The 2023 NBA trade deadline is fast approaching, and it marks one of the last chances for struggling teams to save their seasons. And almost no team in the league needs a turnaround right now more than the Minnesota Timberwolves. After making the playoffs last season for just the second time in 18 years, the Timberwolves' trade for Rudy Gobert gave the franchise even bigger 2022-23 expectations. However, the Gobert, Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Townes Big Three hasn’t clicked just yet, and the team is languishing at 18-21, in 11th place in the Western Conference. Now some Timberwolves' trade deadline moves are in order, or the Gobert trade might go down as one of the worst in league history.

Kyle Lowry for D’Angelo Russell

The Timberwolves have several needs ahead of the 2023 NBA trade deadline. They could use some 3-point shooting, a defensive-minded guard, and some more playmaking. However, what the team needs more than anything is an adult in the room.

Since Karl-Anthony Townes came to Minnesota leadership has been an issue on the team. It started with the infamous Jimmy Butler meltdown back in 2018 and seemingly continues to this day. Adding Gobert, a player who has had maturity issues with teammates (*cough* Donovan Mitchell *cough*) in the past, obviously wasn’t the answer to the situation.

Last season, the team got mental (and physical) toughness and leadership from Patrick Beverley. He’s now gone (for now — more on that below) and the leadership deficit is now more apparent than ever.

That’s why trading for Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry is a Timberwolves trade deadline move the team absolutely needs to look into.

Lowry will be 37 in March and costs $28.3 million this season and $29.6 million next year, and his numbers — especially his assists per game (5.7) — are down from his peak form. Still, he is an NBA champion who is a tough, battle-tested leader. The second he walks through the doors in Minnesota, the team will get the true leader that it needs.

Giving up Russell is a lot. He has a valuable $31.3 million expiring contract and is still a month away from his 27th birthday. That said, Rusell with Edwards, Gobert, and Townes just doesn’t work, and after the Timberwolves trade for Gobert, the team doesn’t have time to wait and see if they can figure it out.

The future is now in Minnesota, and a Kyle Lowry for D’Angelo Russell trade at the NBA trade deadline is a move for right now.

Patrick Beverley for Naz Reid and Kyle Anderson

The other way the Timberwolves can improve right now is by looking to the past. Patrick Beverley was the heart and soul of this team last year. A team that took a better team — the Memphis Grizzlies — to Game 6 of their playoff series last year.

With the Los Angeles Lakers this season, Beverley doesn’t have the role he expected as Lonnie Walker, Dennis Schroeder, and Russell Westbrook are all ahead of him. The Lakers would love to trade the pugnacious point guard, but there aren’t a ton of teams who will give up much for the 34-year-old defense-first guard.

Enter the Timberwolves at the 2023 NBA trade deadline.

Beverley is worth more to the T’Wolves than nearly anyone else, which is why they will give up two promising young players, Naz Reid and Kyle Anderson, for Beverley and a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2027 or 2029.

This trade gives the Lakers exactly what they need — an athletic big and a 3-and-D wing — for a player they want to get rid of anyways. It also gets them these players without having to give up both their tradable first-round picks or make them unprotected. It is almost certainly the best deal LA can get for Beverley.

On the Timberwolves' side, after trading D’Angelo Russell for Kyle Lowry, the team will need more depth at guard, and Beverley provides that. He can also join Lowry as the leader in the locker room, who can get more out of Townes, Edwards, and Gobert.

Beverley and Lowry do provide benefits on the floor, too. They are both solid defenders (Beverley even more so than Lowry), and the two are shooting 32.7% and 35.1%, respectively, and with the floor spacing Townes and Edwards provide, they should be able to improve on those numbers in Minnesota.

These Timberwolves' trade deadline moves are bold ones and ones that are a bit risky given the age of the players that they are getting and the ones they are giving up. That said, the team needs to improve fast, or they could be in an incredibly bad position for years to come after the Gobert deal.