With the second-to-last pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected forward Trey Kaufman-Renn out of Purdue. There has been little expectation that he would receive much of a role with the NBA club in the upcoming season.
That is made even clearer by the fact that, more than two months after the draft, Kaufman-Renn remains unsigned. He may never sign with the team. As per Nathan Baird of the Indy Star, he is seeking a sixth year of college eligibility. Baird writes:
“Former Purdue basketball forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, now with the Minnesota Timberwolves, has asked a court to force the NCAA to allow him to play a sixth season.”
It’s been a year filled with lawsuits in college sports, and it’s hard to know who is and who isn’t eligible to play collegiately anymore.
Wasn’t in line to play much at all for the Timberwolves
Kaufman-Renn would seem to have run out of college eligibility. After redshirting his first year, he played the next four seasons with the Purdue Boilermakers.
It doesn’t seem likely that Kaufman-Renn would be granted another year. However, it’s also a strange time in college sports, so that can’t be said conclusively. Whether Kaufman-Renn is looking to return to Purdue or play elsewhere is also unclear at this moment.
Shortly after being drafted, Kaufman-Renn took part in summer league action for the Timberwolves. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game. Furthermore, he played just 12.7 minutes per game, less than half the playing time of Isaiah Evans, the Timberwolves’ other 2026 second-round selection.
The lack of time on the floor during the summer league was a telltale sign that Kaufman-Renn was unlikely to be part of Minnesota’s plans for the 2026–27 season.
It seemed as if he was in line to have a season similar to the one Rocco Zikarsky experienced last year. Taken with the 45th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Zikarsky spent nearly all of last season in the G League with the Iowa Wolves and didn’t make his NBA debut until late February.
A big difference, though, is that Zikarsky spent all of last season as a 19-year-old. Kaufman-Renn is already 24 years old, having turned 24 on August 19.
The Timberwolves do have an open roster spot, but few have considered Kaufman-Renn a candidate to fill it. Minnesota also has all three of its two-way slots filled. Perhaps Kaufman-Renn could have received one of those spots, as the Timberwolves could release one of their two-way players from his deal. Enrique Freeman seems the most likely of the three to be released.
If Kaufman-Renn is allowed to play another year in college, it won’t affect the Timberwolves all that much, if at all.
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