Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 best trades of the 2010’s decade

Number 4 – K-Mart comes to play for an old coach

This might have been the most positive one-sided deal the Wolves pulled the trigger on during the 2010s decade. The Wolves gave up Luke Ridnour, a second-round pick and cash in order to acquire a bonafide bucket-getter on the back end of his prime in Kevin Martin and place him in a familiar offensive system under his old coach, Rick Adelman.

During his time in Minnesota, Martin was fantastic offensively, especially in his first two seasons. Upon his arrival in 2013, the silky-smooth shooting guard averaged 19.1 points on 43.0/38.7/89.1 shooting splits, and was a huge reason why the Wolves finished with their best record (40-42) since going 44-38 in 2004-05.

He followed it up with a solid start to the 2014 campaign, dropping 20 points, corralling 3.5 boards and dishing out 2.4 assists per game, while shooting 42.7 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent from downtown before a wrist fracture derailed his season. Unfortunately, Martin never found his footing after the injury, and struggled to maintain the same production in his final two seasons in the NBA.

Despite failing to reach the playoffs in any of the three seasons he spent wearing out the nets at Target Center, he was a key bridge player that provided consistent production a franchise desperately in need of offensive firepower.

Additionally, Martin helped Zach LaVine get accustomed to life in the starting lineup during Zach’s second season with the team. The two shared the floor together frequently during LaVine’s rookie season, but struggled to find chemistry as Zach was playing out of position at point guard thanks to a season-ending ankle injury to Ricky Rubio. Despite their incompatibility on the court, a seasoned, savvy 2-guard veteran in the locker room was surely a helpful developmental presence for a young player like LaVine.

After all, the two are fairly similar on the court. Both are relatively high volume 3-point shooters that can fill it up on any given night and live at the free-throw line by attacking closeouts, but struggle mightily on defense.

Seeing the two of them on the same team at the peak of their powers would have been a treat for Wolves fans, but it will live on as a great “what-if” in recent memory.