Thaddeus Young a Quietly Important Trade-Deadline Acquisition for Nets

The Brooklyn Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves swung a deal before Thursday's trade deadline. It was one of about 74 trades to go down at the 11th hour, but this one was particularly interesting. 

NBA.com's David Aldridge supplied the details: 

While Kevin Garnett's return to Minnesota is understandably the popular story, the fact Brooklyn—currently one game out in the East playoff race—acquired a significant upgrade is flying far under the radar: 

Thaddeus Young isn't just some throw-in who Billy Kind had to be convinced to take on. As ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk noted, he was a coveted target: 

Young's impact is felt greatest on the defensive end. A tremendous athlete, he ranks 10th in the Association (and first among power forwards) in steals per game (1.8), and he has an overall positive effect on team defense. The T-Wolves allowed 107.4 points per 100 possessions when Young was on the court and 112.1 when he went to the bench. 

More precisely, Young is best at defending quicker big men who tend to move away from the basket. Here's a look at how opponents shoot from certain areas on the floor when guarded by Young (DFG%) vs. the league average at those areas (FG%):

Area	DFG%	FG%	Difference*
Less Than 6 Ft	68.8	59.9	8.9
Less Than 10 Ft	62.7	54.7	8.0
Greater Than 15 Ft	35.4	37.8	-2.4
3 Pointers	30.6	35.7	-5.1

Young is the perfect complement to Mason Plumlee and Brook Lopez, who are far more efficient at protecting the rim but don't have the same kind of agility to guard on the perimeter. 

He should provide an instant boost to a unit that ranks dead-last in defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) over the last 15 games. 

The New York Post's Tim Bontemps put it simply:

Of course, he has his drawbacks. As he has increased the range on his jump shot, his true-shooting percentage has dropped to a career-low 49.1, marking the second straight year it has dipped. He's also not a strong rebounder for his position, ranking 115th among qualified forwards and centers in rebounding percentage. 

Ultimately, though, this is an athletic player who can fill up the box score on both ends of the floor. Moreover, he's still in the prime of his career at 26 but has started over 350 career games (regular season and playoffs), providing the ideal mix of youth and experience. 

As the Nets make a late-season push for the playoffs, Young is the perfect addition to help make that happen. 

His future remains unclear with an Early Termination Option in the summer, but if we're talking about 2014-15, this was one of the most important moves of a wild deadline day. 

Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless noted otherwise.