Yet another team has emerged as a potential partner for teams hoping to trade up in the 2020 NBA Draft, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor.
The Minnesota Timberwolves will entertain the option of moving back in the draft — widely seen as having little in the way of superstar-projected prospects if plenty of high-floor players — if the right partner emerges ahead of the draft to move back.
O’Connor is hearing from league executives that “the Timberwolves prefer to trade down or out of this pick to bring in a win-now player to help Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell,” and while Boston could indeed trade them a “win now” player, it would have to be a player exceedingly unlikely to be moved.
Cavs might want to trade down from No. 5; could Celtics be an option? https://t.co/nodoWHMuuH
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 25, 2020
While you might think it the perfect situation for the Celtics, the league calendar disagrees; with Hayward’s decision date not coming until after the 2020 NBA Draft — probably by several weeks — the Butler product would be off the table, at least on draft night.
All-Star point guard Kemba Walker could, at least in theory, be that player, but between the optics on Boston’s side, effectively punting on a year of contention and fit (while it wouldn’t be the worst defense in the NBA, it would probably be the worst one not actually built to be bad), it seems unlikely at best.
Still, if nothing else, it should be seen as another data point suggesting that moving up in general — if not to the No. 1 overall pick — is quite probably within Boston’s reach.
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