Top 3 assets Minnesota Timberwolves can use to bolster their squad in the 2021 NBA offseason
The Minnesota Timberwolves finished the 2020-21 NBA season with a 23-39 record in the regular season and ended 13th in the Western Conference. Though they have missed the NBA Playoffs for the third straight season, there were some issues that we have to consider.
For starters, the Minnesota Timberwolves had their best player, Karl-Anthony Towns, on the floor for 50 of the 72 games of the team. Moreover, D'Angelo Russell only played in 42 games last year and the team's second-best scorer, Malik Beasley, appeared in 37 games.
Three players the Minnesota Timberwolves can use in trade packages during the 2021 NBA offseason
The 2020-21 Minnesota Timberwolves would've been even worse under the circumstances, but the first overall pick, Anthony Edwards, showed up and kept the team a bit away from finishing with the worst record in the league.
The team now needs to improve for the upcoming 2021-22 NBA season, and it can only happen via trades as the team does not have picks in the 2021 NBA Draft.
In this article, we will see three players that the Minnesota Timberwolves could look at as trade material in order to improve for the upcoming 2020-21 NBA season.
Without further ado, let us start.
#3 D'Angelo Russell
Under different circumstances, D'Angelo Russell would be first on this list. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly expecting to keep him even if they acquire some other star names like Ben Simmons from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Moreover, Russell's big salary (over $30 million) is not something that every other team would like to acquire for a player that has had an injury-plagued 2020-21 NBA campaign.
Russell is definitely a big NBA talent. He's been an All-Star in the past and the Minnesota Timberwolves had a winning record when the guard and Karl-Anthony Towns were on the floor together (13-11).
Russell averaged 19 points and 5.8 assists in 42 games for the Minnesota Timberwolves last year and posted shooting splits of 43/38/76.
#2 Malik Beasley
Malik Beasley has been solid for the Minnesota Timberwolves since he arrived via trade from the Denver Nuggets on February 5th, 2020. Beasley has averages of 19.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game (51 appearances) for the Timberwolves with 44/40/82 shooting splits.
The 6' 4'' shooting guard, however, might not be a priority for the Minnesota Timberwolves' starting lineup, as Anthony Edwards has surely earned a place as one of the cornerstone pieces for the team going forward and he is a SG too.
Moreover, Beasley has a salary over $15 million and the Minnesota Timberwolves could be willing to include him in trade packages. The receiving team would be very interested too, as the 24-year-old seems to be on an upwards trend and could definitely help any team in the league.