Grade the Trade: Timberwolves land veteran sharpshooter
By Austin McGee
After losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves are now only one game ahead of their division rival. The affair went back and forth all night long, up until the final seconds.
With six seconds to go, Anthony Edwards was fouled on a game-tying 3-pointer. Down by three, Edwards went to the line and missed all three freebies. The final score ended up 102-97, but the outcome could easily have gone either way.
In this effort, the bench outplayed the starters. No Minnesota starter recorded a positive plus/minus. Conversely, every reserve recorded a positive mark. Wolves big man Naz Reid led all bench scorers with 18 points and a plus-17 plus/minus on the night.
It's been a theme all season that Minnesota lacks bench depth. Although this game proved different, it's apparent that adding additional shooting and ball handling would improve the Minnesota roster.
The Timberwolves rank in the bottom half of the league in 3-point makes and 3-point attempts. Despite the third-best 3-point percentage in the NBA, Minnesota launches the fifth-fewest threes in the association.
Besides the lack of 3-point volume, the most jarring statistic is the high turnover percentage. Minnesota ranks second-to-last in turnover percentage and third-to-last in turnovers per game. This is all while starting point guard, Mike Conley, only averages 1.1 giveaways per contest.
An ideal trade target is a player who toes the line between efficient shooting and secondary playmaking. Several players have been mentioned as "best fits," and most of these players have something in common: they can shoot.
Rather than focusing on these candidates, a less-heralded player will be discussed. Although he's a veteran, the team he's currently suiting up for masks his ability. Here, we'll discuss the hypothetical trade, and then grade the trade for each squad.