Report: Thaddeus Young Still Going to Minnesota for Bennett?

Basketball never stops (unless you're injured like Paul George or tired like Kevin Durant). Bob Cooney is learning this while on vacation, reporting that the Sixers are still trading Thaddeus Young for Anthony Bennett. From Philly Daily News editor Mark Perner, who unlike Bob has a laptop to write with:

While news came out yesterday that Minnesota and Cleveland had agreed in principle to a trade that will send All-Star Kevin Love to the Cavaliers for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a first-round draft pick, the Daily News has learned that the Sixers will, indeed, be involved in the deal.

A source informed the Daily News that the Sixers will be sending veteran forward Thaddeus Young to Minnesota for a package that will include Bennett, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft.

So the trade might be on after all.

But wait, there's more. In order for it to work, the Sixers likely still need the deal to be structure as a three-team trade, as explained by our pal Tom Moore. If the Sixers are out of the original 3-teamer, they might face some league resistance:

The Timberwolves reportedly are interested in Thaddeus Young as a possible replacement for Love. If the Sixers, who remain roughly $30 million below the salary cap, are unable to make it a three-team deal in which they could end up with Bennett and a pick, they could try to trade with the Wolves for Bennett.

The problem is Bennett cannot be combined with another outgoing player in a deal for 60 days if he goes to Minnesota.

The way around that would be for Sam Hinkie and the Sixers to trade a second-round selection to the Timberwolves for Bennett soon after Aug. 23 and then acquire two players - and probably a protected first-rounder - for Young. The league could choose to not allow the Bennett portion because it is designed to circumvent the salary cap.

The NBA has allowed teams to make simultaneous deals in the past to "circumvent" the salary cap. Notably, the Golden State Warriors made two deals in the seemingly one trade of Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks for Steve Blake. Mark Deeks explained the structure in depth here.

However, the league issued a memo at the beginning of the offseason noting it could veto trades specifically designed to circumvent the cap. Deeks again explained it well in the second half of this post on his Sham Sports site. A trade like the Warriors one would seem to be legal based off Deeks' analysis, but it's possible that the "spirit" of the salary cap could stop this trade.