The Minnesota Timberwolves have undergone a significant amount of roster change since this time last year. Only eight players that were on the Wolves’ roster at the start of June 2022 are still with the team to this day.
The Rudy Gobert trade was the first domino to fall in Minnesota’s massive roster overhaul in the last 11 months. After that, D’Angelo Russell’s contract forced the team to make a move at the deadline which resulted in even more roster turnover.
As a result, there are many new faces within the organization. As currently constructed, this group of players only had a few short months to learn to play with each other, and they still ended up eking out a playoff berth despite some nasty injury luck.
Over the course of the 2022-23 season, several Timberwolves performed at such a high level that they should be near untouchable in future dealings. Others still have a ways to go before earning that label.
2 Timberwolves who have earned untouchable status, 2 who haven’t:
Untouchable: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
One of the more underrated additions to the Wolves’ roster in the last year, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was a throw-in piece from the Utah Jazz with the main acquisition in Minnesota’s trade deadline deal being Mike Conley.
Since February, Alexander-Walker has made Tim Connelly look like a genius. He stepped up in a big way for the Timberwolves in the playoffs, becoming one of their most reliable defenders and giving talented players like Jamal Murray all they could handle.
His three-point shot was a major lift for Minnesota at multiple points in the postseason as well. Going forward, NAW will add an extra layer to the Timberwolves’ already deep regime of perimeter defenders. In a very short amount of time, he has gone from an afterthought to a must-have for this team.
Minnesota will be highly skeptical of allowing Alexander-Walker to walk this summer. He will be a restricted free agent, but the front office will at the very least be extending him the qualifying offer worth $7 million to return, if not structuring an entirely new contract to ensure they can keep him.
Not untouchable: Wendell Moore Jr.
Joining the Minnesota Timberwolves as their only first-round draft pick in the last three seasons, Wendell Moore unfortunately had about as forgettable a rookie season as a player could have. Playing just 153 total minutes and playing 5.3 minutes per game in 29 contests, Moore never really had much of an opportunity to showcase his talent.
The Timberwolves acquired Moore from the Dallas Mavericks on draft night last June, with the hopes that he could evolve into a rotation player. There is certainly still hope that he has a future in this league, as his skillset speaks for itself.
Offensively, Moore is not a high scorer but he is a willing passer that does a lot of the little things correctly. Add in his solid on-ball defense, and there is unquestionably a world in which he becomes a valuable all-around player in Minnesota, a la Caleb Martin for the Miami Heat.
Wendell Moore is still under contract with the Timberwolves for the next three seasons, but the team will have a club option that they can choose to exercise or not after the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. If he is unable to earn more playing time, there is no reason to suggest Moore will be untouchable in Minnesota’s future plans.
Untouchable: Kyle Anderson
Coming over from the Memphis Grizzlies as a free agent last offseason, Kyle Anderson made an immediate impact in his first season with the Minnesota Timberwolves. While he was always expected to contribute, no one quite predicted he would be as vital to the team’s success as he ended up being.
When Karl-Anthony Towns went down with a calf injury in late November, many assumed it would be a death sentence for Minnesota’s playoff hopes with how deep the Western Conference is. But in the midst of the chaos, Kyle Anderson stepped up and started 46 games in his place.
Anderson enjoyed one of the best statistical seasons of his career in 2022-23, all while helping keep the Timberwolves aloft in the standings with Towns healing from his injury. After never shooting above 37% from three in his career, Slo-Mo became one of the most reliable outside threats on the team this past season, knocking down 41% of his threes.
He also dished out a career-high 4.9 assists per game. And as always, Anderson’s calm and collected composure kept the team functioning at a high level both on and off the floor. In just one season, he showed that he is already one of the best free agent signings in Timberwolves history.
As such, Kyle Anderson earned the label of untouchable for the foreseeable future. Minnesota’s plans as a franchise will undoubtedly include him going forward.
Not untouchable: Jaylen Nowell
Unfortunately, Jaylen Nowell’s tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves can best be described as an enigma. While his role is that of a bench scorer, he has been a very streaky scorer over the course of his career, and that is not something that improved in 2022-23.
Nowell is a player whose usefulness can be severely diminished if he is not hitting open shots. While he had his moments of catching fire this past season, there were far too many times where he was ineffective and playing himself off the floor.
In a league where three-point shooting is paramount, Jaylen took a huge step back in that department last year. He shot just 29% from beyond the arc, his worst percentage since his rookie year when he attempted just 26 threes for the season.
With his continued enigmatic play, Nowell ensured it is not a certainty he remains with this team in the long term. After he exercised his team option with the Wolves last offseason, Nowell will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Jaylen Nowell’s contract was paying him just under $2 million annually in 2022-23, so it is not like Minnesota will have to break the bank to sign him to a new contract if they choose to do so. But the Timberwolves choosing to simply waive Nowell and spend that money elsewhere is not out of the question either.