Jordan McLaughlin’s absence may force Timberwolves hand at trade deadline

The Minnesota Timberwolves may or may not be interested in entering into negotiations before the NBA Trade Deadline, but the absence of backup point guard Jordan McLaughlin, now out nearly two months time, may force their hand. As you know, the team’s primary point guard has struggled with the floor general duties, and as a result, the team has redirected much of that work to power forward Kyle Anderson.

But Anderson was not signed to the Timberwolves roster to be a primary ball handler. The hope was for the situation to be temporary at best. Unfortunately, that’s not the way the latest update is panning out.

Both McLaughlin and PF/C Karl-Anthony Towns have been benched due to calf strains. To date, McLaughlin has played in just 18 of 44 games, while Towns has played in just 21 of 44 games.

Plan B options are not holding up

The Timberwolves have managed to find workarounds for KAT’s absence by starting Slo-Mo and ramping up the minutes played by the other bigs on the Timberwolves roster. But the patchwork used to cover for McLaughlin’s absence has been shaky, at best.

In addition to Anderson, Anthony Edwards has handled some of the basketball duties of a point guard. And even D’Angelo Russell, who has already stated that he isn’t comfortable in the role, has been forced to step up and continue to serve as the team’s point guard in a pinch.

But none are as good as McLaughlin:

Ultimately, the Timberwolves must find a bonafide point guard to handle this team. And that may force this team to find a solution via a trade before the NBA Trade Deadline. We have already heard the whispers of the Timberwolves pondering a trade of D’Angelo Russell to the Miami Heat for Kyle Lowry.  While that is just one possible trade scenario, it’s a good example of the Timberwolves rumors that are growing in volume and number right now.

There are plenty of Timberwolves rumors right now over ways this team can fix their roster. But the team has a true need to address their point guard situation. Let’s see how the Timberwolves’ front office handles it . . .