The Minnesota Timberwolves are in great position to leverage a bright current star for a young player who could give them an even brighter future.
So, what’s the hold up?
Despite the Cleveland Cavaliers’ reported willingness to include No. 1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins in trade discussions for Kevin Love, T’Wolves president Flip Saunders is apparently more enamored with a package built around Klay Thompson from the Golden State Warriors, ProBasketballDraft tweeted Friday, citing an unnamed source. The Wolves consider Thompson “more ready” to help them win now, supposedly.
This, if true, is dumb.
Thompson is a fine young player and a pure shooter, but his ceiling is laughably lower than Wiggins’. Plus, getting Thompson would also mean taking on David Lee’s oversized contract from Golden State in the deal. There is no rational argument for Thompson/Lee being a better haul than Wiggins/anybody for Love. None.
A few parties seem to be growing exasperated with the Wolves’ lack of action, but that’s unfair. Saunders has every right and obligation to ride out the Love sweepstakes as long as he wants if he believes the offers will get stronger. In Cleveland’s case, he was right. The Cavs became a much more aggressive suitor once LeBron James agreed to play for them.
But the more reports like this leak out, the harder it is to take the Wolves seriously. Come on now. Thompson trumps Wiggins? They don’t want to take a step back, but are willing to accept a middling existence led by Thompson to the potentially lofty heights of Wiggins? Do they really believe Thompson and Lee will do better in the even more brutal Western Conference than Love was able to do last season?
Saunders and company are surely entitled to their opinions, but … really?
