{"id":197656,"date":"2026-05-27T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=197656"},"modified":"2026-05-27T11:04:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T15:04:30","slug":"2026-nba-draft-sleepers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/05\/27\/2026-nba-draft-sleepers\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NBA Draft: 3 Sleepers Who Can Lighten the Offensive Burden for Anthony Edwards"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NBA Draft<\/a> gives Minnesota a real chance to fix its biggest flaw. Anthony Edwards<\/a> carried a heavy scoring load all season long. He needs backcourt help to take the next step forward.<\/p>\n

2026 NBA Draft: 3 Sleepers Who Can Lighten the Offensive Burden for Anthony Edwards<\/h2>\n

Minnesota’s Guard Problem Runs Deep<\/h3>\n

The Timberwolves reached the playoffs for the fifth straight year. They reached two conference finals but fell short both times.<\/p>\n

The roster has a clear gap<\/a> at point guard. Minnesota used Julius Randle<\/a> as a hybrid facilitator this season. Randle averaged 21.1 points and 5.0 assists per game. He remains a forward and not a natural playmaker.<\/p>\n

Mike Conley<\/a> is 38 years old and entering free agency. Ayo Dosunmu<\/a> and Bones Hyland<\/a> also face free agency. Thus, the Wolves lack a true point guard under contract for next season.<\/p>\n

Anthony Edwards Carries Too Much Weight<\/h3>\n

Edwards averaged 28.8 points per game this regular season, finishing third in the entire NBA in scoring. That production came with minimal backcourt support this season.<\/p>\n

The lack of a true playmaker forced Edwards to take tough shots. He often had to beat defenders 1-on-1 late in games. Adding a ball-handler through the draft would change Minnesota’s offense and free Edwards to play off the ball more often.<\/p>\n

Minnesota holds the 28th pick from Detroit and the 59th pick. This draft class at guard runs deep with talent. The right pick could ease that pressure<\/a> on Edwards right away.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Meleek Thomas Provides Efficient Scoring<\/h3>\n

Meleek Thomas<\/a> averaged 15.6 points per game at Arkansas as a freshman. He shot 43.5% from the field and 41.6% from three. Thomas scored with confidence and created his own shots with ease. He played next to Darius Acuff Jr.<\/a> in the Arkansas backcourt.<\/p>\n

That experience as a second option translates well to Minnesota. Thomas knows how to share the floor with a star. Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley<\/a> praised his \u201cunwavering confidence\u201d and \u201coff-the-dribble wiggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas’ pace and aggression would fit a fast backcourt with Edwards. He’s projected as a late first-round pick in most mocks.<\/p>\n

Ebuka Okorie Can Create Offense<\/h3>\n

Ebuka Okorie<\/a> averaged 23.2 points per game at Stanford as a freshman, along with 3.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He shot 46.5% from the field and earned All-ACC honors. Okorie<\/a> led the ACC with 23.3 points in conference play.<\/p>\n

He outscored Stanford\u2019s second-leading scorer by nearly 10 points per game. That gap shows his ability to carry an offense alone.<\/p>\n

ESPN’s Jeremy Woo<\/a> called him a \u201cmicrowave scoring talent\u201d and a \u201cpotential fit off the bench\u201d for Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Okorie’s shot-creation would give Edwards a reliable secondary weapon. He could also adapt to a smaller role behind Edwards. That flexibility makes him very appealing at pick 28.<\/p>\n

Bennett Stirtz Offers Playmaking Vision<\/h3>\n

Bennett Stirtz<\/a> averaged 19.8 points and 4.4 assists per game at Iowa. He shot 47.7% from the field across 37 starts.<\/p>\n

He played multiple seasons of college basketball<\/a> at Drake and Iowa. That gives him more readiness than most one-and-done prospects.<\/p>\n

His court vision stands out above all else in his game. Stirtz can direct traffic and set up teammates in rhythm. That passing pairs well with Edwards as the primary scoring threat. Stirtz posted a true shooting percentage of 60.7 at Iowa.<\/p>\n

He may not fall to pick 28 in this draft, but Minnesota should grab him without hesitation if he slides.<\/p>\n

The Right Pick Could Secure Minnesota’s Future Backcourt<\/h3>\n

Minnesota finished the regular season at 49-33 and lost in the conference semifinals to the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n

Edwards cannot keep carrying the offense alone every night. The supporting cast must improve for Minnesota to contend. Closing the gap requires more help for their franchise player.<\/p>\n

The 2026 NBA Draft gives Minnesota three strong sleeper options late in the first round. Thomas, Okorie and Stirtz each bring different skills to the backcourt.<\/p>\n

Any one of them could relieve pressure on Edwards immediately. Minnesota must seize this chance to build a complete roster.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NBA Draft gives Minnesota a real chance to fix its biggest flaw. Anthony Edwards carried a heavy scoring load all season long. He needs backcourt help to take the next step forward. 2026 NBA Draft: 3 Sleepers Who Can Lighten the Offensive Burden for Anthony Edwards Minnesota’s Guard Problem Runs Deep The Timberwolves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5867,"featured_media":197687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,21,62,556],"tags":[49942,2109,3967,50035,4549,50394,50464,208],"class_list":["post-197656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-timberwolves","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-2026-nba-draft","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-ayo-dosunmu","tag-bennett-stirtz","tag-bones-hyland","tag-ebuka-okorie","tag-meleek-thomas","tag-mike-conley"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5867"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197656"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197689,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197656\/revisions\/197689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}