Minnesota Timberwolves: 3 potential Malik Beasley trades
By Phil Ford
Minnesota Timberwolves: Trading Malik Beasley for Myles Turner
Myles Turner was in the running for Defensive Player of the Year until a foot injury shut down his season after just 47 games. Before the injury, Turner was averaging a league-leading 3.4 blocks per game to go along with 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds with a 59.9 true shooting percentage.
The 25-year-old former first-round pick would be a perfect fit next to Towns as a premier rim protector, allowing Towns to switch out onto the perimeter. With a career 3-point percentage of 35.2, Turner is more than capable of stepping outside the paint and knocking down a shot when called upon.
With a career average of just 1.2 assists per game, Turner isn’t much of a playmaker from the post, but that should be no problem for Chris Finch. Towns, like Turner’s teammate Domantas Sabonis, excels at playing at the elbow and can work as the offensive hub from the post.
I debated swapping Josh Okogie for McDaniels to place in the trade next to Beasley, but Wolves fans would probably kill me. As is, Beasley and Okogie might not be enough to get the job done, so throwing in a future pick may be needed to sweeten the pot.
Indiana is looking for a new head coach to make their mark, so maybe a trade would be in the works to show impatient Pacer fans that they’re doing everything they can to find a winning combination.