Discussing the Timberwolves‘ ownership situation during the latest episode of the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said there’s a perception around the league that if Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore assume majority control of the franchise, “payroll’s getting slashed.” However, his colleague Brian Windhorst disagrees with that notion.
“Let me just say this: I don’t believe it’s going to get slashed,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “I believe if (A-Rod and Lore) get the team by the fall, which I am skeptical of for various reasons, but if they get the team by the fall, I don’t think they’re cracking this team in pieces to save money. I think because one thing about the team, they have instantaneous equity, they can borrow it against it like that.”
While Windhorst doesn’t expect payroll to decline drastically if Rodriguez and Lore take over majority control from longtime owner Glen Taylor, he does think the new owners may not be attached to Karl-Anthony Towns as Taylor has been to this point.
“I do not think they would tear the team apart. However, I do think that there’s a possibility if the ownership change took place that Karl Towns’ role would be reevaluated,” Windhorst said.
After MacMahon stated more frankly that Towns would likely find himself “on the trade block” in that scenario, ESPN’s Tim Bontemps pointed out that exploring trade scenarios involving the big man doesn’t necessarily mean he’d be moved, since his super-max contract, which includes a $49MM+ cap hit for 2024/25, will make it difficult for Minnesota to find a suitable deal.
“(That’s) why I believe he’s not going anywhere,” Windhorst said. “Because trading him and getting equal return is going to be next to impossible.”
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- In another segment of the Hoop Collective podcast, Windhorst suggested that the Lakers have been sending the message that they’re still early in the process of their head coaching search, but that the noise surrounding J.J. Redick‘s candidacy has been loud. “I have some people saying, ‘This is J.J. Redick’s job’ that I trust,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “I have some people saying this is a process that is not complete. I suspect I know something, but I am just going to tell you that there’s multiple streams of information. James Borrego has had multiple meetings with the Lakers. I do think that he is a viable candidate for sure, but I think J.J. Redick is a very strong candidate. And he also is calling the (NBA) Finals for our network on ABC and ESPN. So it is what it is.”
- While there’s a widespread belief that the Pelicans will gauge the trade market for Brandon Ingram this summer, William Guillory of The Athletic makes the case that keeping the former All-Star forward is the right move for New Orleans, arguing that it would be hard to find a deal involving Ingram that makes the team better than the 49-win version from this past season.
- Having signed a contract extension in April, veteran wing Grayson Allen won’t become trade-eligible until October. But what sort of deal could the Suns make if they were willing to part with Allen in the fall or at next year’s trade deadline? Gerald Bouguet of PHNX Sports attempts to answer that question, generating 15 potential trade scenarios involving Allen.
Lakers have 2 of the top 5 players in the league.
Lakers expectation is to win the championships.
If I were Reddick, all I need would be $78 million contract.
If I were a Lakers owner, I would have given Reddick $100 million contract with team option the 2nd year and the 3rd year
Hahaha, play in gangsters, two top five players, LOL. Lakers stink and are going nowhere. Be lucky to make the playoffs.
Got that rigged season tournament banner, though.
Yes that was a good laugh. AD is probably top 10 when healthy. LeBron can’t play defense anymore so he might not even be top 20. reddick will only last if the win because if they don’t he becomes Lebron escape goat.
Bron is getting his pal paid. 4-5 yr deal work for half that at most, paid. Back to the media with bank account healthier. Jokic, Luka, Giannis, Embiid and guys like Tatum, ant over those two everyday that ends in Y. Agree on the AD statement, he played exceptionally well this year. Definitely played like a top 10 guy, I just don’t trust him staying on the court either. James hasn’t played D for years. Expert at racking up meaningless hollow stats too. I’ll agree with your top 20 also, top 10? Sillivan might be on the cans.
I can’t imagine that the new ownership starts its tenure but getting rid of KAT just to save on luxury tax. I can totally understand them moving on from Towns but it wouldn’t be to bring down payroll. Seems like the easiest way to get fans to hate you.
Moving on from KAT would be a smart move if the right pieces came back in return…
Doing it for the money seems like a classic Glen Taylor move… Apex Timberwolves as well to get to the WCF and then not be seen in the playoffs because of bad management…
If they get back decent enough of players right now is the best time to move him. His contract is so much back paid his last 2 years he is untradeable. Unless he is a MVP of the team nobody is trading for a $50 million plus player.
The T-Wolves have needs at certain spots such as a younger PG and a bit deeper bench but those kind of players aren’t the type you trade a player like KAT for. Furthermore you need a trade partner. Who would be in the market for KAT can trade back a decent a quality bench wing, a decent PG and a PF good enough to replace KAT? No one is going to trade for him unless they believe he’s the final piece. Then if you find a willing trade partner who is going to be the secondary scorer they would need when defenses key in on Edwards?
Their best option is to keep KAT and draft a couple NBA ready or near ready prospects with their picks. There doesn’t appear to be any slam dunk future stars in this draft but there are a lot of guys that can contribute to a winning team right away.
