Minnesota Timberwolves stand pat at NBA trading deadline
Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves blocks Josh Giddey #3 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the fourth quarter at Target Center on January 5, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Harrison Barden/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS - The NBA trading deadline passed at 2 p.m. Thursday, and the Minnesota Timberwolves could not have been quieter as teams around the league made last-minute deals.
For months, rumors swirled about the Timberwolves being one of several teams interested in Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons. He was dealt Thursday as part of a blockbuster trade that also sent Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first round picks to the Brooklyn Nets for James Harden and Paul Millsap.
On the Timberwolves’ front, no moves were made. They’re standing pat at 29-26, in the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference after a 132-119 loss to the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night. It snapped a five-game win streak for Minnesota, which included a 134-114 win over the same Kings Tuesday night.
The Timberwolves are 1.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference, and need to jump a spot with 26 regular season games remaining to avoid a play-in series. The Timberwolves have been to the Western Conference Playoffs once since Kevin Garnett led the franchise to the conference finals in 2004.
Their current 29 wins matches or exceeds win totals for nine seasons since that run. Their last playoff run, led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler, ended in an opening round loss to the Houston Rockets. The current Timberwolves are going to ride the trio of Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell along with valuable bench pieces to what they hope is the first of several playoff appearances.
The Timberwolves stay on the road to face the Chicago Bulls Friday night.