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NBA DRAFT

June 23, 2011

Derrick Williams

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY

DERRICK WILLIAMS (No. 2)
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

Q. Your thoughts on going No. 2?
DERRICK WILLIAMS: I'm happy. Ever since high school when I started to actually take basketball serious, I'm just glad that my dreams came true, and I'm happy that this whole franchise chose me number two, and I'm just going to keep working and try to be the best player I can possibly be and make the rest of my teammates better. I know a few of them are happy, as well. Hopefully we can win a lot more games than we won last season.

Q. How much are you looking forward to being able to freelance when you have big men like Kevin Love who specializes in grabbing boards? How much are you looking forward to having your game flourish on the front line?
DERRICK WILLIAMS: I'm happy, especially when people play that hard and you have people on your team that like to play hard, it's always good. Some players have all of the talent but don't play hard, and Kevin Love, he's going to get all the rebounds, 30 and 30 last season. They show a lot of effort and that's what I like about the whole team.

Q. They have a lot of players at the three and the four. What are your thoughts on playing time there? They have got Anthony Randolph and Michael Beasley, a lot of players that play your spots.
DERRICK WILLIAMS: I work my butt off to get in that starting rotation. They told me to do that to make me better, and I think that with everybody being so young on the team, I think you can push each other. Everybody has young, fresh legs. I'm just going to look forward to them pushing me, and me pushing them, as well.

Q. When you first knew that you were probably going to come out for the Draft, how much closer did you watch the NBA this season and see the competition that you were going to go up against the next season?
DERRICK WILLIAMS: I focused on it a lot, just seeing how hard they play, from the regular season to the playoffs. I think the last series, The Finals, really summed it up for me. I'm going to have to step it up a lot in order to produce in this league on the offensive side and the defensive side.
You know, it was a long season. You have to take care of your body, I know that. All in all, it's just about who is ready and who is focused. I'm going to come into training camp ready and focused just like everybody else wants to.

Q. How much more appealing does Ricky Rubio make Minnesota?
DERRICK WILLIAMS: He makes them a lot better. Even though he has not played any games over here yet, when you have a pass-first point guard on your team, he wants to make you better. Whenever you have a guy like that, it just brings joy to me; a guy that can get to the lane and kick out who wants to pass you the ball. He doesn't really care about points.
And that's what I like about him. I know we are going to have a big season this year, and hopefully win a lot more games than last season.

Q. Are you concerned at all about not knowing who the coach is? Are you concerned that you want to know what system you're going into? Are you pretty much thinking about that?
DERRICK WILLIAMS: No, I'm not really focused on that right now, who the coach is or who it isn't going to be. I'm not really focused on that right now. I'm just going to get my body into the best of shape as possible. If he's the coach, that's great. I'm just trying to get my body ready for the season and that's really all I'm focusing on right now.

Q. Talk about the workout with Minnesota, what was it like going in, what did you hear from them? There was a lot of uncertainty whether or not they were going to keep the pick. Was there a connection when you went there?
DERRICK WILLIAMS: Yeah, immediately, I felt like I was really comfortable. A lot of people don't think this is really me, always smiling and having a good time. And I really fit in with them really well, on and off the court. One of my coaches was like, "he's a monster," and I really took that as a compliment. I'm always really eager to learn and I think that's why they picked me, because I'm ready to learn. I want to learn, and I want to get better and I want to make this team better.

Q. After all of the talk about the No. 2 pick maybe being moved, were you surprised the Timberwolves did ultimately pick with you and do you think they will stick with you?
DERRICK WILLIAMS: I hope they will stick with me. At the end of the day, I did all I can do. If they are going to trade the pick, they are going to trade the pick. I can't do anything about it.
I want to be there. I want to make that team better, that whole franchise. I want to get them from a losing record to a winning record. That's my job, and that's why they chose me. So we'll see what they do with it. But I want to stay.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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