Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 trades with the New York Knicks

Now that Tom Thibodeau will be at the helm for the New York Knicks, what trades might his front office explore involving his former organization?

Former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau was recently hired as the next leader of the New York Knicks.

The Knicks, along with the Timberwolves, were among the eight teams not invited to the NBA restart in Orlando. With both in line for top lottery picks after finishing among the worst teams in the NBA, the Timberwolves and Knicks will be spending the offseason trying to improve in major ways.

Could that mean that Thibodeau’s new team and his former employer find a way to swing a deal?

Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 trades with the New York Knicks

Thibodeau has a history of negotiating deals with his former organizations. As the head coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2016 to 2019, Thibodeau made a number of moves with his prior organization, the Chicago Bulls. Most notably, Thibodeau orchestrated a massive deal to acquire Jimmy Butler from the Bulls in a trade that involved Kris Dunn, Zach Lavine, and a first round pick that the Bulls used to select Lauri Markkanen.

Thibodeau would also go on to sign a number of former Bulls to his teams in Minnesota, including Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and Taj Gibson, who is currently on the Knicks Roster.

Of course, he’s not in charge of player personnel moves with the Knicks, but most teams involve their head coach on some level as they shape the roster.

Although Josh Okogie and Karl-Anthony Towns are the only players left from the Thibodeau era in Minnesota, Thibodeau’s history of dealing with former organizations poses a reasonable argument that a trade between these two organizations could occur this offseason.

With that being said, let’s look at some potential trade ideas between the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves. All suggested trades were run through the ESPN Trade Machine and work from a salary cap perspective.