Minnesota Sports Forum

I don't mean to suggest that the Wolves season is over or a failure. Quite the opposite. I'm excited about the fact that the Wolves are in 7th place and at least headed at least for the play-in tournament with a decent chance of making the playoffs. But Gupta's decision to pass on making any deals at the deadline signaled his intent to take a longer view and preserve his assets for potential moves in the offseason. And one of the Wolves' most valuable assets, believe it or not, will be cap space.

The Wolves will have about $14M in cap space and, more significantly, around $40M in luxury tax space. I don't think the Wolves will be major players in the market for high-priced free agents. If nothing else, $14 million in cap space won't be enough for that, especially if they rre-sign Beverley, Prince or Okogie. Moreover, won't be any top tier free agents available this coming off season anyway. But the Wolves will be able to spend the full $10M MLE, which can add up to a $43.4M contract over 4 years. The Wolves will also have the full $4M bi-annual exception, which can total $8M over two years. Even if the Wolves max out both of these exceptions and re-sign Beverley and Price, they'll have ample room under the luxury tax to sign multiple vet minimum players.

Therefore, I thought it would be interesting to look at the list of upcoming free agents at the end of this season. There are some interesting options to help shore up the Wolves roster and improve the team. Here are some of the most intriguing unrestricted free agents who might be obtainable for the MLE, BAE or vet minimum:

Jusuf Nurkic
Robert Covington
Montrezl Harrell
Derrick Jones Jr.
Thomas Bryant
Ivica Zubac
Robin Lopez
Jalen Smith
Gorgui Dieng
DeAndre Jordan
Andre Drummond
Victor Oladipo
Otto Porter Jr.
Tony Bradley
Isaiah Hartenstein
Mitchell Robinson
Kyle Anderson
Patrick Mills
Paul Millsap
Kent Bazemore
Rodney Hood
Jalen Brunson

Thoughts?

We definitely need a legit sized center and we can't break the bank to go get one just to play 15-18 MPG backing up KAT. We need a screener, defensive rebounder, and defender in that 15-18MPG. Not sure who the right guy is off that list above, but it looks like there are a number of options available to us.

I also think it would be nice to upgrade the hybrid 3/4 role, but Prince and McDaniels' better play of late gives me a bit of pause there. Otto Porter Jr. would certainly fit the bill but hard to believe he'd come here versus trying to catch on with another contender, including the team he is on now.

The Wolves will likely operate as a team Over the cap as I assume they won't renounce any of their FA which also means they can use the full-mid-level. It will be interesting to see if they make any trades and it will be interesting to see what they do with their own FAs Prince, Beverley and Okogie. I could see them interested in bringing all of them back depending on the price. If Prince plays well enough does he outprice himself and the Wolves can sign someone else for less money? Depending on who they resign they may not have a lot of roster spots open as well. They currently have 10 guys under contract for next season. That could fill up pretty quickly. I'll be curious when we get closer to the draft to see if there are any guys that people think would be a good fit for the bigger backup big role that's needed on the team. Cockburn has been mentioned already. I know a rookie probably isn't what people have in mind for that role but it could end up being a good option. Even an Xavier Tillman type who was picked in the 2nd round would be handy.

Honestly it feels like sometime this offseason or next season it may be tike for the Wolves to make a bigger acquisition with some of the assets they currently have. Right now I'm not sure we know what that actually is. Maybe is not a big acquisition maybe it's just adding a solid legit rotation player. Of course maybe they did that with Prince in the Rubio trade and they just resign him and he becomes one of those solid role player pieces good team have. Maybe the Wolves add another guy like that in a trade or as a FA. What about someone like Dorian Finny-Smith?

monsterpile wrote:Honestly it feels like sometime this offseason or next season it may be time for the Wolves to make a bigger acquisition with some of the assets they currently have. Right now I'm not sure we know what that actually is. Maybe is not a big acquisition maybe it's just adding a solid legit rotation player.

I could argue that Minnesota should have been looking to do that already. They just squandered one window to do that with the past trade deadline by sitting on their hands and choosing good feelings over a talent upgrade. What's the difference between making a somewhat big acquisition now or in the off-season? Well, besides not having that player for the final stretch of regular season games and post-season play. I'll also remind everyone that the upcoming free agent class is relatively weak so the trade market is still going to be the best route to upgrading the roster.

