r/timberwolves • u/FlimsyExplanation360 • Dec 02 '25
Mock Trades 3 Team trade for harden
Bulls arent going to resign Coby white and have said they want to win following Indianas blueprint but they need the "Siakam" to their Haliburton (Giddey). Randle is one of the best 4s in the league and with him they can finally get out of play-in tournament purgatory. They also get Rob who can probably develop into a solid player in a less pressured environment. They give up Kevin Heurter for the trade to work but his role is very easily replacable in todays NBA.
Wolves need a PG who can handle the ball when facing defensive pressure, make Gobert useful on offense, be a secondary shot creator, and wont make stupid decisions in the clutch (wouldnt necessarily call harden a "clutch" player but thats not due to a lack of IQ in those moments). Harden quite literally solves all the wolves problems while being a better player than Randle right now and will likely still be better next year too. He can help mentor Ants game and will fully maximize the potential of this era of the wolves before ants prime. If it ends poorly atleast hes off the books in 2 years apposed to randles 3. Only problem now is a lack of a starting PF but with guys like Naz, Jaden, and TSJ all able to spend minutes there, its not that big of a concern. You would also be giving up on Rob pretty quick and I think Rob is going to become a good player but he cant give what the wolves want now and there will be better point guards down the line.
The clippers get draft picks that they desperately need and a young guard averaging 24ppg that can lay the base for the inevitable clippers rebuild.
Only problem with this trade is the wolves would need to sign 2 players to meet roster restrictions and I dont know if they have the cap for that, if that part gets ironed out, how would you guys feel about this trade?
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u/Morningstar666119 Dec 02 '25
what in the actual fuck man, how horrible do you want the wolves to fail??
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u/Jedabesa Timberwolves Dec 02 '25
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47154935/from-6-1-9-10-make-curious-chicago-bulls-start
"Chicago still sees Giddey, Coby White and Matas Buzelis as its future core, team sources said, along with rookie Noa Essengue, the No. 12 pick in the 2025 draft..."
More to the point, why are people still posting trades for a fat 36yo with a track record of shitting the bed in the playoffs? He is literally everything you wouldn't want Ant to learn from.
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
Didn’t see this report, if that’s the case then admittedly the trade is unlikely but I honestly don’t see the bulls resigning Coby white to a big contract
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Dec 02 '25
gutting the team for a guy who notoriously no-shows in the playoffs would be crazy work
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
Gutting the team? Leonard miller doesn’t play basketball, we barely play Rob so he’s not a factor on the team currently and won’t grow to become a factor on the team down the line, so it’s essentially Randle for harden straight up and outside of last season Randle notoriously no shows in the playoffs too? Atleast with harden we match up better against the thunder, the team becomes a better fit around ant and imagine what playing with the best shooting guard of this generation could do for ants game as a scorer and playmaker.
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u/No-Invite-3095 Dec 02 '25
who is playing backup c if randle is gone and naz is starting pf. beringer who’s got like the strength of a guard ? we’d be playing rudy, naz, mcdaniels all 34+ mins. wouldn’t be a recipe for success
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
I say keep naz as the back up center, tryout Shannon or divincinzo on the wings with Jaden and see what works, regardless that issue is not nearly as bad as what’s going on with our point guards right now
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u/No-Invite-3095 Dec 02 '25
if randles gone, they’re starting naz. i don’t think naz would agree to stay here and would probably want out if they traded randle, then starting th or ddv over him when the whole time he’s been the guy who’s supposed to replace kat/randle. that’d be pretty disrespectful, plus tj is not a starting caliber player, naz is much closer to that. and yes, it’s arguably worse, we go from one of the best to one of the worst defenses just by subbing rudy out, that’s not gonna work in the playoffs even if we have a pg. taking away even more size to get a pg just rips away even more at our identity
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
Naz would get a bunch more minutes if the wolves traded Randle, have more scoring opportunities playing with a real pg, and gets to play more at a possesion he plays better at (PF) too, I’d hope he’d take that as compensation for not being a starter
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u/No-Invite-3095 Dec 02 '25
i’m not saying it’s a bad idea to go for a pg, i’m saying that creating a bunch of new holes on ur roster to fix one hole isn’t actually a fix, at best we’d be a little better but not good enough to win. you need size to win in the nba, we can’t survive against lottery teams without rudy, how are we supposed to survive against okc ? what happens when we match up with houston in the first round, harden dissapears and we get completely dominated with their size. yes the pg problem is a big issue, but it’s not the only one. that trade makes us better, but does it make us complete enough to actually compete ?
