Report: Timberwolves will be ‘in on’ Ben Simmons and other players in hopes of contending in Western Conference

The Minnesota Timberwolves have only made the playoffs once in the past 17 seasons. However, they are reportedly looking to put themselves into playoff contention in the Western Conference by trying to acquire Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons and other players.

“The Timberwolves pride themselves on getting involved in trade talks, and sources indicate that they will be in on Simmons in addition to a number of other players as they try to vault into playoff contention in the Western Conference,” wrote Jon Krawczynski and Danny Leroux of The Athletic.

Minnesota’s interest in Simmons has already been reported previously.

Although NBA executives might not be as high on Simmons as they used to be, the Timberwolves would surely still have to give up something of value if they were to acquire the 24-year-old. The team is reportedly not interested in giving up D’Angelo Russell in any trades.

“In Minnesota, while the Wolves would certainly need Simmons to shoot more than zero times in the fourth quarter, they wouldn’t need him to be a No. 2 option on offense,” wrote Krawczynski and Leroux. “Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell (the Timberwolves view Russell as a part of the core and want to keep it that way, sources said) give coach Chris Finch three accomplished offensive players to get buckets down the stretch.”

Simmons is coming off a season in which he averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game during the regular season. In the playoffs, he averaged 11.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. However, he struggled mightily from the charity stripe as he only shot 34.2 percent on free throws.

As for Russell, he averaged 19.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game in 42 appearances during the 2020-21 season.

It will be interesting to see what players and potential picks are involved should any type of trade occur between the two teams.