With the penultimate pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, No. 59 overall, the Timberwolves selected Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn.
A 6’9″, 240-pound power forward, Kaufman-Renn used his size, strength, and touch around the basket to have a very productive college career in the Big Ten — although it took a few years of development to get there. He arrived at Purdue as a four-star high school recruit but redshirted his first year on campus, then didn’t have a major offensive role over the next two seasons.
In 2024-25, as a redshirt junior, Kaufman-Renn broke out. He went from averaging 6.4 points a game to putting up just over 20 a night, while also chipping in 6.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He was a first-team All-Big Ten selection. Last season, TKR’s scoring fell to 14.2 points a game but his rebounding went up to 8.3.
Kaufman-Renn will turn 24 in August, so he’s physically ready to play in the NBA from a strength perspective. He’s not an elite raw athlete, but he’s a gifted interior scorer who does a lot of his work with short Isaiah Hartenstein-like touch shots in the paint, often as a short-roll target after setting a ball screen. He’s also a solid rebounder who will compete on defense and won a lot of games in his time with the Boilermakers.
Of course, at this point in the draft, there are significant questions about whether or not Kaufman-Renn has the tools to ever earn a rotational role in the NBA. He made just 18 of his 64 three-point attempts (28 percent) across four years in college. He also shot 62.7 percent from the free-throw line. Kaufman-Renn isn’t a rim protector (39 blocks in 147 games) and he isn’t super mobile defensively, although he’s not exactly a plodder either.
Because Kaufman-Renn isn’t 7 feet tall or as athletic as someone like Hartenstein, it does feel like he might have to develop a three-point shot to become a productive NBA player.
Kaufman-Renn is a guy who should have a lot of success in Summer League because of his strength and skill around the rim. He’ll probably put up big numbers if he spends time in the G League as a two-way player for Minnesota. But the outside shot question might be what determines if he has a long NBA career or wins up scoring a lot of points in Europe down the line.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
