Thaddeus Young's name is once again being pushed to the front in trade rumors. The Philadelphia 76ers have been down this route before. The end result was moving Evan Turner instead and keeping Young on the roster. While the 76ers have stated they fully expect Young to start next season, recent negotiations have shown that might not be the case. As the race for Kevin Love continues, Young's name is at the center of the talks.
Young could be traded whether it be to the Minnesota Timberwovles in a deal for Love or not. Philadelphia already has plenty of cap space, but is looking or other assets and draft picks as well. Right now, ESPN is reporting that the Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping to get the 76ers and Young involved in deal with the Timberwolves that would send Dion Waiters to Philadelphia and Young to Minnesota along with Love going to Cleveland. While that deal has been in the works or not, Minnesota might attempt to acquire Young whether Love is involved or not.
The Timberwolves like the idea of replacing Love with Young even though filling the stats of the forward would be a tall task for anyone. Young has done everything he needs to in his young career. He has steadily increased his stats, putting up a career-high 17.9 points per game along with averaging six rebounds and 2.3 assists. The 26-year-old would be the young player the Timberwolves would hope to retain and build on, but general manager Sam Hinkie is not ready to let Young go just yet.
"We talked a lot about stability, and how he can sort of play a role there, and how we thought he had real value to us as a veteran on this team, as a leader for us, as a leader of teaching all these young guys how to be pros and how the NBA works and sometimes how the world works," Hinkie said, via CSNPhilly.com.
The Timberwolves are not the only team with their eye on Young. According to Nate Duncan of BasketballInsiders.com, the Charlotte Bobcats would ideally like to trade for the forward and would be willing to offer Cody Zeller, Gerald Henderson and a draft pick for him. That deal would not be bad for the 76ers considering both Zeller and Henderson have friendly contracts to their name.
Philadelphia is getting plenty of pressure from Cleveland to make a deal happen. The Cavaliers will have to offer much more than just Waiters for the trade to work. Former No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett could be thrown in considering how little he did last season. The Cavaliers getting Love without giving up Wiggins rests on the availability of Young.