Why the Timberwolves Not Trading for Kawhi Is a Good Thing

Leonard is still a great player at his age, but he is not what Minnesota truly needed to aquire this summer.

Kawhi Leonard is still a great player, but it is a good thing the Timberwolves—who reportedly had interest in trading for him this summer—did not land him. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Tim Connelly knows that until the Timberwolves win it all, he must keep shuffling things around to assemble a team capable of winning a title and promoting the best out of his superstar, Anthony Edwards.

Sometimes, Connelly shuffles his cards by making low-wattage moves, such as a trade for Monte Morris or signing Kyle Anderson. Other times, Connelly swings for the fences.

LaMelo Ball's arrival brings a refreshed outlook to the Timberwolves. He is a constant source of positive energy that Minnesota hopes will remain illuminating for years to come. However, a different star player could have landed in Minnesota this summer. A star much different than Ball.

Shams Charania recently reported that the Wolves, along with the Pistons, were among the teams interested in trading for seven-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard this summer before he ultimately returned to the Toronto Raptors via a long and drawn-out trade with the LA Clippers.

Not only did the Wolves want to acquire Leonard, but Charania also reported that they wanted to extend the 35-year-old's contract.

It is a very good thing that didn't happen.

Kawhi is not what the Wolves needed

Leonard is still one of the NBA’s top two-way players. Last season in LA, he averaged 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on 50.5% from the floor and 38.7% from deep during 32.1 minutes across 65 games. He made his seventh All-Star team and finished seventh in MVP voting.

Defensively, Leonard partnering up with Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert would have formed one of the NBA’s most herculean triads on that side of the floor. Leonard would have given Chris Finch more flexibility in where and how he could deploy McDaniels on defense. Leonard, with his 6’7” frame and 7’3” wingspan, would have also given Finch a Hall of Fame defender to throw at Victor Wembanyama and other bigger frontcourt players who can space the floor.

Financially, the Wolves could have acquired Leonard’s $50 million expiring salary by trading Julius Randle and Naz Reid. But in doing so, Minnesota would have had minimal cap space remaining, with its biggest question from last season still looming heavily over its head:

Who in the world is the starting point guard?

Leonard took 19.4 shots per game last season. He has always been the type of offensive talent who you want to take as many shots as possible. But we have seen what another polarizing, high-volume, high-isolation scoring forward has looked like next to Edwards.

Julius Randle is a high-volume scorer. Kawhi Leonard is similar in that way, which is why it is a good thing that the Timberwolves did not acquire LA's star this summer. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Leonard is much more of a face-up scorer than the post-up scorer that Randle is. In every way possible aside from passing, Leonard is a better player than Randle. However, their games are similar. They are both high-volume, high-isolation forwards. 

Leonard pairing up with Edwards, while the raw scoring ability between them is tantalizing, would likely lead to similar possessions to the ones Edwards and Randle generated, where ball movement dried up and no meaningful, repeatable two-man game emerged.

Ball uniquely and very effectively blends his scoring with elite-level passing. He is much more what the Wolves need offensively than Leonard. There is a world where Ball can develop a two-man game with Edwards, and both of them together—not at different times—can lead Minnesota’s offense. Not just for this season and next, but for the foreseeable future because of the shared timeline they are on.

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Additionally, I don’t think the Wolves would have benefited from Leonard’s quiet, keep-to-himself demeanor.

He leads by example, but is not the type of energy beacon that Ball is. LaMelo is not necessarily a mature, veteran leader. But he does bring a consistently energized presence, which should help keep Minnesota’s morale up during the season and keep players closer.

Leonard’s reserved façade doesn’t detract from the superstar that he is, but I don’t believe his mentality would have fit well for a Wolves team trying to mature and have more fun along the way if that goal.

An extension would be concerning

In any package the Wolves would have sent out for Leonard, they would not have wanted the relationship to be a one-year rental. Therefore, Charania’s report that the Wolves were among the teams that wanted to extend Leonard after acquiring him makes sense.

However, doing so would have been concerning and directly opposite to the path the Wolves have taken this summer.

Extending Leonard would have once again shortened Minnesota’s long-term ceiling with Edwards, which has been something Connelly and his staff have been seemingly trying to avoid since they traded Towns to New York. 

This summer, the Wolves have shifted their focus to their 26-and-under core, which features players such as Joan Beringer (19, and will be in the rotation), Terrence Shannon Jr. (26, and will be a key part off the bench), Jaylen Clark (24, and a reliable lock-down defender), Ayo Dosunmu (26, and a highly efficient scorer), and obviously Edwards and McDaniels. Jonathan Kuminga, 23, also fits within that timeline, but the Wolves probably would not have signed him had they traded for Leonard.

Bringing in Ball—who is under contract for the next three seasons—fits perfectly with Minnesota’s timeline. Leonard, despite his continued greatness into his mid-30s, runs counter to Minnesota’s youth movement. 

He is not what the Wolves truly needed to acquire this summer.

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