The NBA trade rumors persist for the Minnesota Timberwolves as they are being named as a disappointing team.
When you have talent such as Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, two first overall picks and you hire coach Tom Thibodeau, expectations will soar. As it is, the Lakers have a better record with considerably less talent and a freshman head coach.
The rumors state that Thibodeau, who is also involved in decision making for personnel since he is team president for basketball operations, has been pining for his former players with the Chicago Bulls. The team has since been linked to trade rumors for Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson of the Chicago Bulls and Luol Deng, a former Bull who's now with the LA Lakers.
The rumors have yet to be fulfilled but in the latest report by ESPN writer Brian Windhorst, Thibodeau has specified which player is his preference.
"On the TrueHoop podcast Tuesday night (around the 24-minute mark), ESPN's Brian Windhorst said the Wolves are calling around looking to trade for frontcourt help. Gorgui Dieng, Towns and Wiggins makeup the starting frontcourt for Minnesota, but the backups consist of Cole Aldrich, Nemanja Bjelica, Adreian Payne, Jordan Hill and Shabazz Muhammad."
The reserves don't sound impressive and the Timberwolves are stacked at the guard position. There might be a possibility of sending out a guard or swingman (Muhammad, Zach Lavine or Ricky Rubio are rumored) for a frontcourt player-preferably a veteran.
The easy answer would be Taj Gibson. He brings the veteran grit and toughness that was the trademark of Thibodeau teams. However, there might be another candidate-which could be the reason why they are waiting for December 15.
Joakim Noah has not lived up to expectations in the Big Apple and there's talk that the Knicks might move him, as the NY Post suggested.
"The elephant in the room is whether Noah's contract will haunt Jackson for all four years, considering Noah already is struggling to find a niche other than rebounding (8.9 per game).
The amnesty clause no longer exists and isn't expected in the new CBA. Noah is 31, and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf said in September he's no longer 'a front-line center.'"
Is Noah an actual option? Gibson will be a free agent at the end of the season and it would be a gamble for Thibs to trade someone like Lavine for a possible rental. Stay tuned for more developments.