Report: Minnesota Timberwolves offered a first-round pick for P.J. Tucker

No, the season has not gone anywhere near as planned for the Minnesota Timberwolves. But they may very well have dodged a bullet last offseason.

The Wolves have long been rumored to be interested in acquiring P.J. Tucker from the Houston Rockets. The veteran big man was acquired by the Rockets when Gersson Rosas was in the front office, and he had fans in Minnesota in free agency back in 2017, when he ultimately inked a four-year deal with the Rockets.

This past offseason, the Wolves were frequently mentioned as interested in a trade for Tucker. The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynksi has been talking about the possibility for months, dating back to a podcast in December and an article in January.

Now, we have some insight as to just what the Wolves offered for P.J. Tucker.

Minnesota Timberwolves reportedly offered a first-round pick for P.J. Tucker

Back during the NBA’s abbreviated offseason period in November, Rosas apparently called up his old coworkers in Houston and offered a “late 2020 first-round pick” for Tucker.

From Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer:

"Around the draft, Houston’s new front office could have gotten a late 2020 first-round pick for Tucker from Minnesota, league sources said. But Rockets ownership rebuffed moving Tucker at that time, sources said, as they still believed they could keep Harden and build another playoff contender around him."

Remember, the Wolves came into draft night with the No. 1 and No. 17 picks. After taking Anthony Edwards first overall, Rosas eventually traded the No. 17 to Oklahoma City along with James Johnson in exchange for Ricky Rubio and the No. 25 and No. 28 picks in the draft.

Then, the Wolves packaged No. 25 and No. 33 picks to get back to No. 23 and take Argentinian guard Leandro Bolmaro. They stood pat at No. 28 and selected Washington’s Jaden McDaniels.

Unless Fischer’s report is referring to the No. 17 pick as a “late” first-rounder, the implication here is either A) the Wolves knew they could land a late first-round pick from elsewhere in the days leading up to the draft, or B), there were discussions on draft night about the Wolves flipping either No. 25 or No. 28 to Houston in a direct swap for Tucker.

At the time, such a move would have been praised. Tucker carries an ideal profile for pairing with an elite center like Karl-Anthony Towns: an above-average defender, a solid defensive rebounder, and a low-usage offensive player who had hit on 38.2 percent of his corner 3-point attempts in his career until this season.

Now, however, Tucker is a nearly-36-year-old shooting a career-worst 31.4 percent from beyond the arc and turning in a career-low 8.2 percent rebound rate while his usage rate continues to bottom out.

Tucker is still a strong defender, but with zero value on offense and on the glass, Tucker isn’t worth a first-round pick to acquire — and especially not when he’s about to hit free agency.

To be clear, the Wolves would never offer a first-rounder for Tucker at this stage of the season, but the Rockets are holding out hope that somebody will prior to the March 25 deadline.

Still, Tucker would be a name to watch in the offseason. He should be a lot more affordable than his current $7.9 million, and he remains a solid fit next to Towns, assuming his 3-point shot bounces back to some extent.

If nothing else, it’s fascinating to think of an alternate universe in which the Wolves traded for P.J. Tucker instead of drafting Jaden McDaniels. In that universe, Towns doesn’t get hurt and doesn’t contract COVID-19, and, while we’re at it, D’Angelo Russell doesn’t get hurt, either.

Then again, if the rest of the season played out exactly how it did … having a 36-year-old Tucker and no McDaniels on the roster would be an even worse spot than the Wolves find themselves in now.

Alas, the Wolves sit at 7-29 at the All-Star break and anxiously await the return of both Russell and Malik Beasley by the end of the month.