How trading for Trae Young could help save the Minnesota Timberwolves

Jaden McDefense

McDaniels spent this season guarding some of the best players in the NBA and did a damn good job. He led all wing players in block percentage, ranked in the 99th percentile in matchup difficulty, and helped the Wolves sport the 4th best defense in the league when he was on the floor. He’s an elite defender. And between him, Gobert, and Edwards, the Wolves have enough stoppers to cover for Young’s poor effort on defense.

The bigger risk might be on the offensive side of the court. Both Young and Edwards are ball-dominant players. And while I think that Edwards would be okay with giving up some of that control if it means a shot at a deeper playoff run, I worry that Young’s off-ball offense would remain similar to what it has been in Atlanta this season.

Hawks have valid interest in trading Trae Young

With another ball handler in Dejounte Murray, the Hawks’ offense has become a seesaw of who’s running the show. When Murray has the ball in his hands, Young often looks disinterested and doesn’t actively cut to look for open threes or other ways to impact the offense. He’s just there, floating around, waiting for the possession to be over or for the ball to come to him.

It’s not that Young can’t impact the game without the ball in his hands, he absolutely can. He shot 48 percent on catch-and-shoot threes last season but only took one per game. He could be destructive if he took a Stephen Curry approach of constant movement and sliding around screens to look for catch-and-shoot opportunities. But so far that’s not something that he’s shown any interest in doing.

The Wolves have the personnel to cover for Young’s shortcomings on the defensive end but if he refuses to adapt to a new offense and this hypothetical attack devolves into a mishmash of alternating possessions between an elite slasher and an elite shooter then I don’t think we can say that the Wolves would be in a demonstrably better position than they are today.