The Minnesota Timberwolves are hoping for a bounce back season after dealing with injuries to players Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio and the first stop for the team in the offseason is the NBA draft, which is on Thursday and already the team has been mentioned in trade rumors.
The Timberwolves have made it known they are willing to trade out of the number nine spot and the team could go up or down in the draft depending on what Flip Saunders sees in some players. Some reports say that Saunders is enamored with Indiana star Victor Oladipo, but if the team wants to select him they likely will have to make a trade, as he is considered a top five talent in this draft.
Ahead of the draft there have also been other rumors involving the team, including a trade with the Brooklyn Nets for guard MarShon Brooks. The deal would likely send one of the draft picks to the Nets and since the team has the number nine and number 26 picks, the latter one is likely the one getting moved. The Nets have a glut of players at the position with C.J. Watson and Joe Johnson and Brooks suffered a loss in playing time, coming from 30 minutes a game to just 12.5 minutes last year and now he could be on the move.
He averaged 12.6 points as a rookie and while the trade seems a bit odd at this point, it could be a solid move for the Wolves, who need some more depth at the position. The Timberwolves have the ammo to move up if they want to and if Saunders likes Oladipo so much, he could try to deal. The team also is looking at Alex Len and Shabazz Muhammad and the UCLA star could be a perfect for the young core of the team. The Timberwolves have extra firepower in the second round with the No. 52 and No. 59 picks and that could be added into a deal as well.
The team picked Derrick Williams two years ago with their pick and while he has been mentioned in rumors as well, it looks like he is staying put. The team only got a handful of games from Kevin Love last season and with his return and Ricky Rubio back in the lineup, a promising rookie could make all of the difference.