Eastern Notes: Bufkin, NAW, Tanenbaum, Nets, Wiggins
After rebuffing trade interest in former first-round pick Kobe Bufkin earlier in the offseason, the Hawks became more open to the idea of moving him after the Las Vegas Summer League concluded, according to Grant Afseth of RG.org.
While Bufkin posted strong averages of 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game in four Vegas outings, he struggled to score efficiently, making just 35.5% of his shots from the floor, including 25.9% of his three-point attempts. The Hawks, who are hoping to contend in what looks like a wide-open Eastern Conference, are focused on players who can help them win right now and weren’t sure Bufkin fit that bill, as Afseth explains.
Bufkin was ultimately sent to Brooklyn, though the Pacers also registered some interest, sources tell RG.org.
As for the Hawks, they intend to lean on Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard for ball-handling duties behind star point guard Trae Young, according to Afseth, who says the team envisions Alexander-Walker taking on a more significant offensive role than he had in Minnesota — he has been working closely with Atlanta’s coaching staff to prepare for those increased responsibilities, Afseth adds.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Raptors governor and NBA Board of Governors chairman Larry Tanenbaum is obligated to begin the process of selling his 20% stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (the Raptors’ parent company) to Rogers Communications by July 7, 2026, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. There are “rumblings” that process could begin sooner, Grange says, but either way, it sounds like it’s just a matter of time until Rogers – which already controls 75% of MLSE – owns nearly the entire company. Rogers increased its stake in MLSE from 37.5% to 75% a year ago.
- Which Nets players are the most and least likely to be part of the team’s long-term plans? Brian Lewis of The New York Post explores that question in a subscriber-only article, suggesting that Cam Thomas seems unlikely to remain in Brooklyn beyond 2025/26, whereas Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, and whoever the Nets draft with their 2026 lottery pick seem destined to be cornerstones going forward.
- Addressing the recent trade rumors linking Heat forward Andrew Wiggins to the Lakers, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel explains why he thinks Miami would be better off keeping Wiggins than trading him for a return of Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht.
Hawks Trade Kobe Bufkin To Nets
September 16: The trade is official, according to announcements from both teams. The Nets waived big man David Muoka in order to open up a spot on the 21-man roster for Bufkin.
September 15: The Hawks and Nets have agreed to a trade that will send former first-round pick Kobe Bufkin from Atlanta to Brooklyn in exchange for cash considerations, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). The Hawks will acquire $110K in cash, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
The 15th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Bufkin has battled injuries since entering the NBA. He missed a significant chunk of his rookie year due to a fractured left thumb and a sprained toe, then underwent season-ending shoulder surgery into December 2024, less than two months into his second season.
In total, the 6’4″ guard made just 27 appearances for the Hawks, averaging 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 11.9 minutes per night, with a .374/.220/.654 shooting line. Bufkin – who will turn 22 on Sunday – has more upside than he’s been able to show so far, so the Nets will take a chance on him in the hopes that he’ll have better health luck going forward.
Brooklyn has more than enough cap room to take on Bufkin’s $4.5MM salary for this season, which will push the team over the minimum salary floor, at least for now. His rookie scale contract also includes a $6.9MM team option for 2026/27 — the Nets will have to make a decision on that option by October 31.
While the Nets are in a good position to roll the dice on Bufkin from a salary cap perspective, adding him to the mix will exacerbate a looming roster crunch. Once the deal is official, Brooklyn will be carrying 15 players on guaranteed salaries and four on partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed salaries. The team also intends to add Ricky Council IV to the latter group. A number of those players will have to be waived or traded in order for the Nets to set their 15-man regular season roster next month.
Brooklyn still has roughly $11.6MM in cap room for now, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, though the club could increase that figure by waiving some of those players with non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. The Nets would be in danger of falling back below the minimum salary floor in that scenario and will want to make sure they’re above that threshold by opening night.
The Hawks, meanwhile, will generate a $4.5MM trade exception as a result of the deal, generating a little extra financial flexibility below the luxury tax line and opening up another roster spot for one of their camp invitees to compete for.
