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

Number 1 – (Two months after) Draft Day, A. Wiggins

From a front office perspective, this was an excellent trade for Minnesota.

Kahn completely ruined the Love’s outlook with the franchise, leaving a future front office to clean up his mistakes and either salvage the relationship with Love, or deal him for a haul that likely would not net an even return.

However, Flip Saunders hit a home run. He parted with Wolves Twitter legend Alexey Shved (who is somehow still just 31-years old?), Luc Mbah a Moute, and Kevin Love in order to acquire Wiggins – who at the time was seen as the next dominant superstar of the NBA – along with Young, who had proven himself as a very solid four-man in the league, and Bennett, who had shown flashes of great talent but failed to put it together consistently.

If I could trade two fringe rotation guys and a disgruntled star for a potential superstar and a rock-solid role player, I would pull the trigger in a heartbeat every time. All three guys were never the same after their leaving Minnesota (with the exception of Shved, who set the world on fire in New York in 2014-15), and the move gave Wolves fans a beacon of hope for the future, as well as the trade chip that eventually brought KG back home to Minnesota.

While you could argue that Cleveland won because they won the NBA title three years later, I do not attribute that title specifically to this trade. If you could do that, however, I would give the obvious edge to the Cavs.

In my heart, this is the number one trade of the decade. I have been a resident of Wiggins Island since its inception and irrationally defend him beyond my friends’ comprehension. Wiggs has created so many awesome moments during his time in a Wolves uniform and I want nothing more than for him to put it all together and thrive in Minnesota for years to come.

From buzzer-beating wins….

To taking over in the fourth quarter…

to posterizing dunks…

https://twitter.com/SLAMonline/status/832077767789379584?s=20

(I would do anything to get more of this Andrew Wiggins)

https://twitter.com/SLAMonline/status/949352722100314112?s=20

https://twitter.com/NBA_Skits/status/826268798487560193?s=20

and everything In between, I am simply not ready to part with Maple Jordan yet. We may all be perpetually waiting for him to put it together for a full season, but he is still just 24 years old and will not be in his prime for another season or two.

Sure, his contract may make it tougher to appreciate having him, but when that spark gets ignited, he is an absolute treat to watch. Kevin Love was tough to part with because of his consistent domination all over the floor, but peak Andrew Wiggins will always overshadow peak K-Love.

Here’s to hoping that we can see more of the Andrew we saw the first two months of the season — and more posters on Jokic.