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The beginning of the season hasn't gone as hoped for the Minnesota Timberwolves. After making a big trade by swapping Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo on the eve of the season, the Wolves have struggled to find their footing.

Minnesota currently sits at 11-10 and in 10th place in the Western Conference. That's while riding a current three-game win streak that pushed the Timberwolves over .500 on the season.

Being down in range of the Play-In Tournament has many front office executives expecting Minnesota to be active before the trade deadline. Some think that could involve the Wolves flipping Julius Randle, as he hasn't been smooth fit in the team's offense. Randle's style of holding the ball, and his lack of a reliable three-point shot, has caused Minnesota's offense to look clunky at times.

Donte DiVincenzo being asked to do more playmaking has also been speculated about as hurting his game. The veteran guard has hard time finding his form with his three-point shot.

Via Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst/ESPN

MIN’s best line up has been Gobert, Conley, Nickiel Alexander Walker, DiVincenzo and Naz Reid .. no Ant or Randle! That group plays good team defense, doesn’t hold the ball, and Conley-Gobert pick and roll organizes the team.

Apron rules will make it difficult for MIN to be too active on the trade market. They can’t take back more salary than they send out, and they can’t aggregate salaries, so trade targets will likely be limited to players making less than Randle’s $33 mil. MIN needs a back up center, and possibly a PG.

That said, I am not sure MIN will make a move. A slow start was expected after the late trade, removing the chemistry of Towns and inserting two new players. The Wolves have won their last three, and looked better doing it. There is also some financial value to the expensive Wolves to hold onto Randle and see if he rejects his $31 mil player option, since the team is so far over the luxury threshold.

Edwards to BK for 4 1sts, Claxton, and Cam Thomas?

Minnesota trades: Julius Randle

New Orleans trades: Brandon Ingram

Trade successful!

Bobbymcgee wrote:Minnesota trades: Julius Randle

New Orleans trades: Brandon Ingram

Trade successful!

Pointless trade for NOP... but sure, MIN would love that.

Bobbymcgee wrote:Minnesota trades: Julius Randle

New Orleans trades: Brandon Ingram

Trade successful!

That trade would probably be strongly considered by Minnesota assuming they don't just want to remove Randle's salary from their books.

It should be a strong "hell no" for New Orleans unless a lot of picks are involved, they've already tried (and moved on) from the Randle experience once before and Zion and Randle as your forward combo seems like a disaster in the making. It would be a highly entertaining disaster though, I'm here for it if it happens...

shrink wrote:MIN’s best line up has been Gobert, Conley, Nickiel Alexander Walker, DiVincenzo and Naz Reid .. no Ant or Randle! That group plays good team defense, doesn’t hold the ball, and Conley-Gobert pick and roll organizes the team.

Apron rules will make it difficult for MIN to be too active on the trade market. They can’t take back more salary than they send out, and they can’t aggregate salaries, so trade targets will likely be limited to players making less than Randle’s $33 mil. MIN needs a back up center, and possibly a PG.

That said, I am not sure MIN will make a move. A slow start was expected after the late trade, removing the chemistry of Towns and inserting two new players. The Wolves have won their last three, and looked better doing it. There is also some financial value to the expensive Wolves to hold onto Randle and see if he rejects his $31 mil player option, since the team is so far over the luxury threshold.

That lineup plays primarily against opposing 2nd units and we're talking about a 72 minute sample size. The Conley-Gobert pick and roll is great in spurts, but it won't win them a playoff series. Run that same lineup with Edwards instead of Conley and the defensive rating drops from 91.4 to 82.3, so it's not a defensive problem. The problem is on the other end. They really miss Slo-Mo coming in with their reserves. They are currently 23rd in the NBA in AST/TO. LAC is the only team below them that is currently sitting in a playoff/play-in spot. Conley is leading their team with 4.5 APG. They need another play maker!

Bobbymcgee wrote:Minnesota trades: Julius Randle

New Orleans trades: Brandon Ingram

Trade successful!

Trade is unsuccessful.

ESPN and RealGM TradeCheckers don’t have Apron rules in them. Try Spotrac.

shrink wrote:Apron rules will make it difficult for MIN to be too active on the trade market. They can’t take back more salary than they send out, and they can’t aggregate salaries, so trade targets will likely be limited to players making less than Randle’s $33 mil.

Randle makes $33, Ingram makes $36.

Isn't Randle ineligible for a trade until after the deadline?

They should trade Randle and Donte to the Knicks for Karl Anthony Towns. That will fix their issues.

Wildcat wrote:Isn't Randle ineligible for a trade until after the deadline?

No. Randle could have been traded immediately but not as an aggregated salary. You may be thinking of the two month restriction to aggregate his salary, which passed a couple weeks ago.

However, MIN still can’t aggregate that salary because of their apron issues.

These long delays before re-trading usually happen for players that sign new deals, either as extensions or free agents.

BigGargamel wrote:They should trade Randle and Donte to the Knicks for Karl Anthony Towns. That will fix their issues.

If they can join 6 future picks they might get Mikal as well.

shrink wrote:

Bobbymcgee wrote:Minnesota trades: Julius Randle

New Orleans trades: Brandon Ingram

Trade successful!

Trade is unsuccessful.

ESPN and RealGM TradeCheckers don’t have Apron rules in them. Try Spotrac.

shrink wrote:Apron rules will make it difficult for MIN to be too active on the trade market. They can’t take back more salary than they send out, and they can’t aggregate salaries, so trade targets will likely be limited to players making less than Randle’s $33 mil.

Randle makes $33, Ingram makes $36.

Correct but new orleans can't take back more salary you need a third team

Randle for Towns and DiVincenzo for Kyle Anderson.