With Bufkin no longer in the mix, Atlanta will have just 10 players on fully guaranteed salaries, plus Vit Krejci and N’Faly Dante on partial guarantees, Mouhamed Gueye on a non-guaranteed contract, and Caleb Houstan, Charles Bassey, and Kobe Johnson on Exhibit 10 deals.
Knicks Confirm Several Signings, Plan To Add Alex Len
Having carried just 12 players on their roster since July, the Knicks began officially filling out their 21-man preseason squad on Tuesday.
After signing Dink Pate and Bryson Warren to Exhibit 10 contracts, the team officially announced five more previously reported deals, confirming that Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet have signed their Exhibit 9 contracts (Twitter links), while Mohamed Diawara, Garrison Mathews, Tosan Evbuomwan have finalized Exhibit 10 agreements (all Twitter links).
Reports late last week indicated that Mathews, Shamet, and Brogdon were signing non-guaranteed contracts with the Knicks. Evbuomwan’s deal was reported on Monday, while James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link) stated earlier today that Diawara would be getting an Exhibit 10 contract.
The Knicks aren’t done making roster additions. According to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link), the team has also reached a training camp agreement with veteran center Alex Len, who was working out for New York this week.
The fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft, Len has been in the NBA for 12 seasons, primarily as a backup big man. In 2024/25, he appeared in 46 total games for the Kings and Lakers and played a very modest role, averaging just 1.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 8.3 minutes per night.
There has been no formal announcement yet regarding Len or veteran wing Matt Ryan, who is expected to re-sign with the Knicks on a non-guaranteed deal. The club also has a two-way qualifying offer on the table for Kevin McCullar Jr.
With 19 players now officially under contract, there’s not enough room for New York to sign Len, Ryan, and McCullar without making a cut, but more shuffling of players on and off the roster figures to occur in the coming days and weeks.
Pate and Warren will probably be the first players waived and appear likely to end up with the Westchester Knicks in the G League. Brogdon, Shamet, and Mathews are expected to be competing for a regular season roster spot — it’s possible Ryan and Len could be involved in that competition too, though they look like longer shots to make the team.
Diawara has an inside track for a standard roster spot because of the Knicks’ hard-cap situation, which requires them to carry a drafted rookie on a minimum-salary contract if they don’t shed salary in a trade. Evbuomwan, meanwhile, is a candidate to have his Exhibit 10 contract converted into a two-way deal.
Knicks Sign Dink Pate, Bryson Warren To Exhibit 10 Contracts
The Knicks have officially signed undrafted rookie Dink Pate to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, the team announced today in a press release (Twitter link). Pate’s agreement with the Knicks was first reported back in June, shortly after the draft concluded.
Pate, 19, spent the 2024/25 season in the G League with the Mexico City Capitanes after having played for the G League Ignite in ’23/24. He averaged 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 26.9 minutes per contest in 34 games for the Capitanes and was selected to participate in the 2025 Next Up event at All-Star Weekend.
Pate suited up for the Knicks’ Summer League team in Las Vegas in July, averaging 9.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 17.6 MPG across five outings, with a shooting line of .400/.500/.889.
The Knicks have also signed guard Bryson Warren to an Exhibit 10 deal, according to the club (Twitter link).
Warren, who went undrafted out in 2024, has spent the past two seasons with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s G League affiliate. Last season, the 20-year-old averaged 11.0 PPG, 3.7 APG, and 2.6 RPG in 49 appearances (23.3 MPG) for Sioux Falls, registering a shooting line of .414/.373/.781. The Westchester Knicks made a trade earlier this month for his returning rights.
New York only had 12 players under contract before signing Pate and Warren, which means those deals can’t include an Exhibit 9 clause that protects the Knicks financially in the event of an injury in training camp or the preseason. A team can’t sign a player to an Exhibit 9 deal unless it has at least 14 players already under contract (not including two-ways).
That means Pate and Warren are probably simply ticketed for the G League and are unlikely to take part in any workouts or scrimmages with the team before they’re waived, since the Knicks won’t want to risk a major injury that would leave them on the hook for either player’s regular season salary. The Exhibit 10 language in Pate’s and Warren’s contracts will make them eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if they spend at least 60 days with the Westchester Knicks this season.
