Timberwolves Trade Wendell Moore Jr., No. 37 Pick, to Pistons for No. 53 Pick
Timberwolves Trade Wendell Moore Jr., No. 37 Pick, to Pistons for No. 53 Pick
The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to trade third-year guard Wendell Moore Jr. and the 37th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft (No. 7 of the second round) to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for the 2024 No. 53 overall pick (23rd pick of second round), according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The move comes one day after the Timberwolves stocked up on guards after moving up to select Rob Dillingham with the eighth pick on Wednesday night and subsequently taking Terrence Shannon Jr. with the 27th pick. Their depth chart at that guard position entering this morning consisted of Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dillingham, Shannon, Jaylen Clark, and Wendell Moore Jr.
Therefore, Thursday afternoon’s trade, which came only a few hours before the second round was set to kick off at 3 PM CT, made a lot more sense. However, the deal goes far beyond clearing up a roster log jam.
Minnesota drafted Moore out of Duke with the 26th pick in 2022. He was a promising 3-and-D combo guard, averaging 13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.4 steals on 50% from the floor and 41.3% from deep in his Junior year with the Blue Devils. However, it was difficult for Moore to find a consistent and meaningful role with the Wolves.
Over two seasons in the Twin Cities, Wendell played in 54 total NBA games, averaging just over one point a contest. In the G-League, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 19.2 points on 40.3% from the floor over eight career games. He had obvious success with the Iowa Wolves, but most of his playing time in the NBA came in garbage time. He was buried deep within Minnesota’s bench — a long way away from seeing meaningful minutes in the rotation of a team contending for its first championship in franchise history.
The Pistons are loaded with rising guards headed into the 2024-25 season. Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Jaden Ivey, Quentin Grimes, and Marcus Sasser will all be ahead of Moore in Detroit’s pecking order, but being a part of a rebuilding team will always grant a young player with more opportunities to develop their game with on-court minutes.
For being a first-round pick only two years ago, Wendell’s end in Minnesota is disappointing and relatively unmemorable from a fan’s perspective. One game that is most likely sticking out in your head when thinking back to Dell in a Wolves uniform is when he unexpectedly made his first NBA start against the Memphis Grizzlies on November 30, 2022. In that game, he registered seven points, three boards, and two assists on 3 of 6 from the floor in 20 minutes of action. More notably, he held Ja Morant to four points on 1 of 2 shooting over 19.10 partial possessions defended, according to the NBA’s matchup stats.
Moore’s window of opportunity was slowly dwindling with the Wolves, particularly after last night’s draft haul. Moving him to a rebuilding team grants him the opportunity for a more significant role. But above that, it saves the Wolves a little bit of money as they are set to be one of the NBA’s most expensive teams next season, clearly across the second apron.
Minnesota will now have 11 players under standard NBA contracts heading into next season, presuming Dillingham and Shannon sign standard rookie scale deals. Connelly and Co. will need to get that number up to at least 14 before the season starts. They offloaded Moore’s $2,537,040 salary, which could save them anywhere from half a million to millions, depending on the players they sign, as Dane points out above.