Lauri Markkanen sign-and-trade targets from the Timberwolves: Jarrett Culver
Former Texas Tech Red Raiders star wing Jarrett Culver has yet to really find any traction in two seasons playing in the Twin Cities. And the minutes that Culver got with the Timberwolves last season weren’t very encouraging as to where his role with the team is headed still very early on in his NBA career.
Culver might already need a change of scenery to best serve the development path of his career just a couple of years in. He went from averaging around two dozen minutes played per game during his rookie campaign, to less than 15 minutes on the floor per game last season.
The lack of a consistent role has led to a lack of meaningful progression and development in his game in the past 18 months.
Due to the lack of development with the Timberwolves of late, Minnesota’s front office has reason to try and ship Culver off and find a replacement that would provide more consistent production in a solidified role. And the remainder of Culver’s rookie contract could come close to matching the salary that Markkanen could have on his next contract (roughly $7-$8 million in average annual value).
Any gaps between the salaries in this hypothetical sign-and-trade between the Bulls and Timberwolves in a player swap with Culver and Markkanen could be assumed by one side with more cap space. The Timberwolves have both more cap space and salary cap freedom at this point of the offseason than the Bulls. Even if Markkanen has a contract with an AAV around $2-$3 million more than Culver, this is something the Timberwolves should be able to eat.
My personal take would be that Beasley and Culver are far and away the best potential targets to consider if the Bulls and Timberwolves have sign-and-trade talks involving a Markkanen move. Culver might be the more realistic of those two, though.