Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Minnesota Timberwolves

After trading for D’Angelo Russell at the NBA trade deadline last year and select Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves will likely hold off on any trades talks until they can evaluate their team at the half-way point in the season. Any trades for Minnesota will not be done until the trade deadline and they may even hold off on making any trades this year as they see how their core plays together. 

Minnesota is not in a position to win immediately as they have a really strong trio in Russell-Edwards-Towns that could wind up being a force in the Western Conference for years to come. The only thing is that nobody knows how all of these players are going to work out together, which is why Minnesota will take their time to evaluate this team closely before making any rash decisions.

Entering the year, the Timberwolves had high hopes as they had brought in D’Angelo Russell last year to pair with Towns and also drafted Anthony Edwards first overall this offseason. With these three guys leading the charge, the Timberwolves looked to have a team that could potentially make some noise in the West, but now with some injury concerns revolving around KAT, this team does not look much improved.

Since being drafted by Minnesota, the Timberwolves have gone 162-230 (41.3% win percentage) in 5 seasons with Karl-Anthony Towns and have made the playoffs just once in that time frame. If Minnesota continues to struggle and cannot prove they can win, Towns may want out of his current situation.

It would be interesting to see how a backcourt of Kemba Walker and D’Angelo Russell would work, as both guys are pretty ball-dominant players and do not find much success playing without the ball in their hands. They are both playmakers and facilitators, making it seem difficult for them to play alongside each other, but at the end of the day, they are both All-Star players and could probably make something work. 

Jaylen Brown on the other hand would join the Timberwolves and immediately be their best player on the wing. With Brown, Edwards, Kemba and Russell moving forward, the Timberwolves could not only be a very solid offensive team, but have the assets to potentially make another big trade and acquire another superstar talent.

The two first-round picks they would be getting in this trade could be leveraged to acquire another star player, or Minnesota could keep them and continue to build a strong core of youthful talent around their All-Star level players.