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Timberwolves make Anthony Bennett available for trade

By Drew Mahowald

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Earlier today, ESPN’s Marc Stein reported that the Minnesota Timberwolves are making power forward Anthony Bennett available for trade in advance of the NBA Draft on Thursday.

Bennett, the first overall selection in the 2013 NBA Draft, averaged 5.2 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game last season for the Timberwolves. When Bennett was brought over from Cleveland in the Love-Wiggins trade last summer, it was hoped that Bennett would start to show why the Cavaliers selected him first overall. Instead, Bennett showed much of the same traits that he did in Cleveland.

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Bennett has been working hard this offseason with trainer Drew Hanlen, trying to improve on a number of different areas in his game, most notably his shot mechanics and adding some post moves. Additionally, Bennett has reportedly lost about 15 pounds this offseason in during the workouts.

Bennett being on the trade block could mean a number of things, but it seems like one idea here is most obvious. There have been reports indicating that the Timberwolves will try to trade back up into the first round by using both of their second round picks (31st and 36th overall).

It seems like President of Basketball Operations Flip Saunders will at least make an attempt to move back into the first round, and adding Bennett with the two second round draft picks will likely gain more interest and make a trade more likely. We had an idea of where Bennett could land and whom he could be traded for a couple weeks back, and with today’s Greivis Vasquez “news”…who knows.

Side note: Dunking With Wolves’ Justin Schardin took a look at what those second round picks would be worth in a trade and what the Wolves should expect if they attempt to trade up, and the link for that is here.

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    • Moreover, it doesn’t seem like Bennett is going to get a fair shot to reach his potential if he stays in Minnesota. Reports are now indicating that Karl-Anthony Towns will be the Timberwolves’ selection with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday. This means Towns, Gorgui Dieng, Nikola Pekovic, Kevin Garnett, Adreian Payne and maybe even Nemanja Bjelica are all big men that would be seeing minutes. It’s unlikely that Bennett would be able to become anything more than a role player if he were to stay in Minnesota. Hopefully, for Bennett’s sake, another team that’s a better situation for him take’s a chance on him.

    The more I look at it, the more it makes sense for the Wolves to trade Bennett if they can get reasonable value in return. In all likelihood, he won’t be in Minnesota long term and he simply won’t get the minutes necessary to grow into anything more than a role player. The opportunity is there for the Wolves to make a trade during the draft and move back into the first round, and Bennett might be the guy needed to add to the trade with the two second round picks. We’ll just have to wait and see what Saunders does come Thursday night.

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