After acquiring D’Angelo Russell at the 2020 trade deadline and using the first overall pick in last fall’s draft to snag Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves entered the 2020/21 campaign expecting to be in the play-in mix.
As was the case in 2019/20 though, Russell and franchise player Karl-Anthony Towns had trouble staying healthy at the same time. Through 50 games, Russell and Towns had appeared on the court together in just four of them. By that point, the Wolves owned a dismal 12-38 record, putting them well out of playoff contention.
There were some encouraging signs during the season’s final weeks. Edwards had a big second half, flashing star potential, and the Wolves were actually pretty competitive when both Russell and Towns were on the court — the team had a 13-11 record in games the duo played. Still, Minnesota will have to take a major step forward in 2021/22 to have a realistic shot at a playoff berth.
The Timberwolves’ Offseason Plan:
Despite finishing near the bottom of the Western Conference standings in each of the last two years, the Timberwolves don’t have much cap flexibility going forward. Towns and Russell are on maximum-salary contracts, while Ricky Rubio, Malik Beasley, and Edwards are all earning eight-figure salaries. That means the team is unlikely to be a real player in free agency.
The Wolves badly need a starting power forward, however, and president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas figures to get creative in his quest to land one this offseason. If free agency isn’t a viable path and the draft isn’t an option (Minnesota doesn’t have its first- or second-round pick), the trade market is the the club’s best bet.
Despite the positive impact Rubio had on a young Wolves squad in 2020/21, he’ll be a trade candidate due to his $17.8MM expiring salary. Jake Layman and Juan Hernangomez, whose contract is only guaranteed for one more year, also have expiring deals that could be useful in trades. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Wolves are more interested in shopping Beasley, who plays the same position as Edwards and still has $30MM in guaranteed money left on his contract over the next two years.
Although the Wolves had to send the No. 7 overall pick to Golden State to complete the Russell trade, they’re expected to get an infusion of young talent by signing draft-and-stash prospect Leandro Bolmaro, last year’s No. 23 overall pick. And conveying the 2021 first-rounder to the Warriors this season means all of the team’s future first-round picks are freed up for future trades. Rosas has shown a willingness to be aggressive, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s willing to include a first-rounder in a deal for a power forward.
Salary Cap Situation
Note: Our salary cap projections are based on a presumed 3% increase, which would result in a $112.4MM cap for 2021/22.
Guaranteed Salary
- Karl-Anthony Towns ($31,650,600)
- D’Angelo Russell ($30,013,500)
- Ricky Rubio ($17,800,000)
- Malik Beasley ($14,491,964)
- Anthony Edwards ($10,245,480)
- Juan Hernangomez ($7,012,440)
- Jarrett Culver ($6,395,160)
- Josh Okogie ($4,087,904)
- Jake Layman ($3,940,184)
- Jaden McDaniels ($2,063,280)
- Total: $127,700,512
Player Options
- None
Team Options
- None
Non-Guaranteed Salary
- Jaylen Nowell ($1,782,621)
- Naz Reid ($1,782,621) 1
- Total: $3,565,242
Restricted Free Agents
- Jarred Vanderbilt ($2,079,826 qualifying offer / $2,079,826 cap hold): Bird rights
- Total (cap holds): $2,079,826
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
- None
Extension-Eligible Players
- Josh Okogie (rookie scale)
- Jaylen Nowell (veteran)
- Naz Reid (veteran)
- Ricky Rubio (veteran)
- D’Angelo Russell (veteran)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (veteran)
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
- Evan Turner ($27,909,834): Bird rights 3
- Ed Davis ($6,506,955): Early Bird rights
- Leandro Bolmaro ($2,353,320)
- Aaron Brooks ($1,669,178): Non-Bird rights 3
- Total: $38,439,287
Offseason Cap Outlook
The Timberwolves’ $127.7MM in guaranteed money puts them well over the projected cap. They’ll move closer to the projected tax line ($136.6MM) by guaranteeing Nowell’s and Reid’s salaries and by signing Bolmaro to his rookie contract.
While I expect Minnesota to explore moves that cut costs, it looks for the time being as if the team may forgo the full mid-level exception or the bi-annual exception — using either would hard-cap the Wolves at the tax apron, which figures to be in the neighborhood of $143MM, significantly hampering the team’s flexibility.
