Minnesota acquired Alando Tucker; 2010 second round pick (Suns pick protected top 40, else Cavaliers pick) (#56-Hamady N'Diaye); cash while sending out Jason Hart in the 2009-12-29 transaction with Suns.
Minnesota sent Jason Hart to Phoenix for Alando Tucker, cash and a 2010 second-round pick. Tucker did not become a lasting piece. He appeared in four games for the Timberwolves, played 25 total minutes and scored eight points before Minnesota waived him in March. His contribution was therefore minimal, but the trade was never dependent on Tucker alone because the Wolves also received cash and a future draft asset.
Hart did not provide Phoenix with game value after the trade. The Suns acquired him on December 29 and waived him, while his 2009-10 NBA appearances came with Minnesota and New Orleans rather than Phoenix. That makes the Suns’ direct player return effectively zero. Phoenix’s rationale was still understandable as a small roster-management transaction, but hindsight does not supply a hidden production benefit on its side.
The pick conveyed at No. 56 in the 2010 draft and Minnesota selected Hamady N’Diaye. The Wolves did not keep N’Diaye’s rights. On draft night they packaged those rights with the No. 23 pick, Trevor Booker, and sent both to Washington for the rights to Lazar Hayward at No. 30 and Nemanja Bjelica at No. 35. Because N’Diaye was bundled with Booker, the later Hayward and Bjelica value cannot be credited entirely to this Phoenix trade. The important point is narrower: the incoming second remained a usable transaction asset.
Neither side found a rotation player directly from the transaction. Tucker lasted four Minnesota games, Hart never played for Phoenix, and N’Diaye never suited up for the Timberwolves. Minnesota still received cash plus a second-round asset that retained trade utility, while Phoenix’s return disappeared without game production. That is enough to support Minnesota’s better grade, but the limited scale of every component keeps the result in the modest-win range rather than turning it into a major roster-building success.
Wolves Win — Minnesota B, Phoenix C+. Minnesota received four games from Alando Tucker, cash and the 2010 No. 56 pick that became Hamady N’Diaye and later served as one piece of a draft-night trade package. Phoenix acquired Jason Hart but received no regular-season games from him after the deal. The Wolves did not uncover a star or even a durable rotation player, yet they preserved more realized asset value, which supports the narrow grade advantage.