Report says Minnesota Timberwolves could be suitors for Kyle Lowry

The Minnesota Timberwolves are still searching for their second star, and Adrian Wojnarowski suggests that a recent NBA champion could be on their radar.

It’s no secret that the Minnesota Timberwolves need to find a second star to pair with Karl-Anthony Towns if they want to advance beyond fringe playoff contender status.

New president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas will undoubtedly turn over every stone in his pursuit; he was, after all, Darryl Morey’s right-hand man in Houston as the Rockets pursued every single star and near-star that was even remotely available for the better part of the past two decades.

We’ve talked at length here at Dunking With Wolves about a few names that could surface as trade targets for Rosas and the Timberwolves over the next few months, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski uttered a name that Wolves fans may have not had on their radar of late.

The ink was barely dry on Kyle Lowry‘s one-year, $31 million extension with the defending-champion Toronto Raptors before Wojnarowski, who broke the initial signing, was on Zach Lowe’s podcast declaring that the Raptors signed Lowry in part to give themselves more flexibility in trading him over the next year.

On Lowe’s podcast, Wojnarowski and Lowe discussed Lowry’s trade value with an additional year attached to him, as opposed to as a superstar on an expiring contract.

Indeed, a player like Lowry locked up on a reasonable deal that only goes through his age-34 season is probably the best of both worlds. Any longer and the deal could be burdensome for an aging point guard, and as an expiring the Raptors would surely struggle to get a requisite return in the trade market prior to February’s deadline.

Why would the Wolves be interested? Well, they’d be happy to swap a year of Jeff Teague at $19 million along with another contract or two for a five-time All-Star. Lowry is a better shooter than Teague and would fit better with what the Wolves are trying to do on offense.

While I’m not convinced the Raptors would do this, something like Andrew Wiggins, Teague, and a first-round draft pick would work in terms of salaries (ESPN Trade Machine). The Raptors would surely prefer the salary relief, and unless Toronto is much higher on Wiggins than many others are at this stage and/or get some extra draft picks, it’s likely that at least one other team would get involved.

We’ll keep an eye on this rumor moving forward, although it’s unlikely that anything goes down in the near future.