Ranking Timberwolves’ Top Trade Targets After 2024 NBA Playoff Loss

Ranking Timberwolves’ Top Trade Targets After 2024 NBA Playoff Loss0 of 3

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The Minnesota Timberwolves made the short list of this season’s NBA championship contenders.

What they didn’t make, though, was the actual championship round, and only the franchise knows whether an ouster from the Western Conference finals is enough to stomach the massive financial hit ahead.

Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, but hopefully the organization recognizes this is a core worth keeping together. Because if the Timberwolves simply remain financially committed to it, then they have every reason to believe they’ll be back in the championship chase next season.

That’s a long-winded way of saying you won’t see any marquee players listed here, because Minnesota shouldn’t consider doing anything that dramatic. Instead, it’s bargain-bin shopping for playmaking, shooting and depth.

3. Davion Mitchell, Sacramento Kings1 of 3

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With Monte Morris and Jordan McLaughlin both heading toward unrestricted free agency, Minnesota might be in the market for a backup point guard.

Davion Mitchell would not only address that need, he’d also arrive with at least a slimmer of hope of providing the Wolves with a succession plan for life after Mike Conley.

Now, that’s a more optimistic take than Mitchell has probably earned, but he’s also a 25-year-old with three NBA seasons under his belt, so the idea that he has exhausted his potential is unfairly pessimistic. Teams know he has a dominant defender and capable distributor (career 2.8 assists against 1.0 turnovers), they just don’t know how much of a scoring punch he’ll ever provide.

A non-shooting point guard is admittedly tricky to pair with Rudy Gobert, but he’s the only non-spacer in Minnesota’s center rotation, so the Timberwolves could stagger their way around that. And if Mitchell is able to build off his shooting success from this season (career-high 36.1 percent from three, albeit on limited volume), maybe it wouldn’t be as big of an obstacle as it seems.

2. Garrison Mathews, Atlanta Hawks2 of 3

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A properly-spaced Timberwolves attack can border on unstoppable. With a downhill threat like Anthony Edwards, a physical roll man in Rudy Gobert and a crafty post-scorer like Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota can shred a stretched-out defense.

While the Wolves shot the three with strong efficiency this season (38.7 percent, third overall), they lacked perimeter volume (23rd in attempts, 15th in makes). A specialist net-shredder like Garrison Mathews could help crank things up.

The veteran sharpshooter plays with a neon-green light at all times. His 7.0 three-point attempts per 36 minutes—which bettered all Timberwolves’ rotation-regulars other than Naz Reid—were actually the second-fewest of his career, per Basketball-Reference. And Mathews arguably should’ve fired up even more after connecting at a career-high 44-percent clip.

He is the kind of shooter who demands constant attention from opposing defenses, meaning Minnesota could feel his impact even if it didn’t find a lot of shots for him. At a minimum pay rate, assuming Atlanta exercises his $2.2 million team option, per Spotrac, he could help fill a niche role without adding to the franchise’s financial strain.

1. Seth Curry, Charlotte Hornets3 of 3

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While the Timberwolves will surely take all of the two-way help they can get, they can afford to take on a lesser defender if it means powering-up their offense.

Minnesota looked better balanced in the playoffs, but the bulk of its regular-season success could be attributed to its defense. That unit was the NBA’s most efficient by a wide margin, per NBA.com. The offense, though, managed only a 17th-place finish.

Upping the three-point volume seems like the safest strategy for improving that ranking, and Seth Curry would help with that. The 33-year-old was uncharacteristically quiet during this past campaign, but that snapped a six-season run in which he netted better than 90 triples on 40-plus percent shooting.

His $4 million salary is non-guaranteed, per Spotrac, so it’s possible he could find his way to free agency, but if Charlotte guarantees his deal, it could look to quickly ship him out, since he doesn’t fit the rebuilding timeline. The trade cost wouldn’t be much, but Minnesota could gain a decent amount from the deal since he could laser in his drive-and-kick chances while also adding a pinch of off-the-dribble creativity.