Even if the Minnesota Timberwolves were eliminated early in last year's playoffs, the NBA world knew that the ascension would come soon. The following season, the Timberwolves are one of the best teams in the association and a major reason for that is because of their tremendous defensive play. They are almost two full points ahead of the Boston Celtics for the best defensive rating in the league.
Their defense is anchored by two excellent big men in Karl Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, so that facet of the game is not a cause for concern for their squad. In the offensive side of things, Towns and Anthony Edwards can arguably compete with any two-headed monster in the postseason. However, their perimeter shooting and playmaking are still two critical aspects they can bolster heading into the trade deadline.
With a little over two weeks remaining before February 8, Minnesota is quietly hunting for underrated targets who will have a massive impact in the playoffs. As they are in the midst of doing that, they must ponder on a couple of guys from their own roster who can be available on the market.
Kyle Anderson
Kyle Anderson was a wonderful Swiss Army knife for the Timberwolves this season but his inconsistency has been a huge cause for concern for Minnesota. It is such a rare occurrence for head coach Chris Finch to reward him with over 25 minutes a night because his contributions have been subpar. It is no secret that Anderson lacks the proficiency in his jump shots, but he used to be a phenomenal secondary playmaker whether he was with the first or second unit.
As a quick decision maker from the elbow or the free throw line, that brilliant option caused a ton of defensive scrambles. However, Anderson has been a glaring liability on offense as both his points and assists have plummeted from last year. Since he is on an expiring deal, the Timberwolves can search for a more reliable point guard to play behind Mike Conley Jr. because their team seems to be in disarray when Conley sits.
Those problems were not exposed when Anderson and Edwards could handle the playmaking duties for short spurts, but that has not been the case this season.
Shake Milton
Since the aforementioned floor general issues of Minnesota was mentioned, the organization did pursue a guard in the offseason as they signed SMU guard Shake Milton. As a scorer who can rack up a quick 10 points off the bench, Milton is more of a modern-day spark plug off the bench rather than the traditional ball handler that will set up Edwards, Towns, and Gobert for easy baskets.
Milton has not proven to fit in the system for Finch in his first year with Minnesota as guys like Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jordan McLaughlin have overtook him in the usual rotations. There are contests wherein Milton has produced adequate numbers, but he only gets ample opportunities when one of the key cogs has a minor injury or lingering illness.
Milton does not seem to be part of the long term plans of the Timberwolves so might as well move him before the trade deadline. He is still under contract for $5 million next season, so it will not be too much for their trade partner to absorb his salary.
Kyle Anderson and Shake Milton are two individuals who will still have a roster spot in the NBA, but the Timberwolves just are not the best fit for their style of play.
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