Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Offseason trade and free agency options

Even with the NBA Draft still two weeks away, speculation regarding free agency and the trade market is beginning to ramp up surrounding the Minnesota Timberwolves.

June is a fun time in the NBA calendar. Between the Finals and the upcoming draft, plus the looming insanity that is free agency, there’s plenty to talk about.

Between a lack of cap space and a fairly set rotation, it might seem as though the Timberwolves will largely sit out the months of June and July — the opposite of what they did in 2017. But there are still a number of things that could  happen.

After all, Jamal Crawford‘s departure is all but certain, and Nemanja Bjelica is a restricted free agent. That means that the spots of two of the top three bench players from last year are up for grabs, and whether Tom Thibodeau likes to use his bench or not, well, he needs to have one.

There’s always the possibility that the Wolves could look to find some cap space by moving Gorgui Dieng and his massive deal, but then they’ll have a big hole at the backup four and five spots. And while Tyus Jones was pretty obviously one of the best backup point guards in the league a year ago, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Thibs do something there, either.

First, let’s talk free agency.

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report put together a free agency wish list for all 30 teams, framing each team’s options as Plan A, B, and C.

For the Wolves, Buckley’s Plan A is former Cavaliers and Nets shooting guard Joe Harris. The four-year man would be a solid bench fit, as he’s a career 40 percent 3-point shooter (41.9 percent last year on 4.9 attempts per game) and has the size at six-foot-six to guard both wing positions.

Harris is a better fit for today’s NBA — and how the Wolves’ second unit should operate — as a solid spot shooter who could fill a role on defense. He’s an average defender at best, but with his size he should be able to fit into Minnesota’s scheme, especially if he’s able to play minutes alongside Jimmy Butler depending on how Thibodeau rotates his bench and starting lineup.

Plan B is Bjelica, who it seems like the Wolves will make a legitimate effort to keep in the fold, we just don’t know what restricted free agency may hold for the Serbian.

Plan C is former Timberwolf and current Houston Rocket Luc Mbah a Moute, who has developed from a bricklayer to a competent 3-point shooter and remains an outstanding defender. This would be a modest investment, but exactly the type of player that the Wolves need to look at to fill out the rotation and give 15 or so minutes to each night.

Not a bad list, although I’d think that the Wolves are more likely to try and move some money around and compete in the higher rungs of free agency than settle for Joe Harris as their top option.

Also on Bleacher Report, Sean Highkin debated the merits of a straight-up swap of Andrew Wiggins and Toronto Raptors All-Star DeMar DeRozan.

This would be a solid, albeit head-scratching move for the Wolves, as DeRozan is a much better player today, but he’s also basically a much better version of Wiggins. Part of the problem with the Wiggins-Butler wing tandem is their similar offensive games, and there would still be a significant amount of skill overlap in a DeRozan-Butler pairing.

All that said, with the Wolves in win-now mode, swapping four years and $146 million of Wiggins for two years (potentially three, DeRozan has a player option for 2020-21) of DeRozan at $27.7 million per season would be a win, and the Wolves would be an improved team in the upcoming season.

It would be a mild surprise to see the Raptors bite on a deal like this, however, for the exact reasons listed above, although in reverse. Sure, it would change their makeup, but they’d lose flexibility and get worse with the snap of the fingers. It would also be a calculated gamble, and if Wiggins improves drastically and becomes a perennial All-Star, this trade would be an obvious win.

Next: NBA Draft: 5 options for the Timberwolves at No. 20

Don’t expect a Wiggins-DeRozan swap to go down, although Wolves fans would be forgiven for envisioning other creative ways to get out from under Wiggins’ hefty deal.