The Minnesota Timberwolves have one of the best young duos in the game in the form of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. They also did very well via free agency and the trade route, adding the likes of Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson to the mix.
Definitely an up-and-coming team out west, Minnesota’s ascension to the best the conference has to offer could be fast-tracked here soon.
As you likely already know, All-Star guard Kyrie Irving has requested a trade from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Wolves are reportedly among the teams he’s interested in joining.
Now comes this report from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who broke the original Irving story on Friday.
“League sources told ESPN that both Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns have been doing their part to recruit Irving on the idea of playing alongside them in Minnesota, and they’ve made it known to Wolves management that they want to add the Cavs star to the mix,” Windhorst reported on Saturday.
This tidbit comes following a report indicating that Irving actually demanded a trade prior to the 2017 NBA Draft back in June. The idea there was to team up with Jimmy Butler in Chicago. Now that Butler himself is in Minnesota, he’s openly recruiting his former USA Basketball teammate.
Any potential trade sending Irving to Minnesota is complicated by the fact that the Wolves signed the aforementioned Jeff Teague earlier this month. He cannot be traded until well into the 2017-18 season. That would likely force Minnesota to part with Andrew Wiggins as the centerpiece in a package for Irving.