Ever since James Harden’s desire to be traded by the Houston Rockets first became a hot topic in the NBA rumor mill, a number of teams have been linked to the former MVP. The Minnesota Timberwolves are not among those organizations, but as a podcast host recently suggested, the club could be among the dark-horse candidates who could make a move for Harden before the 2021 trade deadline.
As quoted by Fadeaway World , Locked on Wolves Podcast host Ben Beecken recently commented on the Harden rumors, where he explained why the Timberwolves might make an offer for Harden. He said that it’s been well-documented that team president Gersson Rosas wants to improve Minnesota’s roster, hence the need to explore possible deals involving the three-time scoring champion. As Beecken speculated, a trade for Harden might take place “months down the road,” given how some of their most attractive assets cannot be moved at the moment.
As further explained, there are two Timberwolves players who most probably won’t be included in any package for Harden — center Karl-Anthony Towns and guard D’Angelo Russell — due to how the former is the organization’s franchise player and how it might not make a “ton of sense” to move the latter to Houston. This year’s first overall draft pick, Anthony Edwards, cannot be moved until 30 days after he signs his rookie contract, while recent acquisition Ricky Rubio won’t be eligible for another trade until December 9. Malik Beasley, who had just re-signed with the Wolves as a free agent, is ineligible to be shipped elsewhere until February.
According to Fadeaway World , the Timberwolves’ best offer for Harden may include Russell or Edwards, as well as a number of future draft picks. The outlet stressed that this hypothetical transaction would allow the Rockets to get a “head start” on the rebuilding process, which the team would likely be forced to do by trading their best player.
In recent weeks, Houston acquired point guard John Wall from the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook and signed two top free-agent big men in DeMarcus Cousins and Christian Wood, thus giving them a vastly different core lineup to the one that lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in this year’s Western Conference semifinals.
“As for Minnesota, joining Harden with Towns might not win a title straight away, but it’s certainly good enough for a playoff berth and gets them closer to being a true contending team out West,” the publication predicted, adding that it won’t be surprising if the Timberwolves at least “[poke] around” if the Rockets start slowly in the 2020-21 season.
