Written by Chris Schad
On the surface, the Minnesota Timberwolves made a move that is typical in the annals of Minnesota sports. Outside of our icy home, sports teams actually make moves that go forward. They keep good players and try to get that one piece that can (I hope you’re sitting down for this…) win championships.
That’s why at first glance giving up Kevin Love for a couple of promising young players looks like another Minnesota team waving the white towel in their pursuit for the eighth seed. However, this is not your typical superstar trade.
Love is one of the best players in the NBA that is entering the prime of his career. He’s shown steady improvement on the stat sheet since coming to the Timberwolves in 2009. Had he been playing on a more successful team, there’s a chance that his name would be slipped into MVP consideration.
That alone would have made him great trade bait on a team that was stuck in a rut, but his announcement that he wouldn’t be staying in Minnesota past the upcoming season sent his value down the tubes. After all, any team with salary cap space could have balked at the Timberwolves’ demands and signed him the following summer.
After Love made his announcement, president of basketball operations/head coach Flip Saunders was greeted on a daily basis with trade offers that would fit in with the status quo in Minnesota sports. That’s because the story of a traded superstar in this state usually results with a team refusing to take a step back in order to move forward.
For example, the rumored deal between the Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors involved trading Love for David Lee and Klay Thompson. While the move would keep the Timberwolves in contention in the short-term by filling Love’s production and acquiring a promising young player, they would be taking a long-term step to the side.
Lee just turned 31 last April and his $15 million salary would make it hard to externally improve the team. Thompson is also due for a hefty raise after the upcoming season. With just one year to decide whether Thompson was worthy of a max contract and limited funds to offer, the Wolves could wind up in another Love situation with a lesser trade chip as soon as next February.
That creates a deal that would have been safer, but also potentially destructive. Such long-term vision lead Saunders to target players that may not make the Timberwolves end an eleven-year playoff drought next spring, but aim higher and contend for a championship down the road.
That process began last June when the Timberwolves selected Zach LaVine in the 2014 NBA Draft. While there were players who were considered safer, Saunders may have been targeting the UCLA product all along thanks to his athletic build and ridiculously high ceiling.
The same went for his trade negotiations when the Cleveland Cavaliers dangled Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for the right to acquire Love. At this point, the competition was over.
Saunders had acquired three players that could not only develop into key cogs on a future contender, but also received them at the beginning of their careers. This ensures that they’ll have time to see what they’re building in Minnesota and possibly reignite the fan base that packed the Target Center a decade ago to see Kevin Garnett attempt march the team toward a championship rather than an eighth seed.
Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to move forward. For the Timberwolves, they are expecting that move to be a leap to the top of the Western Conference.
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Chris Schad contributes to 105 The Ticket and has had his work featured on the Bleacher Report and Yahoo Contributor Network. He serves as the Vikings Lead Writerfor Pro Football Spot. Find him on Twitter @crishad. |