Sudden wave of Timberwolves and Scoot Henderson talk
Have you noticed a surge of Timberwolves and Scoot Henderson talk in the online echo chamber that is Twitter? What's up with that? Minnesota doesn't have a first-round pick and Henderson is expected to go second or third overall in the June 22 NBA Draft.
The juicy talker is the result of Timberwolves blogging site Canis Hoopus publishing a story titled, Why Should the Wolves Do Everything Possible to Acquire Scoot Henderson?
It's fueled talk about what a seemingly impossible scenario in which the Wolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns for a high pick, which they use to get Henderson. Even the writers, Jack Borman and Tyler Metcalf, recognize the reality of the situation, calling it "dream in a vacuum." But let's hear them out...
"Both the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, want to be competitive and will explore moving their selections for a win-now player. The Charlotte Hornets hold the No. 2 pick, but already have an All-Star point guard in LaMelo Ball, so they could pick Brandon Miller and allow big-time point guard prospect Scoot Henderson to fall to No. 3."
So, yeah, in this scenario, Wembanyama goes first to the Spurs and the Hornets take Arizona forward Brandon Miller second overall. That leaves the door open for a potential trade for any team who wants Henderson. If Portland doesn't trade the pick, it would be shocking to see Houston pass on him at No. 4 because they need a point guard to pair with Jalen Green.
But if it's true that Portland wants to deal the third pick for experienced, star-caliber talent and go for broke with Damian Lillard nearing the end of his contract, then Towns makes sense.
Towns turns 28 in November and is entering the first year of his supermax contract that will pay him $50+ million each season from 2023-24 to 2027-28. But Towns can't be traded until July 7, which means any deal with the Blazers would have to be a handshake agreement in which the Wolves promise them Towns and the Blazers pick Henderson on Minnesota's behalf.
Canius Hoopus presented two mock trades, one a straight up deal between the Wolves and Blazers and the other a three team deal that adds in the Boston Celtics. In the Wolves-Blazers deal, they suggest the Wolves give up KAT for Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little and the No. 3 overall pick.
In the three team mock trade, the...
- Wolves get: Anfernee Simons, Nassir Little, Luke Kormet, No. 3 overall pick
- Blazers get: Jaylen Brown, Al Horford
- Celtics get: Karl-Anthony Towns, Taurean Prince, Portland 2026 first-round pick
Dissect that however you want, but the sticking point is how the Timberwolves would construct a starting lineup with Simons, Anthony Edwards and Henderson.
Henderson might have All-Star potential and comps to Russell Westbrook and Derek Rose, but Simons is a soon-to-be 24-year-old true point guard who has been playing out of position in Portland. He's a $100 million guard and he's not going to be cool coming off the bench in Minnesota, so the only way to make it work would be going very small with Henderson (6'2''), Simons (6'3''), Edwards (6'4''), Jaden McDaniels (6'9'') and Rudy Gobert (7'1'') in the starting lineup.
Sorry, but that's a problem because if the Timberwolves trade Towns they are almost guaranteed to bring Naz Reid back on a new contract. Reid's return has to be attached to a starting role because he's an unrestricted free agent and could sign elsewhere for a guaranteed starting job. If the Wolves really want Reid back, it probably means Towns has to go. We wrote a lot about that right here.
So either way, Simons or Reid off the bench might not work. That begs the question: Could the Wolves acquire Simons in the Canis Hoopus trade idea and then deal Simons to another team to bolster the roster and get a future first-round pick?
Simons, who has three years and $77 million left on his contract, averaged 21.1 points and shot 37.7% from 3 last season. But he was playing out of position and he flashed his true potential in 11 games without Lillard when he averaged 28 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while shooting 41% from deep.
"As I think about a potential Wolves-Blazers trade that is set on the foundation of Scoot going out from Portland and KAT going out from Minnesota, I don't know why Portland doesn't push extremely hard to make [Jusuf] Nurkic the filler salary in that versus Simons," said Dane Moore on his podcast Tuesday. "It goes from a no-brainer to a 'why the hell would you do that?' if you're the Wolves.'"
Nurkic has three years and $54 million left on his deal. It's not cheap but it's not overwhelming and it would give Gobert a solid backup center, keep Reid in the starting lineup and eliminate the roster issue of trying to get Henderson, Simons and Edwards on the floor at the same time.
Either way, Simons or Nurkic, the starting lineup by dealing KAT for the third pick would net a hypothetical starting lineup featuring Henderson, Edwards, McDaniels, Reid and Gobert, all while still having the ability to trade Mike Conley ($24 million base salary in 2023-24) for players who fit the roster.
Again, it might all be a pipe dream but it's one worthy of deep discussion.
