Did the Minnesota Timberwolves outdraft the Utah Jazz?
By Bret Stuter
‘Worst trade ever’ takes are glorified temper tantrums
How is it that a trade that is only one year in the making can be compared to the types of trades that have resulted in teams winning multiple NBA Championships in the aftermath? Well, that’s how far hot takes have fallen in NBA hit pieces.
Why? There is a relationship between sounding incredibly foolish and getting clicks on social media. And let’s face it, berating the Timberwolves’ trade for Gobert as the “Worst Trade in NBA history years before all of the picks change hands and the results of Gobert on the Timberwolves roster has sufficient sample size is about as foolish as an NBA pundit can get:
Of course, when the sum known history of the NBA is the past two or three seasons, it’s probably a bad idea to tout that trade just one year later as the best or worst trade in the entirety of NBA history.
The facts that the above video cites are really shaky at best. The video begins by creating a scenario where the Timberwolves must surrender the 2023 NBA Draft number one pick, Victor Wembanyama, to the Utah Jazz. That’s a bit… inaccurate. And then it plummets into the depths of worst-case scenarios, scenarios that are still years away, while completely tossing aside the fact that the Timberwolves are a repeating playoff team with an even better season projected this year.
Injuries, roster dysfunction, and general unfamiliarity plagued the Timberwolves’ roster throughout the 2022-23 NBA season. But the Timberwolves’ front office did not stand pat, instead choosing to trade once more and make significant improvements to the roster at the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline. Now, the team is much more cohesive, postseason capable, and resilient. All that is needed is to get healthy, and onboard some reinforcements.