Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 potential trades for Nikola Mirotic

1. Gibson and Patton for Mirotic.

Similar to the previous Gibson trade, this is the move I’m most hesitant about. Gibson has been playing his ass off for Minnesota and has a relatively team-friendly deal, as he’s a free agent after next season.

I’m also not sold this would make Minnesota better in the short-term, but it could have long-term positive effects. At 26-years-old Mirotic’s best basketball is immediately in front of him and he could easily be a better player than Gibson as soon as next season. Who knows when Gibson will hit the mid-30’s wall.

Offensively, I’d love to see Mirotic alongside Towns and the havoc they’d cause from the outside. Both players are having career-years from downtown and should change their offensive identity a bit.

Instead of relying so heavily on isolations, post-ups, and mid-rangers, they could transform their offense to feature more outside shooting. Yeah, you’re right, that will never happen.

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In the end, this trade is the unlikeliest to go down, but Thibodeau should do all he can to explore a trade that would make his team better. And if there’s anything he’s proven in his short tenure as President of Basketball Operations, it’s that he will exhaust all his resources.