Knicks Notes: McBride, Brown, Towns, FAs, Anunoby
The Knicks ranked fifth in the NBA last season with a 117.3 offensive rating, but the team’s efficiency dropped over the course of the year, as Stefan Bondy writes for The New York Post. After scoring 119.9 points per 100 possessions prior to the All-Star break, New York ranked 22nd with just 112.3 points per 100 possessions after the break, and the club’s 112.7 offensive rating in the playoffs was the worst of the four conference finalists.
Knicks reserve guard Miles McBride is optimistic that new head coach Mike Brown will help revitalize an offense that slowed down over the season’s final few months.
“Last year, we might’ve gotten a little bit stagnant, and the last couple years,” McBride told Bondy. “And I feel like what [Brown’s] been preaching is just being able to play with pace, and it’s not just the guy with the ball. And everybody is a possibility [to score] and able to take it off the dribble, of course.”
Describing the team as “really hungry” after coming within two wins of an NBA Finals appearance in 2024/25, McBride went into more detail on why his conversations with Brown so far have made him excited about what the Knicks’ offense will look like going forward.
“I’ve talked to [Brown] a lot, and I think the big thing is just going to be a lot of player movement,” McBride said. “He’s giving us the foundation, and we’re just going to work off of it. So I’m really excited to see all our creativity with each other that we’ve been working on these last couple months. Really excited to see where it takes us.”
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Speaking to D.J. Siddiqi of Games Hub a few weeks ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, Jalen Brunson referred to the former Timberwolves big man as a “phenomenal” addition for the Knicks both on and off the court. “The things that he’s been able to do in a short period of time being a Knick has been amazing,” Brunson said. “Having him as a teammate has been really fun. I think that gets overlooked how good of a teammate he is. Obviously, he’s a great player and what he does on the court. But the teammate he is and what he brings to the locker room for us is special. So I’m really happy to have him.”
- Veteran free agents Dennis Smith Jr. and Alex Len played well in informal scrimmages on Monday, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link), who confirms that Trey Jemison remains on New York’s radar and says the team is finalizing its decisions on who to invite to training camp. Begley also reported the Knicks’ interest in re-signing Matt Ryan before word broke this morning that the two sides had a deal in place.
- How will the Knicks’ coaching change affect OG Anunoby? Fred Katz of The Athletic digs into that question, exploring whether the athletic forward will benefit from Brown’s stated desire to play at a faster pace and whether Anunoby could take on more offensive responsibilities.
Matt Ryan Signing Non-Guaranteed Deal With Knicks
Free agent wing Matt Ryan is signing a non-guaranteed contract with the Knicks and will join the team for training camp, reports Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter link).
Ryan spent most of the 2024/25 season with the Knicks, first on a non-guaranteed deal and then on a two-way contract, before being waived on March 1. He appeared in 19 games for the team but played primarily in garbage time, scoring 28 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 68 total minutes of action.
Ryan, who has played in 82 regular season games since making his NBA debut in April 2022, is known primarily as a three-point marksman, having made 40.2% of his career attempts from beyond the arc.
Since he now has four years of NBA experience under his belt, Ryan is no longer eligible for a two-way contract, so if he’s going to make the Knicks’ regular season roster, it would have to be on a standard contract.
Given the club’s hard-cap limitations and the stiff competition he would face in camp, the 28-year-old is probably a long shot to open the season with New York. Landry Shamet, Malcolm Brogdon, and Garrison Mathews are also expected to vie for what will end up being just a single standard roster spot if the team can’t shed salary in a trade.
Ian Begley of SNY.tv first reported on Monday (via Twitter) that the Knicks were eying Ryan for a possible training camp deal.
Timberwolves Re-Sign Bones Hyland
September 16: Hyland signed a one-year contract that includes a partial guarantee of $425K, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
September 15: The Timberwolves have re-signed free agent guard Bones Hyland, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.
Hyland, who turned 25 on Sunday, finished last season on a two-way contract with the Timberwolves after being waived by Atlanta. The 6’2″ combo guard made just four NBA appearances for Minnesota after seeing action in 20 games for the Clippers earlier in the season. In total, he averaged 6.2 points and 1.3 assists in 10.0 minutes per contest on .398/.390/.885 shooting for the two teams in 2024/25.
