Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: Wiggins’ shoes, Love’s contract

Minnesota Timberwolves wing Andrew Wiggins is one of the more attractive shoe free agents on the market, plus, a former Timberwolf inked a massive contract extension.

Happy Wednesday, Timberwolves fans.

July is almost over, and then we only have one full month until September — which, under the still-new NBA annual calendar, is the month on the calendar in which training camps kick-off.

In the meantime, we have stuff to talk about like Andrew Wiggins’ potential new shoe deal and former Timberwolves players making money in other locales.

First, Kevin Love.

Love, who could have easily been traded in what would be a completely understandable rebound in LeBron James-less Cleveland, was instead signed to a huge extension on Tuesday. On top of the $25 million that Love was already slated to earn in 2018-19, he will get another four years and $120 million, according to ESPN.

This is what he’s worth of course, as the five-time All-Star has yet to turn 30 and has a game that should age fairly well, pending his avoidance of some of the nagging injuries that have plagued him thus far in his pro career.

The question really centers on what it is that the Cavaliers are trying to do, as rookie and eighth-overall pick Collin Sexton are the only true building blocks in Cleveland. The rest of the pieces only made sense with The King in the fold, and even that didn’t exactly work out last year.

At any rate, it’s hard to fault the Cavs for re-upping a star. It’s only a terrible idea if he struggles mightily with injuries and can’t stay on the court, in which case his trade value would plummet as well. As it stands, it’s not crazy to think that there could be a market for Love at some point if Cleveland decides to tear-down and rebuild.

As for Andrew Wiggins, who was the number-one overall pick by Cleveland back in 2014 and was actually traded for Kevin Love, lest we forget, may have re-upped with the Wolves last fall, but will be a sneaker free agent soon.

Wiggins was signed to a large deal by Adidas as the kid dubbed “Maple Jordan” was preparing to take the NBA by storm. That hasn’t exactly happened, of course, and it appears as though Wiggins’ endorsement market may be a bit more tepid this time around.

From Nick DePaula at ESPN:

"Adidas has tried on a few occasions to market a Wiggins-led sneaker over the years, to disappointing results. First was the Crazy Light Boost in 2015, followed up by the appropriately named Crazy Explosive series. Wiggins unveiled the first vivid red Crazy Explosive shoe with a viral near-720 degree tomahawk during the 2016 offseason — but fans weren’t moved to buy the sneakers led by him later that fall.…there are some hesitations about his potential as a brand endorser, according to several industry sources. Wiggins will likely be looking at offers ranging around half of what he signed for with Adidas as a rookie…"

Yikes. Half as much? Not great, but completely understandable, given the stagnation in Wiggins’ game after four years as a pro.

Next: A 3-team trade idea for the Timberwolves

We’ll be back with plenty more July content for you throughout the week. Keep it tuned to DWW.