After a long negotiation, the Minnesota Timberwolves and second-round pick Jaylen Nowell have finally reached a deal, according to reports.
Before Tuesday, the Minnesota Timberwolves had agreements with three rookie newcomers: first round pick Jarrett Culver, a multi-year deal with Naz Reid and a two-way contract with Jordan McLaughlin.
There was just one other player in that mix who hadn’t signed his NBA contract, and he was one of the Wolves’ actual draft picks.
Jaylen Nowell and the Timberwolves were in a long negotiating period, but finally agreed to a deal. KSTP’s Darren Wolfson reports that a deal has been finalized between the two sides.
First year guarantee comes in at around $1.4M, which is a win. That’s solid $$ for a second rounder. Team can claim a win with 3 years of team options. Comparable to Reid’s deal. Nowell expected to officially put pen to paper today. #Twolves https://t.co/jtV4zew8bS
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) August 6, 2019
This was a long process for both sides, with Nowell eventually tweeting out that he knows this is a business, but quickly deleting it. It wasn’t the best thing to read if you’re a fan or a part of the organization, but he followed it up with this:
All Glory to the man upstairs 🙏🏾🙏🏾 https://t.co/IXEhPvxkZX
— Big Tymah (@JaylenNowell) August 6, 2019
Regardless, the two sides finally agreed on a deal. Danny Cunningham of Skor North reported last week that Nowell wanted more than one year to be guaranteed. While his new deal is still only one year of guaranteed money, he will get more money than is typical for a second round pick.
Gupta Special number 2.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) August 6, 2019
Jaylen Nowell’s new deal will look something like this:
2019-20: $1.4M
2020-21: $1.7M (non-guaranteed)
2021-22: $2.0M (NG)
2022-23: $2.3M (NG)
Benefit for Nowell: gets an extra $500k this season
Benefit for MIN: 3 years of non-guaranteed team control. https://t.co/DPFBTUzjEC
The Wolves had the cap space to make this possible and used that to land three years of non-guaranteed money.
Clearly, Minnesota is trying to create as much flexibility as they can to go out and make some moves next offseason and beyond; it’s a big reason why they didn’t match Tyus Jones‘ offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies.
In this situation, both sides ultimately get what they want. Nowell gets more money guaranteed and the Wolves aren’t tied to him beyond a single season. The best-case scenario for the Wolves is that Nowell shines and the Wolves have a few years of a good rotational player on a cheap contract.
If you’ve been under a rock and don’t know much about him, Nowell played two seasons at the University of Washington and had a solid collegiate career. In his final season, he was the PAC-12 player of the year, putting up 16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
He shot 50.2 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from 3-point range last season. Minnesota needs a player off the bench who can score the ball and shoot the ball from 3, and Nowell could be that guy.
If things work out and his game can translate to the next level, then both sides are coming out of this deal as a win.