How different would the Timberwolves' season be if they had acquired Brandon Ingram instead of Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo? According to ESPN NBA insider Sham Charania, Minnesota showed a "level of interest" in Ingram before striking a deal with the Knicks.
"The Pelicans discussed trades with multiple teams over the summer, but no concrete offer made sense. A level of interest came from the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources told ESPN, and they would have needed to put together a trade concept around Karl-Anthony Towns for Ingram," Charania reported Tuesday.
Ingram recently suffered an ankle sprain and he's out indefinitely, but he was performing at a high level for New Orleans this season. Through 18 games he was averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists on 46.5/37.4/85.5 shooting splits.
Towns had an average annual salary of $31.65 million on his previous deal and Ingram had a cap hit of $33.8 million last season, so a deal between Minnesota and New Orleans would've likely been built around those two players.
Randle is averaging 20.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game this season, which is not far off from Ingram and both players are in the final year of their respective contracts, though Randle does have a player option for 2025-26 if he opts to run with that instead of testing free agency.
Minnesota also got DiVincenzo and a future first-round pick in the deal with the Knicks, but there's no telling if New Orleans would've added to the package.
Randle has only played 23 games in a Timberwolves uniform, so it still seems a bit premature to see if Minnesota made the right move. Ultimately, the biggest takeaway from this report should be that Minnesota's front office had eyes elsewhere before settling on the deal with New York — and it is clearer now than ever before that Towns' contract was one the Wolves looking to shed.