The Magic have been much busier in the days leading up to the NBA’s trade deadline than they’d like to be, thanks to Dwight Howard’s uncertain future in Orlando and the many teams interested in offering a collection of less talented players in exchange for the league’s best big man. But he’s not the only player that teams are calling about.
The Timberwolves have been in talks with the Magic about a deal involving Jason Richardson, reports Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com, and Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld says the proposed deal would send Michael Beasley back to Orlando in return.
Minnesota has been looking to deal Beasley, likely due to the fact that the team’s frontcourt is overloaded with talent. Kevin Love, Nikola Pekovic, and rookie Derrick Williams are all producing, and the biggest weakness the Timberwolves have right now is a lack of consistent production from their wing players.
Richardson is aging, but he’s still proven to be a capable scorer. And clearly, he’d be a huge upgrade over the likes of Martell Webster, Wesley Johnson, and Wayne Ellington. There’s a slight salary cap concern here for Minnesota, if only because Richardson has two years left on his current deal, and a player option for a third year in the neighborhood of $6.6 million.
The dollars are by no means outrageous for a legitimate scoring threat of 15-20 points per game, but being locked in with him for the next three seasons might not be all that appealing from a flexibility standpoint.
As is the case with many of these reports this time of year, nothing is imminent. This is especially true in Orlando, where the team is not likely to do anything until right at the deadline, and only after weighing every last one of its options when it comes to what they want to do with Dwight Howard.
