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Minnesota Timberwolves: 5 free agents to help them win now

By Cooper Langby

CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 7: Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves and LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - FEBRUARY 7: Jimmy Butler #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves and LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JANUARY 10: Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder defends against Jeff Teague #0 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the game on January 10, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JANUARY 10: Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder defends against Jeff Teague #0 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the game on January 10, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

#3 – Paul George

Now this one is where player movement becomes a big issue. To accommodate Paul George from a minutes perspective, the Wolves would definitely have to say goodbye to either Andrew Wiggins or Jimmy Butler. I can’t see any of these three players coming off the bench at this stage of their career, and nor should they have to.

The question of whether the Wolves are better off with the combination of Butler and Wiggins, or if a Butler/George or Wiggins/George combination would look better in the long run is a hard one to answer.

George has, of course, been linked to the Lakers, and at this point that’s where most guesses would have him landing. But what if LeBron makes it known he wants to be a Laker? If neither James or George want to sacrifice their paychecks, one of them could be left in the dust.

George is a great player, but nobody out there is choosing him over The King. So George is a free agent in this scenario, he’s spurned Oklahoma City, and the Lakers are no longer an option. What about poor old Minnesota, who’ve transformed themselves into a playoff team the last season?

In a lot of ways, the Timberwolves were quite similar to this year’s Thunder, minus a stat-padder running the court and a washed-up former All-Star shooting bricks every other possession (yeah, I’m not a big OKC fan). George could look favorably on a visit up North if L.A. is out of the question, even if only for a short-term deal.

For Oklahoma City this season, he averaged 21.9 points, 2 steals, 3.3 assists and 5.7 rebounds, and could likely come a little cheaper than the previous two names on this list.

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