Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 trade ideas for the deadline

ESPN Trade Machine

The trade that every Wolves fan would surely agree on is anything surrounding the shedding of Jeff Teague‘s contract, and Brooklyn is just the team that could help the Wolves with that.

The Nets are one of the major surprises of the 2018-19 season and are currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. They have one All-Star in D’Angelo Russell, and could add a former All-Star guard in Teague by answering the Wolves’ call.

Injuries have hurt Teague this season, both in his on-court play and in the number of games played, but he is still a solid point guard and would be a perfect fit coming off the bench in Brooklyn.

Teague is still having a decent season overall, averaging 11.5 points and a career-best 8.1 assists per game. Those are the type of numbers you want from a backup point guard, but sadly for the Timberwolves, he is their $19 million starter with a player option for next year.

The Timberwolves would get the relief of Teague’s contract from this trade (it’s likely that Teague picks up his option for 2019-20) and have some extra cap space for the upcoming summer. Adding a player like Shabazz Napier that is on a cap-friendly contract and is having a solid season would be a solid addition to the Wolves’ point guard depth.

Napier is averaging 10 points and 2.3 assists in 17.9 minutes per game so far this year. If he had a chance to see more minutes, those numbers would no doubt increase, and the Timberwolves are searching for any type of help at the point guard spot.

Teague’s contract is a concern for many fans — and no doubt the front office, too — but the Timberwolves have a chance to make moves and clear some cap space. It’s just a matter of whether or not the Nets would be open to taking on Teague’s contract for the rest of this season and beyond.