Minnesota Timberwolves: 4 free agency options still on the market for the Wolves
By Ben Beecken
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been quiet so far in NBA free agency, but they still have a role to fill in their rotation.
On Friday evening, mere hours after NBA free agency conversations were allowed to begin, the Minnesota Timberwolves struck, retaining Malik Beasley on a four-year, $60 million deal.
That’s been the only concrete news surrounding the Wolves, however. While they’ve been linked to nearly every free agent power forward, it doesn’t appear as though any conversations ever became serious between Minnesota and the 4s that they’ve been chasing.
There are at least four more viable options out there — and a couple of them are names quite familiar to Wolves fans.
Let’s take a look at the four players who might be the best options still on the market as fits for the Timberwolves.
NBA free agency options on the market for Minnesota Timberwolves: Juancho Hernangomez
Juan Hernangomez was acquired by the Wolves as part of the four-team Robert Covington deal back in February.
He started 14 games in Minnesota, and his per-game marks of 12.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 29.4 minutes per contest all would have easily been career-highs. He also shot a blistering 42 percent on 69 3-point attempts, adding a key outside threat to the Wolves rotation that was largely absent Karl-Anthony Towns during that time.
The first three-plus seasons of Hernangomez’s NBA career were marked by limited opportunity on an extremely deep Denver Nuggets roster. His biggest impact was in 2018-19, when he started 25 games and averaged 19.4 minutes per contest on a 54-win squad that landed the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
He shot 36.5 percent from deep on a team that played at one of the league’s slowest paces and was entirely an after-thought on offense.
If he returns, Hernangomez will only be the fourth option on offense in Minnesota, too, but he’ll have plenty of opportunities to squeeze the trigger from deep on an offense predicated on playing fast and operating in the pick-and-roll with dynamic guards D’Angelo Russell and Ricky Rubio and the league’s most offensively-skilled big man in Karl-Anthony Towns.
As a solid defender and shooter, the 25-year-old is a near-perfect fit with the Wolves. If Minnesota can retain him for $4-5 million per season, Hernangomez will likely get the starting job come opening night.
There remains a chance that the Wolves could bring him back, along with one of the other players on our list, and allow them to split time at the 4, bumping Jarred Vanderbilt further down the depth chart and rookie Jaden McDaniels to the G League.
Let’s move on to some of the other options still out there on the market.