Reason I: NBA salary cap reset
NBA teams, like any team in professional sports, commit to a certain salary expense with each rookie addition. Thanks to the tables set up by basketball.realgm.com, we know that the Minnesota Timberwolves traded out of the 19th spot, and the more than $2.5 million salary assigned to that pick, for the 22nd ($2.2 million) and 26th ($1.9 million) salaries.
After the Timberwolves traded their 22nd-pick rookie center Walker Kessler, the Timberwolves had slashed their potential outlay of $2.5 million cost to the cost of $1.9 million which is the team’s salary for 26th-pick rookie shooting guard Wendell Moore Jr.
NBA rookies selected in the second round of the NBA Draft are not paid according to any salary scale, and depending on their perceived upside, may or may not land a contract with any amount of guaranteed dollars. That means that the Minnesota Timberwolves pay less to fill a roster spot. If the front office vets prospects with any degree of confidence, the savings over time can amount to millions of dollars.
Not millions in a bank account. Rather, millions to direct to other veteran players.
That will make a difference over time. In fact, many of the Timberwolves’ draft day trades make complete sense when you factor in the element of time to the process. While the Minnesota Timberwolves wanted to be aggressive in the 2022 NBA offseason, the team’s decisions were not impulsive whatsoever. Rather, the choices were made today to set up other events for tomorrow. Some events we have seen. The Gobert trade, the additional free agent signings. Other events we have not seen just yet.
In time, we will have a clear picture in the rearview mirror. But at the current time, we are stuck in the midst of what the Timberwolves’ decisions mean for the team. But one thing is clear. As many NBA analysts expected the Timberwolves to trade up in the NBA Draft, the team chose to trade back. And now, we have three solid reasons why.