3 shooters the Minnesota Timberwolves should target via trade

Trade 3 – Getting Bertans

As another player who has spent time as a San Antonio Spur, Davis Bertans is an elite shooter.

On spot-ups this season – which account for nearly 36 percent of his offensive possessions  – Bertans is averaging 1.23 points per possession (PPP) with an Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG) of 61.3, which puts him in the 83rd percentile league-wide, per NBA.com. Last season, he recorded 1.21 PPP and shot an eFG of 59.7 percent, good for the 91st percentile.

After being traded to Washington in the offseason, he has quickly proved to be a key part of the league’s No. 1 scoring offense. Bertans scores 12.8 points per game on 45.0/44.1/85.7 shooting splits while grabbing 4.5 rebounds in 27.5 minutes per night off the bench.

At 6-foot-10, Bertans could immediately be inserted to Minnesota’s starting lineup as the permanent 4-man alongside KAT. While his 6-foot-10 wingspan prevents him from providing a larger impact on defense, he has proven that he can play average defense when placed in a good defensive system, like he was in San Antonio. He holds a career defensive rating of 110 and was a -0.1 DBPM player under Pop.

Similar to Forbes, Bertans is masterful without the basketball and specializes in relocating to shooting pockets when his guards put the ball on the deck and draw in defenders. He has a quick release and also does a great job coming off screens and playing as a popper in the pick and pop game. Potentially using him as a screener for KAT at the top of the key would create a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses that would almost always result in either an open 3, a foul, or an easy bucket down low.

If not for his pending free agency, the price for Bertans would likely be pretty steep.

Note: This trade also cannot be executed until December 15. The Washington Wizards would reserve the right to swap second-round picks in 2022 if they have a worse pick than Minnesota.

The Wizards are No. 28 in rebounding and consistently get beat on the glass night-in and night-out. It is common knowledge that the team who wins the rebounding battle usually comes out with a victory in the game, and the Wizards need to address that. Vonleh is an outstanding rebounder for his size that can play solid interior defense alongside starting center Thomas Bryant, or off the bench next to Mo Wagner.

Despite having his Bird rights, the Wizards likely cannot afford to re-sign Bertans in the offseason because of how close they will be to the Luxury Tax Apron. Bertans is a candidate to be shopped to the rest of the NBA, so it might take more than what I laid out in order to acquire him if contenders like the Lakers, Clippers, Bucks, or Sixers get in the mix.

One thing is for sure: Gersson Rosas and Co. need to figure out something to improve the Wolves’ perimeter shooting. With another shooter or two, this is a playoff team, and the front office needs to do what they can to achieve that goal.