Five Potential Trades for Timberwolves’ Draft Pick

San Antonio gets: Ricky Rubio, 6th overall pick

Minnesota gets: LaMarcus Aldridge

With a likely second or third round exit looming for the Spurs, and what is looking like absolute dominance from the Warriors for the foreseeable future, San Antonio may decide that they are unsatisfied with their current core.

Aldridge (31), is coming off a down year and is a full six years older than Kawhi Leonard. Moving Aldridge would also free up playing time for Dewayne Dedmon who has been a pleasant surprise for the Spurs this year.

Rubio would be a huge upgrade for the Spurs at point guard and they would have their highest draft pick since they took Tim Duncan first overall in 1997. With San Antonio’s track record in the draft, they’re likely to find another All-Star to pair with Leonard as he enters his prime.

For Minnesota, they would shore up the power forward position next to Karl-Anthony Towns with a player who can space the floor and is an underrated defender. Aldridge, who has experience playing power forward and center would be able to share the floor with either Towns or Dieng.

They could also commit to Kris Dunn as the point guard of the future. With Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Aldridge, and  Zach Lavine all being able to create their own shot, it could help ease Kris Dunn into a starting role and allow him to unleash his intense defense on the rest of the NBA.

There is another scenario. If Minnesota could convince San Antonio that the sixth pick alone is worth LaMarcus Aldridge, they could add him while retaining Ricky Rubio and building on his strong finish to the season.

This would free up cap space for San Antonio, giving them a chance to take a run at Chris Paul in free agency.