Let’s Run the NBA Trade Machine
12:10 Update: Minnesota is engaged with the New York Knicks about trading Rubio.
The NBA trade deadline is fast-approaching and I thought this would be a fun opportunity to run the Trade Machine offered by ESPN. The players being shopped around at the deadline are All-Pro talents such as Paul George, Andre Drummond, and Jimmy Butler along with pieces that any team would want to acquire like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Reggie Jackson, Taj Gibson, and Nick Young. Lets go through each scenario in which the Timberwolves could acquire these players and rank them Hot to Cold.
Paul George — Arctic Cold
While it could make sense that the Pacers would want to bolster their point guard depth past Jeff Teague, Ricky Rubio is too big of a name and contract to sit on your bench. Besides, his playing style doesn’t work well with coming off of the bench. His pass-first mentality is meant to get superstars the ball.
Moving on, the meat of this trade is Paul George and Andrew Wiggins. Paul George is a superstar who has experience being coached by Tom Thibodeau on the USA Olympic Basketball team and could provide a veteran presence on a young, but talented team. Also, he gets buckets. Trading away Wiggins means mortgaging your future for success for the next three years. I don’t see George resigning with the Wolves and we’ll all be disgusted watching Wiggins highlights in four years with him wearing blue and yellow.
TLDR: This won’t happen.
Andre Drummond — North of Bemidgi
That’s pretty darn cold. It took a lot of playing around between these two teams to get this to work and in reality, picks or a third team would have to be involved. If the Pistons keep Reggie Jackson, they won’t need Ricky Rubio on the roster and the Timberwolves don’t NEED another center as long as Karl Anthony-Towns is in Minnesota. I like the way Stanley Johnson played in the playoffs last year, even though he “believed” he was in Lebron James’ head the whole time. I could see him drinking the Thibs defensive Kool-Aid.
TLDR: Don’t need him
Jimmy Butler — Pretty Cold
This trade had a much better chance of happening before the season and we could have shipped out less. The original trade was something more like Lavine and Dunn for Butler, but that’s in the past. Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson would be great additions to the Wolves having played under Thibs for years. Butler is All-Star starter and Gibson would be a good starter next to KAT. This is an obvious win for the Wolves, with the trade machine giving us +6 wins, but that logic works opposite for the Bulls with a -8. The win differential in this trade is the largest of all of the trades in this article. The wolves would probably have to include a pick or a third team to get this one done.
TLDR: I hope this doesn’t happen
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — Warmer
The Wolves had their eyes on KCP coming into the draft back in 2013, but he was selected the pick beforehand. Now he’s being shopped around and I think it would be a good idea for Thibs to go after him. KCP Brandon Rush is a serviceable replacement for the injured Zach Lavine, but Kentavious could provide more offense for the Wolves. Fan favorite Tyus Jones would be moved which could provide the Pistons with more depth at PG and Rush could act as a replacement for Pope going through the rest of the season. In summary, I think this one could get done, but I don’t think either team is getting much from the deal. It would be making a trade for the sake of making one.
TLDR: The Tyus fans will be upset
Nick Young — Minnesota April
The temperature index may be a bit confusing to some, so I’ll explain it. While the literal temperature is accurate, with April weather being maybe in the 60’s as a high, the mood behind it is important as well. By April, Minnesotans are tired of the cold and Spring is technically here. However, the chance of a 15" snow fall is possible and we could hit May without going over 40 and no one would bat an eye. I always find myself saying, “I wish it was warmer” by about this point and that’s how I feel about this trade.
Luol Deng and Nick Young I think could be an excellent addition to this Wolves squad. Deng played under Thibs with the Bulls and knows what he wants out of him defensively. “Swaggy P”, after LaVine returns, could be an excellent scorer off of the bench and provide a spark that only Shabazz seems to be able to muster.In the mean-time he’s a better starting 2 than Brandon Rush.
TLDR: Crossing my fingers?
