Getty Anthony Edwards has the Wolves back in the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2004.
Former NBA Champion Kendrick Perkins has proposed a trade that would see the Pelicans send All-Star forward Brandon Ingram to the Timberwolves in exchange for Rudy Gobert.
In an interview with Scoop Robinson on June 5, Perkins argued that Ingram “needed a fresh start” and would be a solid addition next to fellow All-Stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota.
“To be honest, B.I. fits in a lot of places,” Perkins said of Ingram potentially changing teams in the 2024-25 season. “But I’m looking at Minnesota, I’m, like, B.I. [would] fit in Minnesota. I like that. You [Timberwolves] may have to give something up. Do you challenge Karl-Anthony Towns to play the five position? Get rid of Rudy? You see if New Orleans would take [Gobert] and get B.I. over there [in Minnesota]?”
Kendrick Perkins thinks the Timberwolves should consider trading Rudy Gobert for Brandon Ingram
(🎥 @ScoopB )
Ingram Would Fit Minnesota’s Timeline
If Perkins’ trade proposal came to fruition, Ingram could prove to be the ideal fit next to a young Timberwolves squad. Minnesota’s main core of Edwards, 22, Jaden McDaniels, 23 and Naz Reid, 24, have barely scratched the surface of their potential, and Karl-Anthony Towns, 28, is still in his prime. Ingram, 26, is closer to Towns’ age but is viewed as a more polished player, at least on the offensive side of the ball.
Ingram could unlock a lot of the Timberwolves’ offensive woes that were seemingly exposed during the 2024 Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Over the course of the five games, the Timberwolves managed only 105 points per game, eight fewer than their regular-season average of 113 points. Even worse, they averaged only 24.2 points in the fourth quarter in the playoffs against the Mavericks, another indicator of their late-game offensive struggles.
Ingram, a certified bucket, could share the load with Edwards, who carried the Timberwolves through the 2024 Playoffs as the primary scoring option.
Time for Timberwolves to Trade Rudy Gobert?
Gobert proved a lot of detractors wrong during the first two rounds of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, leading all teams in plus-minus as a defensive presence for the T’Wolves. However, as the postseason progressed, Kendrick Perkins among other analysts criticized Gobert’s play and concluded that the Frenchman was not a good fit next to fellow big men Towns and Reid — especially in the modern NBA.
During the May 27 episode of “First Take” on ESPN, Perkins said voting for Gobert as the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year was the “biggest regret” of his media career.
“Me voting this season for Rudy Gobert is an embarrassment for me, for Defensive Player of the Year,” Perkins said, via BasketNews. “He’s the first player that we see every single time in the postseason that becomes a defensive liability. Don’t come giving me analytics, don’t come giving me these plus-minus stats because that’s the most overrated stat in the NBA. When I look at Rudy, he has tarnished the Defensive Player of the Year award. He has. He’s not respected by his peers.”
“We saw what happened to him in the Denver series, he couldn’t even guard the person at his position. Karl-Anthony Towns did a better job at that. What is he doing right now? When you look at this series right now, do we realize that Rudy has three blocks in three games? He’s averaging one block per game at 7’3”. Unacceptable.”
.@KendrickPerkins goes OFF on Rudy Gobert 👀
“He’s the first player that we see every single time in the postseason that becomes a defensive liability. … He has tarnished the Defensive Player of the Year award.”
While Ingram is on the expiring year of his five-year, $158 million contract, Gobert has two years left on the five-year, $205 million extension he signed with the Jazz in 2020.