Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 trade ideas for Marc Gasol
By Ben Beecken
This trade is a more convulted version of the previous one, with the Wolves adding Andrew Wiggins and Jeff Teague to the deal in order to get back Mike Conley.
It’s rare that a team involved in a trade would be able to take back the two best players in the deal, so perhaps this is something that the Grizzlies would laugh at. But before you laugh, remember that it’s unclear how other teams around the league view Wiggins and where his true trade value lies.
To be fair, Memphis has a fairly savvy front office and would seem unlikely to jump at the chance to add five years of max money to their books for inefficient play from Wiggins, but you never know.
For the Wolves, they’d be taking back the rest of this season and perhaps next year as well of Gasol, plus two-plus years of Conley. Outside of Conley’s injury issues, this trade would clearly upgrade the Wolves without decimating their depth.
Minnesota would elevate Josh Okogie to the starting lineup full-time alongside Robert Covington with Omri Casspi and Rose playing backup wing minutes off the bench. Conley, Jones, and Mack would hold down the point guard spot, and Gasol and Towns would play together in the frontcourt with the backup big man situation remaining the same.
If the Grizzlies have a high opinion of Wiggins, this trade could almost be a no-brainer, as they aren’t committing any additional money beyond this year outside of Andrew’s deal, and they also get a first-round draft pick. It saves them money next year and the year after that by moving Conley and Gasol, but adds three years of Wiggins’ deal to their ledger.
If I was in the Grizzlies front office, I wouldn’t touch this trade. But who knows what their brass is thinking. And as for the Wolves, if they can hit the reset button on Wiggins’ deal, upgrade the point guard spot, and take a run at the playoffs with two All-Star centers who can play inside and outside … why wouldn’t they at least take a shot at it?