Minnesota Used an Expiring Contract to Take a Darko Flier
Minnesota sent Brian Cardinal to New York for Darko Milicic and cash on February 17, 2010. The player exchange was not balanced in realized minutes. Milicic immediately entered the Timberwolves’ rotation, appearing in 24 games and starting 18 over the rest of the season. Cardinal never played for the Knicks; New York waived him two days after the trade. At the transaction level, Minnesota therefore received the only meaningful on-court return plus cash.
The Audition Produced More Than a Two-Month Rental
Milicic’s Minnesota audition led to a larger role. He returned for 2010-11, started all 69 games he played and averaged 8.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. Across parts of three seasons with the Timberwolves he played 122 games and started 110. Those later seasons came under a new contract, so they should not be treated as guaranteed value embedded in the February trade. Still, the original deal created the low-cost opportunity for Minnesota to evaluate a player who then became its starting center.
The Follow-Up Contract Also Limits How Much Credit Minnesota Deserves
The downstream story was not purely positive. Minnesota agreed to a four-year contract with Milicic in July 2010, then waived him under the amnesty provision in July 2012. That outcome belongs to a separate free-agent decision, not the trade itself, but it matters when judging how successfully the Wolves converted the audition into long-term value. The team found more use than New York did from Cardinal, yet the player did not become a durable solution.
New York’s Return Was Roster Flexibility, Not Player Production
The Knicks’ side was primarily cleanup. Milicic had played only eight games for New York and was widely expected to leave the NBA after the season if a new opportunity did not emerge. Cardinal’s expiring contract gave the Knicks no on-court production because they waived him almost immediately. That makes New York’s result defensible as roster management but weaker in hindsight than Minnesota receiving cash, an immediate rotation center and a meaningful evaluation window.
Final Verdict
Slight Wolves Edge — Minnesota B+, New York B. Minnesota acquired Darko Milicic and cash for Brian Cardinal, received 24 games and 18 starts immediately, and turned the audition into a longer starting-center run. New York waived Cardinal two days later and received no game production from him. Minnesota’s later four-year Milicic contract ended in amnesty, which keeps the result from looking like a major win, but the original exchange still produced more usable basketball value for the Wolves.