NBA Trade Rumors: Minnesota Timberwolves Should Actively Pursue Kevin Martin

Let's give away the ending of this story right off the bat: The Minnesota Timberwolves should actively pursue a trade for the Houston Rockets' Kevin Martin, offering Michael Beasley as the main piece in their offer.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, how did we get here?

For starters, Martin has soured on the Rockets, as Bill Ingram of HOOPSWORLD notes:

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It’s not really a secret that Kevin Martin is unhappy in Houston. His minutes have been inconsistent, and he’s heard his name come up multiple times in trade rumors after GM Daryl Morey told him he was untouchable. He also doesn’t appreciate that the Rockets are doing to him what they do to everyone come contract time. No early extension (Martin has one more year on his contract), and a promise to do everything possible to drive down his value to re-sign him as cheaply as possible.

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And the Timberwolves have interest, as Ingram writes:

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It’s also no secret that Rick Adelman would welcome Martin with open arms, should the Rockets value something from the Timberwolves’ roster worthy of a trade for Martin. To date that connection has not been made, but it’s something that’s slow-cooking on the back burner as the trade deadline inches closer. Sources close to the situation believe the Rockets prefer to keep Courtney Lee, who is a better defender and will ultimately cost the team less money than Martin.

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It turns out, the Timberwolves have a player they would be happy to move in a trade, the talented but immature Michael Beasley.

From Chris Broussard of ESPN:

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Minnesota is looking to move Beasley, who they feel has matured very little (if at all) since he's been there, according to sources.

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Now, I'm no NBA general manager so I don't know what else Houston would want along with Beasley in this deal, but the salaries aren't so far apart that the two teams couldn't work out a deal.

Perhaps Beasley, Anthony Randolph and a draft pick or another player could get it done, though this really depends on how willing Houston is to simply keep Martin around.

For Minnesota, this deal obviously makes a ton of sense and would really round out their starting five. Martin would reunite with his coach from the previous season, Rick Adelman, and would wreak havoc in the backcourt with Ricky Rubio.

Perhaps I like playing matchmaker too much, but this trade makes a lot of sense to me (with the proper tweaking, of course). Minnesota would be crazy not to at least try to make this trade work.

It moves two players that have long been rumored to be on the block, it improves each team at positions that could use an upgrade and it gave me another excuse to play with ESPN's Trade Machine.

See, this is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

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