The Minnesota Timberwolves won the draft lottery, securing the number one overall pick in this upcoming draft. It appears likely that Gersson Rosas will be doing everything he can to land a superstar for that pick, but it’s not that simple.

As we have all heard many times this offseason, the upcoming draft doesn’t have that “number one” guy, like Zion Williamson. Of course, that makes the pick less valuable because the top three or four picks are all similar talents. It’s unlikely anyone gives up a guy like Booker or Simmons, for a package centered around the Wolves’ #1 pick, so Rosas will have to get creative. Luckily, he has shown he can do that.

Last trade deadline, Rosas made a ton of moves that were overshadowed by the D’Angelo Russell acquisition. Here is a list of everyone that went in and out of the Minnesota Timberwolves roster.

Somehow, Rosas managed to get rid of the robust franchise anchors that were Andrew Wiggins’ ($29.5 million through 2023) and Gorgui Dieng’s ($16.5 million through 2021) salaries. Both seemed impossible to move out, for the longest time. 

Here is an example of just one realistic “outside the box” idea, that Rosas could use to complete his quest for a third superstar. Here is a look at the current draft order for 2020.

First: Trade down and acquire assets

The #NBADraftLottery order is complete ?

The @Timberwolves have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft! pic.twitter.com/J3B5tpekRS

— NBA TV (@NBATV) August 21, 2020

Example: Timberwolves trade the #1 pick to the Knicks for the #8 pick and their 2021 first.

Now the Timberwolves take someone at 8 and they have an excellent first round pick next year. Here’s where it gets a bit complicated. The Wolves now own the #8 pick, an almost guaranteed top 5 pick in 2021 along with their current assets. 

Perhaps now you can start looking for that third guy to pair with Towns and Russel. Do the Suns accept this trade?

Devin Booker for the #8 pick in 2020, the Knicks 2021 pick (likely top-5), Jarrett Culver, James Johnson, and Omari Spellman. 

Of course someone like Ben Simmons or Bradley Beal could be involved in the same type of package. 

I don’t think the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to acquire their third superstar with the assets they currently hold. Rosas might have to orchestrate one or two trades before going all in on Booker/Simmons/Beal/(whoever you keep getting mad at me for forgetting about). It can be done, but it won’t be easy.

Maybe I’m wrong and Booker pulls a Jimmy Butler act to get out of Phoenix immediately, but that seems unlikely right now. 

Towns and Russell will need that third guy if the Wolves really want to make some noise in the west. Maybe it doesn’t happen as soon as we’d like, but you can bet Rosas will do everything he can to seal a deal.

——————————————————————– Let me know what you think either via email or on Twitter. Thanks!

Cooper Carlson | Minnesota Sports Fan

If the Timberwolves are still set on acquiring Booker, do they have enough assets to make the Suns blink, even? Or has Booker officially priced him out of joining the Timberwolves, based on his performance inside the bubble?

Devin Booker’s season:

26.6 PPG
6.5 APG
4.2 RPG
49% FG
35% 3PT
92% FT

Bubble stats
30.5 PPG – 6.0 APG – 4.9 RPG

Only 23 years old…salute to Devin Booker on a great season ? pic.twitter.com/FVXWkvL51M

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) August 14, 2020

WHAT CAN THE WOLVES OFFER?

After trading for D’Angelo Russell, the Wolves find themselves a little short on assets. Thankfully, Brooklyn made the playoffs so the Wolves have TWO first round picks in the upcoming October draft. One of those picks will be in the lottery (because the Timberwolves sucked again last season). Post-bubble, those picks alone won’t be enough to get Phoenix to answer the phone.

Josh Okogie represents one potential trade chip for the Timberwolves. After some early struggles offensively, Okogie started to pick up his scoring before the season was halted due to COVID-19. In 11 games after the All-Star break, Okogie shot 50% from the field and 36% from 3. Josh already brings great defense, so the Suns could look at him as a project off the bench, with room to grow.

Jarrett Culver is another potential trade chip the Suns could find tantalizing. Culver is a similar player to Okogie, an athletic defensive wing with shooting upside. Culver has come along more quickly with his offense, than Okogie did. Culver shot a healthy 49% from the field and 42% from 3pt, in the final 11 games of the Timberwolves season. Even though the two of them being similar players, wing depth is a valuable commodity in today’s NBA.

SALARY MATCH AN ISSUE?

Because Booker signed a max extension with Phoenix in 2018, the Timberwolves would need to make the salaries match, in a trade. One veteran trade chip the Wolves could push to the middle of the table, is James Johnson. He is making $15 million on a player option. After that, the Wolves have cap hits of Jarrett Culver ($6.1 million), Jake Layman ($3.7 million), Josh Okogie ($2.7 million), and Jacob Evans ($2 million).

To get close to Booker’s $29.4 million salary for 2020-21, the Wolves could offer Johnson, Culver, Okogie, and their recent trade exceptions. Those exceptions include:

• Treveon Graham, expiring 1/16/21 — $228,505
• Jeff Teague, expiring 1/16/21 — $500,000
• Gorgui Dieng, expiring 2/6/21 — $879,813

Now those may not seem like much, but the Timberwolves do appear to have enough assets to make a deal happen. They could of course get another team involved to help further match salaries. There are always willing NBA teams, looking to offload or take on expiring contracts.

