Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: G Ricky Rubio, G/F Jarrett Culver

Minnesota Timberwolves Receive: F Taurean Prince, F Cedi Osman, HOU 2022 2nd Round Pick (via CLE)

The Minnesota Timberwolves currently sit in last-place in the Western Conference and the Cleveland Cavaliers are 13th in the Eastern Conference standings, which is why both teams will be looking for ways to improve in the offseason. 

While both teams do have building blocks in place to potentially find future success, they are both still years away from reaching their full potential, which is why this trade could peak some interest for both organizations. 

While they do have Collin Sexton and Darius Garland in their backcourt, the Cavaliers really do not have any reliable backcourt options behind them, which is exactly where a veteran guy like Ricky Rubio could fit in. Not to mention, Culver is a young, athletic wing who the Cavaliers were reportedly interested in ahead of this year’s trade deadline. 

According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, the Cavaliers had expressed interest in Jarrett Culver ahead of this year’s trade deadline and the Cavs were interested in him during his pre-draft workouts ahead of the 2019 NBA Draft. 

For Minnesota, they need to find ways to improve their bench and their second-unit, which is why Cedi Osman and Taurean Prince are included in this deal. Since being traded to the Cavaliers as part of the James Harden to the Nets deal back in January, Taurean Prince has carved out a key role in Cleveland’s rotation. 

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In 27 games with the Cavaliers, Prince has averaged 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and has shot 42.5% from three-point range. His versatility as a low-post and perimeter defend is what makes him an intriguing player and the fact that he is only 27-years-old is also a bonus. 

Cedi Osman is another experienced player that may not make much of an impact defensively, but he has shown flashes of his offensive abilities. When LeBron James left Cleveland in 2018, Cedi Osman stepped into the full-time role for the Cavs at the small-forward position and has found quite a bit of success. 

He has averaged 12.1 points per game and has shot 34.7% from three-point range since LeBron departed from the Cavaliers. This is exactly the kind of production the Timberwolves could utilize in their rotations, especially if they can get this kind of production from Osman off-the-bench. 

Now, let’s take a look at both the Cavaliers and Timberwolves as a whole and truly see if this trade is not only feasible for both of them, but if it makes sense for the direction both franchises are trending towards.