Minnesota Timberwolves Listed As Possible Surprise Destination for Trae Young

Will the Atlanta Hawks Trade Trae Young This Offseason?

Apr 12, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives to the basket past Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) in the first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports / Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

One of the biggest weeks of the NBA offseason is here. The 2024 NBA Draft is on Wednesday night and there is always a potential for trades to go down this week as well. Atlanta has to figure out what to do with the Trae Young/Dejounte Murray backcourt, as well as other veteran players such as Clint Capela and De'Andre Hunter. This team could look much different by the time the season tips off in October.

Before diving deeper into this, I still think Young will remain in Atlanta when all is said and done this summer. It seems that Atlanta is heading towards breaking up their backcourt of Young and Dejounte Murray, but that could mean that Murray is the one who is traded. That does not mean that a Young trade is impossible, but I still lean towards them keeping him and trying to improve the roster around him.

If they were to make him available, would the Minnesota Timberwolves be an interested team?

The Minnesota Timberwolves just made a run to the Western Conference Finals, but they now have some decisions that they are going to have to make as far as their roster goes. The Timberwolves are going to be over the second apron next season if the team stays like it is and it has diminished trade assets due to trading for Rudy Gobert, who just won another Defensive Player Of The Year Award. That has led to some speculation that the Timberwolves could try to trade star forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns as a way to avoid the second apron and get some draft picks back potentially. If Minnesota did want to trade for Young, Towns would certainly have to be included in the deal.

Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz listed the Timberwolves as a potential surprise destination for Trae Young:

"If the Minnesota Timberwolves want to improve their lackluster offense, stay under the second luxury tax apron and find a long-term solution at point guard next to Anthony Edwards, a deal based around Trae Young and Karl-Anthony Towns makes a lot of sense.

The Wolves ranked just 17th in total offense (114.6 rating) and 22nd in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.88) last season, raising questions as to how good this scoring attack can truly be moving forward.

Inserting Young as the team's starting point guard and letting Mike Conley Jr. come off the bench helps both units, as the former was named an All-Star in 2024 while averaging 25.7 points, 10.8 assists, 1.3 steals and shooting 37.3 percent from three.

No roster is better suited to cover for Young's defensive deficiencies as well. Minnesota led the NBA in total defense (108.4 rating) and have four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all under contract for next season.

A straight Young-Towns swap would save the Timberwolves $6.3 million in salary for next season for a team that's currently projected to be $6.7 million over the second apron. The Wolves could also send their No. 27 overall pick ($2.6 million projected starting salary) and/or Wendell Moore Jr. ($2.5 million) to get under the line completely."

If the Hawks were going to trade Young, Towns would be one of the most talented players that they could get back and I think he would be a good fit with Dejounte Murray, Jalen Johnson, and whoever the Hawks took with the No. 1 pick.

Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey recently listed the Hawks as the "best fit" for Towns:

Best Spot: Atlanta Hawks

"The Minnesota Timberwolves just made the conference finals with a 22-year-old leading scorer. In the past, that would've felt like a surefire "run it back" situation.

But with Minnesota on track to be over the dreaded new second apron, it has to at least consider cost-cutting moves. The most obvious one would be a Karl-Anthony Towns trade, which is why he figures to show up in trade rumors for the next several weeks.

A Hawks team led by Towns and Trae Young would be lucky to be even average defensively. But Atlanta would likely near the top of the league on offense.

The Hawks could play a five-out, three-point-heavy scheme with Towns starting at the 5, and they wouldn't necessarily be sacrificing the lob threat that's such a huge part of Young's game. Jalen Johnson is a high-flyer, and he could become the more common receiver for alley-oops, sort of like Aaron Gordon with the Denver Nuggets."

I also would not rule out the Hawks trying to send Murray plus other assets for Towns. I think if the Hawks added Towns to the roster and did not have to give up Young, they would be one of the best combos offensively in the NBA. Towns would be the best big man that Young has ever played with and would give the Hawks a lot of spacing. The concerns would be on the defensive end. Both Young and Towns are not strong defenders and the concern would be how far could you advance in the playoffs with a weak defense?

Keep in mind that Towns has not been made available yet and this is just speculation. These two could be trade partners though in what figures to be a wild offseason around the NBA.