These 4 Minnesota Timberwolves can officially be traded on Dec. 15

The Minnesota Timberwolves are still in the midst of settling the dust on the roster after kicking up quite a cloud in the offseason. The Timberwolves, a team harboring plenty of NBA Playoff aspirations, is still trying to get out of second gear, as the team has only played to an 11-11 record as the team enters the month of December 2022.

Were you hoping for a little more? Do you buy into the speculation that the Minnesota Timberwolves brain trust is already feeling the pangs of buyer’s remorse over the blockbuster trade to acquire All-Star NBA center Rudy Gobert? If you do, then you are likely eager to see how the team remedies the situation.

Is a remedy needed? That’s a tough call, because the Timberwolves haven’t had much experience with their starting five, and now that Karl-Anthony Towns is out for an extended period, the team will either speculate what this team will need upon his return, or simply ignore that scenario and plan to improve this team as is.

Which Timberwolves can officially be traded on Dec. 15″?

While veteran power forward Kyle Anderson may be scoring fewer points for the Timberwolves, his perimeter shooting accuracy at 42.9 percent is at a career-best. So far he is putting up 6.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 21.6 minutes per game. Slo-Mo is still acclimating to his new team, having played four seasons with both the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies. While his scoring is down, his scoring and shooting efficiency is up. He has been a big who has filled the role the Timberwolves had planned for him.

Shooting guard Bryn Forbes has been a bit disappointing for the Minnesota Timberwolves so far. A career perimeter shooter who averages 41.0 percent from three-point range, Forbes has only hit on 25 percent of his treys for the Timberwolves. Because he is so drastically underperforming on the perimeter, his minutes have been cut drastically as well. Will his shooting improve? That’s a great question, and one the Timberwolves hope to resolve before the trade deadline expires.

Young big man Nathan Knight * has delivered less than hoped for so far in his first full season with the Timberwolves.  The Timberwolves have been very focused on getting their frontcourt rotations settled, as well as trying to infuse perimeter shooting into the offense. Knight’s 2.7 minutes per game restrict his scoring to 0.6 points, rebounds to 0.7, and steals to 0.3.  Knight needs to show a reason for more minutes, a tall task on a team loaded with talent all itching to get playing time.

Veteran combination guard Austin Rivers * has been another player who is disappointing in the early going. A 34.2 percent shooting from three-point range, he is only 22.2 percent of those shots so far for the Timberwolves. Because he cannot deliver long-range artillery, Rivers has not seen his normal playing minutes. While he has gotten kudos for reaching out to Timberwolves fans during a losing streak, fans won’t buy in if he doesn’t step up for the team soon.

(* denotes on a partially or non-guaranteed contract)

The Timberwolves thought that they had added sufficient perimeter scoring to make this roster work. So far this season, three-point scoring and defense have proven to be an unsolvable Rubik’s cube so far.  Will that prompt the team to trade an underperformer in hopes of improving that vital stat for the team? Stay tuned . . .