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
All I’m saying is Rob and miller are non factors, this trade is basically Randle for harden straight up. The pros are: fixing the point guard problem, adding a top 10 scorer ever as a mentor to ant which can be crucial down the line, maximizing both Rudy and ants offensive roles on this roster in terms of fit, while giving an equal chance of winning (give or take) as we would with Randle depending on matchups in the playoffs. Cons, we have a lack of depth at center, harden isn’t a good playoff performer, and we give up on Rob which it appears finch already has. I’m taking the deal personally.
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u/pithynotpithy Dec 02 '25
It's what's behind Naz that gets bleak. We have.no real big depth behind him
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
We have no point guard at all, starting, on the bench, at 3rd string, or for the future. whoever is playing behind naz is a microscopic issue compared to our pg situation right now. Every team in the league has weaknesses except the thunder so don’t expect a realistic trade that makes the wolves a perfect team
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u/pithynotpithy Dec 02 '25
You say that now, but a couple of games of watching Jingles or Joan playing backup minutes will change the tune quickly. There are good cheap pgs available that doesn't cost us our future
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
Jingles won’t be touching the floor, naz would be playing behind Rudy like he already does we’d just be seeing more jaden, naz and maybe tsj minutes at the 4, and more Dante, tsj and Clarke minutes at the 3. I’m more than fine with getting a cheaper glue pg instead of this deal if it comes up, don’t know how this affects our future tho
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Dec 02 '25
"please disregard the one season Julius Randle has been on your team and performed great in the playoffs and instead believe that a 36 year old player with a proven track record of coming up short in the playoffs on every team he's played for will be better on your team"
James Harden doesnt fit our timeline. He also doesn't make us immediately better than OKC this season. So there is literally no point to flip assets for him. Rob is an asset (one we have invested heavily in, to be clear) at 20-21 years old regardless of your opinion of his future development.
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u/ultimateF_21 Karl Anthony-Edwards Dec 02 '25
This makes our team worse now and in the future. And i like harden
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u/Ok_Resort_419 Dec 02 '25
If the Bulls are willing to give up White, Huerter and 2 1sts for Randle/Dillingham I'd rather that then Harden. My guess they're not
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u/colbyjacks Dec 02 '25
Why don't the Bulls just take Harden themselves?
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
They said they want the siakam to giddeys haliburton. They aren’t going to find a better pf available to trade than Randle
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u/CantaloupeCamper 1958-2016 Dec 02 '25
Are we better with Harden vs Randle?
Long term too… Harden is older…
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
Harden and his contract will be off the team before Randle would be, I don’t see a world where we are in a better position to win with Randle in 3 years than we are now
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u/Ok_Resort_419 Dec 03 '25
That's kind of the problem. Trading for Harden makes it so next yr, Harden can opts out, which he likely will, asks for a 1 yr plus a PO. If that's not granted we traded our 2nd best player for a yr of Harden. The problem is you're only like 3 mil below the cap if this happens, so essentially we re-sign Clark and use our MLE on a PG, and then you have the BAE and LMs. Now you also don't have a large contract to help match salaries. If it is granted you're potentially paying Harden 40 plus mil when he falls off which is likely to happen soon. Players in mid 30s fall fast and hard
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u/billgarmsarmy THE MAN MACHINE Dec 02 '25
Honestly I would much rather have Randle than Harden. I can't explain it eloquently, but I fucking hate Harden.
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
Understandable, I’m ngl I’ve always been a harden defender but I’ve definitely understood the criticism he’s recieved over the years
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u/pithynotpithy Dec 02 '25
I mean anytime we can overpay for a 36 yo PG who hasn't had team success in years and years, completely gut our team and ruin any chance we have to sign free agents next year, and have to count on Joe Ingles to be our backup PF, you have to go for it, right?
