Minnesota Timberwolves: Ranking Wolves players by trade value

The Minnesota Timberwolves don’t hold a selection in the 2021 NBA Draft, and they have virtually no cap space.

That means that the trade market is the most obvious and most likely way that the Wolves will go about improving their roster this offseason.

Let’s take a look at everyone that is currently under contract and consider their individual trade value, factoring in skill/on-court impact, salary, and future outlook.

Minnesota Timberwolves players with little trade value or impact

The Wolves don’t have a ton of free agents this offseason, but do have a few.

Ed Davis is the team’s lone unrestricted free agent. Jarred Vanderbilt is a restricted free agent whom the Wolves would surely consider bringing back as a versatile, defensive-minded big man with legitimate rebounding chops.

Coming off his second two-way contract, point guard Jordan McLaughlin is a restricted free agent as well. The Wolves’ plan at point guard remains a bit murky so while there’s always a chance that McLaughlin is back, it’s probably more likely that he’s elsewhere come fall.

Among players under contract with limited trade value, Jake Layman is the most obvious answer.

While his $3.94 million salary is reasonable and a solid value, Layman hasn’t been able to stay healthy long enough or be consistent enough when he’s healthy to case contending teams to come calling. The contract isn’t big enough to be a major part of any salary-matching needs in a deal, and the upside simply isn’t there.

Layman is equally as likely to be on the opening night roster in October as he is to be included as a small part of a blockbuster trade this offseason.

The only other player that could fit in this category would be Juancho Hernangomez.

Just last offseason, Hernangomez parlayed a strong 14-game run in the Wolves starting lineup following his arrival from Denver into a three-year, $21 million contract as a restricted free agent. He came into the season somewhat out of shape and had a terrible start to the season before testing positive for COVID-19 and missing a stretch of games in January and February.

Hernangomez had a decent finish to the campaign once Chris Finch took over, but with Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid on the roster, it’s unclear what Hernangomez’s expected role is in 2021-22.

The third year of his contract is a team option, however, which effectively makes his $7 million salary this year an expiring deal. He probably has a small amount of trade value, but as with Layman, nobody is seeking out a slightly overpaid stretch 4 with defensive shortcomings and inconsistent rebounding effort.

Expect Juancho to be on the roster at the start of next season.

Let’s look at a few players who could potentially be on the move if the right deal comes along this summer.