Minnesota Timberwolves: Checking in on former Wolves finding new teams

The Minnesota Timberwolves roster has turned over quite a bit in the past year. Recent members of the Wolves are starting to find new homes.

The Minnesota Timberwolves‘ roster looks like nothing like it did just 12 months ago.

In fact, only six players currently on the team were on the roster at the start of last season: Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Okogie, Jake Layman, Jarrett Culver, Jaylen Nowell, and Naz Reid. The latter three players were all rookies and had never appeared in an NBA game.

Many of the players that were on the team at this time last year have found new homes to begin the 2020-21 season. Let’s check in on where they’re at as of the start of training camp.

Minnesota Timberwolves: A former draft pick finds a new home

Keita Bates-Diop: Two-way deal with San Antonio Spurs

The Wolves’ second-round draft pick from 2018 has latched on with the San Antonio Spurs by way of a two-way contract.

Keita Bates-Diop was originally projected as a first-round pick after winning the Big Ten Player of the Year award for Ohio State but slid down the board on draft night. The Wolves grabbed him at No. 48 overall and he split time between the G League and the big club during the 2018-19 season.

Bates-Diop actually finished the 2019-20 campaign tenth on the Wolves roster in total minutes but was shipped to Denver along with Noah Vonleh (more on him later) in the massive four-team deal that sent Robert Covington to Houston and several players, including the recently-re-signed Juancho Hernangomez and Malik Beasley, to the Wolves.

The former Buckeye only saw the floor in seven games for the Nuggets and was a casualty of a jam-packed roster this offseason. As the end of Denver’s roster continued to churn, Bates-Diop was cut loose and quickly snapped up by the Spurs.

San Antonio missed the playoffs for the first time since 1996-97. Not so coincidentally, that was also the last year that Gregg Popovich didn’t start the season at the helm.

Bates-Diop could get a chance to earn some minutes in the Spurs’ frontcourt. He profiles as a typical “Popovich player”: long, smart, and well-rounded, although not a great shooter.

Let’s take a look at a couple of other former Wolves players involved in the aforementioned four-team deal at the trade deadline.