Timberwolves acquire Alec Burks in a three-team trade
Despite the continued emergence of Jaden McDaniels and the recent impressive play from Taurean Prince, Minnesota could use some wing depth. Enter Alec Burks.
The current Knicks wing is exactly the kind of offensive wing the Wolves have been craving: a proven shooter (he has shot 38.5 percent or better on at least 4.6 attempts in each of the last three seasons) with the ability to create offense for himself against other second units.
He isn’t a black hole, as evidenced by his two-plus assists per game the last four seasons, he can hold his own defensively and he can play either wing position at 6-foot-6.
Burks is simply a solid player that could elevate Minnesota’s already burgeoning second unit, not just this year, but for the other two years remaining on his extremely reasonable contract. And the Wolves can get him for pretty cheap here because New York is known to be looking to move rotation players to clear room for recent acquisition Cam Reddish.
Maybe it takes an extra second-round pick to get this done — that would be fine. New York gets multiple picks and an expiring contract in Joe Ingles, who’s out for the season with an ACL tear, for a player they’re known to be shopping. Utah gets a flier on a defensive wing in Josh Okogie, who they have reportedly been after, for a heavily protected second-rounder. And Minnesota gets a high-level offensive wing reserve who can fit with virtually anyone on the roster.
This feels like one of those win-win-wins Michael Scott was talking about.