Malika Andrews led off a segment on her show, NBA Today, by asking her panel about which team is a trade away from contending. She used the Kawhi Leonard trade as an example. On July 18, 2018, the Toronto Raptors sent DeMar DeRozan, Jacob Pöltl, and a first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Leonard and Danny Green.
Toronto won the title in 2019.
Malika’s panel included Ramona Shelburne, Tim Bontemps, Zach Lowe, and Kendrick Perkins. She started with Ramona, who had an interesting pick.
I think there are a few. An interesting one to me is the Minnesota Timberwolves. They have a lot of young talent. It’s only a matter of time before Anthony Edwards takes that jump. He already started to be, in terms of the superstar status, but there’s another level he can get to.
And you have a player who, at some point, we’ll see Karl Towns on the trade market. At some point, he’s so good, but they’re just too expensive to keep all these guys together. He’s good enough to return a great player, and so, I don’t know, what if they get into the Damian Lillard sweepstakes? What if somehow they get that point guard there? Mike Conley is a good veteran there.
That’s an interesting team with a lot of talent that could take off.
That’s good news for Wolves fans unless you’re a KAT stan. They’ve gotta move somebody, especially with Edwards and Gobert on max deals. They’ve extended Naz Reid and likely will pay Jaden McDaniels. Towns is a natural fit to go, and they should get a superstar in return.
