The Timberwolves Shouldn't Trade Anybody

The Timberwolves should not make a trade at the trade deadline this year. The Timberwolves are a hair under .500 after a devastating December when the team was ravaged by Covid.

I can’t remember the last time I felt this good about the Timberwolves. Going into the seasons with Jimmy Butler didn’t feel this good, maybe after the Wolves drafted Lavine and had hope that he could join Wiggins and Towns to form a big three? Either way, there hasn’t been much reason to be excited about this team since Kevin Garnett left in 2008. Now there are a lot of reasons to be hopeful.

Photo: Sam Forencich NBAE – Getty Images

At 26, Towns is a veteran on the roster and the longest-tenured Timberwolf on the team. Other star players, D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards are 26 and 20 respectively, so the core is young. The team has young, talented role players that have the potential to be developed into high-quality starters and role players.

Malik Beasley, age 25, is a good 3-point shooter who can get buckets when the other scorers are either on the bench or in a slump. Vanderbilt has brought invaluable energy on defense by hounding players from 1-to 5 and being a menace on the boards on both sides of the ball. McDaniels is unpolished but shows flashes of elite scoring and defending talent. Naz Reid can score in the paint and rebound well, Jaylen Nowell is a straight bucket getter, and Jordan Mclaughlin is a reliable ball handler, and distributor who can shoot the ball.

Photo: mintimberwolvespr

The addition of Patrick Beverly has been huge. His defense and leadership have been integral to this team's improvement. He adds to their confidence on both sides of the ball. This makes the team more when they inevitably experience stretches during games, and seasons, that don’t go so well.

Chris Finch is not getting enough praise either. He clearly has the team playing more cohesive basketball, there is a different sense about this team, more focus, more confidence, more effort, that Coach Finch has no doubt contributed to.

For these reasons I think the Timberwolves should stand pat at the trade deadline and see how far the roster as currently constructed can go.