Minnesota Timberwolves: 10 forward options in free agency

6. Dante Cunningham

The first old friend (former Timberwolf) on this list — not counting the draft-and-trades, of course — is Dante Cunningham, whom the Wolves reportedly had interest in each of the last two offseasons, but Minnesota saw him return to New Orleans.

After seemingly finding a home with the Pelicans, Cunningham was traded midseason following three-plus years in NOLA.

Cunningham is yet another undersized four who has somewhat transformed his game to fit today’s NBA. After being strictly a mid-range shooter in his two-year stint in Minnesota from 2012-14, Cunningham has attempted nearly two threes per game in the four seasons since, hitting on 34.7 percent of his tries.

It’s notable, however, that 64.9 percent of Dante’s 3-point attempts over the last four years were from the corner, where he converted at a 36.7 percent clip — certainly passable.

Cunningham remains a good defender who can take on threes or fours, and has been asked to play a variety of different roles on defense. Wolves fans may recall when he was asked by former head coach Rick Adelman to guard the likes of Kevin Durant on the perimeter during his time in Minnesota simply because there weren’t any other options, and Cunningham largely did as well as anyone could have asked of him.

He’s a bit miscast as a true perimeter defender, however, and is best utilized as an undersized power forward with the ability to guard threes in a pinch and knock down a corner three or mid-range jumper. One area that he struggles a bit, however, is on the glass, which is something the Wolves will no doubt keep in mind when considering adding Cunningham to the fold.