Timberwolves Free Agency: Los Angeles Clippers Edition

As mentioned, the Clippers are in a tough spot. They have a total of four player options and early termination options to contend with, including Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

The others include Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Marreese Speights — both key members of the this past season’s rotation for Doc Rivers.

Paul wouldn’t be a fit in Minnesota, unless it’s on an odd one or two-year deal and Ricky Rubio were moved in a trade. But don’t hold your breath.

Griffin, on the other hand, would be an intriguing fit alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. In a perfect world, Minnesota would add a four who is a better defender and a more consistent rebounder than Griffin (somewhat surprisingly, Griffin has not averaged a double-double since 2011-12 — his second season in the league). Add in his injury history and the fact that he hasn’t played in 80 games since 2013-14 and it’s certainly a risky add.

So no, it is far from a perfect fit. And Griffin will command a max contract. But a tandem of Towns and Griffin would be beyond dynamic offensively. There would be work to do on defense, however, and that’s putting it mildly, but the offense would be nigh-unstoppable when surrounded with a couple of shooters and Ricky Rubio.

Mbah a Moute was a Timberwolf under Rick Adelman 2013-14, but he’s found his groove as a regular starter in L.A. over the past two seasons. What was always an anemic offensive game has been buoyed by a boosted three-point rate. And what’s changed from his 30.7 percent three-point shooting performance in Philadelphia in 2014-15 to this pas year is simply the location of his shots.

Mbah a Moute is now shooting nearly three-quarters of his threes from the corner, and the former second-round pick of Milwaukee hit on 41.5 of his three-point attempts from the corner in 2016-17. He’s now a legitimately useful wing player, although he was miscast as a starter with the Clippers out of necessity.

Mo Speights joined the Clippers after three years with the Warriors, and continues to be an effective backup center. He’s not really great at anything, but he’s mostly good at everything. Backup center isn’t a huge need in Minnesota, but he’ll land a nice contract and be an important rotation piece for a contender moving forward.

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Verdict: None of the above-mentioned four will land in Minnesota, but Griffin and Mbah a Moute would be the two players to keep an eye on. Good luck to the Clippers, as their roster could very well be completely transformed come fall.