For years now, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been trying to turn themselves into something of value in the Western Conference, but they really have not seen much success over the years. Since the start of the 2004-05 NBA season, Minnesota only has a total of 485 wins, which is the fewest in the entire league over this span, and they have made the playoffs just once during the 2017-18 season because of Jimmy Butler.
The T-Wolves have only gone downhill since making this postseason appearance, so where do they go from here? Karl-Anthony Towns is under contract for years to come, as is last year’s first overall pick Anthony Edwards and former All-Star guard D’Angelo Russell.
Finding more talent that wants to come to a team that has not been successful over the years will be tough to do, but the Timberwolves have shown a lot of interest in Hawks’ free agent John Collins. Shams Charania of The Athletic noted a week ago that the Timberwolves are among several teams interested in signing Collins this offseason.
The 6’9” power-forward was a part of the Atlanta Hawks run to the Eastern Conference Finals this season and has constantly been improving as a player in their system, but they may not want to pay the price he wants in his next contract. Collins and the Hawks failed to reach an agreement on a long-term extension prior to the start of the 2020-21 season and he even turned down a $90M contract extension with John Collins himself stating that he wants a max contract.
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If the Hawks are unwilling to pay Collins’ price in free agency this year, they could look to find a way to trade him in a sign-and-trade scenario since he is a restricted free agent. This will be a key storylines to watch in trade rumors as NBA free agency approaches.
Atlanta can offer him the max contract he would want, which is why a sign-and-trade between the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves could be in-play. Let’s take a look at what this deal could potentially look like.
