By all accounts, Minnesota Timberwolves fans should be delighted by Ayo Dosunmu's arrival. He gives the Wolves some much-needed backcourt depth and has an awesome all-around skill set. As such, it's not hard to make comparisons to Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
With that in mind, though, it's hard not to think about how the events of last offseason played out. Of course, Alexander-Walker signed a four-year, $62 million deal with the Atlanta Hawks. There, Alexander-Walker has blossomed into a 20-point-per-game scorer, and the Wolves have missed his services all season long.
In hindsight the Wolves should have re-signed Alexander-Walker
With Alexander-Walker, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid, all as free agents, it was always clear that the Wolves weren't going to be able to re-sign all three players without making another move. At the time, letting Alexander-Walker leave seemed logical, with Terrence Shannon Jr., Jaylen Clark, and Rob Dillingham seemingly ready for bigger roles.
However, it couldn't have worked out worse for the Wolves as Alexander-Walker leveled up with the Hawks while the young players proved not to be ready after all.
As such, the Wolves had to trade for Dosunmu at the deadline, giving up on Dillingham (as well as Leonard Miller) and four second-round picks. And this summer, the Wolves will have to work out a new contract with Dosunmu -- he's eligible to re-sign for a three-year $52 million deal, which is eerily similar to the price of keeping Alexander-Walker.
In hindsight, keeping NAW would have been ideal.
While it wasn't possible to keep all three of Alexander-Walker, Reid, and Randle, they could have made moves around the edges to open up cap space. Most notably, moving off Mike Conley and Rob Dillingham could have helped them get there. Now that would have been risky at the time, but looking back, this might have been the best case scenario.
Plus, let's be honest, Naz Reid is a fan favorite and an awesome player, but clearly, they could have re-signed NAW instead. This was a real possibility at the time, and given the cost of Reid's five-year $125 million contract, the Wolves could have bolstered their depth if they let him walk. Again, this wouldn't have been easy, but in the end, it likely would have been the right call.
Alexander-Walker's presence proved to be a vital part of the Wolves' success, and they had to replace it with Dosunmu at the deadline.
It's easy to dwell on the past and wonder what-if the Wolves had simply brought back Alexander-Walker. However, I want to leave things on a positive note -- Dosunmu is an ideal fit with the team, and he gives Minnesota a long-awaited NAW replacement with a bit more playmaking chops and a bit less defense. Everything will be alright, Timberwolves fans.