Timberwolves won’t trade McDaniels, but these 2 make sense to move

If you want the Minnesota Timberwolves to hit the NBA trade market before February 9, 2023, 2:00 pm CT NBA Trade Deadline, you could very well be in luck. While the team continues to unpack all of the Timberwolves’ roster pieces, there are signs already that some pieces fit what the Timberwolves are trying to do, while other players are not hitting their intended marks on the Timberwolves roster.

Of course, any NBA team that gives the Timberwolves front office will certainly be asking about the chance to pry away the promising defensive star, Jaden McDaniels, from the Timberwolves roster. Of course, that won’t happen. The Minnesota Timberwolves are firmly entrenched in keeping McDaniels on their roster for the foreseeable future.

But the Timberwolves need perimeter shooting, a need that the front office had hoped to address with the addition of veteran SG Austin Rivers, SG Bryn Forbes, and SF Kyle Anderson. So far, only Anderson has delivered on perimeter shooting.

For all intents and purposes, it would be a bit premature to abandon the current starting five. While many Timberwolves fans are happy to express their displeasure over PG D’Angelo Russell and injured PF/C Karl-Anthony Towns, the Timberwolves front office had plenty of opportunity to sever ties with either player in the offseason. Doing so now would be harmful. Not only would it reset the entire Timberwolves’ chemistry timetable, but it would also be counter-productive to make the Timberwolves a destination of choice for the top NBA free agents.

Two Timberwolves players who could be on the move

The Timberwolves need perimeter shooting, and yet the team has not much of that from either Austin Rivers or Bryn Forbes. So could either veteran find themselves on the move?

I’d like to think so.  Neither Rivers nor Forbes has seen much playing time in the Timberwolves rotations so far, and likely won’t with their limited contributions so far. With the younger and more effective options on the Timberwolves roster in Jaylen Nowell, Wendell Moore Jr., and Jordan McLaughlin, the Timberwolves are not in need of veterans to absorb minutes.

That means that both Rivers and Forbes are liabilities on the Timberwolves’ roster balance sheet right now. And this team has plenty of more vital and pressing matters to resolve from a coaching perspective.

Now, I’m not saying that either Austin Rivers or Bryn Forbes are bad players. They are just bad fits on a Timberwolves team that is struggling to find its own identity. Their value is far greater on a more established NBA roster that knows what the roster holds than on a Timberwolves roster that hasn’t the time to spare to determine how to best utilize underperforming veterans.

The Timberwolves front office will likely get busy on or after December 15, 2022, a date that places four Timberwolves players into the possibility of trades. Will the team make moves on or after that date? If there is a consensus to do so among the coaches and front office, you can count on it.

Who will be moved? I suspect the team will make at least one move. After all, the team has done about all it can do with Two-Way contracts. To improve this roster, one or more of the 15 players will need to be upgraded.