Second Rounders for a MIN Prospect?

[shrink]

The current trade with the Knicks leaves MIN at 16 on the roster, so they’ll need to move a player before Opening Night. They may end up just waiving PJ Dozier, who’s only guaranteed for $1 mil, but his dead money would cost them lux taxes at the end of the season. A better way for MIN is to “trade” somebody for cap space, and maybe a second rounder. There’s already a thread on Nickiel Alexander-Walker, but I was wondering if there was interest in some of the Wolves other players?

Josh Minott 21 $2,019,699, ($2,187,451 team option)

Leonard Miller 20 $1,891,857 $2,221,677 to $2,406,205 to

Terrence Shannon Jr. 24 $2,546,640 $2,674,080 $2,801,640 to $5,054,159 to

Luka Garza 25 $2,162,606 $2,349,578 to

Keita Bates-Diop 28 $2,654,644


Minott is a bundle of energy SF that, like many young Wolves, haven’t been able to get minutes with the big club. Miller and Shannon were drafted #33 in 2023, and #27 in 2024. Miller is the hyper-athletic project but G-League Ignite, and Shannon is the big bodied four year vet from Illinois, who was expected to contribute this year. Everyone knows Garza, but you may not know that his hard work has transformed his body to be lighter and (hopefully for him) quicker. Not sure if he can bang with bigs any more, but MIN needs a back up center, and he has every offensive move in the book. KDB is returning to the team that drafted him in 2018, another 6-8 with a 7-3 wingspan, with just enough skills to stay in the NBA.

Anyone want to make an offer, or see teams that should be interested?

[babyjax13]

I'll volunteer 2 2nds for Miller (UTA 2029, higher of UTA/LAC 2030).

[babyjax13]

Another option is for Minnesota to send more than Dozier's buyout to a team or a second just to buy him out (which feels most likely?).

[shrink]

Another option is for Minnesota to send more than Dozier's buyout to a team or a second just to buy him out (which feels most likely?).

Unfortunately, I don’t think MIN can send cash because of their apron restrictions.

[wemby]

I think Leonard Miller should command a second rounder from some team, and TSJ for sure should command a couple at least since he's a recent first comming off a strong summer league. Keita Bates Diop and Garza are deep bench players at best, and Minott proved nothing, so I don't think any of them is worthy of a 2nd rounder by themselves.

[wemby]

Minott is a bundle of energy SF that, like many young Wolves, haven’t been able to get minutes with the big club.

SF that can't shoot aren't particularly in demand...

[balsamic_ducks]

I'd give a 2nd or two for miller as the pelicans. But i was also a fan of his in the draft so im biased

[wolves_89]

I'd be extremely surprised if Minott, Miller, or Shannon are traded. To get the Wolves down to 15 contracts, I'd bet heavily on Dozier being released (roughly $500k guaranteed) or Bates-Diop getting traded (if there is a team willing to take him into an exception for a fake asset).

[SO_MONEY]

The current trade with the Knicks leaves MIN at 16 on the roster, so they’ll need to move a player before Opening Night. They may end up just waiving PJ Dozier, who’s only guaranteed for $1 mil, but his dead money would cost them lux taxes at the end of the season. A better way for MIN is to “trade” somebody for cap space, and maybe a second rounder. There’s already a thread on Nickiel Alexander-Walker, but I was wondering if there was interest in some of the Wolves other players?

Josh Minott 21 $2,019,699, ($2,187,451 team option)

Leonard Miller 20 $1,891,857 $2,221,677 to $2,406,205 to

Terrence Shannon Jr. 24 $2,546,640 $2,674,080 $2,801,640 to $5,054,159 to

Luka Garza 25 $2,162,606 $2,349,578 to

Keita Bates-Diop 28 $2,654,644


Minott is a bundle of energy SF that, like many young Wolves, haven’t been able to get minutes with the big club. Miller and Shannon were drafted #33 in 2023, and #27 in 2024. Miller is the hyper-athletic project but G-League Ignite, and Shannon is the big bodied four year vet from Illinois, who was expected to contribute this year. Everyone knows Garza, but you may not know that his hard work has transformed his body to be lighter and (hopefully for him) quicker. Not sure if he can bang with bigs any more, but MIN needs a back up center, and he has every offensive move in the book. KDB is returning to the team that drafted him in 2018, another 6-8 with a 7-3 wingspan, with just enough skills to stay in the NBA.

