Wolves Offseason Forward Options

[Lipoli390]

I think if our PF is a weak link offensively and our Center barely knows where his hands are we are putting a lot of pressure on the guard duo and Jaden to be the best offensive trio in the league.

Conversely if we find a better than average offensive big we can play good enough team defense with Jaden and Rudy to keep us afloat there we could be a top three offense with a 4 out style.

Naz was really the perfect guy for what we have now with Ball…we should hope that the powers that be have a plan to get a trade partner to get us a Naz type guy. To do that I bet we have to give Shannon because we have nothing else of value without including a Rudy/Donte/Josh Green part in return.

At this point I’m so lost in the salary cap bullshit that I don’t know the ability we have to include multiple outgoing pieces to get a 20m$ talent level PF but if it’s possible then I’ll wait for TC to complete the puzzle and let’s see how our youth looks in summer league.

If there’s someway to get the exact right fit at PF that lets us keep Ayo/TJ/Joan/Clark/Evans as our bench rotation we should all be giving a big sigh of relief. There’s a small window to thread through to get us into the top 10 of both offense and defense that correlates with title contention. We have the correct level of individual talent to contend…but we are somehow still maddeningly unbalanced! Frustrating.

Ben - You make a good case in favor of acquiring a more offensive-oriented PF. I still favor adding a high-energy, tough defensive-oriented PF if we can’t get a two way guy - that is Dean Wade. But I see your point.

Regarding the salary cap, the Wolves can aggregate outgoing salaries by cannot bring back more than the total of their outgoing salaries. For example, the Wolves package Green ($14.69M) and TSJ ($2.8M) the total outgoing salary would be $17.49. Therefore, the Wolves could trade those two for Jovic whose salary next season is $16.2M, but they could not trade that tandem for PJ Washington whose salary is $19.8M, Obi Toppin whose salary is $20.4M, Keegan Murray whose salary is $24.1M, Kyle Kuzma whose salary is $20.4M, Kuminga whose salary is $24.3 M, or Patrick Williams whose salary is $18M.

I’ve just listed some of the PFs we might consider targeting. As you can see, even adding the TSJ sweetener would not work from any of them except Jovic. I love Tari Eason, but I suspect he’ll command more than $17.5M as a restricted free agent. To get a starting PF of the caliber folks seem to want, we’d have to include Donte but the Wolves front office has put the message out that they’re not going to trade him.

I think it’s Dean Wade or go home.

[BeenLurkin]

Well if the wolves front office say they are untouchable and their name isn’t Ant then we have seen this last week or so that the lie detector says that is a lie…I think the statement that they won’t trade Donte is signal to the league they want more then what they were being offered for him

[WildWolf2813]

I think if our PF is a weak link offensively and our Center barely knows where his hands are we are putting a lot of pressure on the guard duo and Jaden to be the best offensive trio in the league.

Conversely if we find a better than average offensive big we can play good enough team defense with Jaden and Rudy to keep us afloat there we could be a top three offense with a 4 out style.

Naz was really the perfect guy for what we have now with Ball…we should hope that the powers that be have a plan to get a trade partner to get us a Naz type guy. To do that I bet we have to give Shannon because we have nothing else of value without including a Rudy/Donte/Josh Green part in return.

At this point I’m so lost in the salary cap bullshit that I don’t know the ability we have to include multiple outgoing pieces to get a 20m$ talent level PF but if it’s possible then I’ll wait for TC to complete the puzzle and let’s see how our youth looks in summer league.

If there’s someway to get the exact right fit at PF that lets us keep Ayo/TJ/Joan/Clark/Evans as our bench rotation we should all be giving a big sigh of relief. There’s a small window to thread through to get us into the top 10 of both offense and defense that correlates with title contention. We have the correct level of individual talent to contend…but we are somehow still maddeningly unbalanced! Frustrating.

Part of why Booth was able to finish off what TC started in Denver was because he found the missing pieces to round out a team. Can we trust him to find our Bruce Brown?

[Phenom]

Another morsel the Wolves can use is the contract of Mo Gueye. His contract is non guaranteed until Jan 7th. He can be rerouted in the original deal and offer an immediate 2.4 million in cap relief.

[TheFuture]

I am a intrigued by Joan's promise as anyone, but realistically it is just that. Promise. An idea of what he can be. He's still new to the game, and it would be a mistake thinking the team is set with him having to cover 14-20 mins a game right now. With the occasional start.

Posters here are talking like the team should be comfortable and confident with Rudy, Joan, Rocco, and Jaden as our bigs. I'm not. At all. Sure Jaden can slot up, but should he full-time? I don't think so.

People are talking like the entire roster should slot up, which almost all already are. Ayo is the size of a 1,2 not a 3. Ant is similar, but can hang at the 3. Clark is the size of a 1,2. TSJ can hang as a 2 or 3. Green 2 or 3. Ball 1,2,or 3 whichever is the easiest matchup defensively. We have 2 rookies that I doubt see much time.

This team has nobody else that you can be comfortable locking in for stretches at the 4 and 5. Again, Joan and Rocco are still complete question marks, and a full-time Jaden at the 4 is also a question mark. If he slots as the POA defender still, then I genuinely ask who on this team can be relied upon to defend the 4 position - providing help D, rebounding, and not be punished down low against teams who do play big?

You should absolutely be comfortable with Beringer as your backup C entering year 2 of a long developmental journey. If not, why is Tim Connelly employed?

What Joan cannot do is play alongside Gobert. That's why we still need at least 2 rotational bigs, with heavy importance on rebounding.