Cap Exceptions Available
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,890,000 4
Footnotes
- Reid’s salary becomes fully guaranteed in mid-to-late August (exact date TBD).
- Because he has been on a two-way contract with the Timberwolves for two seasons, McLaughlin is eligible for a standard minimum-salary qualifying offer.
- The cap holds for Turner and Brooks remain on the Timberwolves’ books from prior seasons because they haven’t been renounced. They can’t be used in a sign-and-trade deal.
- This is a projected value. If the Timberwolves move further below the tax line, they could gain access to the full mid-level exception ($9.5MM) and the bi-annual exception ($3.7MM).
Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
My rankings for next year
10 Pelicans
11 Spurs – better coach
12 Wolves
13 Kings
14 Rockets
15 Thunder
Those lottery picks are not ready
Wallywood,
Would you trade Wood to Wolves for Beasley and 2023 top-3 protected pick?
Of course not. Although I’m sure Minnesota would love to make that trade.
Irrelevant team. They set high expectations but D’Lo and Towns keep missing 20 to 30 games a season. Today’s players are soft, it is becoming very rare to see a someone playing over 70 games a season. If they bring back hand check, injuries will decrease but no, they want these kids to sprint back and forth and drive to the hoop with no resistance!
… And diving to the hardwood at the end
Russell for Porzingis?
The last thing Timberwolves need is another injury prone big. Russel for Sexton makes more sense.
They better trade Towns for assets and a pick. Timberpups…where lacking a plan happens.
Towns and Beasly for Ayton and Bridges.
I wonder if this is a viable landing spot for Ben Simmons? Hear me out.
Timberwolves get
Ben Simmons
Sixers get
Malik Beasley
Ricky Rubio
2023 top 10 protected 1st round pick
It could work if the Wolves make Simmons a forward rather than trying to make him a point guard. The Sixers get a PG that can hold down the fort for at least a year along with a capable starting SG along with a pick that may be somewhat decent.
For Minnesota you get a starting 5 of Russell – Culver – Edwards – Simmons – Towns. Culver stands out as not fitting, but the guy was a top 6 pick. Maybe he deserves a chance to actually do something. He could be a breakout player next year like Garland was this year.
As an added bonus it would mean 4 straight overall #1 picks from 2013-16 would have played for Minnesota in Bennett, Wiggins, Towns, and Simmons.
I agree that Simmons makes some sense in Minny, Towns loves shooting 3’s anyway, so Ben could be a de facto PF/C in line-ups with him + shooters.
But I don’t think Philly pulls the trigger unless it’s for D’Angelo, and I say that as someone who think Russell stinks.
But if all you get back is a backup PG, a wing who’s not even as good as Tobias, and a pick that won’t be 21 til Embiid is 30….I think that would be a tough sell to Joel. Russell at least, in theory, can be sold as the “shot creator” they’ve been missing.
I’d pass on Russell at this point. And Rubio has been one of the worst shooting PGs until Ben showed up.
The money won’t work but if you did something like Kemba and Beasley to the Sixers, Ben and Shake to Min, and Rubio and George Hill to the Thunder plus the Min 1st.
Just won’t work money wise. And I dont think you can do some sign and trade thing with one of the Sixers FAs.
In fairness, Beasley and Tobias can play together with Beasley at the 2 and Harris at the 3, so it wouldn’t matter if one was better than the other. Also, the pick would not necessarily have to selected by Philly. A Minnesota draft pick could be a very useful asset at next year’s trade deadline to pick up a useful player from a team not really in the running.
I doubt Russell is involved because then you have the exact same problem with Simmons in Minny in that he is NOT A PG. I guess Rubio could play point for Minny, but if I am the Wolves I wouldn’t trade Russell for him.
Rubio can run point but he’s almost as bad of a shooter as Ben.
I’m not sold that Simmons can’t play PG – I just think he needs to play it like Draymond, not Trae Young. Now whether you call Draymond a PG or not IDK…but it seems like semantics to me. Simmons should be the primary distributor on almost any team he’s on. His passing is arguably his best skill.
You can say his passing is his best skill (although I would argue his steals is his best skill), but that doesn’t mean he should be a PG. And it also doesn’t mean that a more natural PG is not a better passer than him. Good passing big men have existed. Boris Diaw was an excellent passer, but nobody ever argued that he should play point.
And Draymond is most definitely not a point guard. He is another good passing undersized power forward.
