3 reasons Minnesota Timberwolves draft trades make perfect sense

Reason III: Extend the timetable

The Minnesota Timberwolves, after trading multiple future draft picks to acquire All-Star center Rudy Gobert, slanted the team’s timetable heavily towards the ‘here and now,’ point in time. But the actions taken by the team in the 2022 NBA Draft had the opposite effect.

The team added wing Wendell Moore Jr., a young prospect who could see some playing time this year, but whose biggest impact will likely not happen until the 2024-25 season. A similar tale of future prime-time play can be said of F Josh Minott, a young man whose summer league play warranted a contract to the team’s roster. But he will be no more than a minor rotational player this year. He will likely be earmarked for a larger role in 2024-25 as well.

The team drafted then stashed point guard Matteo Spagnolo, a strategy that will likely end up with the Timberwolves signing Spagnolo for the 2024-25 season, and could mean he will see a rotational role no earlier than the 2025-26 season.

In each of the team’s selections, the Timberwolves’ front office had a strategic plan in place. This was not a basketball trading card checklist where the team was simply trying to fill current roster holes. This was a multi-year strategy that examined current players and future needs and then compared that to the resources available to the team to acquire help for the team’s roster in those future years.

Ultimately, the team emerged with two players, one future player, and even acquired two future second-round picks that will undoubtedly prove to be quite valuable to the team when those drafts arrive.