Timberwolves should have no trade deadline regrets despite Cody White's heroics

As this season’s trade deadline approached, the Minnesota Timberwolves were linked to a bunch of players, many of whom were guards. One of those guys was Coby White, as the Chicago Bulls were expected to sell off a bunch of their players, apparently tired of living in the Play-In Tournament.

Per Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Wolves even turned down a chance to trade for White at the deadline, ultimately landing Ayo Dosunmu, when they salary-dumped Mike Conley to Chicago. Ultimately, the Wolves landed Ayo Dosunmu instead while the Bulls dealt White to the Charlotte Hornets.

In Tuesday’s Play-In Tournament overtime win by Charlotte over the Miami Heat, White got to showcase to the world how impactful he has been since joining the Hornets. He scored 19 points, including a game-tying 3-pointer that ultimately forced overtime and 14 third-quarter points. After the Hornets pulled off the win, White cemented himself as a hero among Charlotte fans.

Despite this, the Timberwolves and their fans shouldn’t be asking why they didn’t go harder to get him because of how great Dosunmu has been.

Ayo Dosunmu has been excellent since joining the Timberwolves

On the day of the trade deadline, Ayo was acquired by Minnesota along with Julian Phillips in exchange for Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller, and four second-round picks. 

It didn’t take long for Dosunmu to become acclimated to his new squad. Whether coming off the bench to provide a much-needed scoring punch or filling in admirably in the starting lineup due to injury, Ayo has excelled.

The fifth-year player averaged 14.4 points while shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from 3-point distance in his 24 outings (nine starts) with Minnesota. Dosumnu is an excellent screen navigator on the defensive end and did a lot of the ball-handling for a Wolves team that has gone without a true point guard in the starting lineup for much of the year.

Of course, that didn’t happen. White has been an excellent microwave scorer off the bench for Charlotte, and now they are one win away from being in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. It has been a miraculous turnaround for a Hornets team that was 16-28 through 44 games.

It’s safe to say that the Hornets are pleased with bringing in White, but the Timberwolves are also thrilled they added Dosunmu. All in all both teams should be happy with how the deadline played out.

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