Anyone want to make an offer, or see teams that should be interested?

TSJ? WTF?

No, not available for 2nds.

Brings me back to Sesame Street... One of these things is not like the others. Skeptical Miller should be included in this either.

[wolves_89]

I'd be extremely surprised if Minott, Miller, or Shannon are traded. To get the Wolves down to 15 contracts, I'd bet heavily on Dozier being released (roughly $500k guaranteed) or Bates-Diop getting traded (if there is a team willing to take him into an exception for a fake asset).

EDIT: I had the wrong figure for Dozier's guarantee, the amount looks to be $1M.

[Chinook]

I'd do CHA25 for Shannon and not even think about it. I'd even want the Spurs to through in seconds if necessary. The Spurs could use a low-investment offensive guard with Vassell being out and Wesley/Branham not developing as well as they should. Minny's not trading him for space, though, and I don't think the Spurs would want any of the other players. They actually have a fair number of fringe forward prospects on their roster already. The Minny prospects may be better, but we're talking about third-stringers here.

[Diop]

I like anyone with Diop in there name

[zimpy27]

Miller is the one that I think Minny should swap for 2nds..

They have Randle, Naz, McDaniels, Ingles, Minott that can all get minutes at the 4.

Miller is buried and worth something.

[schaffy]

Miller is the one that I think Minny should swap for 2nds..

They have Randle, Naz, McDaniels, Ingles, Minott that can all get minutes at the 4.

Miller is buried and worth something.

I dont think Minott is blocking anyone for minutes. I'd say its probably a tie between KBD and Minott over who would be the most likely to get dealt. Minott's return might be the lowest but he's also the most replaceable with others in the organization. I'd put Miller as probably the least likely of the bunch to get moved. They moved 2 future 2nds last year to go up and get him and have talked a lot about his growth and long term potential but still needing a lot of development.

[shangrila]

TSJ and Miller aren't getting dumped for a 2nd. Including either in this list is stupid.

Nobody else has proven or flashed anything worth a team giving up a 2nd for. Maybe a crap one, top 55 protected and all that. Otherwise there's just no point.

Waive KBD and/or Dozier and move on with the season.

[shrink]

Maybe it’s just an effort to trade him, but the Timberwolves organization has been really talking a lot about Josh Minott at media day and there are multiple posts about him from Wolves reporters. There was even some ubiquitous clip of him making multiple three pointers in a row. Tim Connelly gushing doesn’t surprise me, but even straight-shooter Chris Finch was talking about Josh Minott’s summer.

Read on Twitter

He’s certainly put on muscle

Read on Twitter

I don’t know if this means anything more than to create interest in a second draft situation.

[shrink]

TSJ and Miller aren't getting dumped for a 2nd. Including either in this list is stupid.

Be glad I didn’t include Dillingham! Two points though:

1. Yes, I understand that these players (and NAW) have different value. But I don’t think anyone wants the Trade Board flooded with five different threads on some minor MIN players. I wanted to consolidate because it’s the same question for all … “What are MIN’s options to get down to a 15-man roster?” I’d also point out that the value of a pick drops when it becomes a specific player, particularly one who doesn’t get NBA floor time.

2. In the NBA, team needs are constantly changing, especially after a trade like this. The Wolves will start Randle at PF (like KAT), but Towns got a lot of his minutes playing center. Will Randle require a bigger chunk of PF minutes? Naz likely is now a big wing, not a center. The team wants to up his minutes. You may see Ant playing more 3 to create minutes for DiVincenzo. And Keita Bates-Diop has stayed in the NBA for six years for a reason - he knows how to play against NBA players. The Wolves are still contenders, and committing minutes to develop one young player (Dillingham) will be difficult enough.

Bottom line is that you may be a big fan of TJ Shannon, but there aren’t going to be a lot of minutes for wings. Ditto for fans of Minott, and fans of Miller. While raw Miller can probably hang out and develop in the G-League, there comes a point where it’s best for the team and the player’s career to get moved elsewhere. Yes, they may just end up waiving PJ Dozier and carrying dead money (and extra tax), but I think all of these guys could be trade options, if the right offer comes in.

