Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Signings:
- Jeff Teague: Three years, $57MM. Third-year player option.
- Taj Gibson: Two years, $28MM.
- Jamal Crawford: Two years, $8.872MM. Second-year player option.
- Shabazz Muhammad: Two years, minimum salary. Second-year player option.
- Aaron Brooks: One year, minimum salary.
- Anthony Brown: Two-way contract. One year, $50K guaranteed.
Camp invitees:
- Marcus Georges-Hunt: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed.
- Amile Jefferson: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
- Melo Trimble: One year, minimum salary. Exhibits nine and 10.
Trades:
- Acquired Jimmy Butler and the draft rights to Justin Patton (No. 16 pick) from the Bulls in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the draft rights to Lauri Markkanen (No. 7 pick).
- Acquired the Thunder’s 2018 first-round pick (top-14 protected) from the Jazz in exchange for Ricky Rubio.
Draft picks:
- 1-16: Justin Patton — Signed to rookie contract.
Departing players:
- Omri Casspi
- Kris Dunn
- Jordan Hill
- Zach LaVine
- Adreian Payne
- Nikola Pekovic (waived; medical retirement)
- Ricky Rubio
- Brandon Rush
Other offseason news:
- Expected to finalize rookie scale extension with Andrew Wiggins.
- Bought Iowa Energy, renamed the G League team as the Iowa Wolves.
Salary cap situation:
- Used up all cap room and room exception. Over the cap, carrying approximately $104MM in guaranteed salaries. Only minimum salary exception available.
Check out the Minnesota Timberwolves’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Heading into June’s draft, it looked like the Timberwolves were on track to add another young prospect – perhaps Malik Monk or Lauri Markkanen – to a core that already featured Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kris Dunn, and Zach LaVine. Throw in a free agent addition or two, and that young group would have had a chance to make the leap into the top eight in the West, earning the Wolves their first playoff berth since 2004.
Head coach and president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau had other ideas though, signaling that he wasn’t satisfied with simply taking another incremental step forward. Instead of playing it safe on draft day, the Wolves flipped Dunn, LaVine, and the team’s No. 7 pick to the Bulls for old friend Jimmy Butler.
Once free agency got underway, Thibs and the front office added another familiar face from his Bulls days by signing Taj Gibson, and filled out the backcourt with a couple more veterans, signing Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford.
When the dust settled, the Timberwolves still looked like a team capable of making strides based on the development of former top picks Wiggins and Towns, but the veteran additions – headlined by Butler – had significantly increased the ceiling for the club. Suddenly, Minnesota looked ready not just to end the franchise’s postseason drought, but to potentially grab a top-five seed in a competitive Western Conference.
Key offseason losses:
The fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft, Dunn garnered significant interest a year ago, with the Bulls among the clubs that looked to acquire him on draft night. After a poor rookie season, it seemed safe to assume that Dunn’s value would have been somewhat diminished, but Chicago was still willing to make him and LaVine the centerpieces of a trade involving an All-NBA forward in Butler.
While Dunn has the potential to develop into an above-average NBA point guard and LaVine enjoyed a breakout season in 2016/17 before tearing his ACL, losing the duo shouldn’t have a huge impact on Minnesota’s on-court performance in the short term. Dunn’s .377/.288/.610 shooting percentage made him a liability, and LaVine only appeared in 47 games last season.
The bigger immediate loss for the Timberwolves will be Ricky Rubio, the former fifth overall pick who enjoyed his best season in 2016/17. Few point guards in the NBA can match the playmaking abilities of the Spaniard, who averaged 16.0 PPG and 10.5 APG after the All-Star break last season, but moving on from Rubio and Dunn will allow Minnesota to upgrade its shooting at the point guard spot — Rubio’s modest .402 FG% last season was a career best.
The Wolves also said goodbye to another long-tenured veteran over the offseason, waiving Nikola Pekovic and clearing his salary from their cap due to medical retirement. Pekovic hadn’t played in an NBA game since January 2016, so his departure essentially just opened up a roster spot and some cap room for the Wolves, but it wasn’t that long ago that he was a standout center for the franchise (17.5 PPG in 2013/14).
Key offseason additions:
While I didn’t hate the Butler deal for the Bulls as intensely as many NBA fans and observers did, it was certainly a coup for the Timberwolves. To land one of the 20 best players in the NBA, Minnesota only needed to move down nine spots in the draft and part with a struggling second-year point guard and a 2018 RFA-to-be recovering from a torn ACL.
It will be interesting to see whether Butler and Wiggins – who have similar games and aren’t exactly deadly outside shooters – can comfortably co-exist in the same lineup, but they’re both so talented that I have little doubt Thibodeau and company will find a way to make it work.
Teague and Crawford should be solid fits as well, providing the team with some solid – if not spectacular – three-point shooting. While Teague doesn’t have Rubio’s passing ability, he has also never been the sort of point guard who needs to take 15 or 20 shots per game, meaning he should have no problem getting Wiggins, Butler, and Towns involved in the offense. Crawford is less inclined to get everyone else looks, but if he plays with the second unit, that shouldn’t be a huge priority — with that group, he’ll be relied upon to score.
The signing of Gibson was one Wolves move that I questioned. His toughness and rebounding ability should pay off at times throughout the season, and he’ll have Thibodeau’s trust out of the gate, but $14MM per year is a significant price for an aging power forward without an outside shot. Patrick Patterson‘s three-year, $16MM+ deal with Oklahoma City might’ve been a better fit for the Wolves, giving them a more versatile power forward and freeing up some money to dedicate to a wing or a backup point guard.
Without that extra cap flexibility, the Wolves went bargain hunting for a wing and a point guard, and were able to lock up Shabazz Muhammad and Aaron Brooks, another former Bull. Minnesota certainly could’ve done worse for the minimum salary, but Muhammad isn’t a particularly well-rounded player, and Brooks has seen his role dwindle over the last few years.
Outlook for 2017/18:
Although I expect the Timberwolves to end their postseason drought in 2017/18, I think the club will ultimately fight for a spot in the back half of the West’s top eight, rather than seriously vying for a top-five seed.
Minnesota landed a star when the team traded for Butler, but jettisoning Rubio in order to sign Teague looks like a marginal upgrade at best. And while Butler and Crawford should be net positives, their best days are likely behind them. The Timberwolves’ ability to make major strides this season may ultimately come down to Butler’s contributions and improvements from Wiggins and Towns.
It’s easy to forget now, but there were NBA experts who expected the Wolves to rack up 45 or 50 wins a year ago based on the upside of Wiggins and Towns. With the focus on Butler and the newcomers this year, those former No. 1 picks are under a little less pressure to carry the team. However, if the Wolves aim to win 45 or 50 games this season, Wiggins and Towns will have to have a major hand in it.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Spot on analysis Luke. Good projection for how their season should shape up.
I know it was just the preseason and the first game, but didn’t Gibson make two threes against the Lakers? Not saying he’s a solid three point shooter now, but just wondering
He did. If he makes that a reliable, consistent part of his game, I’ll be happy to eat my words, but at this point he’s still only made four career three-pointers in regular season play.
yeah I’d have to agree with you on that, keep up the good work
Fantastic assessment of the Wolves. I will just be happy to see this squad in the playoffs again it’s been so long and once those playoffs start you never know what this team could do if all said parts can gel together!
That was a lot of $ for the FAs, but Gibson and Teague were signed by July 10– just before Kyrie Irving made Minnesota ‘cool’ with his preferred- destination shortlist. If Minne waited another couple of weeks maybe they don’t have to offer as much!