The Minnesota Timberwolves may not want to look too closely at what happened one pick after they went on the clock in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Minnesota took Duke wing Isaiah Evans at No. 33, banking on a 3-and-D profile that should fit cleanly alongside Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball. But while Evans has been trying to find his footing in Summer League, Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas - selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 34 - has been lighting it up in Vegas.
That contrast is hard to ignore for a Wolves team that, after trading for Ball and moving on from Julius Randle, already looks set offensively but could still use another creator coming off the bench. Evans is more of an off-ball piece, which makes sense for the roster around him. Thomas, though, has shown the kind of shot-making and playmaking Minnesota might have liked to add.
Evans’ first two Summer League games have been rough. He hasn’t made a three-pointer yet, going 0-of-15 from deep and 2-of-23 overall. It’s been an ugly start for the Duke product, even if there’s still plenty of time for him to settle in.
Thomas, meanwhile, has wasted no time making his case. In his Summer League debut for Cleveland, he scored 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting and 2-of-5 from three. He followed that up with a huge second outing: 30 points, four rebounds, seven assists and four steals, while shooting 10-of-24 from the field and 4-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Then he went even higher. In his third game, Thomas posted 35 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, going 14-of-23 from the floor and 5-of-9 from deep.
That’s the kind of scoring punch and creation Minnesota could have used in reserve. For now, the Timberwolves have to hope Evans’ slow start is just that - a slow start - because Thomas is already making the No. 34 pick look awfully tempting.
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