Taj Gibson, Jeff Teague, and 89 other free agents signed this summer become eligible to be traded today. Annually, the due process on new contracts wears off on Dec. 15 –instigating the two-month cycle of NBA trade chatter.
Typically, trades do not start happening until Jan. 1 but with this season’s trade deadline moved up two weeks — to Feb. 8 — the hot stove may start cookin’ before Christmas.
Even if conversations do wait until early-February, these are some players around the league — given their contract status or team’s appetite to “sell” — that the Wolves could conceivably pursue.
Marco Belinelli — Wing, Atlanta Hawks
Contract: 1 year, $6.6 million (unrestricted free agent at season’s end)
The 31-year-old Belinelli is a high-volume 3-point shooter averaging 7.3 shots from deep per 36 minutes this season in Atlanta and converting those at a 38.1 percent clip. On a per-minute basis, Belinelli shoots more 3s than Teague and Jimmy Butler combined. For a Minnesota team void of wing depth, Belinelli makes sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFZkCNQv_eM
The Hawks are 6-21 thus far, meaning they have very little need for a veteran the likes of Belinelli. The 2018 Oklahoma City Thunder first-round pick the Wolves own — from the Ricky Rubio trade — along with Cole Aldrich’s contract would almost certainly return the shooter’s services.
Nicolas Batum — Wing, Charlotte Hornets
Contract: 4 years, $99.1 million (player option in year 4)
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — Wing, Charlotte Hornets
Contract: 3 years, $39 million (player option in year 3)
The Hornets are 10-17, meaning only the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks have fewer wins in the Eastern Conference. In the “teams most likely to blow it up” conversation, Charlotte is up there.
Between Dwight Howard, Batum, Marvin Williams, Kidd-Gilchrist, Cody Zeller, Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb, the Hornets have $107.9 million tied up in salaries for next season. With the salary cap projected to be $101 million, Charlotte would do well to get off as much of that as possible.
The issue for Minnesota in pursuing these (or any) higher-priced players is the fact that Gorgui Dieng would be an almost requisite piece to be moved so as to “match” salaries. This is an issue because Dieng is not “worth” the four-year, $64 million contract he is on.
Moving Dieng would require attaching an asset to quell the wound of his salary.
The 29-year-old Batum — who is the quintessential 3-and-D player — would be an excellent piece to add.
Minnesota’s wing depth problems would be solved and he could play small-ball power forward alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. However, his deal is not great and extends far into the future where Minnesota is already likely to be in the luxury tax.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soG_vi5m98Y
Acquiring Batum would require moving the aforementioned Dieng, the Oklahoma City first-round pick Minnesota acquired for Ricky Rubio, and likely another young asset — Justin Patton or Tyus Jones — plus the cap fodder of Cole Aldrich.
Pursuing Batum would be a questionable win-now move as it would completely disregard the team’s financial future.
Kidd-Gilchrist would be more palatable. MKG’s money goes a little too far into the future but he could conceivably be acquired without moving Dieng. Perhaps Aldrich and one of Patton or Jones could lure his defensive services to Minnesota.
The Hornets small forward lacks the “3” in 3 and D. He can’t shoot but is a remarkable defensive player. You watch him shoot and question why he is in the NBA, but then watch him do everything else and it makes sense.
He’s the small forward version of Rubio.
Nerlens Noel — Center, Dallas Mavericks
Contract: 1 year, $4.2 million (unrestricted free agent at season’s end)
Noel is becoming very Jahlil Okafor-y. He escaped Philadelphia at last season’s deadline but the process continues.
The Dallas big man has an injured thumb at present, but was out of the rotation prior to the injury. Given the eight total wins Dallas has, that is saying something.
He is getting traded.
The question for the once very-appealing Noel is the price to acquire him. After failing to come to terms with Dallas management on a new contract this offseason — he reportedly turned down a 4-year, $70 million offer — Noel signed his qualifying offer for $4.2 million so as to make himself an unrestricted free agent in the 2018 summer.