[shangrila]

TSJ and Miller aren't getting dumped for a 2nd. Including either in this list is stupid.

Be glad I didn’t include Dillingham! Two points though:

1. Yes, I understand that these players (and NAW) have different value. But I don’t think anyone wants the Trade Board flooded with five different threads on some minor MIN players. I wanted to consolidate because it’s the same question for all … “What are MIN’s options to get down to a 15-man roster?” I’d also point out that the value of a pick drops when it becomes a specific player, particularly one who doesn’t get NBA floor time.

2. In the NBA, team needs are constantly changing, especially after a trade like this. The Wolves will start Randle at PF (like KAT), but Towns got a lot of his minutes playing center. Will Randle require a bigger chunk of PF minutes? Naz likely is now a big wing, not a center. The team wants to up his minutes. You may see Ant playing more 3 to create minutes for DiVincenzo. And Keita Bates-Diop has stayed in the NBA for six years for a reason - he knows how to play against NBA players. The Wolves are still contenders, and committing minutes to develop one young player (Dillingham) will be difficult enough.

Bottom line is that you may be a big fan of TJ Shannon, but there aren’t going to be a lot of minutes for wings. Ditto for fans of Minott, and fans of Miller. While raw Miller can probably hang out and develop in the G-League, there comes a point where it’s best for the team and the player’s career to get moved elsewhere. Yes, they may just end up waiving PJ Dozier and carrying dead money (and extra tax), but I think all of these guys could be trade options, if the right offer comes in.

Counter points:

1. Never said anything about creating individual threads. You could have easily created your list in this thread without Miller or Shannon. You also excluded Clarke for some reason, who's a more realistic candidate for this situation.

2. There's nothing to suggest Naz is a 3 now or can be one in the future.

3. Keita Bates-Diop sucks and there is no chance keeping him is prioritised over younger guys, all of whom fit Ant's timeline better.

4. Miller cost 2 2nds for the team to acquire. Why would they entertain dumping him for less than that when they've spent time developing him and haven't had a real chance to see him play NBA minutes?

5. Shannon Jr was JUST TAKEN WITH A FIRST ROUND PICK. You would have to believe the FO is staffed exclusively with infantile level IQ morons to think they'd even entertain this.

Miller I could buy an argument for including but there is no justification for Shannon being on this list, regardless of if you like him or not. Including him was stupid and I don't understand why you're trying to argue against that.

[winforlose]

The Wolves are paper thin at C at the moment. If Rudy goes down Randle is your starting 5 and Garza is your C2. The alternative is if the organization plans to use Miller as a C. With this in mind I doubt Miller is going anywhere. TSJ is not getting traded. A lot of teams passed on him due to his situation and if they wanted him they would have taken him. Dozier has no trade value as he is not an NBA player. I would prefer to move KBD or cut Dozier.

[shrink]

2. There's nothing to suggest Naz is a 3 now or can be one in the future.

I appreciate your post, and I don’t want to drag this too off-topic, but I wanted to mention the Naz one, because this is a misconception that many people have. Here’s a couple of quotes from our best - Dane Moore and Britt Robson:

To me, it is so clear that Naz Reid is more of a 3 than he is a 5 -- even if his best position is 4. And to that end I think there's nothing crazy about the idea of playing Rudy, KAT and Naz all at the same time often. If you can play Rudy and KAT together, you can play all three together.

Read on Twitter

Defense was the last, and seemingly most elusive, piece of making him a complete player. Even last season, he lacked the stolidity and knowledge of positioning to reliably contain frontcourt personnel, and assuming that his slim-fast physique was organic enough to throw him into guarding wing players out of the perimeter felt foolhardy. But lo and behold, the Naz of 2023-24 has been staunch, speedy and steadfast working the defensive schemes and rotations against the gamut of NBA personnel.

Wolves Head Coach Chris Finch is fond of saying that your position is defined by who you can guard. Under those terms, Naz is legitimately as much of a small forward as he is power forward.

https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2024/03/naz-reid-making-a-case-for-nba-6th-man-of-the-year/#:~:text=Wolves%20Head%20Coach%20Chris%20Finch,as%20he%20is%20power%20forward.