The Timberwolves have been no doubt one of the stories this NBA season. With Rick Adelman on board to guide a new very young team to Ricky Rubio finally bringing his talents to the North West to Kevin Love solidifying himself as a true NBA star and finally the emergence of the team as a whole winning more than they did in any of the last 2 seasons with half of the season to be played.
With that being said we know the wolves are still far from being a contender and a player or two away from being a legit playoff threat (I said playoffs not championship be cool), what are they going to do now with a surplus of young talents that are relatively tradable i.e. Derrick Williams, Anthony Randolph, Wesley Johnson, Peckovic and Webster (26 and 25…I know hard to believe right?) and of course Mr. Benjamin Buckets AKA Michael Beasley. Let’s start with DWill and Randolph, both can be good to great contributors with some minutes on the floor, in other words they can be efficient so I think they should hold on to them for now. With Wesley Johnson I see the same mistake they did with Corey Brewer in thinking they’re going to be lock down defenders and great fast break players but with his minutes shrinking and shrinking in favour of DWill and Buckets I think it’s time for the Wolves to accept it and cut their losses with a wasted 4th overall pick and trade him for whatever they can get. For Pek, they don’t have any option for a Center now unless your David Kahn and still believe Darko was worth taking higher than Melo, Wade and CB4 then you need to go with him to the moon and dream there cause he ain’t going to pan out to even a quarter of those players he got drafted ahead of. And that leads us to Mr. Buckets, was drafted 2nd in the 2008 Draft, exactly 5 years after Darko was drafted on the same slot. He was nabbed by the Heat after the Bulls got their homeboy D.Rose with only 1.7% to win the lottery and the Heat having 25% and wolves had 22.5%, As I was saying he got Drafted after an MVP, and was followed by O.J. (jury still out on him… get it), NBA Stars Russell Westbrook and his now teammate Kevin Love. Buckets have created more fuzz off the court than on the court until last year where he average a career high 19 pts/game but was injured all throughout the season and wasn’t able to capitalized and get his game on the court get rolling. And this season he found himself on the bench majority of the time with the wolves’ new system and new found identity. With that, come all sorts of trade rumours and speculations about the Lakers acquiring him for a trade exception and a draft pick. First, why would the wolves trade him for a pick that is going to be in the late 20’s as long as Mamba is playing there and the exception is likely won’t be used this season anyway and hard to see them as players in the free agent market. As much as I love Love and Rubio I don’t think they would be enough to attract a Dwight Howard (which will actually benefit him and the wolves) so the only team that would get better is again the LA freakin’ Lakers.
Now, with all of that being said I will present you (Mr. Taylor and Mr. Kahn) and the rest of NBA fans some trade scenarios that haven’t been exploited (at least by the media) to help the wolves and the other team with the “would be” trade: Using ESPN TradeMachine
Mil/Min trade: Beasley and Brad Miller for Stephen Jackson
This works for both Wolves getting a vet swingman who is though can score and defend aswell, bit of a head case sometimes but hey they gamble on buckets. And for the Bucks they get young scorer which they most desperately need.
Mem/Min: Buckets for O.J. Mayo
Simply put they are being shopped by both teams and salary matches and I don’t think there is a need for a draft pick and unless you’re the first one to pick up the phone and you might need to add something. But it will make the teams less awkward and move on.
GS/Min: Buckets, Dwill and Ellington and a future 1st lottery protected draft pick for Monta Ellis and Dorell Wrights
First, let me just say I was very hesitant to put Dwill in this trade but I don’t think GS would even let Mr. Kahn finish his spiel without saying his name so I had to do it and just put Dorell Wright just to compensate. This works for both especially for ‘Sota they get one of the most explosive scorers in Monta and for Monta he can comeback playing his normal 2-guard spot and worry less about passing the ball and just flat out score. For GS they get 2 young scorers with one (Dwill) having a possibility to be a star like Kevin Love was when he was just a rookie.
Pho/Min: Buckets, A. Randolph and a conditional pick for Grant Hill and Hakim Warrick
Phoenix has to start their rebuilding process and it starts here, they can rebuild without giving up Nash for now but have to give up Grant who will provide guidance to a young team with his experience and overly calming presence. The Suns with able to showcase Buckets talent with Nash and carry the scoring load for them and and more pieces as they go along.
By: Marvin Go
NBA Fan extraordinaire
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