Not a good look.
For a player who clearly wants to test the free agent market and be paid top dollar, a trade for him should be pursued under the operating principle that he is a rental.
The good news for any team pursuing Noel is the low salary. In the Wolves context, this means they wouldn’t need to move Dieng — though they would probably try and send him somewhere given the glut of bigs on the roster.
The two second-round picks — and Justin Anderson — that Dallas paid for Noel should be viewed as an absolute ceiling considering the dysfunction that has ensued surrounding Noel. He ate a hot dog at halftime a few weeks ago.
The Oklahoma City Thunder first-round pick Minnesota owns would be a definite overpay for Noel’s services.
There would be an advantage to trading for Noel if Minnesota’s management is will to see past the issues. By trading for Noel, Minnesota would gain his Bird Rights. Meaning, Minnesota could then exceed the salary cap to re-sign him this offseason. Without Noel’s Bird Rights, there is almost no way of acquiring Noel this offseason as Minnesota will be well above the salary cap as Andrew Wiggins’ five-year, $148 million contract kicks in for the 2018 season.
Of note: Noel can veto any trade due to the nature of the one-year contract he signed with Dallas.
Will Barton — Wing, Denver Nuggets
Contract: 1 year, $3.5 million (unrestricted free agent at season’s end)
The Nuggets’ 6-foot-6 guard is having an excellent season coming off the bench for the Nuggets where he has begun to garner some Sixth Man of the Year award talk. The flashy Barton plays 31.4 minutes per game and scores almost sixteen a night, powered by 40.9 percent shooting from 3.
This is Barton’s second consecutive campaign of leading a formidable Denver second-unit with impressive shooting from deep (37 percent in ’16-17). He is Jamal Crawford, but better at everything.
Barton is likely to stay in Denver despite his expiring contract. Instigated by Nikola Jokic’s comical $3 million in total salary for this season and the next, the Nuggets are in a very comfortable cap situation.
However, if the Nuggets want the maximum amount of cap space this summer and/or things fall off for the Nuggets — who have faced substantial injury woes this season — Barton could be moved.
Conceivably, the Oklahoma City Thunder first-round pick the Wolves own could be enough in the way of assets to acquire the rental services of Barton. The positive of all rentals is the possibility of resigning using Bird Rights this summer. As Barton is only 26, this is an even more meaningful positive.
Thaddeus Young — Power Forward, Indiana Pacers
Contract: 2 years, $28.5 million (player option in the second season)
Given that the Wolves have six players under contract that profile as big men, acquiring one at the deadline seems unlikely if not misguided.
However, a player like Young presents an interesting opportunity given his contract situation. The Pacers power forward — who has started all 28 games and is logging his second straight season with formidable 3-point shooting — is making almost the exact same amount of money as Dieng.
Indiana — which has as much cap flexibility as anyone in the NBA — may not see Dieng’s contract in the same negative light as other teams. Dieng is younger than Young and could conceivably fit in longer-term as a third big in a frontcourt with Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis.
It’s a very similar situation to Minnesota, but likely more minutes would be given to Dieng than the 17.4 per game he is receiving under Tom Thibodeau.
For Minnesota, sweetening the Dieng contract with a second-round draft asset could convince Indiana. Outside of specific playstyle, Young’s contract length just makes more sense for the Wolves than Dieng’s. His deal would expire at the same time as Butler and Gibson’s.
The Wolves have two windows forming in their future:
- The Butler and Gibson window, through 2018-19.
- The post-Butler and Gibson window. Butler and/or Gibson could spill into window two but for contract purposes the deals they are one end in 2018-19. Young could fit in the first window and then move on once window two hits.
Tyreke Evans — Wing, Memphis Grizzlies
Contract: 1 year, $3.3 million (unrestricted free agent at season’s end)
Evans makes sense in Minnesota for numerous reasons. The first of which is his excellent play thus far this season. On a per game basis, Evans is averaging 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists to go with scalding efficiency from 3 (40.3 percent on 4.8 attempts).
