Wolves at Thunder (Pick ‘em, O/U 222)

7:00pm CST

FS North / WCCO Radio

First off, there are a litany of regulars out on both sides tonight, which is going to make this one a little different than your average game between two bad teams.

What that tells me is that there’s a high likelihood that things just get weird tonight, and I think I’m okay with that. There’s seemingly no type of bad, hilarious, heart-breaking loss that can truly crush me anymore, so I’ll just embrace weird until KAT comes back (hopefully tomorrow?).

Amidst what I’m assuming will be a weird game, I’m just going to hope for the young guys to show more promise. Anthony Edwards has began to look like a guy worthy of being taken with the top overall pick. He can really score, that much is clear, I think. I’m going to be seeing if he can parlay that scoring into some nice passing, and if he can get to the free-throw line a tad more.

Additionally, I’ll be excited to watch Malik Beasley, because I’m always excited to watch Malik Beasley. He is the kind of guy that you never, ever have to worry about bringing it, and I truly believe his energy is infectious. The Wolves haven’t always had a guy like that, so I appreciate that. He plays his tail off.

As far as connections with these two teams, the obvious storyline is what essentially amounted to Aleksej Pokuševski for Ricky Rubio, Jaden McDaniels, and Leandro Bolmaro. It’s too early to say how that trade will ultimately be graded, but I’m sure that the broadcast will mention it a few times tonight.

At the end of the day, the Wolves just need to start stacking wins. There’s no utility for them tanking considering the flattened lottery odds, so they need to get the ship turned around, and fast.

A chance to take home a win against a team with incentive to tank, and without two of their best players, is a great place to start.

Winner of the Day

I included a little bit of gambling fun in my previews during the 2018-19 season as a way to stay entertained during a lost season, and I’m bringing it back this year. Some nights it’ll be a simple spread or over/under pick, some nights it’ll be a fun player prop. Who really knows.

My last pick was back in the Sixers game, where taking the over on Malik Beasley’s points prop got us back to .500. Thanks, Malik. We’re now 2-2, with a shot to get above .500 tonight.

As always, this is merely for fun, and is in no way a recommendation on what to gamble on, or to gamble at all. (If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER).

The pick: Anthony Edwards to have over 19.5 points + Minnesota win (+275) via Bovada

I’m really calling my shot here, aren’t I? I won’t take extra points if this one hits, but I do think Ant is in for a big night, especially with Lu Dort out. Edwards continues to look more and more comfortable, especially with the ball in his hands. He should get plenty of opportunities to be on the ball tonight, and I believe that this frigid Friday night is as good of a time as any to lead the young Wolves to a victory.

Projected Lineups

Wolves

D’Angelo Russell

Malik Beasley

Anthony Edwards

Josh Okogie

Naz Reid

Thunder

Ty Jerome

Hami Diallo

Darius Bazely

Kenrich Williams

Al Horford