This is a great trade for the Timberwolves on many levels and could help them make a playoff push this season as well as improve the roster for the future.
Adding a quality guard in Cory Joseph would greatly help the Wolves right now and replace Tyus Jones‘ minutes for the rest of the year. Jones is a restricted free agent this summer, and while Joseph will also hit the open market, it fills a need as the Wolves help the Pacers upgrade their backup point guard spot.
Cory Joseph hits the rainbow three! #Pacers pic.twitter.com/K0uAZ1dHiv
— NBA Canada (@NBACanada) January 24, 2019
Additionally, depth is a big problem for the Wolves and Doug McDermott is an excellent addition to the second unit.
McDermott is a career 40.1 percent shooter from beyond the arc and would instantly add an element to the Wolves’ bench that they continue to lack. He would be a better fit at the backup small forward spot than the minutes that Tolliver has found himself playing there, too.
https://twitter.com/Pacers/status/1052711820878901249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Adding Joseph and McDermott to the roster would help the Timberwolves get what they need from the second unit if they want to be a playoff team. McDermott is under contract at a reasonable number for the next couple of seasons, as well, and replacing Gorgui Dieng‘s contract with McDermott’s would be a better use of resources.
Sending Dieng out would save the organization roughly $16 million in each of the next three years. That would free up a lot of cap space for the Wolves giving them about 30 million to go after high-level free agents.
The Timberwolves are admittedly in a weird spot right now as they want to make the playoffs but also know they have to sell this team for the good of the future. They have several one-year contracts that they can dangle to other teams but also have a few bad contracts that are difficult to move.
If the front office can find some buyers, however, they should definitely err on the side of selling rather than buying.