Minnesota Timberwolves: Is RJ Barrett a trade option for top pick?

The Minnesota Timberwolves are entertaining offers for the first overall pick, but what if they decided to offer it up for one of last years’ top-3 picks?

The Minnesota Timberwolves have done their due diligence on the top of this years’ draft class. But in a year where there is not a clear top pick, they may end up moving the pick in exchange for a player that will help them win now.

One player that might be an interesting target for the top pick is Knicks’ wing RJ Barrett, who was selected with the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Barrett averaged 14 points, five rebounds, and 2.6 assists this past season but had a less-than-ideal supporting cast. He is a rim attacker from the wing spot and needs spacing to have success. The Knicks, of course, had players in their starting lineup that could not shoot at even a respectable level.

The Timberwolves getting Barrett would mean even more offense, and another threat that teams would have to account for. The question of whether to propose such a trade comes down to the question of whether you would rather have LaMelo Ball or Anthony Edwards over a player like Barrett, who was more-so a victim of circumstance rather than struggling because of a lack of talent.

Another alternative trade could be swapping picks with the Knicks, but also giving up Jarrett Culver to do so:

The Timberwolves, with a trade like this, could get Barrett and still land a solid role player like Devin Vassell or Onyeka Okongwu. The Knicks would be making this trade because of their affinity with the talent that is LaMelo Ball, someone the Timberwolves should be more hesitant to take because of their current roster structure (they already have D’Angelo Russell).

RJ Barrett would be an excellent fit on a Timberwolves team that has lots of spacing (especially from the center spot), but a trade like this is never going to be likely to happen, especially just one year into Barrett’s career.