The Minnesota Timberwolves tonight acquired the draft rights to Marquette forward Lazar Hayward, the 30th overall pick, and Serbian forward Nemanja Bjelica, the 35th overall pick, from the Washington Wizards in exchange for the draft rights to Clemson forward Trevor Booker, the 23rd overall pick, and Hamady N’diaye, the 56th overall pick. Additionally, Minnesota selected center Paulao Prestes from Brazil with the 45th overall pick.
Hayward, a 6-6 forward, started 118 of his 138 games at Marquette, averaging 13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from behind the arc. The second all-time leading scorer in Marquette history with 1,859 career points, Hayward played in a school-record 138 games and earned Second Team All-Big East and Honorable Mention AP All-American honors as a senior. He was recently named Most Outstanding Player at the 2010 NABC All-Star Game.
Bjelica, a 6-10 forward from Serbia, averaged 9.9 points per game in 20 appearances last season for KK Crvena Zvezda in the Adriatic League, and improved to 20.2 points per game in six appearances in the Serbia A League. He was also the leading rebounder on the silver medal-winning Serbian National Team in Eurobasket 2009 last fall.
Prestes, a 6-11 center, currently plays for CB Murcia in the Spanish ACB League. The native of Brazil averaged 9.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in the Spanish ACB league this season while shooting 57.4 percent from the field. On a per minute basis, Prestes is the top rebounder in his league.
Earlier tonight, the Wolves selected Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson with the 4th overall pick in the draft. Minnesota also acquired Portland Trail Blazers guard/forward Martell Webster in exchange for forward Ryan Gomes and the draft rights to Luke Babbitt.