HOW HAVE THE WOLVES DONE IN RECENT TRADES?

Bulls agree in principle to trade Jimmy Butler, 16th pick to MIN for LaVine, Dunn, 7th pick, per @WojVerticalNBA. https://t.co/TVqw4JD8kr pic.twitter.com/tWSvpU44C2

— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) June 23, 2017

Obviously the Butler trade was the biggest the team has made since Kevin Garnett left for Boston. LaVine was beginning to show flashes of being a starting-caliber guard. The pick the Timberwolves traded ended up as Lauri Markkanen, who has been a promising young player for Chicago. Even Kris Dunn has showed flashes of success, since the trade, that he failed to show in Minnesota. The Wolves only got one season out of Butler, while the Bulls continue to get solid minutes from the former Wolves’ assets.

Golden State has agreed to trade D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota for a deal that includes Andrew Wiggins, a 2021 protected first-round pick and a 2022 second-round pick, league sources tell ESPN. Warriors will send Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman to Timberwolves too.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2020

Many Wolves fans were upset that Andrew Wiggins was kept rather than traded, in the Jimmy Butler deal. They got their wish when Wiggins was dealt for Russell. The Timberwolves were hoping to sign Russell in free agency, but he ultimately chose Golden State (despite questions about his fit on the team).

CAN THEY PULL IT OFF?

Other teams might have to get involved for money to work but, ultimately, it’s going to come down to Devan Booker’s desire to leave Phoenix. The Suns could look at their 8-0 stretch, inside the bubble, as a sign of the team coming together under Monty Williams. Even before that, they weren’t going to be in any big hurry to deal their 23-year-old superstar.

If Booker makes a request for a trade, Gersson Rosas should be ready to pull the trigger with his best offer (he will be). Whether or not it is enough will depend on what others are offering and how desperate Phoenix feels in that moment.

Seth Toupal | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Timberwolves did everything they could, to land D’Angelo Russell in Minneapolis, long term. After being turned away multiple times, they finally succeeded, just before the trade deadline passed last season. Karl-Anthony Towns wanted DLo here and I’m convinced Gersson Rosas would do anything to make KAT happy (as he should). Devin Booker is also great friends with Russell and wanted him in Phoenix… but the Suns didn’t.

Apparently, the Phoenix Suns organization thought DLo would be a bad influence on Booker, off the basketball court. Yikes. Now today, SNY.tv is reporting that Booker was “not happy” about how that whole situation went down…

Devin Booker wasn't happy with the Suns when the organization chose not to pursue D'Angelo Russell (via @IanBegley) https://t.co/siK4QQiLtT pic.twitter.com/xH5K0IkFZ6

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 10, 2020

Something else that’s worth noting about Booker and the Suns: last summer, the Arizona Republic reported that the Suns chose not to pursue D’Angelo Russell, Booker’s close friend, in free agency because the club “apparently felt Russell wouldn’t have been a good influence on Booker off the court.”

Booker, per league sources, wasn’t happy with the organization at the time of the report. The Arizona Republic noted that Booker had campaigned for club to sign Russell, who was a restricted free agent. The Suns instead pursued Terry Rozier and ended up signing Ricky Rubio.

SNY.tv

If only…

If only Devin Booker could find a place to play basketball, where others around him appreciated D’Angelo Russell as much as he does… Somewhere he can feel comfortable and appreciated by his teammates, coach and front office personnel.

If only Devin Booker could find his way to D’Angelo Russell, instead of having to rely on a front office to do something for him, when they don’t really care what he thinks.

Some things just make too much sense…

It’s time @DevinBook https://t.co/gJAjh3PynA pic.twitter.com/QIetN95z16

— ᴀɴᴛʜᴏɴʏ . . . ? (@TWolvesSZN) July 10, 2020

Has there ever been a move more obvious that Devin Booker eventually heading to Minnesota? No… no there has not.

SNY and the rest of New York can continue dreaming if they want, but it’s just a matter of time before we have another touchdown video involving both Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell. This time though, the two of them will be welcoming Devin Booker.

Let’s Make a Deal

The Wolves have just as much to offer the Suns, as the Knicks, or anyone else really. They also have a front office that is already proving its willingness to get shit done. Add some pressure from KAT and DLo on the Minnesota side, and who knows how quickly this deal could be consummated.

There’s a realistic 0% chance that the Brooklyn Nets play their way into the draft lottery, which would give the Wolves two first round picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, one that holds a 14% chance at the #1 overall pick.

If the Minnesota Timberwolves need to send both of those picks, along with everyone else on the roster (not nicknamed KAT or DLo)… then they should do it. A KAT, DLo, Booker “Big 3” would make the Wolves the scariest young team in the NBA.

Karl-Anthony Towns has approved this message.

? pic.twitter.com/jwD0KJpbBV

— Dane Mosher (@___daner) July 10, 2020

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan