The Minnesota Timberwolves have made some interesting moves this offseason, but are there more moves to make?
By offering the max-contract to Jimmy Butler, the Minnesota Timberwolves decided to go all-in on their ‘Big 3’ of Andrew Wiggins, Jimmy Butler, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Of course, with the assumption the Timberwolves offer Towns the max over the next year, and that will keep this team together for at least 3-4 years.
After offering Butler his contract, Derrick Rose was re-signed to a one-year contract at the veteran minimum, which was a good deal for a player that performed at a high level for the Wolves in the playoffs. And just yesterday, Wolves nation saw the news that the they’ll be moving on from Nemanja Bjelica and signing Anthony Tolliver in his place.
All three moves, although intriguing, don’t really improve the Timberwolves for next season. It looks like will be seeing the same Timberwolves team, but hopefully more healthy.
Although, the Wolves do have a contract to use while there are still some nice options left in free agency. They can use their bi-annual exception of $3.382 million so the question remains, are there any free agents worth paying out this money to?
Here are the top five remaining free agents for the Timberwolves to go after for the rest of the offseason.
5. Jahlil Okafor
Jahlil Okafor has depreciated so much of his value, but yet he still seems like an attractive prospect. That’s probably because he was the third-overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and is only 22-years-old.
That’s right, a top-three prospect from only a few years ago that is only 22 years of age. Why not take a chance?
Well, there are some reasons for negative judgement of Okafor. He seems to have a few off-the-court issues that are alarming to any organization willing to spend millions on a player. But at the same time, he’s a young player with a ton of upside that never really fit in his situations thus far.
The 76ers really didn’t give him a chance due to their All-Star Joel Embiid, and the Brooklyn Nets fell in love with Jarrett Allen. These are two understandable roster decisions from the 76ers and Nets, so maybe there is still some hope in Jahlil Okafor.
He showed a ton of promise in his first two seasons with Philadelphia, looking like he would be the future of big men in the league – then poof, Okafor seemed to drop off the map.
Okafor been very vocal about why he may have disappeared in Philadelphia:
"Via, SB Nation “I’ll go to a Sixers event, smile, take pictures with the kids and stuff like that, but I’m still thinking, ‘Am I a part of this team?”"
This quote makes you think, maybe Jahlil Okafor just needs a place to help him grow that actually wants him as a player, Minnesota may be a good fit for that.
Backing up Karl-Anthony Towns with a big man that can help defending the rim seems like a better center fit than Gorgui Dieng at the moment, especially if you consider the money difference.
4. Vince Carter
Vince Carter, an all-time fan favorite, will be a 41-year-old free agent that the Minnesota Timberwolves could (and should) think about adding to the fold.
Why? Carter will be able to instill a culture with Minnesota and Tom Thibodeau that he helped build in Sacaramento last season, surrounding hard work and resiliency. Carter is the type of player that Jimmy Butler is focused on being: proving all your critics wrong and becoming the best player you can be.
He’s exactly the type of veteran that Andrew Wiggins can learn from to become a better wing. Not only that, but the Timberwolves now have a plethora of young prospects that could use a savvy veteran in the locker room — and not that Crawford didn’t help with that, but Carter is a likelyHall of Famer.
Playing 18 minutes per game last year for the Sacramento Kings was a large work load for someone Carter’s age, but he’s all about that style of play. That type of mindset and play would flourish in Minnesota, and is exactly the type of work ethic Thibodeau and co. have been trying to push on these young Wolves.
Not only the mindset and work ethic of Carter, but he’s still not a bad option for the way the Timberwolves use their bench for 12 minutes per game, especially when trying to ease rookie Josh Okogie into the lineup. Plus, as a marketing idea, this would be amazing press for the Timberwolves and for the way they treat veterans.
Carter would probably want the $8 million mid-level exception from most teams, so it’s still a leap if he’ll take anything close to the bi-annual contract – and he may even retire … sigh.
3. Ian Clark
After averaging 16 minutes a game for the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors, Ian Clark decided to take his talent to New Orleans to try and prove he can be a suitable role player in this league.
