How Gersson Rosas is setting up the Minnesota Timberwolves’ future

Signing smart multi-year deals

Of all of the moves made this summer, Jarrett Culver‘s rookie scale contract has the largest salary: just under $6 million this season, followed by $6.1 million in 2020-21 and team options in 2021-22 and 2022-23 worth $6.4 million and $8.1 million, respectively.

Culver’s early struggles have largely subsided and the rookie has became more confident and effective on the court. It certainly appears as though his play will trend upward for the remainder of the season.

The second-most lucrative contract this summer was the one that Jake Layman signed with the Portland Trail Blazers to be traded to Minnesota. This deal was a three-year, $11.3 million contract that puts his salary between $3.5 million and $4 million per season. Before his injury, Layman was beginning to prove that he is worth more than the contract he signed. Once Layman is healthy, he will surely have an impact greater than his contract for the next two-plus seasons in Minnesota.

Second-round draft pick Jaylen Nowell has only played in seven games thus far and has not had much of an impact. He currently plays for the G League’s Iowa Wolves, averaging 21.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from 3-point range.

Nowell is developing well in Iowa and there is no reason to hinder his proogression by having him ride the pine in Minnesota. He may gain time with the Timberwolves throughout the course of the season or at least join the team after the G League season concludes on March 28, barring a playoff nod for Iowa.

Additionally, Nowell’s contract is team-friendly and provides enormous flexibility going forward. Nowell signed a four-year, $6.5 million contract with the Timberwolves. The only guaranteed money on this contract comes this season, with the next three years being non-guaranteed. The final year also has a team option. The salary increases slightly each year from $1.4 million this season to just under $2 million in the final year.

With the efficient scoring and shooting numbers he’s putting up in the G League combined with his considerable upside coming out of the University of Washington, Nowell is an under-the-radar prospect to watch.

Naz Reid was an undrafted free agent coming out of LSU this summer. The Timberwolves quickly signed him to a two-way contract, but due to impressive play for the Wolves’ summer league team in Las Vegas, Reid was offered a similar contract to the one that Nowell had signed. There are two differences in Reid’s contract. First, his first-year salary is a hair under $900,000, and secondly, there is no team option in the final year.

Reid spent most of the beginning of the season in Iowa with occasional call-ups to Minnesota, though rarely seeing the court with the big club. On Dec. 30, Reid was called up and has yet to return to Iowa since. Reid has been impressive in the nine games since and has shown glimpses of similar offensive skills to Karl-Anthony Towns with his ability to stretch the floor and his effective ball-handling as a big, although rebounding has been a bit of a shortcoming.