With the NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching (March 25,) rumors involving the Minnesota Timberwolves have been flying. Most reports involving the pups surround their veteran players. The list includes Ricky Rubio, Jake Layman, Ed Davis, and Juancho Hernangomez.

Pictured: the man who told hoopshype they were receiving calls pic.twitter.com/dnwQQF87ZK

— Trenton Hassles Carmelo (@TrentonHassles) March 14, 2021

The Wolves will make moves. How big will they be?

The Wolves currently own the worst record in the NBA at 8-30, so trying to sell off veterans to playoff teams at the deadline should be no surprise at all. But how much are these players truly worth? Gersson Rosas traded a second round pick for Ed Davis before the season and he hasn’t played since early February. Layman and Hernangomez have both been in the lineup a bit more of late but both had terrible starts to their seasons. Right now, Ricky Rubio is the only player with any value and he hasn’t been very good either.

One way or another, a couple of these players will probably be moved in the next couple weeks for marginal assets, like late second round picks or younger, non-rotation players. But the other, and more exciting way for the Wolves to unload some of these veterans, would be as salary filler in a blockbuster trade for a legitimate cornerstone player. Those rumors were flying last week and revolved mostly around John Collins (Hawks) and Aaron Gordon (Magic).

Timberwolves love John Collins

If Rosas were to go blockbuster at the deadline, his likely target is John Collins from Atlanta. The Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly “dying” to trade for Collins.

“People keep telling me The Timberwolves are dying to have John Collins & want him BAD”.

per Jackie MacMullan on the Bill Simmons podcast.

— The Daily Wolves (@TheDailyWolves) March 12, 2021

A trade for someone like Collins isn’t as simple as Ricky Rubio plus Ed Davis and a late pick. Why in the hell would Atlanta do that? To get John Collins the Wolves would have to part with someone like Malik Beasley or Anthony Edwards, at the least.

Could the Wolves part with someone like Malik Beasley (plus salary-filler veterans) to get Collins? If you’re wanting fireworks over the next couple weeks then you’d better hope so. These veterans alone won’t net the Minnesota Timberwolves anything significant in return. The logistical route to acquiring Collins is a nightmare, reportedly, so we’ll see how BADLY Rosas and Co wants to make a deal.

Time to say goodbye to Rubio?

As mentioned earlier, Ricky Rubio is the most interesting veteran trade chip Rosas holds. Minnesota acquired him to be a backup point guard and strong mentor for their many young players. He is clearly excelling at the latter half of that equation. Anthony Edwards sang his praises this weekend.

Anthony Edwards is trying to take over a leadership role on this team.

Said he’s taken bits and pieces on leadership from watching Ricky Rubio

Ant said Rubio is the best leader he’s ever been around

— jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) March 12, 2021

A big reason Ricky Rubio was brought in this offseason was to help Anthony Edwards

Ant tonight on how Rubio has done that pic.twitter.com/86tVPkkAKa

— jace frederick (@JaceFrederick) March 12, 2021

If Rubio really is important to the any type of development for the younger pups, does it make sense to flip him for a (likely) worthless 2nd rounder? This team is already the youngest team in the league. On paper, trading Rubio has made sense for a while now. But after reading that quote from Anthony Edwards, trading Rubio could do a lot more harm than it could good. Ricky has another year on his deal. Hold out on trading him unless you get an offer that blows you away.

Cooper Carlson | Minnesota Sports Fan

In a season where the Minnesota Timberwolves are 7-29 at the All Star break, the last thing anyone expects is for them to be buyers instead of sellers at the trade deadline. But, not so fast. According to Shams Charania (The Athletic), the Timberwolves are expected to be buyers during this trade deadline.

Interesting. The #Timberwolves are a team that would typically sell, but I like this. pic.twitter.com/4GdvpXC7Hl

— Cooper (@CoopCarlson) March 4, 2021

At the time of my tweet, I liked the idea… but I’m backpedaling a little bit. Adding Aaron Gordon or John Collins would take the Wolves out of any future hunting for another “star”, because of their contracts. Collins is on the last year of his rookie deal and due for a big payday. Gordon is making $18 million this year and only has one season left on his current contract. Either guy would also take a boatful of assets to acquire.

Here is an excellent thread from Jack Borman (Canis Hoopus) on the impact a Collins or Gordon trade could have on the organization’s future.

4) Team would have 4 contracts of $15M AAV or more
5) would have to trade two of those core four guys, plus Ant, Jaden and picks for a legit star

— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) March 4, 2021

Let’s step back for a moment…

Adding either of John Collins or Aaron Gordon would all but ensure that the Wolves are committing to the Towns/Russell/Collins or Gordon trio, going forward. I’m not sure where a core five of Towns, Russell, Beasley, Edwards, and Collins/Gordon gets you, but it does sound a lot better than what we’ve seen this season.

This deal will probably require a 1st round pick from the Timberwolves but it can’t be in 2021 or the 2022 because both of those draft choices are tied up in trade protections. Instead, they’d likely have to give up young assets to go along with a pick further in the future.

I can’t blame Gersson Rosas for wanting to expedite this team’s growth. They need to start sipping from the winner’s cup more often, but it might be smarter at this time, to take a step back and wait until the lottery shakes out.

Keeping that pick is franchise-altering. If the Minnesota Timberwolves land in the top-3, hope rises from the ashes again. If not, then they will lose their pick to Golden State and well…. let’s not talk about that depression today.

Cooper Carlson | Minnesota Sports Fan

With the NBA season officially over and the draft roughly a month away, trade rumors are going to heat up. At the center of all these rumors will be the Minnesota Timberwolves, who hold a bunch of tradable assets. These assets include the #1 pick, #17 pick, #33 pick, Jarrett Culver, Josh Okogie, and more.

One team that seems very interested in making a push for the #1 pick is the Atlanta Hawks. If the two teams get together for a trade, there is one scenario I like for both teams.

In this scenario the Wolves acquire power forward John Collins and the #6 overall pick for Jacob Evans and the #1 pick.

John Collins (33 PTS & 13 REB) balled out in the Hawks' win last night ? pic.twitter.com/VfwH4ZHCde

— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 29, 2020

Minnesota Timberwolves reasoning:

John Collins is a power forward who averaged 20+ points and 10+ rebounds per game last season, while shooting 40% from the three point line. He is a great young player who will become a restricted free agent after this upcoming season.

There’s no clear #1 “save your franchise” type player (so we think) in the 2020 draft and Rosas seems destined to trade the top pick because of it. Acquiring Collins and only having to drop 5 spots (#6) in the draft, would have to be considered a homerun move. At #6, the Wolves could still get a solid prospect like Isaac Okoro, who wants to come to Minnesota.

Atlanta Hawks reasoning:

Atlanta has reportedly been hesitant to pay Collins big money and they one of the most mentioned teams inside NBA hot stove conversations. A lot of this trade would depend on whether or not the Hawks truly believe they can acquire a franchise-changing player with the first overall pick.

If the Hawks are ready to deal, we know Gersson Rosas will pick up the phone.

Cooper Carlson | Minnesota Sports Fan