Despite Hyland’s limited role last season, multiple reports in August indicated that the Timberwolves maintained interest in re-signing him. Minnesota’s president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has long been a fan of the former VCU standout, having used the 26th overall pick in 2021 to draft him back when Connelly was running the Nuggets’ front office.
Hyland showed some intriguing potential as a scorer and shooter during a season-and-a-half in Denver (10.9 PPG, .371 3PT%). However, the Nuggets – said to be concerned about Hyland’s defensive lapses and his displeasure with his role – sent him to the Clippers at the 2023 deadline after Calvin Booth had replaced Connelly as the Nuggets’ top decision-maker.
Hyland never really found his footing in Los Angeles, appearing in just 71 games over the last two years and averaging 7.8 PPG on .392/.349/.812 shooting during that time. He was traded to Atlanta in February as part of the Terance Mann/Bogdan Bogdanovic swap and was quickly waived by the Hawks, clearing a path for a reunion with Connelly.
Details of Hyland’s new deal aren’t yet known, but it’s almost certainly a minimum-salary contract. Jake Fischer reported last month that Hyland may end up receiving a non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed salary if and when he re-signed with the Wolves.
Minnesota entered the day with just 13 players on standard contracts and roughly $5.9MM in breathing room below the second tax apron, so assuming Hyland received a minimum deal, the team still has enough room to sign a 15th man without surpassing the second-apron threshold. Bringing in other camp invitees to compete with Hyland for the 14th roster spot would also be an option if his deal isn’t guaranteed.
Stein’s Latest: Banton, Love, Warriors, NBA Europe, Bonga
Free agent guard Dalano Banton has received interest from teams overseas but continues to seek an NBA opportunity after spending the past season-and-a-half in Portland, Marc Stein writes for The Stein Line (Substack link).
According to Stein, Banton has recently auditioned for multiple NBA teams, including the Warriors and Pacers, though Indiana decided to pass on him.
Banton, who was traded from the Celtics to the Trail Blazers at the 2024 deadline, has since appeared in 97 games for Portland, averaging 10.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 20.6 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .399/.319/.751. He has been an unrestricted free agent since his contract expired on June 30.
Here’s more from Stein:
- The Jazz and Kevin Love have yet to engage in serious discussions about a buyout, per Stein. While it’s “widely known” that Love would like to play for a team closer to contention, it doesn’t sound as if he has a post-buyout spot lined up yet, Stein explains, so there has been no urgency to get out of his contract with Utah.
- Stein reiterates that the expectation around the NBA is that veteran free agents Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, and Gary Payton II will sign with the Warriors once Jonathan Kuminga‘s situation is resolved. According to Stein, the latest round of negotiations between the Warriors and Kuminga has “sparked some fresh optimism” that both he and those other vets will be signed prior to the team’s media day on September 29.
- After FIBA Europe president Jorge Garbajosa predicted that the NBA’s new European league could tip off in 2027, Stein says his own reporting suggests Garbajosa’s timetable may not be exact but also isn’t far off.
- Although Isaac Bonga‘s NBA exit clause for 2025 expired, he drew interest from a few teams earlier in the summer, according to Stein, who says Bonga committed to spending the coming season with Partizan Belgrade after not getting a concrete offer from any of those clubs. Stein anticipates Bonga will receive more serious NBA interest next offseason.
Timberwolves Sign Johnny Juzang To One-Year Deal
September 15: The Timberwolves have officially signed Juzang, the team announced today in a press release.
August 1: Free agent guard Johnny Juzang has reached an agreement with the Timberwolves and will sign a one-year contract with the team, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
While Charania doesn’t provide any further details on the deal, it’s safe to assume it’s a minimum-salary contract, and Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link) reports that it won’t be guaranteed. Juzang will get the chance in camp to compete for a spot on the 15-man roster or a two-way deal., Hine adds.
Juzang, 24, caught on with Utah after going undrafted out of UCLA in 2022 and has spent the past three seasons with the Jazz — two on two-way deals, then last season on a standard contract. He actually signed a four-year deal with Utah last August, but only the first season was guaranteed, so he was waived in June before his $2.84MM salary for 2025/26 was locked in.
