Minnesota Timberwolves’ Roster Crunch Points To A Future Trade

The Minnesota Timberwolves zagged when everyone were zigging, opting instead for unimaginable size via their acquisition of 7’1 center Rudy Gobert, over fast-paced small-ball units.

Since we’ve yet to see them take the court, it remains to be seen whether their newfound formula will work.

One thing we can say in advance, with absolute certainty, is that the plan of pairing Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns in the frontcourt is going to come with certain sacrifices, including a ripple effect on the rest of the roster, forcing several players to play out of position, or see their role drastically diminished.

Plenty of time to adjust

Fortunately for the Wolves, they’ve not only had months since the Gobert trade to think of ways on how to implement this new roster, but surely they spent considerable time hashing this out before the trade was even executed.

That means Wolves brass must have taken a deep hard look at Jaden McDaniels, and reached the conclusion that he should be able to adjust to getting matched up with more agile wings far more this year, than in years prior, as he’s going to play more small forward.

It’s a decent bet.

McDaniels is a highly switchable and athletic combo forward who offers a 6’9 frame with a seven-foot wingspan. His quick feet and understanding of rotation patterns should allow him to make this transition, even if there will be a few growing pains along the way.

Can the same be said of Taurean Prince and Kyle Anderson? Neither has the explosiveness to withstand being matched up against more mobile forwards, which has essentially forced them to primarily guard bigger players who are often slower, and thus more predictable.

Some might argue Anderson and Prince could back up Towns when he sits, but that opens up another question: What is to happen with Naz Reid, who one would imagine gets virtually every single big man minute not occupied by Towns or Gobert?

Something has got to give on this Wolves roster. Even if head coach Chris Finch staggers Towns and Gobert – which he should as much as he possibly can – the front line is going to leave at least one good player out in the cold. Can the Wolves survive that, given how much they relinquished during the trade?

It seems increasingly likely that the Wolves will be a team to watch before the next trade deadline, as it would make sense to down-scale other bits of the roster.

The trade market

Reid should make for a fairly attractive trade piece from a player perspective, but his contract complicates matters. He signed a four-year minimum contract with the Wolves in 2019, and will thus become an unrestricted free agent in 2023.

Simply put, any team moving assets for Reid could risk losing him in nine months, which drastically lessens his trade value.

To make matters even more complicated, Jaylen Nowell finds himself in the exact same situation as Reid. The Wolves need to be commended for finding two rotation players on the fringes as they have, but they risk losing both after the conclusion of this season, which seems wasteful.

With Reid and Nowell somewhat off the board then, who else could the Wolves shuffle around?

While they just signed Anderson to a two-year deal worth $18 million this summer, his salary makes for quite a solid salary-matching filler, should the Wolves be interested in bringing in a more streamlined wing instead.

Prince, too, appears as a likely trade candidate, as he too signed a two-year contract worth $14.5 million.

Are Anderson and Prince attractive trade pieces? That depends on the need of any team the Wolves negotiate with, but it’s fair to say that neither jump off the page.

The Wolves, who could use a player in the mold of Harrison Barnes, appear to be lacking in the asset department to get such a deal done, which does seem necessary if the organization has aspirations of making a Finals run this season.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.