The Timberwolves finally pulled the trigger on their first free agency signing of the summer on Sunday afternoon, reportedly inking Minnesota native Cole Aldrich to a three-year, $22 million contract.
While many Wolves’ fans first reactions to this move could be underwhelming, or at the very least, have a same-old, same-old feeling (after all, the Timberwolves now have two former Twin Cities-area high school stars on the team in Aldrich and Tyus Jones), this is a legitimately solid move — and extremely good value.
Aldrich was drafted 11th overall back in 2010 and was traded from New Orleans to Oklahoma City on draft night. He played sparingly over two seasons with the Thunder, only appearing in 44 games with the big club and 21 games in the D-League as a rookie.
He was a throw-in as part of the James Harden trade in October of 2012 and played a half-season with the Houston Rockets before being shipped to Sacramento at the trade deadline. Aldrich only played in a total of 45 games that season.
Aldrich spent the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons with the New York Knicks, and played in 46 and 61 games, respectively. He was misused in the Knicks weird, Carmelo Anthony-centric offense, but was largely a solid player in 12.2 minutes per game over two seasons.
After joining the Clippers last season, Aldrich played over 13 minutes per game and was as solid contributor, largely in the pick-and-roll game. For a more complete breakdown, I’ll turn it over to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, writing nearly a week ago, just before the free agency period commenced.
"The snaggle-toothed hook-splayer has gradually developed into a workable pick-and-roll big capable of catching in traffic, taking a rhythm dribble and finishing with a soft touch on a surprising variety of scoopy moves.He’s a smart passer who knows where his shooters are, so he doesn’t have to waste precious seconds finding them — and give the defense time to rotate. Aldrich cleans the glass on both ends, tries hard and takes up a ton of space on defense.…That’s the risk with players in this class: If Aldrich makes a mini-leap, he could become a nice third big, someone worth $10 million per season in this wild, new cap environment. If he stalls out, Aldrich is probably a fourth big who falls outside playoff rotation. Would you rather pay Aldrich $6 million or $7 million per season to coax out that upside or sign an old, back-of-the-rotation big for a little less?"
There’s another one-and-a-half paragraphs at the link that I didn’t include here, so head over to Lowe’s piece and read it in it’s entirety; the Aldrich bit is about halfway down.
But you’ll notice that the above is exactly what the Wolves need out of their bench big men — the ability to clog the lane on defense and chip in on the boards, and be a good passer and roll-man on offense. They don’t need a post-up guy, which is the biggest hole in Aldrich’s game.
Aldrich is adept at setting screens and catching in traffic, as Lowe notes. Not-so-coincidentally, Ricky Rubio, Kris Dunn, and Tyus Jones are all best at running the point in the pick-and-roll game. Add a couple of above-average three-point shooters to the bench unit, and you’ve suddenly improved your second-line by a significant margin.
No, Aldrich is not a world-beater. He isn’t a starter, and he shouldn’t play more than 15-18 minutes per game. There might be some durability issues, as well; he’s never played in more than 61 contests in a season.
But this is a very, very good value at a reasonable length. The Timberwolves will have Aldrich for his age-28-30 seasons — the meat of his prime — and if he ever makes a leap into a solid, third-big, it’ll be in Minnesota.
Here’s hoping there’s a little more development left in his 6′-11″, 250-pound frame. If there is, you can count on Tom Thibodeau and his staff to find it.