The Minnesota Timberwolves saw their season come to an end in Game 6 against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night, but the damage may be just more than the 139-109 loss.
The Timberwolves looked like a team that saw its championship window slam shut after two straight Western Conference Finals appearances and it may lead to a summer of offseason moves, including one to find a secondary scoring option for Anthony Edwards.
Unfortunately, the Wolves’ lack of draft capital and premium assets will make it hard to land a big fish such as Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. This could lead to an even more difficult decision for Tim Connelly and it could include whether or not to trade Jaden McDaniels to make a blockbuster deal happen.
Trading Jaden McDaniels may be a necessary step towards Timberwolves landing another superstar
Timberwolves fans may find it hard to let McDaniels go. But a deeper look at the roster suggests McDaniels is the most attractive trade chip they have.
Fans have already booked Julius Randle’s flight out of Minnesota after his dreadful performance in the playoffs. While NBA trades can get weird at times, it’s hard to see Randle landing premium assets in return after shooting just 39.0 percent from the floor and 24.4 percent from 3-point range during Minnesota’s 12 playoff games.Â
That becomes even harder after Randle skipped his exit interview with the team over the weekend, which could lead teams to decide they don’t want to deal with the trouble that comes with his three-year, $100 million contract.
Rudy Gobert is another player who could be moved, but is also one with limited value. Although he’s still a strong player defensively, Gobert’s offensive abilities can be hit-or-miss, leaving teams to play 4-on-5 basketball on that end of the court. He will turn 34 years old this summer, and teams may not want to take on the last two years of his three-year, $109.5 million contract and could look elsewhere for a defensive upgrade.
Then there’s the Timberwolves’ draft pick situation. The Wolves own just four first-round picks and four second-round picks through the 2032 draft. In addition, the Timberwolves 2028 pick is their only first-round pick that can be traded before the draft and would need to be included in a pick swap to make it happen.
The Wolves can replenish that stash by dealing Randle or Gobert. But it’s unlikely to suddenly create a war chest that can bring Antetokounmpo to Minnesota. Instead, the Bucks or any team with an available star is going to want NBA-ready talent in return and that could put McDaniels on the block.
In a perfect world, the Timberwolves would like to keep McDaniels, Naz Reid and Joan Beringer as foundational pieces for the future alongside Edwards. McDaniels has also blossomed into a solid sidekick for Edwards with his defensive ability, but he’s never taken a key role in the Wolves’ offense, averaging a career-high 14.8 points per game, while shooting 51.5 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from 3-point range.
Maybe the Wolves could expand McDaniels’ role after seeing him thrive in the first-round series against the Denver Nuggets. But that hasn’t been good enough as the Wolves have hit the wall in each of their past three playoff runs. McDaniels’s volatility, which has seen him make poor decisions at times, could also make trading him more tolerable despite his connection with Edwards.Â
You also have to give something to get something, which makes McDaniels a reasonable ask for any team looking to ship out a superstar for assets. Perhaps Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has a grand plan up his sleeve after failing to acquire Antetokounmpo at last year’s trade deadline.
But it also shows he has a difficult task if he wants to land a second star and keep McDaniels.
Add us as a preferred source on Google