Wolves Post Randle Cap Situation

[60WinTim]

With 3 roster spots available, but only enough space to sign two vet minimums right now, I expect the Wolves to keep that 15th spot open, at least until the pro-rated amount of a new vet minimum signing will fit in the remain cap space below the 2nd apron. This will be midseason and could be Rocco or Freeman, or a buyout candidate.

On the other two roster spots that need to be filled to start the season, I really believe one of them is destined for Rocco, unless Freeman really outshines him over the summer. The one roster spot left to be filled is being saved for LeBron. And if LeBron goes elsewhere, then the Wolves will go to Plan B, which could very well be Yabby, or one of the old geezers who can shoot -- Love or Olynyk.

Of course, this could all be a fruitless exercise if TC goes the trade route!

[Monster]

Sorry to burst your bubble again…

The unlikely bonuses do not count against the salary cap, BUT they do count against the apron thresholds. Dane reiterates this, and just check spotrac— don’t use the multi-year, but use the yearly overview. It shows the salary amount that counts against the aprons.

So, no, the Wolves do not have room for anything more than two vet minimums.

Tim do you know if the trade kicker for Lamelo is a one time thing, or does it jump his salary for each season? I know they said he was capped at 25% due to his years of service, but next season I think he moves to the next level were he can bump to 30%.

I'm not exactly sure. I know the trade kicker is suppose to apply the the remaining contract, not just the year of the trade. However, what happens if the trade kicker is limited in the first year? Is the same "reduced" percentage applied to the remaining years as well? I don't know.

One thing I will say, the Wolves cap situation has a chance to be much improved next year. But we gotta get thru this year first. Congrats to A-Rod and Lori for willing to pay some really big bucks this year!

From a little reading Ball's contract is a 25% max contract so in any year it can't go over that number. So depending on what happens with the cap it could be very little (relatively speaking) or maybe a million or 2.

Tim you bring up a good point that the Wolves cap situation could be better in a year from now. I think they are gonna be somewhat hesitant to trade for PJ Washington for that reason. Now if they could get him for just salary matching and no additional assets sure. That would seem odd to me as the Mavs just traded some decent assets to add Aldama to their roster. Washington I think is worth roughly what he is getting paid but at some point as we have seen teams just can't keep teams with all those contracts etc.

We will see what happens. Like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers said Waiting is the hardest part.

[Mnwild1128]

213.5 million in total team salary right now. Yes Gueye is being waived July 6th when the trade finalizes. Add Evans for about 1.5 million contract equals 12 rostered spots. Connely only ever rosters 14. Not 15.

8.5 million left for 2 spots.

[Lipoli390]

For those interested, here’s the Wolves current cap situation assuming the signing of Isaiah Evans to the rookie minimum:

WOLVES UPDATED PAYROLL AND CAP HIT

Comprehensive 2026–27 Apron Ledger

Player [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] Base Salary Max Performance Incentives Total Apron Cap Hit
Anthony Edwards $48,924,624 $0 $48,924,624
LaMelo Ball $41,250,000 $0 $41,250,000
Rudy Gobert $36,500,000 $0 $36,500,000
Jaden McDaniels $26,200,000 $1,000,000 (Unlikely) $27,200,000
Ayo Dosunmu $19,310,345 $0 $19,310,345
Josh Green $14,679,012 $0 $14,679,012
Donte DiVincenzo $12,535,000 $750,000 (Unlikely) $13,285,000
Joan Beringer $4,411,200 $0 $4,411,200
Jaylen Clark $3,086,420 $0 $3,086,420
Terrence Shannon Jr. $2,801,640 $0 $2,801,640
Bones Hyland $2,449,421 $0 $2,449,421
Trey Lyles $2,449,421 $0 $2,449,421
Isaiah Evans $1,357,763 $0 $1,357,763
ROSTER TOTALS $207,057,763 $1,750,000 $217,704,846

That means with 13 roster spots filled, the Wolves are $3,981,154 below the 2nd apron. That’s enough to sign one more vet minimum player to fill the minimum 14 roster spots. We’d still have room to sign a rookie at the rookie minimum for the 15th roster spot if desired.

[60WinTim]

Another option for the last roster spot is to wait until the prorated amount of the vet minimum fits under the apron threshold, which is somewhere around 31 games...

[60WinTim]

I have a 2nd thing to add on Isaiah Evans -- I think it is unusual for a top 2nd round pick to only sign for the rookie vet minimum. They usually sign for one of those special 2nd round rookie exception contracts, which start at a higher amount.

It makes me wonder if we might see some sort of trade to clear up a bit more salary space.

[rapsuperstar31]

I have a 2nd thing to add on Isaiah Evans -- I think it is unusual for a top 2nd round pick to only sign for the rookie vet minimum. They usually sign for one of those special 2nd round rookie exception contracts, which start at a higher amount.

It makes me wonder if we might see some sort of trade to clear up a bit more salary space.

It looks like it varies, maybe this will be the one Tim negotiates down. The top two picks of the 2nd round last year both signed for 1.2 million, Charlotte draft the next two players and gave them both 2.3 million. The next pick Theiero got the 1.2 million.

[Lipoli390]

I have a 2nd thing to add on Isaiah Evans -- I think it is unusual for a top 2nd round pick to only sign for the rookie vet minimum. They usually sign for one of those special 2nd round rookie exception contracts, which start at a higher amount.

It makes me wonder if we might see some sort of trade to clear up a bit more salary space.

Maybe. But I don’t think there’s a significant risk of Evans holding out for more. He fell to the 2nd round and has something to prove. He can’t afford to miss an entire NBA season. He really has no leverage.

[Monster]

I have a 2nd thing to add on Isaiah Evans -- I think it is unusual for a top 2nd round pick to only sign for the rookie vet minimum. They usually sign for one of those special 2nd round rookie exception contracts, which start at a higher amount.

It makes me wonder if we might see some sort of trade to clear up a bit more salary space.

Maybe. But I don’t think there’s a significant risk of Evans holding out for more. He fell to the 2nd round and has something to prove. He can’t afford to miss an entire NBA season. He really has no leverage.

I'd guess that if the players are taking that lower first year they are signing for a year less whether its 3 instead of 4 years or a player option on the last year of the deal. It's a different situation but Clark signed a shorter term deal although it did lead to RFA. If he had really took off he could have gotten a pretty nice deal even as a RFA.