During a recent appearance on Skor North’s “Minnesota Sports with Mackey & Judd,” Darren Wolfson of KSTP noted that the Minnesota Timberwolves “really like” San Antonio Spurs veteran Doug McDermott ahead of the February 8 trade deadline. The 32-year-old forward has been a solid contributor for the Spurs this season. (H/t Nolan O’Hara of All Timberwolves)
Minnesota shoots the second-best percentage in the league from behind the three-point line at 39.1%, but they take the fourth-fewest attempts per game at 31.5. Adding a guy like McDermott could help them improve their three-point volume while spacing the floor for Anthony Edwards to work, and he could also provide them with another veteran presence heading into the postseason.
Wolfson also noted that the Timberwolves’ interest was piqued during the Spurs’ recent win over Minnesota, in which McDermott played well.
“We saw [McDermott] light up the Wolves, to some extent, on Saturday. … That’s what the Wolves are looking for is three-point shooting as much as anything,” Wolfson said.
In the Spurs’ win over the Timberwolves on January 27, McDermott finished with nine points, one rebound, and one assist while shooting 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc.
McDermott is an expiring contract this year and makes $13.75 million, meaning the Timberwolves would have to match that mark in a trade.
For Minnesota, that would likely mean sending out some rotation pieces. Kyle Anderson would have to be included in the deal unless the Timberwolves wanted to move on from Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Shake Milton, and Troy Brown Jr. in the same package. And that’s without even considering whether or not the Spurs would want draft capital in return for McDermott.
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