With less than a month to go before the NBA trade deadline, the rumor mill is starting to heat up, particularly for two notable Western Conference teams.
Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders reported on Friday that the LA Clippers pitched a blockbuster deal to the Minnesota Timberwolves involving a swap of star bigs Blake Griffin and Karl-Anthony Towns. Scotto does add though that the proposal did not advance past an exploratory call as Minnesota declined.
The five-time All-Star Griffin is in Year One of a five-year, $173 max deal that he signed to return to the Clippers this past summer. As for Towns, he is still on his rookie contract making $6.22 million this season, so any swap would have had to involve more players and salary.
The idea of a swap between the two former No. 1 overall picks is obviously an intriguing one. But while Griffin is the more proven asset, he is nearly seven years older than Towns and is much more injury-prone. As such, it is not too shocking that the Wolves were not interested in trading their young franchise center, so maybe the Clippers should pursue this trade partner instead.
