Minnesota Timberwolves: Top 3 bargain signings in Wolves history

MINNEAPOLIS – DECEMBER 26: Trenton Hassell #23 of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo By Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Minnesota Timberwolves haven’t exactly had a strong history of signing free agents, but they’ve found a few shrewd bargains on the open market over the years.

In 2017, the Minnesota Timberwolves had the cap space to be active in free agency. And active they were, signing point guard Jeff Teague and forward Taj Gibson, as well as Jamal Crawford and a handful of minimum-contract and two-way players. It was a clear break from the Wolves’ traditional spending attitude and results.

Throughout the history of the franchise, the Timberwolves have not been able to spend big in free agency, and it wasn’t necessarily due to lack of trying. From cap mismanagement to issues with attracting players to play in Minnesota to a lengthy spell during which the team was simply not competitive, the free agent market has not been kind to the Wolves.

So far this offseason their salary cap situation has limited them severely, which is similar to the issues they had for much of the Kevin Garnett era.

Over the course of KG’s tenure in Minnesota, however, the Wolves still managed to find a few bargains. No, we’re not talking about Mike James, Michael Olowakandi, or Chase Budinger, but there are a few that had decent success.

Not coincidentally, we’ll take a look at a trio of players who each played a role in the best Timberwolves squad of all-time back in 2003-04.

Let’s take a quick dive into some of the better cheap free agents that the Wolves have found over the years.