Justin Patton Selected 16th in First Round 2017 NBA Draft by Chicago Bulls; Traded To Timberwolves

Pre-Draft Media Packet

BROOKLYN, N.Y.. -- Justin Patton became Creighton's second men's basketball player in four years to be selected in the First Round of the NBA Draft on Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., when the 7-footer was drafted No. 16 overall by the Chicago Bulls. Patton was traded approximately 35 minutes later as part of a five-person trade that saw him join All-Star Jimmy Butler join the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the No.7 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft (Lauri Markkanen), Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn.

Patton is the first Creighton product ever drafted by the Chicago Bulls. Past players selected 16th overall in the NBA Draft include John Stockton, Jusuf Nurkic, Hedo Turkoglu and Ron Artest. He'll become the first Creighton player to play for the Timberwolves franchise since Anthony Tolliver from 2010-12.

An Omaha native, Patton led Creighton with 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots per game, and was second on the club with 12.9 points per game. He owned 72 dunks during his redshirt freshman season and owned 28 games of 10 or more points, including four games of 20 points or more. Patton field goal percentage (67.6 percent) led the BIG EAST, ranked second nationally in 2016-17, and is the best mark in NCAA history by a freshman in a major conference.

In addition to being BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Patton was named Second Team All-BIG EAST, Second Team All-District 5 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and a unanimous pick to the BIG EAST's All-Freshman Team. He was one of 10 candidates for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award, and one of 12 finalists for the Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award. He was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on three occasions.

Clarence Jones of CJ Custom Clothiers helped design his wardrobe, a suit featuring a gold bow tie with "O!" on display inside his suit jacket in a nod to his hometown of Omaha.

It's been quite the rise for Patton, who verbally committed to Creighton in the June of 2014 just seconds after receiving his first Division I offer. Patton then redshirted the 2015-16 season, adding nearly 25 pounds of muscle, while also refining his game and fine-tuning his diet. Patton opened his redshirt freshman season with eight straight double-figure scoring games and quickly became a fan favorite for his infectious smile, rim-rattling dunks and offensive efficiency.

Patton is Creighton's fourth NBA First Round pick in history (not including 1971 hardship pick Cyril Baptiste), and first since 2014 when Doug McDermott went 11^th overall in the First Round to the Denver Nuggets. McDermott would be traded on draft night to the Chicago Bulls and now plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. McDermott is currently joined in the NBA by fellow Creighton alums Kyle Korver (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Anthony Tolliver, who spent last season with the Sacramento Kings and will be a free agent in July.

Coached by Greg McDermott, Creighton went 25-10 in 2016-17. The Bluejays tied for third place in the BIG EAST Conference, played in the BIG EAST Tournament final at Madison Square Garden, and reached the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last six seasons.

NBA Draft 2017 Transcript
Thursday June 22, 2017
Brooklyn, New York
Justin Patton

Q. Could you start out with an opening statement about what you'll bring to the Wolves, please?
JUSTIN PATTON: Yeah, first off I'm excited to be in Minnesota. It's a great city. It's close to Omaha. I've been there a lot of times. And to start off with the team, it's a great team, and with the acquisition of Jimmy Butler, there's more great things happening. To Minnesota I'll bring a good versatile big man who can either play the 4 or the 5, who's great at passing the ball and has a high IQ and a great teammate. That's where I want to start off.

Q. What do you make of the possibilities that you and Karl-Anthony Towns to form?
JUSTIN PATTON: It's amazing, like it could be anything. It could be anywhere from him playing the 4 or me playing the 4 or vice versa with the 5. It's amazing. Coach Thibs has a hard time right now figuring out what he's going to do.

Q. You're a seven-footer who shot over 60 percent from the field, over 50 percent from three. What haven't we seen that everybody is about to see in the association from Justin Patton?
JUSTIN PATTON: I would say my ability to put the ball on the floor and my ability to make my own shot. Like KAT at Kentucky he didn't really do what he was doing now, so hopefully when I'm in the league I can be able to showcase some things.

Q. When the Jimmy Butler trade went down, did you ever think in your head, it might be nice to land with the Timberwolves?
JUSTIN PATTON: No, not really. The Timberwolves is a great team. I've watched them, being from Omaha, being the closest team I was able to watch them. They're a great team, and anybody would like to go there I'm pretty sure.

Q. Did you work out for the Timberwolves? Did you know this was a possibility?
JUSTIN PATTON: No, I didn't work out. I actually had an interview in Chicago with them, and it went really well.

Q. Just take us to the table. What were your feelings like as you watched the thing progress, and how did you find out officially that you were going to get picked?
JUSTIN PATTON: People assumed that I was nervous. I wasn't really nervous. I was excited to see where I got picked because I was waiting to see if I was going to go super low or whatever. It's really where my starting point was at was going to determine how the night was going to go. So really I was excited to see what I was going to start. And I am ready to work my way up. I am with Minnesota, so I am going to work my way to be the best from there.

Q. Was it a blur after your name was called and you hugged your family, flashed the jacket?
JUSTIN PATTON: Yeah, it was really a blur. Now that you ask me, I really don't remember. It was great being there with my family and even the family in the crowd and Coach McDermott and for Omaha, too. This a great opportunity for me.

Q. You did know you were getting picked before your name was called?
JUSTIN PATTON: Yeah, I did.

Q. What was going through your mind?
JUSTIN PATTON: My mind was racing. I was thinking about all the possibilities that could happen in Minnesota and my future teammates and Coach Thibs. It was great to know earlier.

Q. When you think about the Big East Conference, and Creighton as a newer member but this is a league that has produced some all-around greats through the years. To be the first Big East player drafted in this draft, what does that mean?
JUSTIN PATTON: It means a lot to me. I owe it all to my coaching staff, my family in Omaha just because they prepared me for this moment. Being in the Big East, being up here, the media training and all that type of stuff. It's been great. Yeah, it's really been great. That's all I can say.

Q. This Minnesota team has been on the rise for the past couple years. What are you going to bring to them that they don't already have?
JUSTIN PATTON: I would say me being on the team is a step in the right direction just because the ability with which I pass the ball and my IQ for the game, not many people at my size can do things I do with the ball, whether it be making a play on the offensive end or the defensive end, whether it's rotating and blocking a shot or being able to be in the right spot at the right time, just knowing the game. I would say the biggest thing is my IQ.

Justin Patton Selected 16th in First Round 2017 NBA Draft by Chicago Bulls; Traded To Timberwolves

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Justin Patton

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