New Orleans Pelicans Receive: C Karl-Anthony Towns
Minnesota Timberwolves Receive: G Lonzo Ball, C Jaxson Hayes, LAL 2021 1st Round Pick (Protected 8-30, LAL 2022 1st conveys unprotected), NOP 2022 1st Round Pick (unprotected), NOP 2023 1st Round Pick (Swap, More Favorable), NOP 2024 1st Round Pick (unprotected), NOP 2025 1st Round Pick (Swap, More Favorable)
The Pelicans know a thing or two about making big time trades, as they have been involved in two big trades over the last two offseasons. Two offseasons ago, they traded Anthony Davis to the Lakers in a huge trade that resulted in the Lakers winning a championship and prior to the start of this season, they traded away Jrue Holiday to the Bucks for a massive overhaul of draft compensation.
Now, the Pelicans may be ready to flip the script and become the “buyers” in a big time trade scenario. They have the young talents and draft compensation to be able to pull off this kind of trade, the only question is if they would be able to get the Timberwolves to commit.
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Lonzo Ball is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason, giving the Pelicans to match any offer any other team in the league offers Ball, assuming he signs an offer sheet with another team, but could the Pelicans use him as trade bait for Karl-Anthony Towns in this deal? They would have to get a commitment from Ball ahead of time and let him know this would be a sign-and-trade agreement, but if he is going to be offered $20M+ a season, then why wouldn’t he agree to this?
Aside from Lonzo Ball, Jaxson Hayes, three first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps also bring a ton of value to the Timberwolves in this deal. Hayes is a young, versatile, athletic center with a ton of potential to grow into a special frontcourt talent and with a load of draft picks over the next several years, the T-Wolves would have the ability to build and grow one of the best young cores in the entire league.
This is definitely a very intriguing and interesting trade package the Pelicans could put together and offer to the Timberwolves, but everything will go back to whether or not they will be willing to listen to offers for the All-Star big man in the offseason. If Towns does become available, this could be one of the better deals the Timberwolves could receive for him.
With that said, let’s take a look at how this trade could impact both teams and if this trade truly makes sense for both teams to come to terms on in the offseason.
