It’s been an eventful week for the Minnesota Timberwolves. It started with trading Julius Randle and re-signing Ayo Dosunmu on Monday night. They followed that up by drafting both Isaiah Evans and Trey Kaufman-Renn in the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft on Thursday. Friday morning saw a blockbuster deal announced as the Wolves acquired electric point guard LaMelo Ball.Â
Ball wasn’t the only player acquired from the Charlotte Hornets, though, as the Timberwolves also added Josh Green.
The hoopla from the deal certainly revolves around Ball, but can Green carve himself an important role for Minnesota next season (if he is even on the team come opening night)? In short, it will be hard for him to crack the rotation since the Wolves have limited minutes available at the wing spot.
Green may find it difficult to find consistent minutesÂ
Selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Green is joining his teammate from the last two seasons in Ball, as well as Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels, all members of the 2020 NBA Draft class currently rostered by the Wolves.
Turning 26 years old on November 16, Green is in the last season of his three-year, $41 million deal, and will make $14.6 million in 2026-27. It’s safe to say he wouldn’t make that much if he were available to be signed this offseason.Â
As the Hornets began playing substantially better in the latter portion of the last regular season, Green saw less playing time. The 6-foot-6 wing ended the year playing just 15.6 minutes per contest after averaging at least 25.7 in the previous three seasons.
While he averaged just 4.3 points in his 58 appearances, Green also shot a career-best 42.0 percent from beyond the arc. He’s at 38.7% from 3-point distance from his career and the Timberwolves could use more long-distance shooting with Donte DiVincenzo out with a torn Achilles.
The problem is that while depth could be an issue for the Timberwolves, it’s more so with their big men after both Randle and Naz Reid were shipped away.
With Ball, Edwards, and Ayo Dosunmu clearly ahead of Green in the depth chart pecking order, it may be hard for him to find consistent playing time.
That doesn’t even include Terrence Shannon Jr., who expects to see a larger role in his third year in the NBA, and Jaylen Clark, whom the team re-signed to a 3-year deal on Friday night.
It also remains to be seen if Mike Conley, Bones Hyland, and/or Kyle Anderson are brought back as they could be re-signed.
In the end, I think it may be hard for Green to find a consistent role on a Wolves team when they don't have injuries (other than DiVincenzo), and Minnesota may use his expiring salary in another deal to try to further improve the roster.
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