On paper, the Minnesota Timberwolves certainly have a lot to feel good about. With Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell, and Anthony Edwards, they have a solid core from which to build a solid team around.
Under their new head coach, Chris Finch, they finally have a guy who might stick around for more than a few seasons.
Best of all if the elimination of the “toxic” culture from within the organization, much of which apparently stemmed from ex-team President Gersson Rosas, who was reported to have “inappropriate relationships.”
With all of these changes, many have wondered how their pursuit of disgruntled star Ben Simmons might change.
According to Timberwolves team insider Darren Wolfson of SKOR North, the likelihood they pull off a deal has only gone up with the news that Sachin Gupta will be taking over as the new President.
“He may want Ben Simmons more than Gersson Rosas wanted Ben Simmons,” Wolfson said (starts at the 29:00 mark). “… I’m convinced Gupta wants Ben Simmons. He is going to try. He’s going to work his ass off to try to acquire Ben Simmons.”
The TWolves have been involved in trade talks for a while now, but it seems dialogue never got very far. As reported earlier this month, the team was reluctant to trade any member of their core three in a deal.
“They want a premium for [Simmons],” Krawczynski said of the Sixers on the “Athletic NBA Show” podcast on Friday. “Someone that can help them right away. But the Timberwolves don’t want to trade Anthony Edwards or Karl-Anthony towns. Those are those are deal-breakers. And they really would rather not trade D’Angelo Russell.”
With things at a standstill, it’s certainly possible that the Wolves approach trade talks with new expectations.
Either way, don’t be surprised if Simmons ends up a Sixers before the end of the month.
