2024 Wolves Free Agency

[Monster]

You’re right, Monster — the Wolves must have some limit on how much they’re willing to spend on these two guys. And I think we both agree that neither one will command a salary in the marketplace that puts them above that unknown threshold. We’re both seeing the only potential snag is a second year guarantee. I’m not sure the Wolves will be willing to guarantee a second year to either player and that’s something another team might offer to entice them away. But if the salary is as reasonable as I expect it to be, then both players will be pretty easily moved for some value in return after next season.

Connelly has been careful and savvy about how many years and how much money he has given players in FA. Yes Shake Milton was a total bust but it was only 1 year and combined with Brown Jr they made up enough salary to trade for a vet. He is gonna be careful this off-season too. It seems like it would be easy to offload one of those guys signed cheaply but look at Reggie Jackson for the Nuggets. They gave him 5 million for a 2 year and paid to get rid of him.

Speaking of the Nuggets if I was a Denver fan I would be worried. They lost Bruce Brown last year and May lose KCP this off-season and also need a backup guard with Jackson gone. They have some young guys that might be ready but Brown and KCP are two pretty valuable players from their championship run. It's not going to be easy to replace them. The Wolves should learn from that. They may not want to let Anderson go maybe they even take a big hit this year and give him more for one season to not have to pay him next year. I know that money compounds being where they are with the luxury tax but if it keeps them out later it may be worth it.

Let's say Anderson gets an offer he can't refuse. If Troy Brown Jr is available I'm calling offering a pretty decent role and a vet min salary. TJ Warren is another option. He didn't make shots last year but he looked like he knew how to play and fit in well. He might be had for a partially guaranteed vet min. Hopefully there would be better options but those might not be terrible. They would be an obvious drop off from Kyle Anderson though.

I see the Wolves matching or even exceeding the full MLE to retain Slo Mo if that’s what it takes. I still doubt Slo Mo will get a full MLE offer, but even if he does, I don’t see the Wolves letting him for over $3.5 million more than he’s getting paid now in spite of the luxury tax unless the other team’s MLE offer is guaranteed for more than one year. I can see the Wolves declining to offer a second guaranteed year for that much money and I’m certain they wouldn’t offer him that sort of money for 3 years or more. I’d hate to lose Slo Mo, but I TC has done the best he can do to amass a pool of young talent to potentially back fill, including this year’s pick at #27.

I have doubts the Wolves will spend over the MLE for Anderson considering just how much that would cost in terms of dollars. I am a big fan of Anderson and I value him highly (relatively speaking) but there are going to be worthwhile guys they can sign for much less than that which will bring their own strengths to the team. I haven't lost hope on him coming back but I'm prepared for him to get a deal the Wolves aren't prepared to match. It could be a mistake but I understand if they don't do it. I have faith in Connelly he seems to be good at making moves and having a backup plan in mind if it doesn't work out.

[60WinTim]

Hearing Minnesota has some interest in Joe Ingles who shot 43.5% from 3 this season. Veteran ball handler who can shoot it well. Has ties with Conley and Gobert from Utah.

-Evan Porter

I was thinking Joe would be a great fit when the Magic released him. Just not sure if a vet minimum would do it for him.

[Q-is-here]

Hearing Minnesota has some interest in Joe Ingles who shot 43.5% from 3 this season. Veteran ball handler who can shoot it well. Has ties with Conley and Gobert from Utah.

-Evan Porter

I was thinking Joe would be a great fit when the Magic released him. Just not sure if a vet minimum would do it for him.

Yes, please! Him and/or Batum would be a dream scenario.

[60WinTim]

Jonny K is prepping us for SloMo and the Wolves parting ways.

I know some here will be disappointed. But Q and I (and others) are ready for a different direction than SloMo. The door is open for some young players to step up, and a vet minimum addition will hopefully bring the skillsets SloMo lacked: outside shooting and pace.

[Phenom]

Jonny K is prepping us for SloMo and the Wolves parting ways.

I know some here will be disappointed. But Q and I (and others) are ready for a different direction than SloMo. The door is open for some young players to step up, and a vet minimum addition will hopefully bring the skillsets SloMo lacked: outside shooting and pace.

How are Joe Ingles pace stats? Also is he really more than a minimum guy? That would be mind blowing to me.

[Coolbreeze44]

Jonny K is prepping us for SloMo and the Wolves parting ways.

I know some here will be disappointed. But Q and I (and others) are ready for a different direction than SloMo. The door is open for some young players to step up, and a vet minimum addition will hopefully bring the skillsets SloMo lacked: outside shooting and pace.

No way a vet minimum guy gives us the value Slomo did.

[rapsuperstar31]

Jonny K is prepping us for SloMo and the Wolves parting ways.

I know some here will be disappointed. But Q and I (and others) are ready for a different direction than SloMo. The door is open for some young players to step up, and a vet minimum addition will hopefully bring the skillsets SloMo lacked: outside shooting and pace.

I'm okay with losing Slo mo for nothing this summer, hopefully we can bring in Batum. It's next summer that might suck if we lose Rudy, Naz, and or NAW for nothing.

