It has become increasingly difficult for NBA teams to keep things in-house, particularly around the trade deadline. With myriad sources buried within every organization, word travels quickly when a team explores a trade or expresses interest in a player.
Players and their agencies also have leverage over where they end up after the deadline. De’Aaron Fox and his agent, Rich Paul, made it known that the San Antonio Spurs were Fox’s preferred destination once they learned that the Sacramento Kings were opening trade discussions for the All-Star guard.
Less than a week later, the Kings traded Fox to San Antonio.
Jimmy Butler loudly forced his way out of the Miami Heat, who traded him to the Golden State Warriors after multiple suspensions for conduct detrimental to the team (sound familiar?).
The Luka Dončić for Anthony Davis trade surprised everyone, though. Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison discussed the trade for weeks before it went down, and word never got out. Pelinka and Harrison kept the potential trades to themselves and those close to them. They didn’t let the players know until the trade was in the final stages.
Davis was shocked, and Dončić had to check if it was April 1. Still, teams staying quiet around the deadline has its benefits, all of which Tim Connelly knows well. Usually, those benefits are for the higher-ups in the organization. Staying quiet gives them power over situations, such as Harrison and the Mavericks getting Davis, who they greatly desired. Or the Minnesota Timberwolves unexpectedly trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks days before training camp instead of holding a bidding war during the off-season.
There are many discussions between teams around the trade deadline, much of which don’t turn into anything. Sometimes, front offices keeping strategies and discussions with other teams close to them can positively impact the players, especially when no moves happen.
“I never really think about it,” Anthony Edwards said when a reporter asked him Wednesday about the trade deadline. “They don’t tell me nothing, so I just be chilling. I be playing the game. If I am not on the court working out, and I am the crib with my little girl playing the video game.”
After the Dončić-Davis trade, nobody is safe. Edwards joked about being scared Connelly would trade him. However, Ant did not have to legitimately worry about moving his family to a new city as the deadline approached. He’s the face of the franchise and has much trust within Minnesota’s front office.
The trade deadline usually makes the complementary pieces of a team the most nervous. However, that didn’t seem to be the case for the Wolves leading up to this year’s deadline.
“I didn’t sense a lot of anxiety amongst the guys for this trade deadline,” Chris Finch told the media Thursday afternoon. “Oftentimes, you do. This time, I didn’t.”
Connelly didn’t make a mid-season trade for the first time since Minnesota hired him. The Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers were the only other teams in the Western Conference to stand pat. Meanwhile, teams around them made seismic moves.
- Lakers: Dončić and Mark Williams
- Mavericks: Davis
- Kings: Zach LaVine, Jonas Valančiūnas
- Spurs: Fox
- Golden State Warriors: Butler
Connelly and his staff called other teams, but nothing materialized.
Minnesota’s motives leading up to the deadline were unknown. They made a franchise-shifting trade days before training camp, so maybe the Wolves would wait things out and re-evaluate the roster in the summer. Or perhaps the big-name deals surrounding them in the West would incentivize Connelly to make a move to bolster the roster this season.
No credible reports linked the Wolves to either path, leaving fans anxiously waiting in the dark. Minnesota’s roster remained intact as 2:00 p.m. came and went Thursday afternoon. Four months after the Wolves dominated headlines for making a controversial trade, the Lakers and Mavs trumped them. Minnesota slipped below everyone’s radar during a hectic deadline that featured 22 trades from February 1 to 6.
“There was never this great momentum within the organization to shake it up or do anything,” said Finch after the deadline. “Since Christmas time, middle of December, I feel like we can point to the team that we can still become.”
For most of the season, every time Minnesota has taken two steps forward, it’s taken two steps back – jockeying around the middle of the pack in the West, fighting to stay over .500. The Wolves started the season 6-3, then lost seven of their next nine. They followed that up with a four-game winning streak and went 5-4 to close December. They’ve had three three-game losing streaks and one 4-game losing streak sprinkled throughout.
Minnesota was 22-19 halfway through the season. As Finch mentioned, the Wolves were occasionally productive but frustratingly inconsistent. Fans have been hoping for them to turn that glimpse of productivity into a full-length episode of what they saw last season. The Timberwolves have moved on from last year’s successes, but fans understandably haven’t.
The Wolves are 15-9 since Christmas. They haven’t necessarily taken off, but they have been steadily improving with an injured roster and have been able to point to the team they know they can be far more frequently.
“That gives us great courage and hope,” said Finch. “We got to also make sure we get healthy and stay healthy, but seeing some of the young guys play right now is also a good lift for us.”
Julius Randle has missed the last four games with a right groin strain, and the Wolves won’t re-evaluate him until the end of the All-Star break. Donte DiVincenzo has missed the last 12 games with a right turf toe injury and will also be re-evaluated during the All-Star break. Edwards, Naz Reid, and Mike Conley have also missed a few games in the last three weeks with less severe ailments.
Still, the Wolves are 7-2 since January 22. Despite dropping two winnable home games against the Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings this week, Minnesota is starting to put the pieces together while dealing with the absence of two starters.
- Edwards is averaging 31.4 points since January 1 on 45% from the floor, 43% from deep, and 86.8% from the free throw line (8.8 free throw attempts in that span).
- Jaden McDaniels is averaging 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds while taking 11.2 shots per game in the 12 games since DiVincenzo’s injury.
- Reid has stepped into the starting lineup, playing a role similar to KAT’s, and is averaging career highs in points (14), rebounds (5.3), assists (1.9), 3-point attempts (5.3), 3-point percentage (41.7%), and minutes (26).
- Rudy Gobert has remained engaged in the offense.
- Rob Dillingham is still inconsistent but has sparked offense off the bench.
- Jaylen Clark has been playing lock-down defense every night, coupling that by shooting 50% (8/16) from deep since Finch inserted him into the rotation.
The Wolves collectively looked focused on the task at hand. They were not playing anxiously before the trade deadline.
“I think that is a tribute to Tim and the work they do because their names weren’t out there,” Finch said regarding his players not being anxious. “We weren’t really actively or openly shopping anybody. I didn’t feel like there was movement to be made.”
Minnesota made a statement in its first game after the deadline, punishing the vexed Houston Rockets 127-114. Edwards hung 41 points on the board 24 hours after scoring 49 against the Chicago Bulls. Clark had a career-high 17 points against Houston on 5 of 9 shooting. More importantly, the Wolves moved to three games out of the fourth seed. They remain in the thick of what is becoming a gauntlet in the West while they hit their stride and eventually get healthy.
The Lakers, Mavs, Kings, Spurs, and Warriors made loud moves before the deadline. The Wolves did the opposite. However, their best course of action was to instill confidence in their players.
Even if Connelly shakes up the roster in the off-season, such as parting ways with Randle, the Wolves must take the front office’s decision to remain quiet at the deadline as a vote of confidence. It has been an up-and-down season, but the Wolves can get within the top five in the West before the All-Star break. Aside from the Oklahoma City Thunder, who sit at 40-9 at the No. 1 seed, the West is pretty wide open. The Timberwolves didn’t make any moves at the deadline, but Finch’s roster is rejuvenated while still missing two starters.
Now, they seemingly have the confidence of everyone in the organization to make a push over the final 30 games.
