Making money work for McDaniels
Let’s focus on finances first. The Minnesota Timberwolves want to get a contract extension in place for small forward Jaden McDaniels in place before the October 23, 2023 deadline. And ESPN NBA Insider Bobby Marks has been staying on top of all of the latest developments about the Timberwolves’ attempts to ink McDaniels to a new deal.
You can check out the Jaden McDaniels discussion at the 51:55 mark at The Lowe Post link here.
Then @BobbyMarks42 and hit the extension landscape in general and pretty much every candidate -- with Jaden McDaniels, Bey/Okongwu on Hawks, Quickley, Patrick Williams among the highlights:
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 20, 2023
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The challenge for the Minnesota Timberwolves right now is the proper valuation of McDaniels’ contract extension right now. But once signed, the Timberwolves must be prepared for the punitive clauses in the new NBA rules regarding the two aprons for exceeding the NBA salary cap.
It’s more than McDaniels at stake
Right now, the estimate for Jaden McDaniels’ contract extension is in the ballpark of a four-year $90 million deal (similar to the former Phoenix Suns extension for Mikal Bridges) as per the latest intel from ESPN NBA capologist Bobby Marks. (subscription required).
So what does that look like in terms of contract terms?
So we should call the Vassell extension 5 years, $135M— the tweets that said $146M were agent-work to make it look better, not to be reflective of the cap hit.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) October 3, 2023
That 5, $135M number, in terms of percentage of the cap, is more in line with the extension Mikal Bridges signed after… https://t.co/Ltm00mGt48
And that is the rub. How does this line up with the existing Timberwolves salary cap commitments?
So we should call the Vassell extension 5 years, $135M— the tweets that said $146M were agent-work to make it look better, not to be reflective of the cap hit.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) October 3, 2023
That 5, $135M number, in terms of percentage of the cap, is more in line with the extension Mikal Bridges signed after… https://t.co/Ltm00mGt48
If you toss in a $30 million placeholder for Jaden McDaniels, the Timberwolves soar to infinity and beyond in terms of both NBA salary cap limits for the 2024-25 NBA season. A huge payday to McDaniels sets the stage for significant financial penalties ahead for the Minnesota Timberwolves, or a need to shed a highly compensated star like Karl-Anthony Towns.
In the end, the Timberwolves may defer such an important decision.