This is somewhat mundane news, but the Timberwolves have traded Trenton Hassell, a defensive specialist and swingman, to Dallas. Hassell was part of a big log-jam of shooting guards on the roster but he could defend small forwards (who in the modern NBA are really just big guards). Hassell had been a run of the mill scoring guard when he came up with the Bulls, but he became a great defensive player to carve out a niche for himself, earning a long, lucrative contract from the Timberwolves. Then the league changed certain defensive rules and he became a lot less intimidating, and the Wolves had yet another guy signed to a long, lucrative contract for more than he was worth. The Timberwolves have had a lot of money tied up in role players like Hassell, Madsen, and Hudson, not to mention Garnett's contract (for more than the league's maximum salary) that they could never make any move to improve beyond mediocrity, so the prospect of moving these guys out and accelerating the youth movement has me a bit excited.
What's strange is the guy they got from the Mavs in the trade (Greg Buckner) plays the same position, only he's older and on paper has even less production than Hassell. The only purpose to the trade so far is the Wolves save $800K a year and that's enough to keep them under the luxury tax threshold after signing their draft picks. One potential upside is Buckner has less guaranteed years on his contract, even though he has more years left on it overall, so he can be cut a year earlier than Hassell and as his contract nears that point it gains trade value for others looking to dump salary. If this is what the Wolves had in mind as part of a multi-year rebuilding project, this is one baby-step closer to digging themselves out of the hole they were in. I liked Hassell and Madsen and some of the other Wolves of the last few years, but I was so frustrated by last year I would like to see a complete turnover of the roster. (For the first time in a decade, I didn't even enjoy the games I went to last season.) Supposedly Juwan Howard wants to be traded as well, despite only being a Timberwolf since June, claiming he doesn't want to stick around into his late 30's watching the young roster grow up... so more moves should be on the way.
(If it seems like I'm a little intent on a relatively minor transaction, it's because I'm focusing on any Minnesota sports story to keep my mind off tomorrow's Vikings-Packers game I'm basically dreading attending.)
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