Minnesota Timberwolves: Which restricted free agent is most likely to return?

Minnesota Timberwolves: Will the Wolves re-sign Jarred Vanderbilt?

Jarred Vanderbilt was acquired as an under-the-radar of the four-team trade in early 2020 that sent Robert Covington to the Houston Rockets, Clint Capela to the Atlanta Hawks, and brought Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez to the Timberwolves.

Minnesota shipped Keita Bates-Diop to the Denver Nuggets and received Vanderbilt; the trade could have been completed without this side swap, but Rosas and the Wolves front office clearly made it a point to ensure that they received the young, bouncy power forward in the deal.

To that point, Vanderbilt had only appeared in 26 games at the NBA level across two seasons as a professional and was still just 20 years old. Additionally, he was a lottery talent and highly-recruited high school player but only played in 14 games at the University of Kentucky due to injuries.

The Wolves knew that 24-year-old former second-round pick Bates-Diop was a rotation combo forward at best, and the athletic upside and motor of Vanderbilt was well worth a flier at that stage in a lost season.

Sure enough, Vanderbilt made an immediate impact in the Wolves organization, averaging 15.9 points and 13 rebounds across seven games with the G League’s Iowa Wolves.

He didn’t start the 2020-21 campaign in the Wolves rotation but joined it in the season’s third game after Karl-Anthony Towns suffered a left wrist subluxation and was ruled out with a multi-week injury. Vanderbilt remained in the rotation for most of the rest of the season, playing in all but six of the Wolves games the rest of the way and starting in 30 of the 64 contests in which he appeared.

The per-game stats aren’t sexy, coming in at 5.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Vanderbilt simply can’t shoot the ball outside the paint, and his poor hands were to blame for what seemed like at least one turnover each night.

But Vanderbilt was a legitimately plus defender at the 4 with the ability to switch onto some 3s and 5s, depending on matchups. His 17.5 percent rebounding rate led the team, save for little-used Ed Davis, and his energy was unmatched.

The Wolves need rebounding, athleticism, and active defenders. Vanderbilt checks all those boxes, and there’s a clear argument to be made for him as a rotation player on opening night this fall.

ESPN’s Kevin Pelton opened the Wolves portion of his trade grade article (subscription required) from the Rubio-Prince deal with the simple statement “I suspect Jarred Vanderbilt’s free agency was a key motivation for the Timberwolves to make this trade.”

It’s an interesting thought, and the Wolves may simply have seen the trade as a way to free up what they’re hoping is enough cap space to retain both of their restricted free agents while adding a forward with floor-stretching capability in Prince.

If Gersson Rosas is unable to swing a significant trade in the coming days, that could be exactly what happens, leaving the Wolves with minimal cap room to make any additional moves.

At this stage, it seems entirely possible that both McLaughlin and Vanderbilt are back at some point this offseason. If the Wolves only bring one back, the Rubio-for-Prince deal suggests that it could be McLaughlin that’s more likely to be back in the Twin Cities.