Timberwolves Make Another Trade, Send Guard to Pistons Before NBA Draft Round 2

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 19: Troy Brown Jr. #23 and Wendell Moore Jr. #7 of the Minnesota Timberwolves high five against the Chicago Bulls during the second half of a preseason game at the United Center on October 19, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. Moore is going to Detroit in a second round trade.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have made their second trade of the 2024 NBA Draft.

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On Thursday, a few hours before Round 2 kicks off, the Timberwolves agreed to a deal to send guard Wendell Moore Jr. and the No. 37 pick in this year's draft to the Detroit Pistons. In return, Minnesota is getting the No. 53 pick in Thursday's Round 2. The Athletic's Shams Charania reported the news of the deal.

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This is the second trade of the draft for Minnesota, who made a deal with the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday to acquire Kentucky guard Rob Diillingham, who was selected No. 8 overall.

Read more:Timberwolves Trade With Spurs, Acquire Kentucky G Rob Dillingham at NBA Draft

The Timberwolves — one of Newsweek Sports' biggest winners of the first round — needed to clear some space after getting two of the best guards in the draft on Wednesday night.

The team acquired Dillingham from the Spurs, a great ball-handler and scorer who averaged 15.2 points, 3.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and one steal per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from deep, and 79.6 percent from the free throw line. He figures to play prominent minutes off the bench behind veteran point guard Mike Conley.

Then, at the end of the first round, the Timberwolves — who didn't have to trade the No. 27 pick to acquire Dillingham — selected guard Terrence Shannon Jr. out of Illinois. Shannon was one of the best scorers in college basketball a year ago, averaging 23 points per game (third-most in the country) while shooting 47.5 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from 3-point land, and 80.1 percent from the free throw line.

He also figures to come off the bench and provide a scoring punch for Minnesota next season — thus, the team needed to make some room for their two new guards.

Moore Jr. was drafted with the No. 26 overall pick in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft out of Duke. He's appeared in 54 games over the last two seasons in Minnesota, averaging 1.1 points in 4.2 minutes per game. He hasn't been able to carve out a role on the Timberwolves, and that figured to only get more difficult following Wednesday night's first round.

So, he's now heading to Detroit, who also move up 16 picks in the second round. The Pistons will be able to get one of the better prospects in the second round, while the Timberwolves already seem satisfied with their haul of Dillingham and Shannon.

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