In addition, I don’t buy into the idea that a PG has to be a great, or even a good, shooter in order to be successful. Isiah Thomas of the Pistons is one of the best pure PGs of all time and he couldn’t shoot to save his life. But that’s why you have a shooting guard like Joe Dumars to take care of that.
Is it helpful for your PG to be a great shooter? Of course. Is it really that necessary? Not if you have a good 2 guard.
I guess to me it’s semantics with how we’re defining positions these days.
Draymond might not be a traditional PG, but he’s the team’s primary distributor, which is what a traditional PG was generally tasked with. He’s led the team in assists I think every season since he became a starter.
So maybe Simmons doesn’t bring the ball up, but to me his value offensively is going to be running offense through him and having him use his vision to find the right guy.
You just can’t have him off-ball, because he kills you—which has been the Embiid/Ben dilemma for half a decade now.
So, PF or PG, I’d expect him to be more effective almost anywhere else. Pretty much the entire league plays a version of a 5-out, open offense that Simmons should theoretically thrive in—except Philly, who still wants to run post-ups all game (and rightfully so w/ Embiid).
I guess it is a bit of semantics. It’s just Simmons really does seem to be a square peg in a league full of round holes. It’s like that linebacker in college that dominates, but in the NFL he is the classic “tweener.” Too small for the line and too slow for a LB. In the right system, that “tweener” can be a star, but on most teams he is a back up at best.
The Timberpuppies are CURSED and have been so since 1989. Either change the name now to try and end that or just wait to pay through the nose for an expansion team to replace them after A Rod moves the team to become:
The Tampa Bay Bucketneers
Does not matter what moves are made by Rosas over the next 2 years, once A-Rod gets control, Rosas, front office, head coach and coaches will all be sent packing.
Trying to get creative for the Mavs…. Would the wolves take KP and Tyrell Terry for Malik Beasley, Rubio, and protected 1st?
It would fill the wolves hole at PF while moving an expiring contact and a redundant player. Mavs would get more shooting around Luka and Rubio could keep the offense from falling apart whenever Luka sits.
I would definitely do that trade if I were the wolves. I was thinking about this the other day but wasn’t sure how much the mavs value porzingis.
I don’t know what the solution is … but some of these max contracts just assassinate a team on arrival.
Fact: it’s almost impossible to build a good basketball team when you’re paying D’Angelo Russel 30m per. Unless you have a top 5 guy next to him (which is why he might make sense in Philly if they really want off Simmons).
So basically until they can dump Russell, Minnesota’s only chance at mediocrity is Towns and/or Edwards becoming absolutely elite players.
Maybe the guaranteed money needs to be reduced, like in football. Because some of these guys just become pure albatrosses once they sign a max. And there’s more than 1 or 2 of them.
But they got Russell in the first place to keep Towns
HAPPY… What happens to Towns’ attitude once Russell is “dumped”?
What does Towns’ attitude matter when they’re one of the worst 3 teams in the league? Is he going to request a trade? And then they’ll be forced to “rebuild”? Lucky for them the rebuilding will be easy – because they already stink.
Also – if keeping KAT happy means putting a garbage team on the floor … why even keep him? If the apex of the KAT era is going to be lottery after lottery aren’t they better off trading KAT now and getting maximum assets back?
Then trade both kat and dlo…both arent great player and injury prone.build around edward.
Based on the historical performance of this franchise, Shouldn’t the title of this article be:
2021 Offseason P.U.: Minnesota Timberpuppies
Twolves fans. Tough luck missing the lottery this year.
Don’t worry though, you’ll be right back there next season.
Some of the narratives put out there by GMs are priceless. Rosas has been on the job for 2 years and, in that time, has acquired every single player on the roster other than Towns. Why couldn’t he have acquired some F’s in some of those moves? Why does it have to wait until he’s out of both picks and cap space so it requires creativity?
The old question… What kind of 4 to pair with Towns.
The old question… What kind of 4 to pair with Towns.
I guess Rosas couldn’t answer the question, so he just didn’t get any real 4’s. Of course, he doesn’t have any real 3’s either.
Capped out with no picks. There offseason went to hell before it even started.
Boy didn’t realize how cheap KAT comes to MIN, I mean if you can’t build a winner with your best ever player playing for what amounts to peanuts in the actual NBA… I just don’t know, then, right?