Minnesota Timberwolves: Pros and cons of Ricky Rubio-Taurean Prince trade
By Ben Beecken
The verdict on the Minnesota Timberwolves acquiring Taurean Prince
The Minnesota Timberwolves are a better shooting team than they were earlier this week. They also have nearly $5 million more in cap space, and they have an additional second-round draft pick in 2022.
On the other hand, they have exactly one point guard on the roster. They are worse defensively than they were a few days ago, Anthony Edwards has lost his favorite teammate, and they’ve already burned through a potentially valuable trade asset.
Prince is theoretically a better fit for the Wolves offense as a superior shooter and flexible defender. After all, the Wolves have plenty of effective playmakers in Edwards, Russell, and Towns.
However, Prince’s defensive metrics are quite poor. He finished No. 84 out of 88 power forwards in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus statistic last season. In 2019-20, he was No. 60 out of 99. Back in 2018-19, Prince was classified as a small forward and turned in the No. 87 mark out of 89 players.
Rubio is still a plus defender in the backcourt, and the Wolves are now left with Russell, a two-way rookie in Wright, and potentially the diminutive Jordan McLaughlin, pending his free agent status, when it comes to point guards.
Ultimately, this trade could make a lot of sense if the Wolves are able to flip Prince as part of a bigger deal. It could also be a win if they are able to use the cap space created wisely by adding an impact rotation player with the mid-level exception.
Next. This offseason is the time for a big Wolves trade. dark
If neither one of those possibilities comes to fruition, the Wolves could be left holding an imbalanced roster and an even worse defense than before.