With the Minnesota Timberwolves back home in the USA, the Timberwolves players are now readying to compete in their third preseason game. This time, they will be competing in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, and their former head coach, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.
With the trade of Dame Lilliard to the Milwaukee Bucks, there is no NBA name more frequently mentioned in terms of NBA Rumors. Believe it or not, the Minnesota Timberwolves were even rumored to have made the call to the Portland Trail Blazers to inquire about the availability of point guard Damian Lillard.
Recent Timberwolves trade talks have mentioned Towns
The reality of the matter is that practically each and every NBA team placed a call to see what the Trail Blazers would have wanted to entertain and whether the Timberwolves had a real NBA Trade opportunity. While that may have shocked some fans, it does highlight the fact that the Timberwolves had Karl-Anthony Towns’ name mentioned in NBA Trade talks.
That’s a bit seismic in the basic premise that the Timberwolves front office wanted to gauge the trade value of Karl-Anthony Towns among NBA circles at the moment. And yet, the Timberwolves did actively pursue trade talks for Lillard without the type of NBA Draft picks package that would allow the Timberwolves to meet a Trail Blazers direct asking price. In essence, the Timberwolves entered those discussions with an opening offer that had to include Karl-Anthony Towns, plus value to entice the Trail Blazers to even continue to talk trade.
That’s not an exercise that the Timberwolves front office would undertake if trading Karl-Anthony Towns on or before the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline was off the table. But keeping their options open is a far cry from actively pursuing the best trade package available.