Lowe’s Timberwolves trade for Dejounte Murray is a no-brainer

The Minnesota Timberwolves want to build a winner. To do that, the team needs to upgrade its roster. But that won’t happen in a vacuum. To get something of value, the Minnesota Timberwolves will need to give away something of value.  And so, the negotiation of exactly how much value must be offered, and for who, is the dried kindling upon which the small fires of NBA Rumors ignite.

The latest Timberwolves rumor involves San Antonio Spurs point guard Dejounte Murray, and ESPN NBA Insider Zach Lowe is the genius who is connecting the dots for this one. While you may balk at the initial cost of this exchange, the overall effect of this trade scenario is huge.

Timberwolves rumors: Blockbuster trade

We know that the only way the Minnesota Timberwolves could hope to pry a player like Dejounte Murray away from the San Antonio Spurs is to make them an offer that they simply cannot refuse. So what is the proposed trade? Well, Lowe’s scenario even covers that:

Well, per Lowe, the Timberwolves would get San Antonio Spurs star point guard Dejounte Murray, and would likely need to offer up PG D’Angelo Russell, plus two Top-3 protected firsts.

What does that look like?

Let’s examine the pieces of this trade. The Minnesota Timberwolves would emerge with a young and potentially elite NBA point guard. The San Antonio Spurs emerge with a solid veteran point guard, an immediate first-round draft pick, and a future first-round draft pick.

Okay. So the trade looks good. But what could motivate either team to make a trade like this?

Why the Spurs should make this trade

The San Antonio Spurs currently hold the ninth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, and the Spurs know that they must try to build a winner around Djounte Murray. But if they cannot, and there is little hope to do so this year with a lukewarm draft, why hover in limbo?

The Spurs could conceivably cash in Murray’s upside this year, land a solid starting PG, and then use a combination of the ninth and 19th overall draft picks to move up in this draft to land Iowa’s Keegan Murray, a player who the Spurs are reportedly quite sweet on. And with the pieces that the Spurs can receive in this trade, both in 2022 and in the future, the team has far more flexibility to strategize for a rebuild.

D-Lo is ideal for the Spurs

Russell is no slouch, either. While he is not an ideal fit for the Minnesota Timberwolves, he is a blue-chip point guard who can run the floor, put up a ton of points, and help herd the young rebuilding Spurs team through the choppy waters until the team is truly in a position to compete once more.

Getting draft picks is the name of the game in the NBA when you are attempting to rebuild the roster. And getting both a very good starting point guard plus two firsts for Dejounte Murray should warrant sitting up and listening. Yes, the Spurs can hold onto Murray. But how do they build around him quickly enough? They are struggling right now, and that was with the benefit of Murray’s excellent play.

Russell can be the Spurs’ solid point guard, and he is a veteran of NBA Playoff games. While Murray has NBA Playoff experience, he was a young rookie in his first round, and a second-year player when the Spurs last competed in the post-season.

Why the Timberwolves would make this trade

The Timberwolves need one more piece to advance deep in the NBA Playoffs, and the harsh reality is that veteran D’Angelo Russell is simply not enough to get them there. Russell’s game is more offensive-centric, and he is simply not at the level of field general and facilitator that the Timberwolves need.

Dejounte Murray is.

While Russell has a better perimeter shot, Murray is a defensive savant, averaging 2.0 steals per game and 9.2 assists per game. Even as he is distributing the basketball to his teammates, he remains a very dangerous offensive weapon. In the 2021-22 season, he averaged over 21 points per game. That’s a pretty solid offensive output for a developing

Murray is ideal for the Timberwolves

Murray is ideally suited to fit the Timberwolves’ current core elites of Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. Both Towns and Edwards are marksmen from the perimeter, and simply need that field general who can drive to the basket, draw defenders, and then pass out to the open shooter.

Murray’s lack of a consistent perimeter shot will be more than compensated for by his ability to distribute the basketball. The name of the game is the NBA is pace, space, and pass for the foreseeable future. Murray scores high marks in all three categories.

The Timberwolves have plenty of three-point power in the form of Ant-Man and KAT but need to improve the ability to move that basketball around. And the Timberwolves need a defensive presence on the basketball court, a role that Murray is much better suited to provide.

Of course, no trade scenario feels like a win to everyone, and any trade scenario that involves star players attracts trolling comments like a fluorescent bulb attracts flying insects at night. But a blockbuster trade like this can place both teams on track toward a brighter future.