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Late Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves finally made their big trade (no, not THAT one):
ESPN Sources: 4-team trade agreement: Houston: Robert Covington; Atlanta: Clint Capela and Nene; Minnesota: Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, Evan Turner, ATL 1st round pick via Nets; Denver: Gerald Green, Houston FRP.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 5, 2020
With a very important (and very questionable) follow-up:
Minnesota's Keita Bates-Diop is going to Denver in deal, source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 5, 2020
While most of Tuesday was spent following Twitter for the latest updates on a D’Angelo Russell trade, the night was capped by news of a 4-team deal, which included approximately 100 players and two first round picks.
My instant reaction to this is...sure. The front office is clearly empowered to take big risks with a floundering franchise that has seen little to no success over the last decade. Gersson Rosas stated from day one that the his only goal was to build a championship caliber team around Karl-Anthony Towns, and if that required ridding the roster of every player not nicknamed KAT, then so be it.
Robert Covington was beloved by Towns, the fans, and the analytical community. He was the prize of the Jimmy Butler trade, which after the departure of RoCo means the Wolves essentially traded Jimmy Butler for Jarrett Culver, Malik Beasley, and a first round pic. Nice.
OH... more details as they come across the ticker:
Sources: Houston is also receiving Jordan Bell and a second-round draft pick. https://t.co/3YpbhniEYP
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2020
So in reality, the Wolves traded Robert Covington, Keita Bates-Diop, and Jordan Bell for Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, Evan Turner, and a pick. That is... fairly difficult to digest, but as the team apparently attempts to get worse before it gets better, the only guarantee going forward is additional transactions, so stay tuned.
LAST ONE:
Sources: Minnesota trading Shabazz Napier to Denver. Nuggets sending Jarred Vanderbilt to Timberwolves. https://t.co/3YpbhniEYP
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2020
LOL JUST KIDDING:
Noah Vonleh also headed to Denver, per sources. This is wild.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) February 5, 2020
As for the math:
We are seeing Minnesota clear their roster to make the money work to take in the $18.6M Evan Turner contract. Complicated deal to make the money work for the Timberwolves.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 5, 2020
So yeah... stay tuned.