Ayo Uh-Oh!

[Lipoli390]

https://dunkingwithwolves.com/recent-ay ... -offseason

This article does a nice job of capturing the Wolves’ situation. The Wolves need to clear some salary to re-sign Ayo and stay under the highly punitive 2nd Apron. That likely means finding a team with cap space that’s interested in acquiring Randle. Maybe the Celtics would swap White for Gobert but then what do we do about the center position?

Let's say Ayo resigned on a deal starting at 20 million this year. If the article is right (Sportrac says they have just under 30 million in space) that gives the Wolves about 10 million to sign 4-5 players (they could just not fill out that 15th spot for a while) which means they would basically only be able to use the vet min which isn't exactly surprising.

One thing they could do to say a couple hundred is decline Phillips deal and resign him to a vet min deal which would cost a little less against the cap and he would probably get basically the same amount of money.

A rookie on a vet min deal will be around 1.3 million so that trade down to the 2nd round talk makes a lot of sense and getting a rookie could help them out financially since they would be be cheaper. I'd guess they are also going to want to have some sort of player that's played actual NBA games with one of their 2-way deals like they did with Juzang last year maybe even just keep Freeman idk.

Let's say they just were gonna use the vet min to fill out the roster. It's not too hard to imagine that and get maybe even resig. players they had on the roster when the season ended and if those guys don't sign there will be others that sign for the vet min. I'd like to have 5-7 million in space to sign someone but I think there will be some players you can get for the vet min that are still plenty worthwhile. And this is all of Ayo actually gets 20 million or more. What if he gets less? I do hope we aren't looking at giving him much more than 20 million...

I’m seeing it the same way, Monster.

[AussieWolf3]

It's not talked about enough, but Tim choosing Naz and Julius over NAW has turned into such a cluster fuck and having to give Ayo a 20M+ contract is directly downstream of that.

I'm just not that impressed with TC to this point, and I won't lie, I'm pretty concerned with how he'll navigate this incredibly consequential summer for the organization.

[60WinTim]

Ayo mentioned a couple of times during his tenure here that getting to the playoffs was very important to him. And he also had nothing but good things to say about the organization and the fans (of course, what else is he going to say?). The cap space teams, other than the Lakers, are not sure bets to make the playoffs.

NAZ's first contract extension is the best case scenario: Ayo extends for the max BEFORE free agency begins, which is about 3 years for 54 mil. That is a starting salary of 16.2 mil and I assume the 3rd year would be a player option. It provide 2 years of good money and a chance to establish himself with the Wolves as he enters his prime. He would then opt out and re-sign his BIG contract in two years. As with NAZ, this first extension would occur after the draft but before July 1st. It would let TC focus on the rest of the roster as free agency kicks off.

[rapsuperstar31]

It's not talked about enough, but Tim choosing Naz and Julius over NAW has turned into such a cluster fuck and having to give Ayo a 20M+ contract is directly downstream of that.

I'm just not that impressed with TC to this point, and I won't lie, I'm pretty concerned with how he'll navigate this incredibly consequential summer for the organization.

TSJ's injuries and Clark not being able to hit a wide open threes makes letting NAW go look worse than it should have. Had NAW re-signed here for the same mle contract he signed for, he more than likely wouldn't have expanded him game here.

[Monster]

It's not talked about enough, but Tim choosing Naz and Julius over NAW has turned into such a cluster fuck and having to give Ayo a 20M+ contract is directly downstream of that.

I'm just not that impressed with TC to this point, and I won't lie, I'm pretty concerned with how he'll navigate this incredibly consequential summer for the organization.

You do bring up a good point here. I'll say though that nobody even the people here that wanted to keep NAW over either Randle or Naz saw him turning into a 20ppg scorer. Despite all that does anyone think he would be the answer as the guard next to Edwards? Personally I'd like to have both Ayo and NAW on the roster. Also let's wait and see how much Ayo actually gets. If TSJ stayed healthy and reasonably productive last season that changes things too.

Having said that after discussion various trades options....if I had the choice between NAW and Quickly I'm taking NAW and that's before the much cheaper contract. Connelly needs to find another low cost valuable rotation player this off-season.

[Monster]

To follow up on the financial posts here is a note on Phillips from Hollinger's SF breakdown. It's a pretty thin FA SF class. Anyways Phillips is 2-way eligible.

18. Julian Phillips, Minnesota (TO): $3,780,222
Phillips may be just too poor a shooter and too limited offensively to stick in the league, but I’m intrigued by his high rates of blocks and steals, the fact that he’s finally left a muddle of similar players in Chicago and his age (22). Minnesota has a $2.4 million team option on him for 2026-27. If the Timberwolves decline it, note that Phillips is also two-way eligible.