NBA Trade Rumors: 3 Deals That Could Make the Timberwolves Relevant

Since the Timberwolves traded guard Sam Cassell to the Los Angeles Clippers after the 2004-2005 season, the franchise hasn’t had a notable scoring presence in its backcourt.

It hasn’t had any player who could take or make the big shot or create a shot for himself. 

As the Wolves enter the 2011-2012 season (if there is one), they still lack that backcourt scoring option.  They have some formidable scorers from the wing (forward Michael Beasley, 19.2 points per game last year) and the interior (forward Kevin Love, 20.2 points per game last season), but still lack a player who can score from the backcourt.

The Wolves don’t necessarily need a pure scoring guard. As mentioned, Love and Beasley can score the basketball, so the guard the Timberwolves acquire would need to be able to distribute the ball to some extent as well. 

The three deals in this slideshow would help solve Minnesota’s backcourt scoring crisis and help make it relevant in the upcoming season.

Russell Westbrook for Michael Beasley and Ricky Rubio

What the Timberwolves have missed since the days when Sam Cassel ran the point for the only Wolves team to make it to the Western Conference finals in 2004 is a playmaking point guard.

The idea has floated around that the Oklahoma City Thunder should trade guard Russell Westbrook because his style of play does not fit well with playmaking forward Kevin Durant.

Durant is the franchise player for the Thunder and as such, Westbrook’s “me first” mentality doesn’t match up with the type of point guard that would play well with the scoring abilities of Durant.

The Timberwolves can acquiesce the Thunder’s need for a new point guard.

The Timberwolves could offer the Thunder a package of forward Michael Beasley and Ricky Rubio for Russell Westbrook.

The Thunder are in a win-now mode, so Oklahoma City might not be in on the deal.  But it is fair value.

Rubio is a stud-prospect point guard with a pass-first mentality.  He wants to get others the ball to make plays.  He’s not a guard who’ll go out of his way to make scoring plays with the basketball, at least at this point in his career.

But Rubio is unproven as a NBA player yet, so the Thunder need more to do this deal.

That’s where Beasley comes in.

Beasley is a proven NBA player who can help the Thunder win now.  He averaged 19.2 points per game last season on a losing team. So while he may not match the offensive output of last season, he can assist Durant in scoring. 

Steve Nash for Derrick Williams and Ricky Rubio

The Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves had initial discussions about making guard Steve Nash a Minnesota Timberwolf. 

Much like the previously mentioned Westbrook deal, this trade is similar. 

By trading Nash, the Suns would acquire guard Ricky Rubio and forward Derrick Williams.

Williams would be of more interest to Phoenix than Beasley because Williams is a younger player with arguably a higher ceiling than Beasley. 

Williams, who was the No. 2 pick in June’s NBA Draft, would fit more in line with Phoenix’s rebuild mentality. 

Nash, at 37 years old, doesn’t fit in with what Phoenix is trying to do, which is get younger.  The Suns, by acquiring Rubio and Williams, will find the heir to Nash in their backcourt.  Rubio is a player who could become a Nash-type of player, with less offensive ability.

Williams gives the Suns a wing player who can do damage inside or outside.

The Timberwolves, meanwhile, acquire a guard who can take the ball to the hoop and knock down three-pointers (14.7 points, 11.4 assists per game, and 39.5 percent from three-point land).

With Williams gone instead of Beasley, it means the Wolves kept the more proven of the two players that will help them win more games in the upcoming season.

Chris Paul for Michael Beasley and Ricky Rubio

The premise of the deal is the same here. 

The Timberwolves have an up and coming point guard that could fill the void on the team the Wolves acquire a point guard from.  So Ricky Rubio, you will go to New Orleans along with forward Michael Beasley for Chris Paul.

The rumors are that Paul is unhappy with his current situation in New Orleans.  Odds are he may not be happy with the situation in Minnesota either, given that Minnesota had the worst record in the NBA last season and New Orleans was the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, but Minnesota could at least look into it.

In Rubio, the Hornets get a player whose ceiling is lower than Paul’s, but they get a player who still has a very high ceiling and projects to be a great NBA point guard. 

His past first mentality will fit well with what Paul did for the Hornets in New Orleans; it’ll just take him some time to find out how to play in the NBA.

In acquiring Beasley, the Hornets, who were in the playoffs in 2011, give themselves a better shot of doing the same in the 2011-2012 season (if there is one) than if they acquired forward Derrick Williams. 

Beasley is a proven NBA player that can score (19.2 points per game last season), and with Paul gone, the Hornets would need all the offensive help they could get (his 22 points per game led New Orleans).