After a season that ended earlier than expected, fans are expecting a busy offseason for the Minnesota Timberwolves. A second superstar, a point guard, and trades for Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert are at the top of the wish list, but Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer momentarily caused some fear when he said the Timberwolves may not be as active as some are hoping during his live stream on Tuesday night.
“Definitely, Minnesota is in need of a major clear ball handler next to Anthony Edwards and they were looking at guys to do that,” Fischer said. “They brought back Ayo Dosunmu, through this summer. I think he is probably the biggest addition that we can expect from Minnesota at this juncture.”
While Wolves fans would be happy if president of basketball operations Tim Connelly could find a way to bring Dosunmu back as he approaches free agency, they would be disappointed if that was the biggest move of the summer.
Thankfully, head coach Chris Finch may have alleviated some of those fears when he said he expects Connelly to be an active presence in the trade market.
“Tim and his crew will always do a great job of canvassing the league in the run up to the draft,” Finch said during an appearance on KFAN’s Nine to Noon show with Paul Allen on Wednesday. “...Tim’s the best I’ve ever seen at understanding what everybody’s trying to do in the market, whether it be trade, trade deadline, draft, free agency, etc. And, you know, he’s got incredible support by [Timberwolves co-owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez], our new ownership.
“...And so, I know they’re very aggressive in being able to kind of keep pushing this thing forward, so, yeah, I do expect us to be [active.] I don’t know what the end result will be, if there will be a lot of change. I mean, we love our core and we know we need to keep adding to it a little bit. I have the utmost faith in Tim and his crew and Marc and Alex to be able to do it.”
Timberwolves’ offseason could be active, but not in the way fans are hoping
Finch’s comments are a mixed bag. On one hand, he didn’t specifically say the Wolves would be in the market for a big name such as Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kyrie Irving. But he also sounded like Minnesota is going to be active in adding to their current core, including Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Joan Beringer.
Bringing back Dosunmu would be a start, as he averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.0 steals in 24 games and had a 43-point performance off the bench in a Game 4 win over the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. But the Timberwolves are going to need more if they want to contend with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the San Antonio Spurs and the rest of a highly competitive Western Conference.
While a big name may be out of play, and that may be what Fischer was alluding to on Tuesday, that wouldn’t completely eliminate the Timberwolves from making a deal.
Minnesota has a $10.7 million trade exception that could be packaged with the 28th overall pick in this year’s draft to add a role player to the roster and potential trades involving Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert could replenish the Timberwolves’ draft capital to make a bigger move later in the summer.
According to Spotrac, Minnesota also sits $16.8 million under the first salary apron and $29.8 million under the second salary apron and that number could grow if they shed salary and open the door to a key trade or free agent signing.
At this point, the worst thing the Timberwolves could do is nothing. But Finch’s comments make it seem like that’s something fans don’t have to worry about as they approach the summer.
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