Memphis forward Minott happy to be drafted, but ‘angry’ to be drafted so late
As a throng of well-wishers at Josh Minott’s NBA Draft party hooted and hollered after the 6-9 forward from Boca Raton was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft on Thursday night, Minott wanted no part of the revelry.
A night that held a reasonable expectation of Minott going in the first round, ended with Minott falling to the 45th selection overall by Charlotte, causing Minott to issue a warning to every wing player selected ahead of him and every franchise that passed him over.
“Angry, Angry,” Minott said. “I don’t know bro. Normally I mince my words with the media. I don’t know what to say right now. I’m coming for everybody. I thought I was going to go higher. That’s all I got for that one.”
Minott’s chip-on-the-shoulder response is an added bonus for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who traded for Minott shortly after Charlotte selected him and might have landed the dynamic, ultra competitive wing player to pair with stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns.
“I will bring energy, hustle, rebounding, playmaking and defense,” Minott said. “Off ball, on ball, blocked shots, everything man, offensive creativity, IQ, everything.”
Those very skills were on display when Minott led Boca Raton St. Andrews School to its first state title before rebuffing bigger-name programs like Baylor, Florida State and Stanford for the opportunity to play for Memphis and former NBA all-star Penny Hardaway.
Opinions varied on Minott leading up to the draft. In the NBAdraftroom.com rankings, Minott was listed as the No. 7 small forward while in the Yahoo sports mock draft, he was pegged as high as Round 1 and the No. 29 overall selection and as low as Round 2 and the No. 49 overall selection.
But Minott got perhaps his most significant endorsement from Naismith Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, who served as an assistant at Memphis last season.
In a New York Post interview, Brown, not one to throw out superlatives, raved about Minott’s potential.
“If you draft him, he’ll be like a lottery pick in two years,” Brown told the Post. “He’s young, long, athletic quick. He’s just got to grow and get better. He grew two inches when I was there. He’s that high-twitch athlete. So many NBA people have called me about him. A couple of years, you might have a diamond.’’
Minott came off the bench for most of his freshman season at Memphis but shown enough flash for the league to take notice. Minott was named to the AAC All-Freshman team after averaging 6.6 points and 3.8 in 14.6 minutes per game. His best game came against Tulsa when he tallied 18 points and nine rebounds.
Minott bet on himself as a one-and-done prospect and it has paid off, much to the delight of his supporters, which included family members, his AAU and high school coaches, former teammates and friends, who hunkered down with Minott until he was selected late Thursday night.
“It’s great to see you know, just everybody here,” Minott said. “It’s a blessing just to know there is all this support behind me and that is one things that just brightened up my night. Having the love here no matter what. Whether it was, i don’t know being drafted 20 or 45, it’s just good to have this support system here for sure.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 1:39 PM.