December 15th has never been the sexiest date on the Gregorian Calendar. It doesn’t have the same cache as July 4th or December 25th. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not an important day. It’s the day that the U.S. Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, Napoleon finally got his credit in 1840, and Spice World premiered in the United Kingdom in 1997. It’s also an important date in the NBA calendar. December 15th marks the first day most players who signed contracts in the offseason are eligible to be traded.
For the Timberwolves, that means Austin Rivers, Bryn Forbes, Nathan Knight, and Kyle Anderson can now officially be included in a trade. In a season in which the Timberwolves have failed to live up to their lofty expectations after mortgaging their future for Rudy Gobert, it might be time to start looking at ways to shake up the roster.
There are a few things to note before we start carving up the lineup. Karl-Anthony Towns cannot be traded until July 7th, 2023, which is one of the perks of signing a max contract in the offseason. And Anthony Edwards can’t be traded because I said so. Other than that, everyone is eligible to be traded. Tim Connelly and Co. should be exploring every avenue to improve this team right now since any chance to rebuild was shipped to Salt Lake City.
Outside of Ant and KAT, the Wolves are unlikely to move Gobert any time soon after trading for him this offseason. The same is likely true for Kyle Anderson, whom they signed for $18 million over two years. Jaden McDaniels would still have to be a piece in a blockbuster for the Wolves to move him. D’Angelo Russell needs to keep his hot fourth-quarter scoring going to increase his trade value to a level suitable for Minnesota. And youngsters Wendell Moore Jr., Josh Minott, and Knight are too young to really know what their value is at this point. That leaves a few players in the middle of the roster open for trade bait. Still, in the spirit of the December 15th holiday, we’ll focus on two trade-eligible newcomers who probably shouldn’t get too comfortable in Minneapolis.
The Wolves brought in Austin Rivers and Bryn Forbes this season to add depth to Minnesota’s guard rotation while providing very different skillsets to a playoff hopeful. They signed Rivers as a bit of a bench-grade Patrick Beverley replacement, a scrappy veteran who can defend and step up as a leader in the locker room. On the other hand, Forbes is the exact opposite. He was meant to be a sharpshooter off the bench who could swing a close game with a few timely threes. It’s safe to say that neither has done what they were brought in to do this season.
Rivers has stepped into the rotation and provided some decent defense since Taurean Prince and Towns have gone down with injuries. But the 11th-year guard doesn’t exactly add much to the offense, which is more than anyone can say about Forbes, whose only skill is supposed to be offense. Forbes, a 41 percent career three-point shooter, has made only six threes (23 percent) this season. Neither player is part of the regular rotation when the Wolves are at full strength. So when KAT, Prince, DLo, and Jordan McLaughlin return from injury, it should be time to trick a team into thinking they need a seventh guard and cut bait on the new hires.
The issue with trying to trade guys who aren’t contributing is nobody in their right mind would want to trade for guys who don’t do the one thing they’re supposed to do. Rivers and Forbes are already deep-rotation players and having the worst years of their careers on a sub-.500 team. That doesn’t exactly entice executives around the league to part with actually usable assets for two aging guards with one trick.
The good news for Wolves fans is that Rivers and Forbes are on expiring contracts and are set to become unrestricted free agents next season. Execs must look past the missed shots, meh defense, and general ineptitude. They’ll have to see a guy who can look good sitting at the end of the bench in the conference finals. Better yet, maybe a tanking team wants to tank even harder. Therefore, it’s possible someone out there might be interested.
Still, the Wolves would be fortunate to get a second-round pick for either at this point, which will at least help kick the tires on recouping the haul of draft capital sent out for Gobert. It’s not much, but future picks are providing more for the Wolves now than either Rivers or Forbes. Maybe someone thinks they can rehabilitate Forbes into the knockdown shooter he used to be when he won a championship in Milwaukee. Perhaps they will be willing to give up a player who could help the Wolves.
The Wolves can easily replace the little production Rivers and Forbes offer by giving their minutes to promising rookie Wendell Moore Jr. The 2022 Dallas Mavericks first-round pick already has a solid defensive foundation and has the potential to become a plus-shooter in his limited minutes so far this season. The Wolves would be wise to look to the future early in the season and accelerate Moore’s progression by featuring him in the rotation ahead of Rivers and Forbes.
It’s not very sexy to talk about two end-of-bench players’ trade potential. The Wolves have bigger names they could look into moving, like Russell, Naz Reid, and inevitably, Towns when he becomes eligible. But like the hallowed December 15th, sometimes the best things aren’t flashy. The Wolves are learning that the hard way with the early season fallout from the Gobert trade. While the margins are thin and the Wolves don’t have a lot of options to improve the roster, they can take a step in the right direction by making a few small moves now that the December 15th trade market has opened up.
