TWolves Pushing Hard for Lakers Gasol

The Minnesota Timberwolves may not have made a big splash in last night's draft, but it's sounding as though they'll be "big players" in free agency, while also working the telephones for trade possibilities.

It's sounding as though the Wolves will be pursuing Lakers big man Pau Gasol, pretty hard.  Gasol's name has been linked to trade rumors for a full-year now!  The TWolves are attempting to pair Gasol with fellow Spaniard Ricky Rubio and budding superstar Kevin Love for a Big Three of our own in Minnesota.

The rumor is that Minnesota is dangling Derrick Williams and potentially Michael Beasley (in a sign-and-trade capacity).  Prior to last night's trade the Timberwolves offered Derrick Williams to the Charlotte Bobcats for the second overall pick (eventually Michael Kidd-Gilchrist).  The thought, being that they could trade the pick for Pau.  That offer was immediately rejected and the Cats kept the pick.

Gasol is considered an ideal fit for Rick Adelman's corner offense and is the kind of veteran that can provide the leadership the TWolves have been lacking for QUITE SOME TIME.  Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio are also quite good friends.

There's a good chance the Wolves could win 40-50 games with that trio and get them back into the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and potentially beyond the first or second round!

If Minnesota was able to acquire Gasol, they'd still have one big hole to fill: at the shooting guard position.  Potentially signing: Jamal Crawford, Brandon Roy, O.J. Mayo, etc.  A starting lineup of Ricky Rubio, FA signing, Chase Budinger, Kevin Love & Pau Gasol with the key reserves being Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea, Anthony Tolliver (once he's resigned) and Nikola Pekovic (along with a couple of free agent signings).

That's all for now, free agency starts Sunday, July 1st at 12:01am.  Expect a lot of action to begin then and continue throughout the summer!  Going to be a crazy next couple of weeks.  Thanks for reading HOWL and GO WOLVES!

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