While he only averaged close to 8 points per game with the New Orleans Pelicans, he did have some break-out moments that proved he could ball on a team that wasn’t full of perennial All-Star’s.
As seen above, Clark has the ability to play a full court offense while being a spot up shooter, even though he struggled this season from the arc. What he could use more of is an ability to play consistent defense, where I believe the Timberwolves could help him.
Something the Wolves saw last season is that if Jimmy Butler goes down, or even Andrew Wiggins, there aren’t a lot of scoring options to look at – unless Derrick Rose comes out of no where again. Of course, you could always rely on your rookies, but that doesn’t seem like the best scenario to get them some minutes.
Ian Clark is now a veteran that can do the job well enough, especially at the minimum. He should be looked at very highly on the Timberwolves radar just due to the fact they don’t have any depth at the shooting guard position if you count experience behind Butler or Wiggins.
With Jamal Crawford opting-out, you’re going to have to fill that hole. Unless, of course, a Tyus Jones and Derrick Rose back court will suffice for Thibs.
That was a joke, it would be the worst shooting back court of any team in the league – so I really hope the Wolves look elsewhere at the shooting guard position. If not, Tyus and Rose will literally be running around screens all day with a lot of awkward shooting going on.
Best case scenario is that the Timberwolves sign Ian Clark for the minimum and use him effectively early on in the season, and then hope Josh Okogie can come around as the future back up shooting guard – we’ll see.
No. 2 Brook Lopez
Brook Lopez is the ideal center in the NBA right now, a guy that can get boards and shoot from the arc is the perfect player to have at the big man position. Karl-Anthony Towns is essentially the ceiling of Brook Lopez but at a young age, and Lopez would fit perfectly at the back up center position to Towns.
Lopez will likely be re-signed by the Los Angeles Lakers, but who knows what Magic Johnson is thinking about doing with that team right now. With LeBron James going to LA, and them signing Javale McGee, there could be no use for Brook Lopez.
Although, the Lakers could use their mid-level of $8 million to get Lopez with the hope to still get Kawhi Leonard.
By looking at Lopez’s statistics, you can assume the Lakers have no idea how to use him. After seeing Lopez score close to 20 points per game for the majority of his career and then being shipped off the LA where he produced 13 points per game obviously shows a problem in their lineup usage.
Lopez would most likely sign a 1-2 year deal somewhere he can be used in the correct fashion and be respected as a very good big man. The Timberwolves could even do this by placing him at the four with Towns on the court – slowing down the offense but still being efficient. There are a lot of ways to use multi-faceted big men like Lopez and Towns.
This is still the most unlikely signing of the five free agents because Lopez will likely receive more money elsewhere with more upside of winning immediately, but he would be a fun piece in Minnesota.
No. 1 Jeff Green
Jeff Green has slowly became a very sought after commodity for very cheap deals. Often being named as one of the more overrated NBA players, Jeff Green still produced this season and showed he can play viable minutes in any game.
Of course, LeBron James helped facilitate Green’s career in a better direction, he still looked to be a suitable option at the wing position. The Minnesota Timberwolves just drafted Kieta Bates-Diop to hopefully back up Andrew Wiggins in the near future, as well as signing Anthony Tolliver to play that stretch-four position.
A player with the ability of Jeff Green could do a lot to help improve the bench of the Timberwolves and help the depth of their wing position. Not only the depth, but he could help improve Bates-Diop into a role player position in the near future.
Because say what you will about Jeff Green, but he is definitely one of the best role players to have in the league right now at a minimum deal. Most of all, Green is a very durable back up wing too, playing in 78 games last season.
Next: Anthony Tolliver is an upgrade
Green averaged close to 11 points per game last season while playing around 23 minutes a game. Green was also often used as the Cavaliers third scoring option next to Kevin Love and LeBron James, and regardless of how you want to view that, it still proves the point that Green can ball.
I believe Jeff Green should be no. 1 on the Timberwolves short list of remaining free agents because he’s the most comfortable with sitting back and waiting his turn, and also has enough experience to be a helpful veteran on this team.
The $4 millionish bi-annual can be used in this case, and hopefully Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden can make a move for a solid wing sometime soon.