcome this evening is that someone else winds up acquiring that pick, with the Wolves getting a solid haul in return.

By the way, the pick in discussion was acquired from the Jazz in the February 2023 three-team deal that brought Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to Minnesota and sent D'Angelo Russell to the Lakers. That's a deal that just keeps on giving for the Timberwolves.

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