Hard to believe a team with Alex Rodriguez in an executive role would make a bad decision, isn't it?
The one thing I would say not so much in TWolves defense as part of their thinking is that as a cold-weather, small-market team with no history (e.g. about the worst combo in the league) they need to take shots when they can. So, while they took the WRONG shot in a likely-ruinous way I do think trying to take advantage of a KAT/Edwards starting core while they could is defenseableconceptually. How they did it...total mess. As Zach Lowe has noted, they'd hvae been much better off trading a smaller package for Dejounte Murray. If they did that, perhaps they look for a defensive-oriented 4 (or just play the one they traded to get Gobert) and have a far more sensible rotation.
I don't know what path they have at this point---KAT for Trae Young has been rumored, and I doubt Hawks do it. Even so, does that even work, really? It's a better fit than KAT-Gobert but there's little evidence Trae is going to be part of a real winning team, and you worry about him getting along wtih Gobert (and how ANT will feel about never getting the ball). You can't really get better trading ANT. And you can't get enough for Gobert to justify it, I don't think. I guess you just play it out at least this year and hope?
I totally agree that taking a shot and dealing picks to do so is the way to go for such a franchise.
The problem is that that should make you
more inclined to do smaller deals, for 1-2 1sts, or a 1st + a swap, since you have real talent under contract and need to complement it.
Boston has done a great job of this, spending one mid-1st and two low 1sts to get Horford, White, and Brogdon, while also making those picks be in consecutive years so as not to trigger Stepien.
Minny paid a high 1st for Russell. That pick alone is probably worth more than the 3 Boston sent out for Horford/White/Brogdon, while getting a player who is worse (imo) than any of them. Then they paid the 4 1sts for Gobert, one of which
already looks like it could be a lottery pick in the Wembanyana year.
But wait, there's more! Because they sent all those picks out, they have Stepien issues, and can't deal remaining picks until draft day the next few years, making it even harder to get complementary help, Boston style. And they compounded things by sending Utah useful role players.
Tldr; the Celtics' strategy (1sts for complementary players under contract) was very available to the Wolves, and the Celtics' current team was built basically without free agency. The Wolves aren't victims because they're in Minnesota; they're a poorly-run franchise with a horrible front office that is squandering elite drafted talent and copious draft capital.