You're correct that the Wolves should be trying to make a bigger acquisition, but they should have been trying to make that move over the last six weeks. The organization chose not to and a lot of fans applauded them for it. And yet the Wolves will still need to make a trade or two in the near future except they won't have as many movable expiring contracts to play with.

For those that know much more than me, how do we go from being right up against the tax line now, to having that much room? Is it just the increase in the cap, or have we got some expiring dead-wood?

Shumway wrote:For those that know much more than me, how do we go from being right up against the tax line now, to having that much room? Is it just the increase in the cap, or have we got some expiring dead-wood?

Prince, Beverley, Okogie, and Layman are all in the last year of their contract this season.

Don't forget the Wolves have all of their draft picks and a spare 2nd or 2(?). Keeping those cheaper players around helps more than people realize. Look at those Spurs teams, they drafted well for 25 years and were always in the discussion for top 4 seeds and more. I, for one, would like to see the team go that route. Would be awesome to follow a team like that!

D'Natagal wrote:Don't forget the Wolves have all of their draft picks and a spare 2nd or 2(?). Keeping those cheaper players around helps more than people realize. Look at those Spurs teams, they drafted well for 25 years and were always in the discussion for top 4 seeds and more. I, for one, would like to see the team go that route. Would be awesome to follow a team like that!

I would be shocked if Minnesota held on to all three of their second-round picks during the draft.

I think the list above has a lot of great players. But, the trick will be to find the right "fit". I always wanted to run Towns out as a PF, but given his defensive deficiencies, he is a Center (at least defensively) whether we like it or not. That means he is on court 35+ minutes.

That said, many of the guys above likely don't make sense. Guys like Mitchell Robinson, Nurkic and Zubac (who looks to be signed through next year anyways) are way too good to be bench guys at the center spot. And they aren't equipped to manage the PF duties on offense as a starter. The player we pick needs to be able to guard in space and play both C/PF spot. Hypothetically, guys like Dieng or Jalen Smith make a lot of sense here. I am still not sold on Vanderbilt as our starter. He feels much more like a 20 mpg guy off bench. Game changing player in spurts.

As far as bench big, as everyone has stated, we need some legit size. Hartenstein has seemingly played well, and could be a solid addition. Guys like Drummond and Moose will likely be there. There will be some dudes in this "backup center" realm that will outplay their low value contracts for sure.

A guy like Porter or Anderson makes sense as well. Versatile, smart players that can play wing and slide into small-ball PF spot. Both seem attainable, but will not come as cheaply as some of the centers discussed.

Camden wrote:

monsterpile wrote:Honestly it feels like sometime this offseason or next season it may be time for the Wolves to make a bigger acquisition with some of the assets they currently have. Right now I'm not sure we know what that actually is. Maybe is not a big acquisition maybe it's just adding a solid legit rotation player.

I could argue that Minnesota should have been looking to do that already. They just squandered one window to do that with the past trade deadline by sitting on their hands and choosing good feelings over a talent upgrade. What's the difference between making a somewhat big acquisition now or in the off-season? Well, besides not having that player for the final stretch of regular season games and post-season play. I'll also remind everyone that the upcoming free agent class is relatively weak so the trade market is still going to be the best route to upgrading the roster.

You're correct that the Wolves should be trying to make a bigger acquisition, but they should have been trying to make that move over the last six weeks. The organization chose not to and a lot of fans applauded them for it. And yet the Wolves will still need to make a trade or two in the near future except they won't have as many movable expiring contracts to play with.

I'm personally ok waiting because I don't feel confident where they should make that next more significant acquisition. You have been watching games and likely have more of a feel for this than me but from my perspective I still don't know. Some of that will depend on what the Wolves do with their own FAs. I know you really wanted Derrick White. Maybe not making that move was a mistake but I also think that it was a lot to give up. If the Wolves want a good player for basically 3 assets I think there will be options out there for them. In the meantime I'm looking to see if anyone on the roster steps up or steps out during this last stretch and at least one postseason game. The answer to one of the Wolves needs could still be in this roster and it's not apparent yet. I also still believe the draft is a very good way for teams to build their rosters.