How trading for Trae Young could help save the Minnesota Timberwolves

Young must embrace defense and off-ball for Timberwolves

As I said, this trade isn’t without risk. As much of a threat as Young is on the offensive end of the court, he certainly has several areas where he can continue to improve as an offensive player. And he’s a massive liability on the defensive end. That could pose a problem.

First and foremost, the Wolves need Young to become something close to a sub-par defender rather than the biggest mark in the league if they want to make this work. There’s nothing he can do about his size and at 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds soaking wet, Young is always going to be hunted by opponents.

But he can at least try to put up an effort. He regularly recognizes when he’s getting beat and seems to give up halfway through the possession, not even bothering to try to fight back to his man or give half decent closeout attempt.

Frankly, I’m not optimistic about Young’s ability to become an average defender. He doesn’t have the frame to put on tons of extra muscle and even if he did, he doesn’t seem that interested in dedicating himself to that part of his game. But I’m very optimistic about the Wolves’ ability to cover for his defensive lapses as well as any team out there.

Edwards is on his way to becoming an elite defender. He ranked 4th among guards in total blocks and 2nd in steals this season. He’s physical and seems to relish the challenge of guarding opponents’ top options when he can. He does gamble a bit too much and can get out of position when jumping a passing lane becomes more tempting than staying glued to his man but that’s a balance he should be able to strike better with more experience.

Gobert is viewed as a plug-and-play ingredient to a top-ten defense and even through what could be considered a down year for him, he still formed a solid back wall for a Wolves defense that ranked 10th in the league. And we can’t forget to mention Jaden McDaniels.