Domantas Sabonis may be on the move, but the Minnesota Timberwolves should stay far away.
ESPN’s Tim McMahon reported that the Sacramento Kings big man is unhappy and wants out, a situation that makes plenty of sense given Sacramento’s timeline. The Kings are still years from being a playoff-caliber team, and Sabonis is 30. He does not want to spend the rest of his prime in a rebuild.
That reality has sparked some social media chatter about Minnesota, especially with Rudy Gobert’s offensive limitations drawing fresh attention early in the season. The idea is simple enough on paper: swap in a center who can score more. In practice, it would be a mess.
The Wolves would be making the wrong kind of trade if they chased Sabonis. His game brings real value, but it also comes with the kind of flaws that are brutally hard to hide in the postseason.
He’s an elite rebounder and a high-IQ passer, and that’s exactly why he draws interest. But he doesn’t protect the rim, and his scoring profile is far more limited than the raw shooting numbers suggest.
Sabonis is listed at 50 percent from 3-point range this season, but that comes with a tiny sample: seven games, two attempts, one make. Teams are not defending him like a real perimeter threat.
That matters. A lot.
Minnesota also doesn’t need the things Sabonis does best nearly as much as it might seem. The Wolves already have strong rebounding, and they already have playmaking in the mix with LaMelo Ball now on the roster, plus Anthony Edwards handling plenty of usage. Sabonis would be overlapping with strengths the team already has.
Gobert’s offensive issues have been annoying, no question. But his defensive value and work on the glass have still made him useful, especially with Edwards out for a while. That’s the key difference here: Gobert’s weaknesses are easier to live with than Sabonis’ defensive shortcomings.
Swapping Gobert for Sabonis would not raise Minnesota’s ceiling. It would lower both the floor and the upside.
As Edwards and Ball move deeper into their primes, the Wolves need pieces that sharpen the roster around them. Sabonis doesn’t do that.
He may well get traded. Other teams can make the case. Minnesota cannot.
In Other News...
LaMelo Ball Just Showed Why The Timberwolves Needed This Trade
LaMelo Balls arrival in Minnesota already comes with the kind of upside the Timberwolves were hoping for when they made the move, even if the early returns have been uneven. Through his first stretch with the team, he has averaged 14.4 points and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 39.5% from the field, a reminder that the talent is obvious even as the fit and rhythm are still taking shape.
On Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks, Ball offered another glimpse of why Minnesota took the swing, getting hot from deep early and adding a new line to his rsum along the way. The bigger question for the Timberwolves is whether this is the start of a steadier run for a player whose recent seasons have been interrupted by injury, the same concern that helped push Charlotte to move on. [Read more 🡒]
Joan Beringer Is Giving The Wolves An Edge They Suddenly Need
Joan Beringer has given Minnesota something it has needed in a hurry: extra possessions. The 7-foot second-year big has turned limited minutes into a real edge on the glass, using his size and activity to keep plays alive and create second chances for a Timberwolves group that can use every clean look it can get.
Beringers work has mattered even more with Anthony Edwards sidelined, when scoring becomes harder to come by and every offensive rebound feels bigger. In a recent game against Milwaukee, he was a force around the rim in just a brief stint, the kind of energy play that can swing a stretch of a game even before the box score fully catches up. [Read more 🡒]
Rudy Gobert Just Gave Timberwolves Fans Another Reason To Boil
Rudy Gobert has been a lightning rod for Timberwolves fans before, and a rough sequence against Milwaukee only turned the temperature up again. In a game that had Minnesota in control, Gobert was part of a defensive breakdown that left supporters venting online, with the reaction quickly spilling into the usual mix of frustration and second-guessing that follows him whenever a play goes sideways.
Gobert still did enough in the box score to help Minnesota stay ahead, but the conversation around him has become bigger than one possession. For a player whose value is supposed to start with rim protection and defensive presence, every lapse gets magnified, and this latest one gave critics another opening while the Timberwolves kept pushing toward the finish. [Read more 🡒]