In the modern NBA, we rarely see star-for-star swaps. If a team is trading a star, they’re usually rebuilding. This has become the common practice around the league. Typically, teams trade stars for a cache of young players and first-round picks.
At the same time, some teams have an incentive to stay competitive. Perhaps they’ve sold their fanbase on a vision that hasn’t come to be. A general manager of such a team could be apprehensive to bottom out before they’ve sniffed the top.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are one such team. So are the Chicago Bulls. Could they trade stars this summer?
The Trade Proposal
Minnesota Timberwolves Receive: G/F Zach LaVine
Chicago Bulls Receive: F/C Karl-Anthony Towns
Of course, what fans want isn’t always what’s actually best for them. It’s like any sphere of life. You want a double bacon cheeseburger. Fair enough. A plain chicken breast with some veggies and brown rice would be better for you.
Should the Timberwolves bottom out? Probably not. There’s too much talent on this team. Anthony Edwards is young. Meanwhile, the Wolves have sent most of their draft capital out in the first place.
NBA TRADES, NEWS & RUMORS: Karl-Anthony Towns, Chicago Bulls & Minnesota Timberwolves Updates
Should the Bulls bottom out? One could make the case. This team fell well short of expectations in 2022-23. They don’t have a young, franchise player like Edwards. Should they really pivot to Towns?
Why The Chicago Bulls Do The Deal
Frankly, we’re not sure. This may not be what we’d do. With that said, we’d have considered trading LaVine and DeRozan at this year’s deadline. This isn’t about what we’d do. It’s about what the Bulls might do.
The Bulls might not bottom out. This team invested resources into their current core. Meanwhile, they haven’t had enough success to claim to have made their best effort.
NBA TRADES, NEWS & RUMORS: Karl-Anthony Towns, Chicago Bulls & Minnesota Timberwolves Updates
Why not pivot? Towns is probably the best player in this deal. The Bulls may need to trade Nikola Vucevic, but that’s fine. If they can coax more defense out of Towns, they could build a competitive team around him over the next couple of years. Should the Wolves cut ties with him?
Why The Minnesota Timberwolves Do the Deal
If the Wolves are catering to one player on this roster, it isn’t Towns. It’s Anthony Edwards. That’s not to say that the two can’t co-exist. They can. On the other hand, in tandem with Rudy Gobert, it gets a little complicated.
The Gobert/Towns pairing imposes a slower pace on the Wolves. That doesn’t help Edwards. In other words, Minnesota should probably trade one of their bigs.
NBA TRADES, NEWS & RUMORS: Karl-Anthony Towns, Chicago Bulls & Minnesota Timberwolves Updates
They won’t get the value they’d like for Gobert. So, by the process of elimination, they should shop Towns. Bringing in LaVine would give them one of the most athletic offensive pairings in the NBA, and starting Jaden McDaniels alongside Gobert would give them an elite defense. This star-for-star swap might benefit everyone.
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