The 6-foot-6 ball-handling wing has been one of the lone bright spots in Memphis this season. But the Grizzlies are 8-20 and would do well to get back anything they can for the expiring contracts of Evans, Brandan Wright and James Ennis.
An additional appeal to Evans production is his still relatively youthful age (26). Again, with Bird Rights, the Wolves could look to make Evans a meaningful bench piece of their future. His Bird Rights would allow the Wolves to exceed the salary cap to bring him back in the offseason. Simply acquiring Evans in the offseason would be very difficult given the finances going forward for the Wolves.
Doug McDermott — Wing, New York Knicks
Contract: 1 year, $3.3 million (restricted free agent at season’s end)
McDermott would, of course, help to raise the Wolves 3-point effectiveness and more importantly volume. McDermott’s ability to stretch the floor is well-documented.
However, so too is his porous defense. McDermott has been a negative defender throughout his career in Chicago and Oklahoma City, though it has (statistically) stabilized to league average in New York this season.
The asset in acquiring McDermott would, of course, be his shooting (40 percent from 3 this season). However, McDermott is familiar with Tom Thibodeau as a coach and more importantly his scheme — under which he played in Chicago during his rookie season.
Tyson Chandler — Center, Phoenix Suns
Contract: 2 years, $26.5 million
With much made about Minnesota’s interest in Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, Tyson Chandler presents a poor man’s version of the appetizing rim defense Jordan brings.
Chandler would theoretically fit in alongside Towns on both the offensive and defensive ends, sliding Gibson into a sixth-man role. That’s a role Gibson has previously played under Thibodeau in Chicago when Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer were the Bulls’ frontcourt starters.
Chandler’s contract situation is not a bargain but also not a travesty. In some ways, acquiring Chandler would be more appealing than Jordan due to the fact that the latter’s contract is expiring at season’s end. Jordan reportedly will be pursuing a max contract upwards of $200 million.
Chandler could help stem the tide of the first window of this Wolves era — either moving on or retiring after his contract expires in 2019. His defense would be a boon in the meantime, providing much-needed quarterbacking on the defensive end. The Wolves are 27th in the NBA in defensive rating, per BasketballReference.com.
Moving Chandler with Dieng involved in the deal could afford the Wolves the opportunity to get off Dieng’s long-term money. Dieng and a draft asset — likely the Oklahoma City first-round pick in 2018 — would be a deal the Suns would have to consider for the 35-year-old Chandler.
Rodney Hood — Wing, Utah Jazz
Contract: 1 year, $2.3 million (restricted free agent at season’s end)
With the departure of Gordon Hayward — and his 22 points per game — from Utah, there were many eyes on Hood to become a focal point of the Utah offense. Someone had to replace that scoring.
That someone has turned out to be Donovan Mitchell.
But Hood has also been good as he has increased his scoring average by nearly five points per game, up to 17.6 and through his elite 3-point shooting (41.2 percent).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lHT07aeyz4
The fourth-year shooting guard out of Duke has familiarity in coming off the bench. Through this, Hood could provide a much-needed scoring spark to a Wolves bench that is often over-reliant on Crawford to put the ball in the basket while starters (occasionally) rest.
At only 25, Hood is the ideal age for a tertiary piece to the Wolves rotation. He still has room to grow but would not be a developmental piece — key for a team making a playoff push.
If Hood, a restricted free agent this summer, were to stay in Minnesota beyond this year — the Wolves would have the opportunity to match any offer he would receive on the open market — he could conceivably fall into the Wiggins role down the road if Wiggins ever ascends to Butler’s level of wing production.
A young piece at an affordable price is the most idealistic move the Wolves could make. A still youthful talent at the caliber of Hood would likely require the Oklahoma City first-round pick and another young but unproven asset like Patton in return.
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