[60WinTim]

As WW reported, Luka Garza is back on a 2-year deal. I am pretty confident this is a vet minimum deal, although it has not been reported, yet.

It was going to be interesting what type of player they might bring in had Garza not re-signed. But it's all moot now!

That leaves a point guard and a forward to bring in, with Monte and SloMo as the incumbents.

I feel the PG market is hinging on who grabs Tyus Jones in a sign-and-trade...

[Lipoli390]

Here’s the Wolves roster situation at the moment after the Garza announcement and assuming we sign our two draft picks:

A. REGULAR ROSTER
1. Mike Conley
2. Anthony Edwards
3. Jaden McDaniels
4. KAT
5. Rudy
6. Naz
7. NAW
8. Garza
9. Minott
10. Miller
11. Dillingham
12. Terrence Shannon Jr.

B. TWO-WAY CONTRACTS
1. Jaylen Clark
2. Jesse Edwards

So the Wolves have three regular roster spots to fill and, as usual, they will likely fill two of those and leave the third open for future flexibility. That’s certainly the smart thing to do.

This makes it easy to see TC’s plan. He has two roster spots that he’s initially seeking to fill by re-signing Anderson and Morris. So I’m sure the focus right now is on trying to sign those guys. But I’m also sure the Wolves front office folks are simultaneously having conversations with players they see as alternatives to Anderson and Morris and attempting to sell them on signing here for the vet minimum.

I consider re-signing Morris to be far more important than Kyle because we don’t have a vet backup for Conley and I don’t think it’s prudent to rely on Dillingham to fill that role, at least not in the first half of the season. While I’d like to see Kyle come back, we have a bevy of young wings - Minott, Miller, Shannon Jr - who could potentially step up and adequately fill Kyle’s roster spot. They wouldn’t provide what Kyle provides, but they could offer things Kyle doesn’t provide like athleticism and shooting. I could even see Naz taking a chunk of what would otherwise by Kyle’s minutes with more PT for Garz in the rotation of bigs.

[Monster]

Here’s the Wolves roster situation at the moment after the Garza announcement and assuming we sign our two draft picks:

A. REGULAR ROSTER
1. Mike Conley
2. Anthony Edwards
3. Jaden McDaniels
4. KAT
5. Rudy
6. Naz
7. NAW
8. Garza
9. Minott
10. Miller
11. Dillingham
12. Terrence Shannon Jr.

B. TWO-WAY CONTRACTS
1. Jaylen Clark
2. Jesse Edwards

So the Wolves have three regular roster spots to fill and, as usual, they will likely fill two of those and leave the third open for future flexibility. That’s certainly the smart thing to do.

This makes it easy to see TC’s plan. He has two roster spots that he’s initially seeking to fill by re-signing Anderson and Morris. So I’m sure the focus right now is on trying to sign those guys. But I’m also sure the Wolves front office folks are simultaneously having conversations with players they see as alternatives to Anderson and Morris and attempting to sell them on signing here for the vet minimum.

I consider re-signing Morris to be far more important than Kyle because we don’t have a vet backup for Conley and I don’t think it’s prudent to rely on Dillingham to fill that role, at least not in the first half of the season. While I’d like to see Kyle come back, we have a bevy of young wings - Minott, Miller, Shannon Jr - who could potentially step up and adequately fill Kyle’s roster spot. They wouldn’t provide what Kyle provides, but they could offer things Kyle doesn’t provide like athleticism and shooting. I could even see Naz taking a chunk of what would otherwise by Kyle’s minutes with more PT for Garz in the rotation of bigs.

Thanks Lip for laying this out.
A couple things.

Losing Anderson means losing another PG type player as well. If the Wolves lost Anderson Morris and McLaughlin and only added 1 vet PG type then the Wolves would be pretty limited in vet depth at that position although NAW is an option too. It could mean adding a PG type via 2-way could become really important.

Which brings me to my next point which is more of a thought of where I think the situation is with the player than actual logistics. Even though Nix was not given a qualifying offer I'm not sure that means he for sure isn't on a 2-way deal it just means that the Wolves now don't have first right of refusal. It doesn't really matter though. However it does benefit Nix to in a couple ways to not be limited to being a RFA on a 2-way even if he planned to stay with the Wolves on a 2-way deal. For one thing the Wolves could sign him to another exhibit 10 contract paying him $50,000 before eventually being converted to a 2-way deal. I'll get out of the weeds on this and say that it seems like the Wolves and Nix are cool with seeing what happens this summer. Nix could find a better opportunity and the Wolves could find a better player. Maybe Nix impresses in SL and they lock him up on a 2- way deal or maybe Nix tries for more elsewhere. Nix could also be like let's see how the depth looks this summer. He could be a guy an injury away from having a chance to compete for some limited backup guard minutes.

I'll add that I can see why Morris could look elsewhere because the Wolves theoretically could have 3 guys ahead of him to play PG minutes Connelly Dilly and NAW.y guess is the Wolves are willing to pay him a chunk more than the vet min for him to stay but when will he actually play? What if Dilly is legit and playing 20mpg a game? Where is Morris gonna fit in a rotation?