Timberwolves insider Jon Krawcyznski's latest thoughts on the trade deadline
A new episode of The Jon Krawczynski Show dropped Monday and the longtime Minnesota Timberwolves insider unleashed his freshest thoughts on what could happen before Thursday's NBA trade deadline.
"They want to go for it and they want to continue to bolster this roster," Krawczynski said of the Timberwolves. "They have been having conversations with teams all over the league with teams about various deals."
Krawczynski didn't have specifics about trade talks, but he did offer his opinion on the two most talked about Timberwolves trade candidates, D'Angelo Russell and Naz Reid. Spoiler alert: He's not overly confident that either player will be moved.
"I think Naz Reid's going to be on this team after the trade deadline," he said. "Given how good he has been and what they need from that spot, I think he's sticking around."
What's interesting Reid is that keeping him would indicate that Minnesota may prefer to sign him to an extension. Keeping him also risks losing him for nothing if he decides to enter free agency this summer.
Keeping him also causes a big man log jam when Karl-Anthony Towns returns from the calf injury that has kept him out of 34 consecutive games. It's unclear when Towns will be back, but president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said last week that it's "fair" to assume he'll be back after the All-Star break later this month.
Does Reid take a back seat to Towns down the stretch and in the playoffs and see his minutes drop significantly? Will the Wolves extend Reid and trade Towns this summer? Something has to give if Reid is still with the team after 2 p.m. Thursday.
As for Russell, who according to Marc Stein is being looked at closely by the Clippers, Krawczynski says there are several teams talking to the Timberwolves.
"I don't think it's completely off the table. I think there are continuing conversations going on with several teams. He is shooting just unbelievably well over the last two-plus months, so the sample size now is really big. For a team that wants more scoring, more shooting, he would be an attractive asset."
But how do the Timberwolves replace Russell if they trade him?
"If they were to trade D'Angelo Russell, they would need another volume 3-point shooter to come in and replace him. That's hard to find right now on the trade market," said Krawczynski. "He's just been too darn valuable to what they're doing."
"I"m not ready to say impossible. I'm not ready to say it's off the table, but it will be really hard for the wolves to find another shooter of Russell's caliber right now," he continued. "And that shooting has helped unlock this offense in a big, big way over the last two-plus months."
This is a huge week for them. They have a chance to beat Denver in Denver Tuesday night and then they go straight to Utah for a back-to-back Wednesday night. Then they get a break Thursday before a showdown in Memphis Friday night. They can catch their breath over the weekend before facing Luka and Kyrie in Dallas on Monday.
