The dark clouds encircling the Timberwolves since the Joe Smith fiasco don't look so ominous in hindsight. The Timberwolves are allowed to draft in the first round again Thursday night, but it is debatable if losing their past two No. 1s really hurt them.

Yes, the Wolves could have drafted Tony Parker, the French point guard who was selected 28th in 2001 and won a championship this month as a Spurs starter. And yes, they also could have had Jamaal Tinsley, the starting point guard for the Indiana Pacers who was picked a slot ahead of Parker. But about 10 teams passed on both those players after the Wolves would have selected either 17th or 18th.

In fact, if the Wolves had not been stripped of their first-round draft picks in 2001, 2002 and 2004 as partial punishment for signing Joe Smith to a series of illegal contracts that circumvented the salary cap, they could have ended up paying millions for such bench-warmers as Brandon Armstrong, John Salmons or Joseph Forte for a guaranteed three seasons.

"There's a lot of supposeds this time of year: 'How would this guy have done?' '' said Wolves vice president Kevin McHale, whose team also traded its first-round draft pick in 2000 for Bobby Jackson and Dean Garrett.

"But I know a lot of teams that do it (pick) every year in the 20s, and they are the ones calling up going, 'You want our pick?' ''