The Timberwolves made yet another trade Monday when they sent recently acquired F Etan Thomas and two 2nd Round Picks packing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for PG Chucky Atkins and G Damien Wilkins.

Trade Analysis:

I like this deal a lot for us because we filled two huge roster needs by bring in 1) a veteran point guard in Atkins and 2) a veteran wing player in Wilkins. With Telfair out the door, we were left with Bobby Brown backing up Jonny Flynn at the PG position. Now we have a serviceable guy in Atkins who can provide leadership and will occasionally have some nice scoring nights running the point. Wilkins’ name may sound familiar to some of you, that’s because we actually signed him to an offer sheet back in 2005 when Wilkins was a member of the Seattle Supersonics. I’ve always like Wilkins as a player, he’s nothing more than a back-up, but he is an athletic perimeter player who has a nice jump shot. Both of these players should have key roles off the bench next season and possibly in the starting lineup from time-to-time. The best part of this deal is we gave up virtually nothing. Etan Thomas’ value on our team was very low considering we already have Al Jefferson and Kevin Love ahead of him on the depth chart, so moving him was nothing worth crying over. I’ve also heard that Thomas is quite the head case and that he got in several disputes with his teammates in the past, most notably Brendan Haywood. We also gave up two future 2nd round picks in the deal, which we ironically end up trading on most draft nights anyways so its likely we would have never even seen these picks. Atleast this time around our 2nd round picks helped obtain players rather than future 2nd round picks. What makes this deal even better is that we didn’t take any hits financially by obtaining these two veteran players. Both Wilkins and Atkins will come off the books next season, keeping our cap space open.

Grade: A

Taken from Timberwolves.com

“We’re committed towards rebuilding our roster with an eye towards flexibility and long-term success, and this move better positions us for the summer,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “I want to thank Etan for his professionalism and understanding, and wish him all the best moving forward.”