Report: 76ers’ Thaddeus Young going to Timberwolves in Kevin Love trade: http://t.co/NfUIznkmaJ pic.twitter.com/rHL8UCffhx
— NBC Sports Bet (@NBCSportsBet) August 8, 2014
The Timberwolves will trade 2013 No. 1 overall pick and current Cleveland Cavalier Anthony Bennett for Philadelphia’s Thaddeus Young, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
This report comes out about 24 hours after Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Timberwolves and Cavaliers have agreed to a deal in principle to send Kevin Love to the Cavs for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a 2015 first round pick.
The Love deal is in principle because Wiggins cannot be traded until August 23 due to the 2014 No. 1 overall pick signing his rookie contract on July 25. Once a player signs their rookie contract, they cannot be traded for 30 days.
While the Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Wolves and 76ers have a deal, Tom Moore of the Bucks County Courier Times says the Wolves and 76ers may not be able to make this deal separate to the Love deal.
To be clear: #Sixers cannot acquire Bennett & other player for Young unless they wait 60 days – or it is a 3-team deal.
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) August 7, 2014
The Wolves have had their on eye on Young for a while. Marc Stein of ESPN reported on July 28 that the Wolves were interested in trading with the 76ers for Young.
If the Wolves are able to acquire Young, he would be the obvious choice to replace Love as the Wolves starting power forward. Young averaged 17.9 points per game last season, the highest total of his career.
Young was drafted 12th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft, and has two years left in his contract. However, the 26-year-old can opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Having Young instead of Bennett would seem to be an upgrade for the Wolves. Bennett struggled in his only season for the Cavs, averaging 4.2 points and 3 rebounds per game. He scored double-digit points in only six games last season.
Just as a reminder, neither this nor the Love deal can be formally completed until August 23.
