What the Kyrie Irving trade means for the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves have officially lost out on Kyrie Irving.
It was widely speculated for a while that Kyrie Irving would end up as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The All-Star point guard wanted to be traded away from LeBron James and listed Minnesota as one of his preferred landing spots. Irving didn’t end up in one of his reported preferred spots.
The NBA world was rocked on Tuesday evening, when the report came down that the Cleveland Cavaliers would be trading Irving to the conference rival Boston Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and Brooklyn’s 2018 unprotected first-round pick, according to ESPN.
If the Timberwolves weren’t going to include Andrew Wiggins in a trade for Irving, there is no way that Minnesota would’ve been able to match the package that Boston sent to Cleveland. That is even including when the moratorium on trading new players would end in a couple months into the season. A package that would have Jeff Teague as the main piece wouldn’t really compare with Thomas, Crowder and a pick.
The fallout for the Timberwolves
This means a couple things for the Timberwolves. First, Teague is now officially the starting point guard for Minnesota. The only other point guard on the roster currently is Tyus Jones. Look for Jimmy Butler to be bringing the ball up the court a lot, especially when Teague is out of the game.
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Second, most importantly, this means that Andrew Wiggins needs to step up his game and develop into a star. Minnesota didn’t pull the trigger on a deal because they believe in Wiggins becoming a stud with the team. The Wolves are betting on the potential of Wiggins instead of the already proven star talent of Irving.
Third, it’s officially the Jimmy Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns show for now. Minnesota will be a playoff team and they will be led by two superstars instead of a potential three right away.
All-in-all, I think the Timberwolves will be more than fine without Irving. Irving being sent to Chicago just simply puts some things in concrete for Tom Thibodeau and the Wolves.
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