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Just when it’s looking like the Minnesota Timberwolves have begun to figure it out, they fall back into old habits. Carrying a four-game winning streak into Christmas made it seem as though the Timberwolves were going to establish themselves as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference, especially when that streak included a huge win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they’ve now lost two consecutive games — including a 123-107 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
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At this point, there is no need for the Timberwolves to panic. They did push the Denver Nuggets to the brink on Christmas Day, requiring Nikola Jokic to put up a bonkers 56-16-15 game just to overcome them in overtime. But there’s an overwhelming sense that a change has to come for Minnesota for them to unlock the full potential of their Anthony Edwards-led core.
Reports have indicated that the Timberwolves have been exploring the trade market for a point guard; they’ve had to rely mostly on Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, and Julius Randle to handle the playmaking workload, and those players aren’t natural floor generals.
Minnesota has even needed to rely on Bones Hyland amid Mike Conley’s continued decline and Rob Dillingham’s lack of rotational merit. While the Timberwolves’ assets are very much limited, there still might be a trade to be made for them to address their point guard issues, especially now that it’s officially trading season.
Timberwolves look to buy low on Darius Garland
Timberwolves acquire: Darius Garland
Cavaliers acquire: Julius Randle, Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller, 2028 MIN first-round pick swap
Scott Kinser-USA TODAY Sports
The Timberwolves have been doing their due diligence on the trade market, as per reports, and there should not be a single soul surprised that they’ve been linked to every top-tier point guard who could be available on the trade market.
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Among the Timberwolves’ potential trade targets are Ja Morant, James Harden, and Coby White. All of those make sense, as they have plenty of experience handling the rock for their respective teams. But Minnesota can aim even higher and target Darius Garland, who could be one of the first to go from a sinking Cleveland Cavaliers ship.
Morant was once one of the fastest-ascending stars in the NBA, but his star has grown a bit dim over the past few years. A combination of off-court troubles and injury problems have derailed the progression of the Memphis Grizzlies star, and his value on the trade market is lower than ever.
Perhaps a move to Minnesota would help jolt Morant’s career back to life. Playing alongside Edwards will most certainly light a fire underneath him. But it’s the decline in athleticism and continued poor shooting from outside that makes Morant a risk the asset-strapped Timberwolves could ill-afford to take.
Harden would be the ideal acquisition for the Timberwolves; he’s 36 years of age and he soaks up a lot of playmaking and ballhandling responsibilities. He also isn’t under contract long-term, as he can enter free agency as early as 2026 if he doesn’t pick up his player option worth $42.3 million for the 2026-27 campaign.
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The Beard may have some playoff dropping tendencies, but Edwards is going to be the main man whom he’ll be deferring to, so that shouldn’t be too big of a concern for the Timberwolves. However, with the Los Angeles Clippers showing signs of life, Harden isn’t likely to be made available on the trade market.
Coby White looms as the most practical option for the Timberwolves; they only need to build a trade package around Conley’s contract to make salaries match and go from there. But it’s fair to wonder just how much White would move the needle for this team. White also isn’t the kind of veteran point guard who can calm his team down and get them to lock in and execute their offense, especially in moments filled with adversity (crunch time).
White absolutely is a point guard, but this Timberwolves roster needs more of a playmaker than a scorer. White is more of the latter.
To that end, the Timberwolves should simply shoot for the moon and try to acquire Darius Garland, the one who got away from them on draft night back in 2019.
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Garland’s stock is not too high at the moment, and the Cavs have been playing some absolutely horrendous basketball as of late relative to the way they performed last season. While it’s not likely for Cleveland to blow up their roster in the middle of the season, desperation can make anyone do any sort of crazy thing. If the losses keep on piling up for the Cavs, then that could perhaps open up the possibility of a Garland trade for the Timberwolves.
Acquiring Garland, who is a natural playmaker and is a knockdown shooter from beyond the arc, will cost the Timberwolves Randle. Randle has been very good this year, averaging 23/7/6. But he’s absolutely been a contributor to Minnesota’s inconsistency and lethargy at times.
His carelessness with the basketball can be very costly late in games as well, and with Minnesota needing his playmaking, the team needs him to have the ball in his hands sometimes when the game is close to give Edwards some support. One of the Timberwolves’ most disappointing losses of the season, a meltdown against the Phoenix Suns back in late November, was partly caused by Randle’s late-game execution woes.
The good news for Minnesota is that they have Naz Reid who can always step into the starting lineup at the four. The Timberwolves could also decide to go small, with Jaden McDaniels at power forward.
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This will be a bit of deviation from the Timberwolves’ bully-ball identity. But acquiring Garland, someone who makes his teammates better, could be great for Edwards, specifically. Dominant scorers like Edwards tend to take the next step towards greatness when playing alongside a legitimate floor general — Garland certainly has the skillset and talent to do the same for him.
The risk, of course, is that Garland can be very injury-prone. His scoring efficiency is also down this season, and his defense is always going to be a question mark considering that he’s a small guard. But for this price, trading for him should be a no-brainer for the Timberwolves.
Related: Anthony Edwards says Timberwolves ‘knew everything’ Nets would do but still got dominated