Yeah, it is time to put or shut up for sure. I am not confident in going into the season thinking Joan and Rocco can cover any injury to Gobert or full-time on any rest days.

We have 3 Cs who cannot slide down to the 4. 2/3 are complete question marks as for their viability as full-time rotational C's. And we have 1 player who can potentially play the 4 full-time in Jaden, and I say that because there will be matchups where he shouldn't be.

I really am hoping DDV is folded into the trade somehow.

[Coolbreeze44]

I am a intrigued by Joan's promise as anyone, but realistically it is just that. Promise. An idea of what he can be. He's still new to the game, and it would be a mistake thinking the team is set with him having to cover 14-20 mins a game right now. With the occasional start.

Posters here are talking like the team should be comfortable and confident with Rudy, Joan, Rocco, and Jaden as our bigs. I'm not. At all. Sure Jaden can slot up, but should he full-time? I don't think so.

People are talking like the entire roster should slot up, which almost all already are. Ayo is the size of a 1,2 not a 3. Ant is similar, but can hang at the 3. Clark is the size of a 1,2. TSJ can hang as a 2 or 3. Green 2 or 3. Ball 1,2,or 3 whichever is the easiest matchup defensively. We have 2 rookies that I doubt see much time.

This team has nobody else that you can be comfortable locking in for stretches at the 4 and 5. Again, Joan and Rocco are still complete question marks, and a full-time Jaden at the 4 is also a question mark. If he slots as the POA defender still, then I genuinely ask who on this team can be relied upon to defend the 4 position - providing help D, rebounding, and not be punished down low against teams who do play big?

You should absolutely be comfortable with Beringer as your backup C entering year 2 of a long developmental journey. If not, why is Tim Connelly employed?

What Joan cannot do is play alongside Gobert. That's why we still need at least 2 rotational bigs, with heavy importance on rebounding.

Yeah, it is time to put or shut up for sure. I am not confident in going into the season thinking Joan and Rocco can cover any injury to Gobert or full-time on any rest days.

We have 3 Cs who cannot slide down to the 4. 2/3 are complete question marks as for their viability as full-time rotational C's. And we have 1 player who can potentially play the 4 full-time in Jaden, and I say that because there will be matchups where he shouldn't be.

I really am hoping DDV is folded into the trade somehow.

Future, I think you have a good handle on the issues facing us with the current roster. Rudy will miss the occasional game and then we are going to have to rely on Joan to play big minutes. And Joan picks up fouls at a rate that makes even Jaden blush. I believe we need a power forward who can defend and eat up some minutes. Ideally we keep Jaden at the 3 and have some firepower off the bench.

[Lipoli390]

The biggest contract the Minnesota Timberwolves can offer unrestricted free agent Dean Wade is the $6.1 million taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE), but it is highly unlikely to land him. Following their block-buster trade for LaMelo Ball, the Timberwolves are hard-capped and sit just $11 million below the second apron with four roster spots left to fill, locking them out of the full non-taxpayer MLE.Meanwhile, Dean Wade's market value in free agency is projected to be much higher, with league insiders expecting him to command a contract in the $40 million range over three to four years.

Sorry to kill anyone’s Dean Wade dream, including my own, but this is reality.

[Coolbreeze44]

The biggest contract the Minnesota Timberwolves can offer unrestricted free agent Dean Wade is the $6.1 million taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE), but it is highly unlikely to land him. Following their block-buster trade for LaMelo Ball, the Timberwolves are hard-capped and sit just $11 million below the second apron with four roster spots left to fill, locking them out of the full non-taxpayer MLE.Meanwhile, Dean Wade's market value in free agency is projected to be much higher, with league insiders expecting him to command a contract in the $40 million range over three to four years.

Sorry to kill anyone’s Dean Wade dream, including my own, but this is reality.

Lip, what can we do if we are willing to include Donte and/or Green in a deal for a PF?

[Q-is-here]

A couple updates to the original list.


POA Wing Defenders
Dorian Finney-Smith - $13.4M, $13.4M, $13.4M (Player Option)
Isaac Okoro - $11.8M
Matisse Thybulle - Unrestricted Free Agent (Last year's salary = $11.5M)
Derrick Jones Jr. - $10.5M
Caleb Martin - $10M, $9.4M (Player Option)
Jaylen Wells - $2.3M, $2.5M, (Team Option)

Positionless Swiss Army Knife
Rui Hachimura - Unrestricted Free Agent ($18.3M)
Naji Marshall - $9.4M
Kyle Anderson - Unrestricted Free Agent ($9.2M)
Jeremy Sochan - Unrestricted Free Agent ($7.7M)
*NEW* Kenrich Williams - Unrestricted Free Agent ($7.1M) - Team Option declined by OKC
Dean Wade - Unrestricted Free Agent ($6.6M)

Stretch Power Forward/Centers
Kelly Olynyk - Unrestricted Free Agent ($13.4M)
Guerschon Yabusele - Unrestricted Free Agent ($5.5M)
Kevin Love - Unrestricted Free Agent ($4.2M)
*NEW* Sandro Mamukelashvili ($2.3M) Will likely exercise his Player Option and opt for FA
Jock Landale - Unrestricted Free Agent ($2.3M)

Traditional Power Forward
Marvin Bagley III - Unrestricted Free Agent ($2.6M)
Precious Achiuwa - Unrestricted Free Agent ($2.1M)

Wing Shooter/Scorer
Khris Middleton - Unrestricted Free Agent ($33.3M)
Kevin Huerter - Unrestricted Free Agent ($17.9M)
Kelly Oubre Jr. - Unrestricted Free Agent ($8.4M)

[Coolbreeze44]

Sandro and Precious look like good options to me.