Minnesota Sports Forum

Right now, the Wolves players under contract for 13 of the minimum 14 regular roster spots with two of their three allotted two-way contracts filled (Jesse and Rocco). That means the Wolves will undoubtedly sign one more regular roster players under and one more two-way contracts filled player. Because the Wolves are so close to the second apron, it’s unlikely the Wolves will fill the 15th roster spot. As we’ve seen, TC likes to keep that 15th spot open for more salary and roster flexibility later in the season in relation to the trade deadline and signing free agents.

Here’s the salary cap situation for the Wolves right now as they look to file the 14th roster split:

WOLVES PAYROLL:
$202,895,452 - (13 players)

TEAM SALARY CAP AND APRON THRESHOLDS
Salary cap: $154,647,000;
Luxury tax: $187,895,000;
First apron: $195,954,000;
Second apron: $207,824,000.

PLAYER MINIMUMS
* 0 Years of Experience: $1,272,870
* 1 Year of Experience: $2,048,494
* 2 Years of Experience: $2,296,274 - (Cap Hit)
* 3 Years of Experience: $2,378,870
* 4 Years of Experience: $2,461,463
* 5 Years of Experience: $2,667,947
* 6 Years of Experience: $2,874,436
* 7 Years of Experience: $3,080,921
* 8 Years of Experience: $3,287,409
* 9 Years of Experience: $3,303,774
* 10+ Years of Experience: $3,634,153

WOLVES SALARY CAP ROOM
- $4,928,548 below second apron
- $6,941,452 ABOVE first apron

Note that the 2-year minimum salary is the maximum salary cap hit. That means the Wolves have just enough room to sign two minimum salary players with at least 2 years of experience. If they did that, they’d be just $336,000 under the 2nd apron.

My first thought is to credit our front office for how well they’re managing the team’s payroll under the CBA.

Really impressive that they’ve left themselves just enough room to fill the last two roster spots at the vet minimum without hitting the second apron. In the alternative, they could use up to most of their tax-payer MLE to fill one of those two remaining roster spots if there’s a player they really like who would require more than the vet minimum.

Lip it's worth remembering that the Wolves signed Dozier last year to a partially guaranteed contract so they did actually start the season with 15 players under contract. They could do something similar this year. And keep that last roster available for either a different player outside the organization or signing one of their 2-way guys etc.

A couple comments...

First, Lip, I can see your numbers came from Hoopshype. That total has lots of errors. It includesboth the 2-way contracts and it includes Joe's full salary, when only the 2-year vet minimum counts. But then in the other direction, both Jaden and Donte have unlikely bonuses that don't count against the salary cap, but DO count towards the apron thresholds. So when you misfire in both directions a couple of times, your total is kinda close to the actual total -- within a million. The actual salary total counted against the aprons is $201,965,739. You should use spotrac.com if you are doing in salary cap/apron math.

On the 15th roster spot, I expect them to leave it unfilled for roster flexibility down the road. Last year was a bit unusual because we entered the season with 3 rookies. We only have 1 rookie this time around...

60WinTim wrote: ↑Thu Jul 31, 2025 1:24 pm A couple comments...

First, Lip, I can see your numbers came from Hoopshype. That total has lots of errors. It includesboth the 2-way contracts and it includes Joe's full salary, when only the 2-year vet minimum counts. But then in the other direction, both Jaden and Donte have unlikely bonuses that don't count against the salary cap, but DO count towards the apron thresholds. So when you misfire in both directions a couple of times, your total is kinda close to the actual total -- within a million. The actual salary total counted against the aprons is $201,965,739. You should use spotrac.com if you are doing in salary cap/apron math.

On the 15th roster spot, I expect them to leave it unfilled for roster flexibility down the road. Last year was a bit unusual because we entered the season with 3 rookies. We only have 1 rookie this time around...

I’ll rely on spotrac from now on. Still very close and we’re in the same spot. We can sign two vets to vet minimum deals or one veteran contract using most of our taxpayer MLE. I share your view that they’ll likely only fill one fo the roster spots to preserve some roster and financial flexibility. And I’m guessing the 14th spot will be a vet minimum rather than a MLE contract.

My main take-away from these numbers on both spotrac and hoopshype, is that front office looks darn impressive in the way they’re handling payroll under the CBA.

Lipoli390 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 31, 2025 11:45 pm

60WinTim wrote: ↑Thu Jul 31, 2025 1:24 pm A couple comments...

First, Lip, I can see your numbers came from Hoopshype. That total has lots of errors. It includesboth the 2-way contracts and it includes Joe's full salary, when only the 2-year vet minimum counts. But then in the other direction, both Jaden and Donte have unlikely bonuses that don't count against the salary cap, but DO count towards the apron thresholds. So when you misfire in both directions a couple of times, your total is kinda close to the actual total -- within a million. The actual salary total counted against the aprons is $201,965,739. You should use spotrac.com if you are doing in salary cap/apron math.

On the 15th roster spot, I expect them to leave it unfilled for roster flexibility down the road. Last year was a bit unusual because we entered the season with 3 rookies. We only have 1 rookie this time around...

I’ll rely on spotrac from now on. Still very close and we’re in the same spot. We can sign two vets to vet minimum deals or one veteran contract using most of our taxpayer MLE. I share your view that they’ll likely only fill one fo the roster spots to preserve some roster and financial flexibility. And I’m guessing the 14th spot will be a vet minimum rather than a MLE contract.

My main take-away from these numbers on both spotrac and hoopshype, is that front office looks darn impressive in the way they’re handling payroll under the CBA.

Yup! The Randle and NAZ signings were very calculated.