Minnesota Timberwolves Roundup: City jerseys, Jordan McLaughlin, Aaron Gordon

The Minnesota Timberwolves released their new City edition jerseys. Plus, news on Jordan McLaughlin and an attempt to trade for Aaron Gordon.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are about to kick off the team portion of training camp, and they’re still making plenty of news off the court.

In addition to the release of the new North Star City edition uniforms, the Wolves are still in talks with Jordan McLaughlin for the final roster spot, and the team was again mentioned as a potential suitor in a trade for Aaron Gordon.

Minnesota Timberwolves interested in trade for Aaron Gordon

It’s no secret that the Wolves have been on the hunt for a perfect frontcourt running mate for Karl-Anthony Towns for quite some time.

Last February, prior to pulling the trigger on the four-team trade that jettisoned Robert Covington and brought Malik Beasley, Juancho Hernangomez, and others to the Twin Cities, the Wolves explored a Gordon trade.

Now, we know that even after the Covington trade and the acquisition of D’Angelo Russell, the Wolves have continued to have an interest in landing Gordon.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported (ESPN+ subscription required) that as many as 10 teams called Orlando about Gordon during the past couple of weeks. Lowe notes that Gordon fits in Minnesota “alongside high-volume playmakers and one of the greatest shooting bigs ever” in Towns.

The idea of trading for Gordon at this point is admittedly a bit more complicated, and the Wolves surely called prior to swapping James Johnson’s expiring deal for Ricky Rubio on draft night.

Still, it’s an example of Gersson Rosas living out his mantra of always looking to improve the roster. This is far from the last rumor we’ll hear regarding Rosas’ search for another high-level, starting-caliber player via trade.

Minnesota Timberwolves continue discussions with Jordan McLaughlin

The Wolves still have one standard roster spot available, as well as one of their two-way contract slots.

The only point guards on Minnesota’s roster are Russell and Rubio, who may very well start together, and Ashton Hagans, the rookie two-way contract signee.

McLaughlin had a fantastic close to his rookie season, even performing well enough to beg the question of whether or not he could share the court with Russell. Now, adding McLaughlin to the fold would mean that he’d be fighting for what would effectively amount to third-string point guard minutes.

Then again, if the Wolves are playing Russell and Rubio together a fair amount, then there could be more backup point guard minutes available than there might be for a typical third-stringer.

For McLaughlin’s sake, it would be great to see him get a full-time backup role for another team. On the other hand, it would be outstanding to have the security of McLaughlin on the roster behind Russell and Rubio.

At the moment, we’d be looking at Jarrett Culver and possibly some combination of rookie Anthony Edwards and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson initiating offense if there was a situation when the top two options are both in foul trouble. Not ideal.

The complication for McLaughlin, of course, is that he is the lone remaining restricted free agent on the market. Unless the Wolves were to rescind the qualifying offer — which they have no incentive to do — then McLaughlin is stuck in limbo for the time being.

Minnesota Timberwolves release North Star City edition uniforms

The Wolves’ City edition uniforms have finally been released, and to predictably mixed reaction from fans on social media.

The Wolves also put out photos of Russell in the new threads.

You can find the full story and links to merchandise on the team’s website landing page for the North Star City edition.

As always, yours truly has to see these bad boys on the court before offering an official opinion. But they’re definitely better than the grays from the 2017-18 season. The Prince-inspired black-and-purple unis were awesome, and the powder blue, “MSP”-emblazoned kit from last season were great, too, so this version is probably No. 3 out of the four options.

Then again, black jerseys typically look sweet in action, so the jury remains out for the time being.