Juzang made just 38 total appearances during his first two NBA seasons, but earned a rotation role in ’24/25, averaging 19.8 minutes per night across 64 outings. He put up 8.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, with a respectable .429/.376/.849 shooting line. However, the Jazz were the NBA’s worst defensive team and Juzang did little to help matters on that end — his 120.3 defensive rating was the second-worst among players who logged at least 500 minutes for Utah.
The Timberwolves entered the day with 13 players on standard guaranteed contracts and a pair of players on two-way deals, so they’ll have 16 players on their offseason roster once they’ve officially signed Juzang. They also still have a two-way qualifying offer on the table for Tristen Newton.
NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Minnesota Timberwolves
Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Free agent signings
Naz Reid: Five years, $125,000,000. Fifth-year player option. Re-signed using Bird rights.- Julius Randle: Three years, $100,000,000. Third-year player option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
- Joe Ingles: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
- Bones Hyland: Exact details TBD.
Trades
- Acquired the draft rights to Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 pick; from Lakers), either the Warriors’ or Nuggets’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable; from Suns), either the Suns’ or Rockets’ 2032 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Suns/Rockets), and cash ($3.25MM; from Lakers) in a seven-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Rasheer Fleming (No. 31 pick; to Suns).
- Acquired the Cavaliers’ 2027 second-round pick and cash ($1.5MM) from the Hawks in exchange for Nickeil Alexander-Walker (sign-and-trade).
Draft picks
- 1-17: Joan Beringer
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $20,331,643).
- 2-45: Rocco Zikarsky
- Signed to two-way contract.
Two-way signings
- Enrique Freeman
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
- Rocco Zikarsky
- Two years, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season); second year partially guaranteed for maximum two-way protection amount (will increase to 50% at start of regular season).
Departed/unsigned free agents
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Hawks)
- Jesse Edwards (Melbourne United)
- Luka Garza (Celtics)
- Bones Hyland (unsigned)
- Josh Minott (Celtics)
- Tristen Newton (unsigned)
Other roster moves
- Re-signed Jesse Edwards to a two-way contract ($85,300 partial guarantee), then waived him.
Salary cap situation
- Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
- Carrying approximately $200.3MM in salary.
- No hard cap.
- Full taxpayer mid-level exception ($5,685,000) available.
- One traded player exception available ($7,580,900); one traded player exception frozen ($4,686,880).
The offseason so far
Given that the Timberwolves have only advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs three times in franchise history, it’s not an exaggeration to call the last two seasons – which saw them appear in back-to-back Western Conference Finals – the most successful stretch in team history. However, entering the 2025 offseason, financial concerns threatened to put a dent in a roster that had won four postseason series in the past two years.
Marc Lore, Alex Rodriguez, and their “deep-pocketed” ownership group finally assumed majority control of the Timberwolves in June, while defensive anchor Rudy Gobert took a pay cut of nearly $9MM on a new deal that began in 2025/26. But after operating above the second tax apron in ’24/25, the Wolves weren’t eager to surpass that threshold for a second consecutive year. That meant the club likely wouldn’t be able to re-sign all three of its top free agents, Naz Reid, Julius Randle, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
The Wolves chose to prioritize Reid and Randle, reaching a five-year, $125MM agreement with the former and a three-year, $100MM deal with the latter. Since both Reid and Randle are power forwards, there was an argument for letting one of them walk, but Minnesota was a much better team when both players were available, since it allowed Reid – the Sixth Man of the Year in 2023/24 – to go to work against second units and created more frontcourt optionality. The Wolves had a 44-25 record in games Randle played, compared to a 5-8 mark when he was sidelined.
Reid’s $125MM contract, which is fully guaranteed with a fifth-year player option, was actually the most lucrative deal signed by any free agent this summer. That may seem like an aggressive investment in a player who doesn’t project to be a starter, but the 26-year-old has been one of the league’s most effective reserves in recent years and would be fully capable of stepping into a starting role in the event that Randle is traded at some point in the next couple seasons.
