Naz Reid is player most likely to be traded by Minnesota Timberwolves

Timberwolves rumors: Other players don’t have as much of a market

The Timberwolves could part ways with starting point guard D’Angelo Russell, but his $33 million is a bit tricky to land in terms of NBA teams. Only a limited number of teams can absorb that much salary cap, or offer players who are equally compensated who they would part ways with and who could improve the Timberwolves immediately.

Further complicating any trade that gives up D’Lo is the huge vacancy that would appear in the Timberwolves’ lineup in his absence. Backup point guard Jordan McLaughlin has been too injured to be relied upon to lead this team on a consistent basis. And the Timberwolves simply haven’t the horse on this roster to absorb the loss of a key player in the backcourt right now. So trades will likely involve front-court players.

Timberwolves roster: What about veterans?

Kyle Anderson, Austin Rivers, or Bryn Forbes could be dealt away, but the return for these veterans would not be enough to improve the Timberwolves as much. And in the case of Anderson, losing him would be a severe blow to the team in the immediate future.

The Timberwolves would certainly like to move on from Bryn Forbes, a player who absorbs far too many minutes for far too little production. But any trade value he may have would come from an NBA team so desperate for a three-point shooter, that they would take a chance at trying to get Forbes in the hopes that he reclaims his career long-range accuracy of 40+ percent. In that type of trade scenario, the Timberwolves could only expect a second-round pick or two.

That’s not enough to change the team’s season now, and certainly not enough to change the team’s overall trajectory.