The Minnesota Timberwolves are putting their best effort toward acquiring Nicolas Batum, but after the Portland Trail Blazers said they'd match whatever offer David Kahn and Co. put forth, that task is proving to be a bit difficult.
There are other ways the Wolves could acquire Batum, though, and 1500 ESPN's Darren Wolfson reports that a three-way trade with the Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers is one way things could get done.
According to the source, the way to get Batum here is still via a sign-and-trade. David Kahn, the Wolves' president of basketball operations, will continue to talk with the Portland Trail Blazers throughout the weekend.
One scenario involves a three-way trade with Philadelphia. Andre Iguodala would go to Portland, Derrick Williams would go as part of a package to the Sixers and Batum would come to Minnesota. So far, Portland is balking.
It's unclear what else the Wolves would have to send to the Sixers in that deal, but it's certainly intriguing. The problem is Portland, though, so Wolfson reports that the Wolves might just look at acquiring Andre Iguodala instead of Batum -- thereby cutting out the middleman.
If Portland doesn't change its mind, the Wolves could revisit talks solely with Philadelphia about Iguodala. But as has been the case since the teams first started talking two years ago, the Wolves aren't big fans of his contract. It has two years left -- the second is a player option -- at approximately $30 million total.
The Wolves are obviously looking at making moves ... hopefully they're the right ones.
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