JULY 10: The Timberwolves have officially signed Gibson, the team confirmed today.
JULY 2: The Timberwolves have agreed to sign free agent power forward Taj Gibson, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Charania, Gibson will receive $28MM on a two-year deal from Minnesota.
The pact doesn’t include an option (player or team) for the second year, per Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter). News of the agreement comes on the heels of a report from Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link) that the Wolves’ interest in Gibson had “increased.”
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
By agreeing to join the Wolves, Gibson will reunite with Tom Thibodeau, who coached the forward in Chicago. He’ll also be joining former Bulls teammate Jimmy Butler, who was acquired by Minnesota in a blockbuster trade. The market for Gibson’s services was relatively quiet, with the only other team reportedly interested in him being the Kings.
Inking Gibson will wipe out most, if not all, of Minnesota’s remaining cap room. The Wolves are still armed with their Room Exception, valued at about $4.33MM, which can be used to further bolster their ever-improving roster. However, adding Gibson almost certainly eliminates the Wolves from the Paul Millsap sweepstakes, which may make the Nuggets the frontrunner to land the versatile forward.
The Timberwolves will likely have to renounce their qualifying offer for Shabazz Muhammad in order to sign Gibson, which would make the swingman an unrestricted free agent. Muhammad could – in theory – still return to Minnesota, but the Wolves would no longer have matching rights, allowing him to sign outright with another club.
Gibson, 32, split his time between the Bulls and Thunder last season. He appeared in a total of 78 contests, averaging 10.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists. He shot .515/.231/.715 from the field.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Guess that means no Millsap?
Wolves had already dropped out of the running. He’s going to Denver, in my opinion.
That’s literally what the article says
To be fair, I think we were still in the process of updating the story when this comment was submitted.
One of the easier signings to predict.
we’re are they getting all this !!!!!
That T-Wolves defense is going to be formidable, they might be able to surprise everyone and duke it out with GS for that top spot next season.
Wolves will be the 6 seed at best next year. No way they make the top 4, much less the one
Yea sure, Towns will be shooting for MVP next year and if not him Jimmy will. Towns, Wiggins, and Butler are all 2 way players and can get you 20-50 points any given night. That is not a 6th seeded team.
Wiggins isn’t a two way player he scores a lot cause he takes 40% of the teams shots and doesn’t play d
If you think Towns is a 2 way player then you should watch more basketball
Why don’t you go watch some
Basketball? I watched basketball all the time, I never said Towns was Ben Wallace but the dude can hold his own.
Wiggins is not a two-way player…He tends to struggle defensively at times with his assignment, but this should be the year where he makes some big strides on that end of the floor.
Now, Butler can take on the opposing teams best offensive player, and Wiggins can focus more on playing the passing lanes, grabbing boards and starting the break, and because hE will be guarding the #2 or #3 options now, it should help him become more efficient and consistent offensively…Since he won’t be exerting soo much of his energy matched up with the opposing team’s #1.
The Wolves struggled defensively as a team last season, and now with Butler and Gibson in the mix, two of the best defenders in the league, their defense should be drastically improved!!
I’d say, with the roster changes, more maturation from their younger guys, and with the improved defense, the Wolves should be competing somewhere around the #3-5 spot in the Western Conference…
And once this team makes it into the playoffs, with their talent, the sky is truly the limit for them…They have assembled one of the most versatile, deep teams in the league, except obviously GS…Still though, K.A.T, Butler, Wiggins, Dieng, Gibson, Teague, Tyus Jones, Justin Patton, Payne, and with B.Rush you’re looking at a team stockpiling some serious talent…
I think they just actually need someone like a Justin Holiday or Shabazz Muhammad, another solid 3 and D, SF…Then, their roster would be just about as complete as a roster can get…
I’ll tell you what though, that pick n roll with Anthony-Towns and Butler is going to be something that’s incredibly difficult to slow down…Good luck to teams that have to deal with stopping those two in that situationn..
Dionis, you called the guy a 2 way player, which suggests that he is at the minimum an above average defender. I challenge you to find one reputable person who will agree with you on that. The kid is super young and talented so he could definitely become a plus defender, but to say he is now is simply incorrect.
They have to be better than the Spurs rockets and thunder first
The top spot! Lol thats a pipe dream. Even Timberwolves fans aren’t that optimistic yet. There’s no chance the Wolves go from lottery team to best team in the league.
DRose next? Thibs is creating the TimberBulls in his second year at the helm in Minny….Good luck, definitely fun team to watch.
No money for Rose.
They are going to be contenders for a while now. They were only missing a true PF and then a SG once Lavine went down. But they have since upgraded from Lavine to Butler, Rubio to Teage, and now Dieng to Gibson. They are going to be scary soon. Now that teams like the Spurs and Clippers and teams like that are getting older and are going to need to rebuild soon it is now the T-Wolves time to shine
Rockets and thunder????
Spurs are “old” and have been “old” for the past 5 years. Wonder how good they did with that???
Our bench is going to be trash. We needed to sign a couple of guys with our remaining money. Maybe we’ll be able to with our exception
Thibs should take on Deng from LA along with additional assets and get the whole band back together. Sign rose and bring everyone back… except with Towns and Wiggins.
We’re about to go sign Rose and trade for Loul Deng get the whole Bulls roster in Minnesota
Take the Knicks next 20 billion picks for Noah too lol
Big Taj Gibs on fan, but don’t like the fit for them. They definitely needed help at the 4, but his skillset is a little redundant with Dieng, who should also see backup 5 minutes…they also still need a couple of bench shooters on the wing…
Ya I don’t hate this signing for the twolves but it’s not a needle mover. I love the “spurs are getting old” commentor. When you’re a really good organization you generally transition those old guys with younger talent. Which is why the “old” spurs who have been “old” for a decade continue to be a top 3 seed.