Taurean Prince‘s two-year extension with the Timberwolves was initially reported to be worth $16MM, but its base value actually comes in at just $14.56MM, and the second year is non-guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned.
Prince’s new deal also includes $195K in likely incentives per year, along with another $870K in annual unlikely incentives, so if he plays out the full two-year contract and maxes out its value, it’ll be worth $16.69MM in total.
The second year of Prince’s new deal would become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 28, 2023.
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- It might be a while before we know if the Timberwolves “won” the deal for Rudy Gobert, and even evaluating what constitutes a win will be complicated, writes Michael Rand of The Star Tribune. However, Rand views the deal as trading “nine dimes for a dollar,” and believes it’s the kind of move the team needed to make to be serious about contending for a title.
- Mike Singer of The Denver Post (subscription required) acknowledges that the Nuggets‘ deal with DeAndre Jordan may not have been an exciting way to kick off free agency, but says the team did its homework on Jordan, vetted his engagement, and felt comfortable bringing him into the locker room. “They’d learned enough about former center DeMarcus Cousins that they weren’t willing to make the same commitment,” Singer writes.
- Both Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports and Singer (Twitter links) believe that Adonis Arms, who is signing an Exhibit 10 contract with the Nuggets, is a strong candidate to eventually fill Denver’s open two-way slot. Currently, Collin Gillespie is the only Nugget signed to a two-way deal.
- In case you missed it, our Community Shootaround discussion on Monday explored what’s next for the Jazz following the blockbuster Gobert trade.
Mike Singer of The Denver Post (subscription required)
Yes! Thanks, Luke!
I know that the Rudy trade looks like, and i think it is, an overpay. But still IMO Wolves are better, they will probably be in the range of 52-55 wins team. To determine if this move was won we have to wait for the playoffs, but i think, depending on matchups in the 2nd round, they can perfectly reach the WCF and maybe the finals.
As a wolves fan I initially hated the trade but looking back on it now as much as I agree it’s an overpay it’s shows that the new ownership is committing to a direction for this team. In reality this franchise has never really had a direction they’ve always just been dead in the water for a lack of a better term. So to see commitment to winning and not trying to just aim for .500 is extremely refreshing
They committed to the next year or two, and mortgaged the future for the 5 after that. Was this the piece that ‘puts them over the top’? No. They would have been better off keeping Kessler and done some other things IMO. Depth is gone. If any of those top 3 (KAT, Ant, or Gorbie) go out for the season, they’re done. Hey, I have no trouble being wrong, but I think this was a high risk move of impatience.
The Wolves have 4 all stars and a steady glue guy in Anderson the starting lineup and the bench is still pretty deep. They have a sharpshooter in Forbes, a Swiss army knife in Prince, and intriguing youngsters in McDaniels and Naz Reid.
Those picks will be outside the lottery, and the player they gave weren’t good starters.
Donovan + Rudy, and a good supporting cast but not great, made Utah a 48 to 52 wins team.
Ant will be better than Donovan and KAT is already better than him. Kat+ Ant + Rudy should make the Wolves a 50/55 wins team.
Ant and KAT are very young, so they mortage their draft picks but still will be able to build around those two, and Rudy’s game should age well.
Maybe they gave one first and/or swap more than the “fair price” for Rudy, but still they are going forward strong towards the future.
As a Jazz fan I hated this trade as well as the Jazz gave up the best defensive player in the league to a conference rival for a bunch of role players and bench warmers along with picks that will most likely land well outside the lottery.
It does give the Jazz some quality pieces and picks though and hopefully Ainge can package them up to bring Spida some reinforcements and then he can be equivalent to Ainge’s new Paul Pierce.
You’ll love it in the end. Jazz got some very useful players and a truckload of picks that can be turned into a new second star. They’re only halfway through the reset but if they do it well they’ll be better than before. And no, they’re not trading DM.
Good points by all, and they all can have slivers of truth to them
My take
Minny basically had this year to fill/find the max slot that was going to ride with KAT/ANT .
They did it early and the cost was high but I gotta give some props for identifying a target and going aggressively. Minnys never a team that can rely on open cap in free agency
John Collins (my pref) or JRandle certainly woulda been cheaper but I like this here with Rudy….I like it for KAT and I like it in the manner that I think it means they have the belief ANT can carry the whole load for the guard position ala MJ/Kobe rather than need a sidekick mate like DLo . Not saying he’s Mike or Kobe but I trust there’s more leap in Ants game to come so shift all the usage over ya Got !
This teams set now long term and they know exactly what they will need to build around (that info is so useful. lotta teams fly blind) . Just gotta make great usage of the exceptions /limited picks/roster spaces moving forward around them-
**I wonder if they chop Dlo up into 2 smaller contracts with extra years (if even possible) Kenard and Morris for example from Clips (tho clips wouldn’t do that just an example of framework )
It’s more like getting back a quarter for 6 nickels.
Essentially
After a trade like this, the idea, for MIN, should be to win a championship. If they do that, they can lose the trade. If they don’t, then even if the FO is recognized by the World Council of 2k’ers as the biggest trade winners of the decade, the deal itself was a complete waste of time and effort.
“It might be a while before we know if the Timberwolves “won” the deal for Rudy Gobert, and even evaluating what constitutes a win will be complicated.” NO IT WILL NOT BE !! This is the Timberpuppies we’re talking about. They have not made one RIGHT move since they began in 1989. The team is cursed and gets snake bit on EVERY move they make. Gobert WILL NOT deliver as expected while Utah will use the players and draft picks to develop into a powerhouse. Connolly, like all those before him who ran the show continues the top side ineptitude of Timberpuppy management and ownership.
This deal is a disaster for Minnesota. KAT can’t guard any 4’s. Good luck when Porter Jr goes for 50. Gobert is soooooo 1 dimensional it is crazy. Now Utah deals Mitchell and everyone else and rebuilds. More great news for Denver!
No we know the Wolves lost that trade.