Atlanta, I’m sure there’s others. Atlanta just popped straight into my head. Dejounte, Capella etc probably gettable.
Dejounte, Ant, McDaniels, Naz, Rudy.
Conley, Capella off the bench is a tough squad.
why are the hawks giving up their best assets to take on KAT with a bloated contract and degrading skill set?
I thought a Trae Young for Rudy Gobert trade was going to happen last year. Their contracts are virtually identical. But maybe it’s KAT going the other way.
2 things,
firstly when someone says there’s no point trading Ingram cause whoever we get back won’t help them win more than 49 games is just stupid.
There’s so many rumoured big names available be it Garland, Mitchell, Trae, DeJounte, Beal, Paul George, KAT, MPJ, Jimmy, so on and so on but in there head this team is capped at 49 wins.
You’ve got a young team that’s only getting better, you’ve got a star of the game who is worth building around and your like nah they should say as is cause regardless of on court fit, the depth chart, the contract status, they won’t be better than 49 wins.
Secondly how is it that two people rich enough to buy the TWolves that just made the WCF want to slash the payroll in order to save money. I tell ya what, a better way to save money is not buying the team. Surely Adam Silver must be thinking that it would be terrible for the game if these two come in take over and tear this team down after hyping ANT up as the next Micheal Jordan just so they can save money. All they want to do is exploit the league and sit back and cash cheques while not caring for the game or the fans etc.
You serious?
Silver has geared the whole league towards parity at every step and never wants to see a 2010’s GSW term again ~ He’d be just fine with any teams fate (destruction) as long as the end numbers are in the green (which his intel has projected already) Your narratives fit the Stern era a lot better than Mr Silver’s
CBA new cap was positioned so there is no more Golden state teams. That is why you may never see a team win back to back. It hurt Nuggets who couldn’t resign Brown. It will hurt the T-wolves, Suns, and Bucks this year.
He might not want a dynasty team again but that doesn’t explain why he would promote ANT so much only to have the team torn down and go back to mediocrity with a potential superstar of the game just sitting there.
Especially with LeBron, Russ, Harden, Steph, CP3 etc etc all nearing the ends of their careers. The future of the league is these young kids playing all over the place.
Wemby Ja Luka ANT Tatum Haliburton Paolo Zion Shai etc etc. It would be stupid for him to let some new owner come in and ruin a good young side to save money.
Owners revenues aren’t the way of the future it’s about globalisation, players personalities, exciting highlight plays, tough competition and Minny has that
It was the other owners that didn’t want to spend to keep up with the rich clubs. They got mad that the Warriors were spending more than everyone else.
Whether 2k nation likes it or not (and apparently it doesn’t), MIN’s payroll situation is unsustainable in the intermediate and long term. It will also be costly to maintain in the short term, financially and in terms of roster flexibility. That’s regardless of which ownership group prevails. It’s about the CBA and math, and those apply to the team the same under each group. Doesn’t mean the team will necessarily have to deal with it this year (although it might be smart to do so) or that the solution will have to involve trading KAT (but it will have to involve one or more of their big long-term contracts). It does mean that the situation isn’t just going to go away because ownership is willing to write a luxury tax check. In truth, that has a greater possibility of making things worse.
I’m not exactly a financial wizz but how in Minny situation any worse than that of the GSW dynasty having 4 HOFers when they got KD.
Or even the current Boston team which has one of the highest paid players in Jaylen Brown along with 4 all star/near all star level players.
Minny has KAT on a crazy deal but aside from Gobert sure, ANT eventually that’s only 3 big contracts and many teams have that. (Clippers, GSW, Boston, Sixers to be, Denver and so on)
What GSW did wasn’t sustainable either, but they never intended it to be. Their situation was somewhat different. The CBA rules were different, namely they didn’t punish teams in a non-$$ sense like the new CBA rules do. It was just a luxury tax problem, and GSW had a uniquely good landscape ahead of them on that front. They had already won championships in the prior years and their revenue reflected that. More significantly, they were opening a new arena at exactly the right time which was going to lead to a temporary expolsion of non-basketball revenue. The owner made a rational (business) choice to use the extra revenue in this period to fund the extra payroll that seemed needed to sustain a dynasty. When the extra revenue subsided, so would the payroll. He never intended to lose money, where he would need to come out of pocket to fund the deficits. When GSW did have a deficit year (2021), the owner sold some minority interests to raise additional capital.
If MIN goes into next season with their currently projected 195-200 mm payroll, then the better comps for their payroll would be BKN and LAC. Both had owners that came to the table ready, willing and able to fund deficits to rebrand their teams. They bought second tier brands in premier global markets. Tsai once called it additional purchase price, intimating that it was limited. He’s since bailed on the approach (maybe they spent to the limit). Ballmer is still going for it. None of that makes the approach sustainable, or a good model for MIN to try and follow.
Why trade KAT? Why not Gobert? Who got destroyed by Luka’s 3? Trade Gobert with young players.