Reid’s new contract will also cover his prime years and isn’t an anomaly when compared to deals around the league. DeMar DeRozan, Miles Bridges, Tobias Harris, John Collins, RJ Barrett, Jerami Grant, and Khris Middleton are among the forwards who will earn between $3-12MM more than Reid in 2025/26.
Randle, meanwhile, turned down a $30.9MM player option in favor of a multiyear deal that starts at the same price. The three-time All-Star has taken some flak for his inconsistent three-point shot and mediocre defense, but he’s a talented, scorer, play-maker, and rebounder who had an excellent postseason (21.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 4.9 APG on .502/.385/.880 shooting), and he should be more comfortable in his second year in Minnesota following his first full offseason as a Timberwolf. He had little time to adjust to new his home last fall when the Knicks traded him to the Wolves at the start of training camp.
With Reid and Randle back in the fold, the Wolves didn’t have enough room below the second apron for Alexander-Walker, who received a four-year, $60MM+ contract from the Hawks.
Minnesota got a future second-round pick and cash as part of that sign-and-trade transaction, but lacked the resources to acquire a direct replacement for Alexander-Walker, a three-and-D guard, in free agency or on the trade market. The Wolves will be betting on increased contributions from a trio of in-house backcourt youngsters, with Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Jaylen Clark each likely getting the opportunity to compete for an increased role in 2025/26.
Although the Wolves also used a first-round pick on Joan Beringer and re-signed Joe Ingles to another minimum-salary contract, Beringer is an 18-year-old who will be playing stateside for the first time and Ingles shifted into the “locker room leader” phase of his career last season by logging 114 total minutes in 19 outings. It’s probably not realistic to expect major contributions from either player this season.
Up next
The Timberwolves entered the day on Monday with just 13 players on standard contracts and a team salary roughly $5.86MM below the second tax apron. Bones Hyland has since signed a contract – presumably worth the minimum – that could line him up to be Minnesota’s 14th man.
It’s possible Hyland will simply get that 14th roster spot and the Timberwolves will carry a 14-man standard roster into the regular season, but it’s not quite that simple.
For one, we don’t know yet how much (if any) of Hyland’s salary is guaranteed. Is he being handed a roster spot or will he have to compete for one? If it’s the latter, he could be the first of a handful of veteran free agents to reach deals with the Wolves, similar to how the Knicks agreed to terms with Landry Shamet, Garrison Mathews, and Malcolm Brogdon in a 24-hour span last week.
Minnesota also has enough wiggle room below the second apron to add a 15th man on a minimum deal or even using a modest portion of the taxpayer mid-level exception. But the Wolves are far enough into the tax that they’d be paying a penalty of $3.50 per dollar on that 15th man’s salary, so it would have to be someone they really like.
For what it’s worth, I’ve long thought that it would be in the Wolves’ best interest to add another veteran point guard to provide depth behind Mike Conley, who will be entering his age-38 season. Donte DiVincenzo and Hyland aren’t really true point guards, and it’s unclear if Dillingham will be ready to take on that role in his second NBA season. Brogdon would’ve been a nice fit, but there are other options still out there, including Cameron Payne and another one of Connelly’s former Nuggets, Monte Morris.
The Wolves have an open two-way slot available alongside Enrique Freeman and second-round pick Rocco Zikarsky, but the expectation is that Tristen Newton will fill it. The 2024 second-rounder reportedly agreed a month-and-a-half ago to sign his two-way qualifying offer, but that move still hasn’t been officially confirmed by either the team or the league. Assuming it gets done as expected, Minnesota’s two-way players should be set for the season.
As for potential extension-eligible players, most of the Wolves’ core players are already on longer-term deals. The only players eligible for extensions this fall are DiVincenzo and Leonard Miller.
A DiVincenzo extension isn’t out of the question, but he has two guaranteed years left on his current contract, so I doubt the Wolves will be in a hurry to get something done with him at this point unless he’s willing to give them a pretty team-friendly rate.
Miller, meanwhile, has barely seen the floor in his first two NBA seasons, playing just 84 total minutes in 30 appearances. At this point, extending his current deal is probably less of a priority than simply making sure he shows enough to finish out that expiring contract without being waived.