Can Wolves leverage their 1 open roster spot on imminent NBA cuts?
By Bret Stuter
The Minnesota Timberwolves have an open roster slot right now. And with the imminent approach of the October 23, 2023 deadline to get under the 15-player roster limit, the Timberwolves are in a safe harbor. But that cannot be said of six other NBA teams, all of whom are still debating and deliberating where to make their final roster cuts.
And it’s safe to say that any roster cuts that happen over the weekend will include players that the team did not want to waive. Which teams are still over the NBA 15-player roster limit? The Houston Rockets, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Phoenix Sunx, the Toronto Raptors, and the Washington Wizards must make additional roster waivers:
The following teams are above the 15-man standard contract regular season limit and have to make a waiver or trade by Monday, October 23 (this is removes all players on camp contracts from the mix):
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) October 21, 2023
Rockets: +1
Thunder: +1
76ers: +1
Suns: +1
Raptors: +1
Wizards: +2
And so, the Timberwolves front office merely needs to sit back and wait for those teams to get to the limit, with the understanding that a solid contributor could be released who would upgrade the Timberwolves roster even further. Like who, for example? Well, here are the Golden State Warriors, and they appear to have the same idea:
The Golden State Warriors are waiving Rudy Gay and Rodney McGruder and planning to start the regular season with 13 players on the roster, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 21, 2023
So it has to be a rather clever strategy, wouldn’t you say?
As of now, I have to believe that the Timberwolves’ front office is leaning toward signing backup center Luka Garza to a standard contract, and then signing a worthy young player to the now-freed-up Two-Way contract.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments section of our Facebook page.
And by all means, stay tuned . . .
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