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

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

2. Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls were on the receiving end of a massive draft-night trade conducted by the Wolves’ last regime just over three years ago.

Is it possible that two pieces that went from Minnesota to Chicago back in June of 2017 could head back to the Twin Cities prior to this year’s draft?

The Bulls hold the No. 4 pick in the draft. They also have a new leader in the front office and will have a new coach. Offering an extension to Lauri Markkanen, who was the Wolves’ draft pick in 2017 that went to the Bulls in the Jimmy Butler trade, may not be something that the new Bulls front office is all too excited to do.

Additionally, Zach LaVine is the type of dynamic, sweet-shooting two-guard that the Wolves would love to have in their starting lineup. However, the acquisition of Malik Beasley at the trade deadline may have tempered any interest the Wolves may have otherwise had in bringing LaVine back to Minnesota.

Markkanen is another fantastic theoretical fit with the Wolves’ current personnel. He’s a stretch-four with a 35.6 percent career mark from outside the arc. Markkanen was quite good on the glass in his second NBA season but regressed a bit last year with Chicago’s additions of Thaddeus Young and Otto Porter Jr., as well as the continued emergence of Wendell Carter Jr.

Markkanen is a bit less flexible defensively than incumbent power forward Juancho Hernangomez, but the offensive upside is higher.

The main concern with trading for Markkanen is surely one of the main reasons that the Bulls would look to move him: he’s going to want to be paid a ton of money via a contract extension, and his apparent stagnation in development in Year Three isn’t a great sign.

Here’s what a trade could look like:

The Wolves would likely look at this deal and calculate that keeping Hernangomez for something like $6 million in restricted free agency is a much better value than something closer to — or perhaps even more than — $20 million for Markkanen.

Another way of looking at it: if Juancho can do 75 percent of what Markkanen can do for 30 percent of the cost, then the Wolves will pass on this trade.

A similar calculus can be done with LaVine, who has $19.5 million on his deal each of the next two years. Minnesota may look at a deal like the below and decide that something like $13.5 million for Malik Beasley is a better value.

The only reason that the Bulls rank so highly on this list is the fact that they posses the No. 4 pick in this draft. If the Wolves decide that sliding from No. 1 to No. 4 isn’t all that big of a deal based on how their draft board looks, perhaps taking on one of the Bulls expensive players that still has their prime ahead of them is a worthy risk to take.

Thaddeus Young won’t interest the Wolves at this point, so either Markkanen or LaVine would be at the center of any trade.

The bet here is that a trade with Chicago doesn’t come to fruition because of the outsized salary for each of those players, but it’s absolutely a possibility we have to consider.