If you have had it up to your eyeballs with NBA Rumors and NBA Trade scenarios, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But the folks at Bleacher Report are at it again, and this one involves the Minnesota Timberwolves and All-Star power forward Karl-Anthony Towns.
While that comes as no surprise, I am not presenting this new trade scenario blindly. After all, I expect many are already asking: “Is this one any more attractive than the myriad of other trade scenarios that we have heard and discussed before?”
Perhaps, and perhaps not. But each new mock trade scenario offers some new twist, turn, package, or detail that must be weighed and deliberated separately. And so, I’m simply presenting this latest scenario to you, and letting you be the judge.
The common thread to all mock trade scenarios is based on two common elements: The first is the presumption that the Minnesota Timberwolves trade for former Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert was an utter failure, and the trade is a grasp at straws to rectify the situation as optimally as possible.
Why would Wolves engage now if not before?
But the Minnesota Timberwolves front office has had plenty of opportunities to engage in meaningful trade talks since that trade and has not modified their High Wall strategy so far. So why would the team commit to a trade now?
The second common thread is a belief that the Minnesota Timberwolves cannot afford to keep everyone paid in the 2024-25 NBA season or beyond, and so the team is prepared to trade a player, namely Karl-Anthony Towns, on or before the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline.
Combined, the two common threads have resulted in a host of exchanges between the Minnesota Timberwolves and some other NBA team or teams that have some relatively sketchy value for both sides. But some scenarios may not be so out of the question. So let’s consider the latest trade proposal from Bleacher Report’s NBA staff after we place it under the microscope:
What does this trade look like
The premise of any trade begins with the motivation for teams to engage in such a deal. And truthfully, that is where this proposed trade seems to have missed the mark. In naming the Houston Rockets, Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes fails at step one, lobbying why the Houston Rockets would be the team to outbid all others for the services of Minnesota Timberwolves Karl-Anthony Towns. So why do the Rockets do this? In Hughes’ words
"‘Houston threw cash around like it was nothing in free agency, and it chased a much older floor-stretching center in Brook Lopez. Towns doesn’t bring the defense Lopez would have, but he scares opponents with much higher-volume and more accurate three-point shooting.’ – per B/R Grant Hughes"
That doesn’t do much to convince me, and I admittedly lean in the direction of the Minnesota Timberwolves. So what does this trade look like:
In the scenario, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquire rookie guard Amen Thompson (after August 2, 2023), veteran forward Kevin Porter Jr., forward Jae’Sean Tate, a 2024 first-round pick (via BKN), and a 2026 first-round pick (via BKN) from the Houston Rockets for Karl-Anthony Towns. What does that look like in a trade graphic?
The trade would shift approximately $4.8 million of today’s salary cap burden off the books of the Minnesota Timberwolves and onto the books of the Houston Rockets. But the scenario is merely an attempt to validate a trade scenario by Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus written in June 2023 which attempts to improve the Houston Rockets’ chances of winning in order to improve their chances of trading for and landing Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden.
So we are left with these questions: Does this trade aid the Minnesota Timberwolves’ efforts to win now? Does this trade give the Rockets a fighting chance to land James Harden and remain competitive?
Would the Timberwolves accept this trade?
The Minnesota Timberwolves would love to resolve their financial entanglements while still improving their roster to compete for a berth in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The question is, does this trade package deliver all of that? Let’s break down the pieces.
While Timberwolves fans would love to add two first-round draft picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves vault, those picks do nothing to improve the competitiveness of the Timberwolves today. And that is not simply a minor consideration. After all, the Timberwolves had to cross both fire and brimstone in the 2022-23 NBA season simply to earn the right to compete in the post-season. I don’t know that the Timberwolves’ front office would willingly take a step away from the NBA Playoffs now, in the hope of being in a better position next season.
Rookie Amen Thompson, the fourth-overall player selected in the 2023 NBA Draft, is a 6-foot-7 215-pound point forward who has ignited the optimism and excitement of many NBA fans. Some NBA comparisons have likened him to the prime playing days of former Philadelphia 76ers point forward Ben Simmons. Can he deliver to those expectations?
Perhaps. He has so many promising areas in his arsenal.
Does pairing Thompson with Anthony Edwards make sense for the Timberwolves? If you like the idea of pairing a highly regarded 20-year-old rookie point forward with 21-year-old All-Star shooting guard Anthony Edwards, you might be sold already. But there are two other players to consider in this trade.
Forward Kevin Porter Jr. was the 30th player selected in the 2019 NBA Draft, traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers where he played for one season and then traded to the Houston Rockets where he has competed for two seasons. He is a 6-foot-4 203-pound contributor who has been a starter for the Rockets.
Porter has been improving in each of his four seasons in the NBA, and will likely shatter the 20 PPG average this season with reasonable playing time. While not a starter for the Timberwolves, he would add plenty of oomph to the Timberwolves bench.
The third player added in this trade is Jae’sean Tate, who is a 6-foot-4 230-pound forward who would be a depth player for the Timberwolves. While he would not be assured of 20+ minutes per game on the Timberwolves roster, he would certainly be the type of glue player that Timberwolves Head Coach Chris Finch loves to have at his disposal.
Of course, at the end of the day, the Timberwolves would need to free up one of their roster slots to accommodate welcoming three new players, which could translate into converting a contract of either rookie Leonard Miller, Wendell Moore Jr., or Josh Minott into a Two-Way contract.
Does this trade help the Minnesota Timberwolves win today? Perhaps not. But it certainly does set the Timberwolves roster up to be far more fiscally fit in the years to come.