Minnesota Timberwolves: 8 teams most likely to trade for No. 1 pick

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Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans goes up for a shot in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) /

4. New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans rank No. 4 on this lists for one reason: Jrue Holiday.

There’s been some recent steam surrounding the idea of the Wolves acquiring Holiday as a third star to pair with Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns. Indeed, Holiday would be a solid fit with the Wolves as a secondary playmaker in the backcourt and the best perimeter defender on the roster.

He’s a good enough 3-point shooter to help keep defenses honest, and would allow the Wolves to play Russell off the ball some as well if head coach Ryan Saunders so desires.

While he’s only 6-foot-3, Holiday is savvy and still athletic enough to guard most of the league’s best perimeter players. Paired with a bigger lockdown wing, such as Josh Okogie or perhaps someone that the Wolves take in this year’s draft, the Wolves could have a respectable defense this year if they receive incremental improvement from both Russell and Towns on that end of the floor.

The problem with acquiring Holiday, however, is entirely tied up in his contract situation.

Holiday has only one year remaining on his deal at $26.1 million before he has the ability to opt-out prior to the 2021-22 season. He’ll be 31 years old, and will almost certainly want one more shot at landing a multi-year deal in free agency.

The Wolves would be taking a major risk to trade the No. 1 overall pick in any deal for a player who has a chance at being a one-year rental, even if they got back the Pelicans’ No. 13 pick in the deal.

If the Wolves were to go down this path, it would look something like this:

Don’t expect this to come to fruition, however. The Pelicans would likely seek more in return in exchange, and the Wolves aren’t likely to give up the No. 17 or No. 33 in this deal.

Also from the Wolves perspective: it’s too risky, even with the upside of being a near-lock for the playoffs next year.

Let’s move on to No. 3 on the list…