While the Minnesota Timberwolves found an incredible amount of success this past season in spite of enormous circumstances being levied against them, the way they were sent home in the playoffs made it clear that they still have some improvements to make if they're to reach the level of teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference. As they look at solving big problems like their clutch-time offense, it becomes pretty clear that making a big splash and trading for Kevin Durant would unquestionably plug this hole in their roster.
Now, are there still reasons to raise an eyebrow at the thought of adding Durant to the Timberwolves' roster? Certainly. I've personally big a big proponent of staying away from him. I believe if you're the Wolves, there are ways to solve your late-game offensive woes in a way that doesn't require you to gut your roster and add another star player. Doing so would feel unlike a typical Tim Connelly move.
I say that because although Connelly is now famous for his bold offseason swings, he's never made a big move that didn't take into serious consideration the team's long-term situation. Even the Rudy Gobert trade, which was laughably dubbed as the worst trade in NBA history at the time, did not permanently handicap Minnesota's front office into an unsolvable financial situation.
Durant would help the Timberwolves' late-game offense
Making a move for Kevin Durant would feel like a much more short-term move that would essentially lock this roster into a win-now window of two or three seasons, maximum. It could even lead us to the doomsday scenario where Anthony Edwards leaves when Durant does, if they don't walk away from their partnership with a championship. But that's the glass-half-empty take on this situation.
The glass-half-full take would be that Durant's presence in the Timberwolves' lineup would be like putting Minnesota's offense on steroids, and that much I think is true. Anthony Edwards got much better at handling double teams as this past season went on, and his continued development did a lot to transform what was a pretty mediocre offense in November and December into a very solid one by March and April.
However, the Wolves' downfall was still not having enough reliable options on offense when facing a defensive juggernaut like Oklahoma City in the conference finals. You add Durant to that situation, and now all of a sudden a team like the Thunder can't simply load up on Edwards in clutch moments.
This would free up role players to be able to do more off-ball in those situations too. With all that in mind, the Timberwolves are not going to get Kevin Durant for a bargain. If they decide they love a pairing of he and Ant, they're going to need to proceed with the utmost caution.