Last-minute trades have been par for the course on NBA Draft night for years, with future picks constantly swapped as organizations look to fulfill their differing needs. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs made an especially wacky deal Wednesday night, the likes of which have rarely been seen before.
The Wolves acquired guard Rob Dillingham for next-decade picks after the Spurs took him eighth overall, via The Athletic's Shams Charania.
“Timberwolves traded 2031 unprotected first-rounder and a 2030 swap (top 1 protected) to Spurs for Rob Dillingham, sources say,” Charania tweeted.
It's typical for rebuilding squads to plan for the future, but waiting six and seven years to reap the rewards of a deal is quite a long time to wait. Who won the trade?
The Spurs took long-term NBA Draft planning too far
Dillingham, who averaged 15.2 points on 47.5% shooting with 3.9 assists across 23.3 minutes per game in his one-and-done year in Kentucky, will now team up with superstar Anthony Edwards in Minnesota's backcourt. The Wolves desperately needed another dynamic threat off the dribble, as they finished just 18th in the league with 113 points per game last year.
However, this wasn't a financially sound move for Minnesota, via NBA content creator Yossi Gozlan.
“The Minnesota Timberwolves double down on their expensive roster and further increase payroll by acquiring Rob Dillingham,” Gozlan tweeted. “They're now looking at a $100 million luxury tax penalty, an increase of $20 million. Roster and payroll combo now projected to exceed $300 million.”
The club will have to cut costs to avoid punishment from the league. This could be a precursor to a Karl Anthony-Towns trade, who is owed $49.35 million next season.
The Wolves had to game the system to get Dillingham on the roster, via Awful Announcing's Brendon Kleen.
“Fascinating for Minnesota to trade for Rob Dillingham,” Kleen tweeted. “This is somewhat of a 2nd apron loophole in the CBA. They effectively just traded for a $5M player when they literally would not be able to spend that much on any other player outside of very limited trade options.”
Minnesota made a statement by trading into the lottery, as it's going all-in on a 2025 championship run. However, the club will have to tie up loose ends financially, and more moves are undoubtedly on the horizon
However, this trade will age extra poorly for the Wolves if Dillingham busts, as they would have spent three picks on him for little return.
Meanwhile, San Antonio will be happy at the turn of the decade, but the team could've accelerated its rebuild by getting at least one short-term asset. It would've been better off either getting a player or a pick within the next three drafts to go along with a pick in the next decade for a more balanced haul, especially for a lottery selection.
All is not lost for the Spurs, though, as they still drafted combo guard Stephon Castle fourth overall out of UConn. They also still own the 35th and 48th overall picks.
The winner of this trade won't be known for a few years, but there's no doubt it's one of the more unusual ones the NBA Draft has seen in a while.
Follow Us
Subscribe