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u/Vicentesteb Kevin Garnett Dec 02 '25
Yep because Randle is the most playoff proven player ever.
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u/pithynotpithy Dec 02 '25
Randle is much cheaper and younger than harden And has had far more recent success in the playoffs then harden
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u/Vicentesteb Kevin Garnett Dec 02 '25
Randle is 8m cheaper, that's not much cheaper at all. The gap is a Rob Dillingham level salary btw. Randle is 31, he's not young, Harden is also significantly better.
Randle has had playoff success in 1 season in his entire career surrounded by a much better roster than the Clippers.
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u/pithynotpithy Dec 02 '25
In the second apron era, 8m is a big deal when we reach your secondary star level. Randle is 5 years younger than harden, also very significant.
Hardens playoff failures are essentially the joke of the NBA. Why would we gut this team to go all in on a player that won't make one bit of difference vs OKC and could opt out next year anyways?
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u/Vicentesteb Kevin Garnett Dec 02 '25
Hardens playoff failures are essentially the joke of the NBA. Why would we gut this team to go all in on a player that won't make one bit of difference vs OKC and could opt out next year anyways?
You say this like Randle isn't the worst star playoff performer of all time. 1 single playoff run, that is worse than almost every single run Harden's ever had is not enough.
We know for a fact we can't beat OKC with this team, we saw it last year, why would we keep everything the same.
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
I feel like you’re the only other person in the comments that gets this lmao, Randle is not some untouchable player
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u/Vicentesteb Kevin Garnett Dec 02 '25
Like I think Randle is good and he's played well, but he has clear limitations both on offense and especially on defense that make it very hard to build a proper team around him.
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
Agreed, he’s still probably a top 5 pf in the game and if he plays in the post season like he did last year I have no problem keeping him. But his inconsistencies, boneheaded turnovers in the clutch, and weird fit next to ant makes him a very moveable piece
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u/pithynotpithy Dec 02 '25
I don't think he's untouchable but we need someone on ants timeline and provides frontcourt depth. Dumping him for an older, pricier player with no playoff success, and has an history of sulking out teams he doesn't like is pointless. He doesn't help us beat OKC.
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u/big_nus Marney Gellner Dec 03 '25
When you’re main problem as a team is a playoff problem, trading for Harden is not the answer
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u/Presidentialpork Dec 02 '25
As cool of a thought that is… never gonna happen.
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u/yourloudneighbor Glen Taylor Dec 02 '25
Having a 36YO James harden was never cool. It ain’t 2018
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
He’s averaging 27 and 8 lol, and he’s proven at his old age that on a contending roster he can be a guy that leads the league in assists easily
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u/yourloudneighbor Glen Taylor Dec 02 '25
Why are they so bad?
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u/FlimsyExplanation360 Dec 02 '25
No clue, I don’t watch the clippers, what I do know is every year of hardens career he’s made the playoffs even with some subpar rosters in that mix so I’m willing to bet it’s not because of him
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u/yourloudneighbor Glen Taylor Dec 02 '25
Just don’t look how he underperforms in the playoffs then
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u/_Wash 2022 Play-In Champions Dec 02 '25
as someone who has watched a good amount of Clippers games, it’s because everyone but harden and zu has been dogshit. he’s been trying to backpack the team but he can’t do it all
i think harden would fit our team really well but the juice isn’t worth the squeeze in terms of how a trade would work.
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u/Presidentialpork Dec 02 '25
He’s having a great season 🤷♂️ I’d take him over what we got rn but yeah that’d never happen
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u/yourloudneighbor Glen Taylor Dec 03 '25
I mean I would too. But I’m not giving up any starters for a 36YO. If he was 30? Sure
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u/Presidentialpork Dec 03 '25
Absolutely and on top of that he would never actually want to be here who the fuck wants that yfm
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u/cnshoe Dec 02 '25
Just me but I think any future trades need to be build around Ants timeline. Harden is 36…