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The Minnesota Timberwolves' free agency has been active but not all that impactful so far. The team has signed a few fringe players, re-upped a key piece, and brought in a couple of new players. These NBA free agency moves all address the Timberwolves' needs, but none deal with the elephant in the room. That’s the fact that the team’s two biggest stars, Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, can’t play together. That’s why the biggest need Minnesota still must address after the first weekend of 2023 NBA free agency is making a Karl-Anthony Towns trade.
The Timberwolves' biggest need is to make a Karl-Anthony Towns trade
Minnesota made some moves this offseason on the NBA free agency market. The team re-signed guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker to a two-year, $9 million deal and re-upped center Luka Garza with a two-way contract for next season.
After that, the team basically swapped free agents with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Timberwolves signed guard Troy Brown Jr. from the Lakers on a two-year, $8 million deal and let Taurean Prince go to LA for one year and $4.5 million.
Finally, the Timberwolves’ biggest signing in NBA free agency was giving former Philadelphia 76ers guard Shake Milton a two-year, $10 million pact.
All this is well and good, but the biggest issue is the glut of players Minnesota has at the center position. The team made a blockbuster trade for Rudy Gobert last offseason, giving up a monster haul in what looks like one of the worst trades in NBA history. The franchise thought its twin towers approach could work in the modern NBA, but Gobert and Towns proved last season they can’t play together.
Now, the team has to trade Towns because he has much more trade value than Gobert. The French big man currently wouldn’t return nearly half as much as the team gave up to get him with essentially three years and $130 million left on his deal.
The Timberwolves all but told the world of their intentions to trade Towns right before NBA free agency kicked off. That’s because the team signed center Naz Reid to a three-year, $41.9 million contract extension. That means that if nothing changes, Minnesota will pay its centers $89.9 million next season. That’s over $40 million more than the second-place team, the Denver Nuggets are paying for its centers, and they have a two-time NBA MVP at center!
That can’t happen. The Timberwolves need to make a Karl-Anthony Towns trade to give themselves a shot next season. There is no NBA free agency move that will fix the team’s problems. Minnesota needs to make this bold move, and they need to make it before the 2023-23 NBA season starts.
The question now is, what will the team get for Towns?
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Of all the rumored trades out there, the New York Knicks are the team that comes up the most. That deal would likely revolve around a package of Julius Randle and Evan Fournier’s expiring contract, plus picks for Towns.
That is not a bad deal at all. In Randle, the Timberwolves get a two-time All-NBA player and a career 18.7-point and 9.7-rebound player. Those numbers aren’t what Towns puts up, but they are solid, and, offensively and defensively, Randle is simply a better fit with Gobert and Anthony Edwards.
However, this trade isn’t about getting back Randle to possibly make the play-in game next season. It is about Fournier’s expiring contract, which helps with the Timberwolves' needs of more financial flexibility, and the picks, which Minnesota has precious few of moving forward with the disastrous Gobert trade.
There could be other suitors, too. The Memphis Grizzlies are a team that Towns is sometimes connected with, and the Miami Heat could make some sense if the Damian Lillard trade falls through.
Even with those options potentially available, it seems like the Knicks are position to make the best offer. And if the T’Wolves can get New York to throw in Immanuel Quickley in addition to Fournier and Randle, the franchise should jump at the chance.
The Timberwolves' free agency moves are what they are, and now the team is mostly as it will be once the new campaign kicks off this fall. Before that happens, though, the team must — must, must — make a Karl-Anthony Towns trade. If they don’t, the team will be doomed to repeat last year’s disappointing season and who knows how many disappointing seasons after that.
The organization messed up last offseason with the Gobert deal. Now they need to admit that and start to make things right by swallowing the tough pill of trading one of their young stars.
