This trade could arguably give the Wolves’ more freedom than the previous Gallinari deal because both the contracts coming back to Minnesota are one-year rentals.
And while rentals are nice, they are usually average players, but these two players could turn out to be solid assets for the future of the organization.
Specifically Tobias Harris, who has the potential to be an All-Star this season.
Harris is averaging 33 MPG and a career high of 21.2 PPG with shooting splits of 53.3/39.5/82.1.
This insane line is extremely similar to Gallinari’s efficient numbers, but Harris has objectively more upside than Danilo, who has proven to be injured for most of his career.
Harris, not unlike Andrew Wiggins, has historically be a high volume shooter that has inconsistent showings of a great offensive player in this league. Luckily for Harris’ value with the Clippers, he’s averaging career highs from everywhere on the court and has been a highly efficient player for the first 9 games of the regular season.
His fit next to Wiggins is questionable, but its better to gamble on the big three of Harris, Wiggins, and Towns, than having Butler’s $20 million on the bench for the next few months (trade deadline February 7th, 2019).
As for Patrick Beverley, he’s most likely a piece that could get moved to Phoenix or Sacramento with Gorgui Dieng to get rid of Dieng’s $15 million contract (include that 2019 second too).
The second round pick is the same from the previous deal, and the 2023 unprotected first is obviously later than the 2021 pick that was included in the Gallo deal. Which is mostly because Harris is younger and has a higher value than Gallo, therefore less is needed in this deal on the Clippers end.
In conclusion, both of these deals give back similar talented and efficient wings that can potentially make the Wolves’ a more versatile team.
We’re hoping Tom Thibodeau and general manager Scott Layden pull the trigger on one of them.