As they continue to struggle in the 2019-20 NBA season, rumors are circulating that the face of the franchise, Karl-Anthony Towns , is growing unhappy with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Towns may be under contract with the Timberwolves until the 2023-24 season, but once he starts finding his way out and demands a trade, Minnesota could be forced to deal him before the February trade deadline. According to Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report , one of the teams who might express a strong interest in acquiring Towns from the Timberwolves is the Atlanta Hawks .
After a promising start, the Hawks are once again one of the worst teams in the league this season. As of now, Atlanta has lost nine of their last 10 games and are currently sitting in the No. 15 spot in the Eastern Conference with a 7-27 record. Despite having one of the best young cores in the NBA, the Hawks obviously need to surround Trae Young with All-Star-caliber talents like Towns in order to make a huge impact in the league.
In the proposed deal from Bleacher Report , the Hawks would send a trade package including John Collins, Cam Reddish, Kevin Huerter, Allen Crabbe, and 2020 and 2022 first-round picks to the Timberwolves in exchange for Towns. The deal works on ESPN ‘s NBA Trade Machine. Trading for Towns won’t make the Hawks an instant title contender in the league, but Swartz believes that pairing him with Young would be a “dream scenario” for Atlanta.
“The Hawks have one of the best young cores and draft-pick compilations in the NBA despite owning the league’s worst record at 7-27, and they could become a serious playoff threat in the East next season. Pairing Young and Towns would be a dream scenario, especially if they could keep 2019 No. 4 overall pick De’Andre Hunter between them. Of course, this would mean gutting the rest of the young core, including Collins (18.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 36.8 percent from three), Reddish (8.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals) and Huerter (9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 34.8 percent from three).”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNWFJD4172g
If the trade becomes a reality, it would not only be beneficial for the Hawks but also for the Timberwolves. Instead of keeping an unhappy superstar on their team, Minnesota would be receiving salary cap relief and assets that could help them speed up the rebuilding process. As Swartz noted, Collins, Reddish, and Huerter would give the Timberwolves a “terrific young core” alongside Andrew Wiggins and Jarrett Culver. The future draft picks would enable the team to add more young and promising talents or they could use them as trade chips to further improve their roster.
