Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 potential trades involving No. 5 pick
By Tony Pesta
2. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves have had the luxury of seeing three No. 1 overall picks from this decade play on their roster. Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett have all suited up for the Wolves in recent years, but only Towns has shown any significant promise.
As a result, Minnesota is stuck on the outside of the playoffs looking in.
Despite Towns putting up 24.4 points and 12.4 rebounds per game this season, the Wolves finished 12 games out of the postseason picture.
Even an early-season trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers for Robert Covington and Dario Saric wasn’t enough to push the Wolves over the hump. This is enough to motivate the front office to return to the whiteboard and trade up in the draft to acquire more young talent.
The Cavaliers would be sending plenty of young talent to the Wolves in this trade. In addition to the fifth overall pick, Cleveland would send Jordan Clarkson, Cedi Osman and Matthew Dellavedova.
Clarkson is fresh off of a career-high 16.8 points per game while Cedi was selected to the NBA Rising Stars game. The Wolves would be receiving a nice package to help build around Towns.
Meanwhile, Cleveland secures an elite 3-and-D player in Covington. At only 28, Covington could become a long-term face of the franchise and be a key role player in the rebuild.
Meanwhile, Gorgui Dieng helps add more depth to the Cavs’ center position while the 11th pick again gives them an excuse to take risks in this year’s draft.