Minnesota Timberwolves: Sixers package was the right one to take

Despite a lack of pizazz in the return, the Minnesota Timberwolves were right to accept the Jimmy Butler offer put forth by the Philadelphia 76ers.

By now, pretty much everyone has had the opportunity to digest, analyze and express their feelings about the trade that sent All-Star Jimmy Butler from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Philadelphia 76ers.

A lot of the talk has been about how Butler will impact his new team, and for good reason. He joins two other top players in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons to form one of the games scariest Big 3s, which should only add more intrigue to the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Every trade has at least two teams, though, and the Wolves were the ones who just so happened to send Butler elsewhere. In return, they didn’t find an exact replacement. Rather, they acquired three solid veterans in Robert Covington, Dario Saric, Jerryd Bayless and a second round pick.

In the aftermath of this blockbuster deal, it was reported by The Athletic‘s Shams Charania that a trio of other teams had put their names into the Jimmy sweepstakes with various offers of their own.

After taking Josh Richardson off the table, the Miami Heat offered Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow and a first round pick. The New Orleans Pelicans, desperate to find a co-star for Anthony Davis, went with Nikola Mirotic and an unprotected first-rounder. Aside from their unheralded mega-offer of four first round picks, the Houston Rockets countered with Eric Gordon, Nene and two first round selections.

When it comes to dealing a player with the talent of a Jimmy Butler, one would obviously prefer to get a return of equal value. None of these deals really provided that, but one could make an argument for each of these as the trade Minnesota should’ve taken.

The one asset everyone points to is that first round pick the Wolves failed to acquire from the Sixers, which by some logic makes this deal a failed one.

Picks are always nice in theory, but rarely do they pan out the way teams hope. Ideally, you’d find a diamond in the rough, the next Tony Parker or Jimmy Butler (irony), but more often than not, said player winds up making little to no impact in the long-term.

Even if they managed to shop Jeff Teague, taking on Dragic — at 32 years of age — makes little sense, while Winslow’s lack of shooting makes him an awkward fit next to Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Both Eric Gordon and Nikola Mirotic would slide perfectly into the starting lineup as elite floor-spacers, but the former will turn 31 on Christmas while the latter’s contract is up after this season.

In Robert Covington, the Timberwolves have one of the better 3-and-D guys to replace Butler, and he just signed an extension locking him in until 2022. While he’s struggled shooting the ball so far, Saric shot nearly 40 percent from deep last season and is likely to creep back to that number in the future. Up for an extension this summer, he’ll probably be in the Twin Cities for the foreseeable future as well.

Due to their depth at point guard, Bayless may not play much, but his $8.5 million salary comes off the books this summer, freeing up some money for Minnesota to upgrade other parts of its roster.

Tom Thibodeau could’ve helped this team and his job by making sure they could compete now, but in this deal, he struck a great middle ground by acquiring two young talented pieces that fit perfectly next to the current core, both of whom will be locked up on team-friendly deals.

For a team with a foot in both in the present and future, it fits all the criteria in ways those other offers couldn’t.